Recap and photos by Niki D’Andrea
The Phoenix New Times Summer of Sound pop show at The Sets on Saturday, June 21 was a lot of fun, and several local musicians came out to show their support, including Paul “PC” Cordone from Chocolate Fountain and Los Guys (who introduced What Laura Says Thinks and Feels) and Peachcake’s Stephen Pruett, who enjoyed the entire show while wearing a beanie cap shaped like a pink bunny head.
Check out more shots from the concert in our slide show Summer of Sound: Pop Show Recap at The Sets
Poem opened the show with a heartfelt set of acoustic songs.
Poem: Matt Gilbert, a.k.a. Poem, looks like a rock star and sings like a troubador. The tall, skinny singer/songwriter dressed in ripped-up jeans, a retro shirt, and a stylish hat, and performed a soulful, solo acoustic set reminiscent of a cross between Townes Van Zandt and Jesse Malin. I couldn’t get many pictures where Gilbert didn’t have demon-red eyes, but I did find this great YouTube clip of one of his live performances:
Jody Gnant: “Bohemian Geek Soul” artist Jody Gnant has been suffering from some vocal troubles, and so she was unable to sing at the show. However, Gnant brought six friends onstage to sing her songs for her, including Jen Powelson from Haven James and longtime New Times music writer Serene Dominic, who brought high-energy to the stage as “Torch Man.”
Jody Gnant introduces local artists performing her songs.
Serene Dominic performs Jody Gnant’s “Over.”
The Via Maris: This folk rock quintet performed the first set of the night to include full instrumentation, and gave the audience a tight set of melodic ballads and ambling desert rock full of well-wrought lyrics about finding one’s self, family roots, and culture. Check ‘em out at www.myspace.com/theviamaris.
The Via Maris rocked us gently at the Summer of Sound pop show.
What Laura Says Thinks and Feels: One of the most anticipated bands of the night, the melodic maestros of indie rock-meets-retro-pop breezed through a solid set of their intricate, catchy pop rock tunes, employing everything from a Ukelele to a xylophone alongside the band’s four-part harmonies.
Hear What Laura Says Thinks and Feels at www.myspace.com/whatlaurasaysthinksandfeels.
Danny Godbold digs on a dreamy WLSTAF song.
In-between sets, New Times advertising sales rep and scenester supreme Hotchy Kiene gave away goodies to the audience from co-sponsors of the event, including Bookman’s and Blaze tobacco accessory shop. Both shops had booths at the event with wheels people could spin to win prizes. Free swag rules.
”The Hotchman” has some hot girls onstage for some hot giveaways.
Limbeck: Headliners Limbeck took the stage to a full house and didn’t disappoint, focusing on the Americana/alt.country songs from their more recent releases, like 2005’s Let Me Come Back Home and 2007’s Limbeck.
Orange County alt. rockers Limbeck topped off the night.
Check out the our slide show Summer of Sound: Pop Show Recap at The Sets for more photos of Limbeck and the rest of the show.