Wow. This show was a freaking roller coaster. I heard some awesome music, and I heard some… well, not so awesome music. As I walked into the completely empty Orpheum on Friday night, I was greeted by the cold blow of the air conditioning and that's about it. I waited around for a good 20 minutes before the first act finally took the stage.

Nick Shanahan kicked off the show with some acoustic rock that felt a little bit country. His vocals were grungy and harsh and reminiscent of the late Johnny Cash. But as the set progressed, his sarcasm started to get to me. I couldn't tell if he was a Christian or a sacrilegious asshole. He kept saying things like "Jesus got drunk at the Last Supper" and "Jesus Christo." Not funny. It's okay to have your opinions, but it's not the best way to make fans with talk like that.

Up next was a band from my neck of the woods, Friends of Giants (pictured above), from St. Petersburg (aka. the best city in Florida). As they took the stage (all 5 members), I was taken aback by the amount of instruments that were set up — drums, electric and acoustic guitars, a bass, a keyboard, a tambourine, a fiddle or violin (I can never tell the difference), a banjo, a harmonica, and a freaking xylophone!

This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.