Something is in the Water in Athens, GA!

Yes, Something mighty fishy is goin down in the town of Athens, Georgia... WARNING: There's something in the water. I can not stress this enough. A rare chemical compound is brewing down in the underground pipelines of Athens. The noted side effects of drinking their tap water are: 1/provides one with the uncanny ability to write, craft, and perform everlasting, phenomenal songs. 2/ in rare circumstances birth defects, such as flipper babies, have been found and 3/provides one with a unique sense of style - in particular, a strange fascination with blue eyeshadow...






In a slightly more serious note, this music hub of a home has produced some of the best national acts to date. The frightening picture above is of course Michael Stipe. Growing up albums like Murmur and Automatic for the People pretty much shaped the way I view music today. So there is no doubt that the members of R.E.M and the B-52's, Neutral Milk Hotel, Widespread Panic, and Of Montreal have tipped back a few glasses of their good ole refreshing hometown tap water... skipped breast feeding and went straight to the spicket! I don't blame them. Wouldn't anyone put up with a little mercury poisoning to have your life long dreams of a rock star come true? Heck yes you would! (There are plenty more groups that also stemmed from Athens, but these are the groups you perhaps know/care most about. For instance I left out The Indigo Girls, for I felt that mention would tip the scale in the other direction... Plus I think they were doing something else besides just drinking water. )



So moving on from my long, ridiculous into. One of my favorite bands at the moment, The Whigs, also claims Athens as their hometown. Which they are mighty proud of, for they walk on stage to the Atlanta Braves "tomahawk chop" theme song. (Silly boys don't they know they are in the town of the World Phuckin Champions!) And I know this because I saw the Whigs for the first time last Thursday night at The Note in West Chester. And now I can claim that this band rocks the house!

Assuming that you read my top albums of 2008, even though I know you didn't read any part of it, I'll pretend that you knew how excited I was to see them come our way again... but this time as THE head honcho. THE hit of the parade. THE opening act! And it was everything I thought it would be.

These fellows are young, but they get everything about rock and roll. There's no "look" to them. No gimmicks. They just come on stage and do their job... blow your mind. They opened their set with the title track/ last song of the album - Mission Control. I knew right then and there we all were in for a treat. Next song was Hot Bed. During the first two measures the guitar amp falls. Weird I thought, but atleast I can listen to the kick ass solo bass line for a little longer... So while everyone else is playing Parker Gispert, the lead man, awkwardly stumbles and fumbles with the bulkiness of the amp. Finally he throws the amp back on top, then turns to face the crowd... We stare back in absolute horror. Apparently, Gispert banged his head, and streaks of blood are now pouring, gushing down his face. It was shockingly gory, but oddly rejuvenating at the same time. My worries of his well being subsided when his never surfaced. With a joker smile and a devilish smirk, he continued on... And on... And on, with no mention or care in the world... The point was clear - This is rock and roll. We are the Whigs. And shit happens.

They played a long, but never dull, set with songs from Give 'Em All A Fat Lip and their latest, and greatest, Mission Control. At the end of the show I was a satisfied, gitty-ass customer with a grin from cheek to cheek. Not only because I left with Parker's sweat towel, (I knew these lanky arms and feisty spirit of mine would come in solid one day!) but because after seeing them live, through all their blood, sweat and cheers, my gushy interest in them, now has grew even deeper. The Whigs simply rock my world.

Be Cool. Buy this Now.