Franz Nicolay, Kepi Ghoulie, Kevin Seconds @ The Firebird

Ghoulie. Not my photo and not from STL.

Franz Nicolay, Kepi Ghoulie, and Kevin Seconds have never been in a band together. They are three friends on a combined solo tour. This unique combination made for a very interesting show.

Riley James, a St. Louis local, was the opener. Armed with just his acoustic guitar and his voice, he had a classic, singer-songwriter quality about him. He played several originals as well as a wonderful cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Used Cars."

Playing in no particular order, Franz Nicolay (of The Hold Steady) was the first of the three to perform. He alternated between acoustic guitar, banjo, and accordion. His lyrics were very eloquent and carefully chosen. This attitude was reflected in his clothes: nice suit, no tie, black fedora. Nicolay made a point of talking about each song before he played it, giving the audience a better sense of its meaning.

Kepi Ghoulie (of The Groovie Ghoulies) is known for his style of acoustic punk and fun, simple lyrics. This provided a strong contrast from Nicolay's performance. Kevin Seconds also accompanied Kepi with a very small drum set of just one tom and snare. After a three song medley, Kepi let the audience decide the set list. "Come on, what do you guys wanna hear?" Being in St. Louis, he felt obligated to play tribute to Chuck Berry by playing "Memphis, Tennessee." Later on, he was joined by Franz on accordion. The whole set was fast, loud, and acoustic.

Kevin Seconds (of 7 Seconds) was somewhere in between Nicolay and Ghoulie in regards to complexity. He was accompanied by both of them; Ghoulie on drums and Nicolay on accordion and banjo. His big vocals filled the room. Like Kepi, he took many audience requests. Of the three of them, it seemed that Kevin's songs were able to emotionally connect with the audience the most.

A very enjoyable acoustic evening with three very different artists. Although the room was filled with about twenty-five people, they treated it like an arena rock show and gave it their very best.

Saturday - LouFest 2011

Kings Go Forth

The weekend began with Jon Hardy and the Public. I heard a rumor that they practiced the entire set fifteen times including turning off the AC at Jon Hardy's house to experience the predicted heat. It paid off because they sounded great. Near the end of the set, one of their guitarists had to quickly change clothes and go get ready for a set with his other band, Troubadour Dali.
Troubadour Dali rocked the house (err... lawn) with their psychedelic music. They definitely helped prove that St. Louis does in fact have great local music, something that everyone in this area should recognize.
Sleepy Sun played some of their heavy, long jams. The best way to describe this is 'epic.'
All nine members of Kings Go Forth appeared clad in white uniforms. Their funky soul music was a great contrast to Sleepy Sun, pouring out love and sunshine. It was incredibly danceable, as I quickly found out.
Dom was, although limited, very cool including a special cover of The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry." Not that it matters in the long run, but the singer totally looks like a girl. Girl hair, pants, and voice. It was a little awkward but contributed to the absurdity of their music.
Surfer Blood played a good combination of fun and dark songs including some new tracks that have yet to be released. The frontman needs to learn to not talk quite so much but still a very fun set.
Due to hurricane Irene, The Roots could not make it. However, ?uestlove graced us with his DJ set of awesomeness. Boasting that it covered 85 years worth of music, this was a great big dance party at LouFest.
Deerhunter appeared calm and cool on stage while they played many fan favorites. The bass player looked pretty stoned to me but it certainly didn't prohibit him from playing some amazing bass lines. After announcing to the audience that this would be the last song they played on tour for a long time, the singer realized they still had thirty minutes left in their set. This mistake caused some people to leave that area but didn't take away from a great set.
To end saturday, The Hold Steady took over the blue stage. The sun had gone down at this point, making the stage even more of a focus. Belting out lyrics like a dictator giving a speech, singer Craig Finn was full of energy, frequently repeating lines away from the microphone and moving his limbs around. They played a wonderful set despite last year's departure of their keyboard player. It featured a great combination of old and new material.