Northgate festival in focus

Thursday, March 29, 2007

By GREG OKUHARA
Eagle Staff Writer


Three days. Eight stages. Nearly 120 bands. And one busy weekend for yours truly.
The Northgate Music Festival has ended, and I was impressed by many of the musical acts.
There were the old stand-bys like The Canvas Waiting, Plump and Window that put on entertaining shows. Groups like Darby, Close Your Eyes and Loss Rayne put on excellent shows.
And, just like last year, a few other groups caught my attention with an engaging live show or an original sound (or both).
Here's a look at two outstanding performances at the 2007 Northgate Music Festival.

Best Crowd Participation

As I waited for Dirtfoot's show to begin Saturday night, a shiny metal object flew in my general direction.
Perhaps even more startling was the loud rattle it made as it turned end over end.
Dirtfoot's members were handing (tossing) out noise-makers with instructions to shake them during certain parts of the show.
The crowd had little trouble getting involved as the Shreveport, La.-based band started jamming out with its "gypsy punk country grumble boogie" music.

Best Attempt to Destroy a Stage

This award goes to Supe, a hard-rock group from Tokyo-via-Long Beach, Calif.
This five-piece band specializes in high-energy concerts consisting of jumps and emphatic movements across the stage.
During Supe's (pronounced "shoop") hourlong set at Schotzi's, the outdoor stage visibly shook as the band hopped on it.
The band's energy wasn't confined to the stage: Several people in the audience were caught up in the moment and danced around like the band.
Good thing Supe didn't invite anyone onstage; the wooden structure might have been reduced to kindling by night's end.

Dirtfoot battles for spot as top band

Shreveport Times Preview
12-22-2006

It's called Grumble Boogie, but most describe Dirtfoot's sound simply as different.
In the past few years, the band has made a mark on the Shreveport music scene. After winning the Shreveport Times Battle of the Bands in January, 2006 and with their current debut album release "Entertain Me," Dirtfoot is proving it can contend as a local music heavyweight.
Upright Bass player Eric Gardner compares the band to a gumbo, combining all sorts of ingredients into a rich roux of gritty Louisiana sound.
"It brings all styles and sounds together to create something unique and honest," Gardner said. "I think that is what people get so attached to."
On a recent Friday night, Ruston's young locals are drawn to the Sundown Tavern by the gritty sounds made by the Shreveport band.
The bar quickly fills and the evening is typical. Students swap stories about finals and their plans for Christmas break over a pitcher of beer and darts.
Dirtfoot's lead singer Matt Hazelton extends and invitation to the crowd gathered around the stage.
"You're part of the band tonight."
It doesn't matter so much to Dirtfoot if the crowd knows each word, but participating is key to the band's performance.
"The crowd becomes another member of the band," Hazelton said. "We feed off their energy and they make the music better."
As the band plays, the crowd dances and sings along to the music that is familiar, yet distinct from what most have heard before. In addition to Gardner and Hazelton, the band includes Scotty Gerardy on saxaphone, Lane Bayliss on drums, Daniel Breithaupt on percussion and J Bratlie on banjo. To those who have never heard Dirtfoot play, it sounds like a laid-back Saturday night on the bayou. The jambalaya of sounds blends the variety of instruments into a funky tapestry of Louisiana culture.
Tammy Thompson, 26, and Amy Smith, 27, both of Ruston, have seen Dirtfoot perform at Sundown once before and came to hear the band again.
"They definitely have their own style. It's not just a guy on stage with a guitar," Smith said. "The music alone is enough. But them getting the crowd so involved is an added bonus to the show."
An important part to any Dirtfoot show are the bean can shakers. Handed out to audience members, it's amazing what two cans bound together by duct tape and filled with beans can add to a performance. A box of shakers accompanies the band wherever they play and have become a signature to the group's performances, but some fans have even started bringing their own cans to the shows.
In recent months, Dirtfoot has added another dimension to their stage show. Dressed in wrestler's masks, white kitty head wraps and cow costumes, the band proves their anything-goes attitude by appearance alone.
When asked about the costumes, the band laughs with no explanation, saying it is something that just happened but continues to entertain fans.
"Entertain Me" is a representation of what the band can do musically. But capturing the spirit of a live performance is something Dirtfoot invites you to see for yourself.
-story by Stephanie Netherton-

Dirtfoot: Zydeco Voodoo Magic
---Ginna Wallace
Nightflying Magazine

I didn’t meet Dirtfoot all at once; I first encountered two of the members playing with another musician I knew, backing him up and calling themselves the Dirty Toes. My musician friend told me he and the boys needed a place to stay for the evening – I’d loved what they played, the front musician was already a good friend of mine, and I consider myself a good judge of character, so I agreed. We closed down the bar, packed up the equipment, and headed to my house for an evening of drinks and video games.

It was a really relaxed evening, and at one point I found one of the Dirty Toes in my kitchen, fiddling around on my laptop. The most amazing sounds were coming out of my computer, and I asked him what on earth he’d done to it. He explained that it was his band’s demo album, that I should keep an ear out for them, that they’d be coming to Hot Springs soon and I should definitely try to make the show. After listening to the handful of tracks on the album, I gave my word I’d be there, would drag as many friends as possible, and would put the band up after the show.

Talk about fortuitous moments! We breezed into the show and were promptly handed duct-taped tin cans by their then-promoter which, when shaken, produced a fabulous rattle. The boys kicked off the show with an energy that poured out of the venue and onto the street – we insiders watched as passers-by paused at a window and cocked ears up to the delicious sound before turning and walking up to the door to come on in.

People try to describe Dirtfoot’s sound – people may be trying for decades to come. The band describes themselves on their Myspace page (www.myspace.com/mydirtfoot) as being “a dose of Gypsy Punk Country Grumble Boogie.” I tell my friends this when they ask me what Dirtfoot’s like, and then follow it up by saying: They’re definitely jazzy blues influenced, they’re from Louisiana so they’ve got that zydeco voodoo magic, and they’re a bunch of rowdy young men so they’ve got that fabulous hopped up energy. They’re whiskey-drinking, foot-stomping, ass-shaking music, I tell people, and I dare you to leave their show even the least bit unsatisfied. In fact, I promise people I bribe to shows, if you can make it through even the first song without grinning like an idiot and tapping your foot like a jackhammer, your drinks are on me.

Dirtfoot, my Dirtfoot, how do I love thee? I cannot count the ways. As far as “local” bands, or as yet unsigned and traveling bands, go – I’ve never heard better. Many of their songs are in keys you wouldn’t normally hear people dancing to, minor or harmonic keys, but somehow they manage and it’s amazing. There is a guitarist, a drummer, and a fellow on a big upright bass, a guy playing saxophone while wearing a Mexican wrestling mask (listen for his impression of a train on the only cover you’ll hear them do, Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison), another dude beating on pots and pans, throwing confetti, and wearing a crazy animal hat, and one gentleman who manages car sales by day and picks Dirtfoot’s banjo by night.
Dirtfoot will be coming back to the Spa City on Thanksgiving weekend, November 25th, and playing at Maxine’s – “the best damn bar and live music venue in town (www.myspace.com/maxineslive).” Tin cans will be rattled, booties will be shaken, feet will be tapped, and the smiles won’t quit all night. And I’ll make you the same deal I make everyone – if you can make it through the first song without enjoying it, well… drinks are on me.