Glocally Newark

Last Thursday I went to the Kilkenny’s Alehouse for the monthly showcase run by Jen Schwartz of Una Pong. As usual I was not disappointed. The atmosphere at Kilkennys is always funny on these nights as the usual cast of characters 68 Mike, Bub and such mingle with the usually 21-25 year old scenesters who come to support the bands. These kids almost always seem to be from the outlining suburbs of Newark, (See: Nick and Nora’s infinite play list) and consistently say things like “so this is Newark,” “Is it dangerous,” so on and so forth? The line up for this show was Invisible lines, the O-matics, I am the Heat and The Frozen Gentlemen (clearly a reference to the otherworldly manners of dying polar explorers).

The band that really grabbed my attention and heart was the Invisible Lines. Invisible Lines started off their set with a bit of a SNAFU, but soon recovered with an opener that was reminiscent of Vaya era at the drive-in. Austin by way of North Arlington, but not even in a remotely bad way.These guys were my favorite band of the night and I was not surprised to hear that they are coming out with an EP on a new label called Killing Horse Records in April. So even though Belleville is not in our area of expertise if you’re interested in seeing Invisible Lines they will be playing at the Gin Mill (119 Brighton Street, January 30th)  …It could be worth your while to check them out.

Invisible Lines

Mike Acevedo Lead Singer of Invisible Lines.

Invisible Lines lead guitarist.

The next band was the O-matics. I wasn’t feeling them. It has nothing to do with the band per say, I guess their brand of fun and funk couldn’t resonate with my bitter and miserable butt. Matt Gosser of NJIT says that he wants to book them for his next event/show so I’m defiantly wrong as Mr. Gosser has very good taste in music.

I am the Heat not only were the heat, but brang it. I instantly fell in love with the singers’ voice. I began to imagine picnics with the voice, what the voice and my babies would look like, etc. The music was very energetic and reminded me of Wolf Parade. These guys were so much fun and their set was one of the highlights of the night. Once I am the Heat came on I noticed that there were projections all over the room of characters from Alice in Wonderland, I saw my friend Norm Francoer and he told me he was responsible. As the night wore on my notes became jumbled from exhaustion, thanks the day job or inebriation thanks bartender Scott Anderson. So I will tell you that as of 11:45 on Thursday I am the Heat were WONDERFULL, very psychedelica, super MOD, Incense and Peppermint meets the Hold Steady. Does that make sense? Synthesized syncopathic Mania and this Jam referenced Adderall.

The last band of the night was The Frozen Gentlemen. I call them the house band cause they have played at Kilkenny like 5 times since June and never disappoint. These guys are like Infectious Groovestimes 10. Suddenly it was like I was at a Bon Jovi concert or something people were clapping their hands above their heads like crazy old ladies. “Streets are Safe” will now always be an ode to Newark and forever imbedded in my head as most of the crowd sang along to those lines. Ya know the streets are safe all along Halsey so I guess I should sing along too. Thursday night was just another example of why I love this city and am glad I live here.