The second part of our Antiwarpt wrap-up breaks it down — what we saw, what we missed, what you missed by not being there... If you did
FRIDAY, JULY 29: Antiwarpt Pre-Party at the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club
- Phil Bardi
- The Living Arches
Neither oppressive heat nor feasting mosquitoes nor sticky standing breeze-free air kept Bay area folks away from the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club last Friday night for the free Antiwarpt Pre-Party, which drew more than 400 people out to push discs with sticks and bob heads to some live music by quality local(ish) talent.
We arrived to the sounds of Living Arches, a duo featuring Jensen Kistler (Florida Night Heat) and Micheal Hooker (formerly of Dear Old Liar) who produce unadorned (guitar and light keys) anti-folk with pop charming tendencies, the centerpiece of the songwriting their lovely, winding boy-girl vocal harmonies.
BAAMO hosted a cash bar inside the AC-free clubhouse (where I ran into Bryan Childs of ninebullets.net as he was just getting off his very long shift), Taste Junction hawked burgers, tacos and pork sammies outside, and aside from all the sweating, everyone seemed to be in good spirits.
The makeshift stage was set up and spread out over a few shuffleboard decks, and the grandstand that faced it was most full for the last two acts. Greenland Is Melting, a trio from Gainesville, brought their energetic newgrass jams and had feet stomping and hands clapping. Tampa Southern shoegaze/alt roots outfit Sleepy Vikings stripped-down to a mostly acoustic set-up and performed tracks off their new debut LP, They Will Find You Here, that prompted dancing by a few seriously adorable kids. Both were between 8 and 10 years old — one, a boy in Chuck Taylors, was busting moves like Michael Jackson while a few decks down, a little girl was twirling and prancing and generally showing off in her little pink skirt.
Overall, a success that even the kids could get behind. [More after the jump.] —LP
