I feel compelled to do a wrap of the last day of Planet Caravan in this space, though the longer review will be posted sooner or later over at Brooklyn Vegan and that pretty much covers it. Even so, I humbly offer this quick rundown of the night for anyone interested. Thanks for tolerating the lack of photos here and updates these last several weeks as there’s been a major shift in the amount of available time I have to devote to reviews, interviews and whathaveyou. Rest assured I’m in no way finished with this experiment.

So, Saturday, Sept. 19, Asheville, NC:

The Pentagram Interview: Never happened. Kind of a shitter, but after hearing Bobby Liebling talking on the stage later in the night, maybe it’s for the best.

The Orange Goblin Interview: Did happen. I walked in and found Ben Hogg having a beer with them before any of the bands started. Ben Hogg is a Southern drinker, and I say that with the utmost respect. Interview was with the whole band, and it took a little time to get going, but was good and once I mentioned I knew the dudes from Solace, things were friendly. I should have it up around here one of these days.

Orchid: It’s saying something when even a room full of drunken doomers is laughing because of how blatantly you’ve ripped off Black Sabbath.

Taddy Porter: I missed most of them because of the Orange Goblin interview, but they were crazy young and all kinds of bluesy. They were on at The Orange Peel while Batillus played Mo Daddy’s next door. I don’t know who drew more people because, again, I was otherwise occupied.

Astra: A big bowl of noodles. Also the skinniest band of the festival. San Francisco hipster prog that was disappointing live after somewhat digging the record. I was back and forth between them and Salome and neither really did it for me.

Salome: Had expensive amplifiers, a heavily bearded drummer and a little blond girl doing death growls on vocals. No bass. Needless to say they’ll probably be the biggest thing in the world come two weeks from now.

YOB: Are the reason I made the trip. After waiting for more than half a decade to see them live, I can honestly say it was worth it by the time they were halfway through set-opener “Quantum Mystic.” Everything else was cake. Easily the highlight of the weekend. It was the first time I’d stood up front for a band because I actually liked them in a long while. Also met Mike Scheidt after the set (for not the first time) and he was a super-cool guy.

The Gates of Slumber: They played Mo Daddy’s and I watched from outside in the rain because the entire crowd who had been watching YOB ran over to catch the last 15 minutes of their set. Was worth it to see Karl Simon soloing.

Orange Goblin: Don’t know how to do anything other than kick ass, so that’s what they did. Covered “Into the Void” and still didn’t sound as much like Sabbath as Orchid did. Ben Ward is a monster who eats the souls of children.

Hull: Had a tough slot opposite Orange Goblin, but did their best and were helped by their time on the road. Congrats to guitarist Nick Palmirotto on his newfound sobriety as well. After this weekend I’m considering a dose of that for myself.

Pentagram: Were exciting more in theory than practice, though Bobby Liebling is a madman and Gary Isom killed it on drums. Was a sight to see when Victor Griffin came out and played on the encore of “When the Screams Come.” “Forever My Queen” kicked ass as well, and Liebling announced a new album called Last Rites to be released next year. Should be interesting.

That’s it. The entirety of Sunday was spent driving home nursing some serious heartburn after ouevos rancheros at The Laughing Seed, a vegetarian restaurant in Asheville. I guess now I know what that seed finds so damn funny. I missed the SunnO)))/Eagle Twin show in Philly owing to timing, and will sadly miss them again in Brooklyn tonight due to prior commitments. Bummer all around. Yesterday I spent recovering, doing class work and at my orthopedist. In many ways, I still feel like I’m traveling even though I’m back in the valley at long last and for most of the day today.

Thanks for reading.

Tags: Asheville, North Carolina, Orange Goblin, Pentagram, Planet Caravan, Yob

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 10:37 am and is filed under Reviews, Whathaveyou. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.