Part One: Acoustics.

On Monday I had the privilege and pleasure of being in The Zone studios for some interviews and exclusive acoustic performances to take some pictures.

First off I was greeted by my Doppelganger, Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra. No neither of us died because we met each other although I was a little star struck. It doesn’t happen often but when it does I’m pretty much a blushing teenage girl. There is something that always amazes me about the musicians who I get all flustered being around because I respect so much, and that is how they are nice regular people. I almost always expect them to be complete dicks just because you know they are famous. Andy Hull and Chris Freeman were amazingly nice, polite, and interesting guys.

For the last couple years I’ve been really into Manchester Orchestra it all started when I heard “Sleeper 1972” on someone’s blog. I fell in love right away. The song was really sad, but it meant something. Immediately after I listened to the song I bought the album “Like a Virgin Losing a Child” on itunes, and would later (that week) track down a physical copy.

During the interview Andy Hull admitted to Sara P that he liked Matt Good and right then and there everyone there knew Andy and I were separated at birth. They then played their single “I’ve got friends” acoustically giving me an even bigger respect for their talents. After Manchester Orchestra left Sara came up to Russ (engineer for the station) and I to comment on Andy “having perfect pitch.”

Shortly after the Manchester Orchestra interview Cage the Elephant stopped by for an interview with Jeremy Baker. Now I have to admit before this interview I wasn’t the hugest fan of their music despite efforts from friends to get me to listen to their album. I pigeon holed the band because I didn’t like the single “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.”

Matt Schultz, his brother Brad, and Lincoln Parish are some of the nicest fellas I’ve ever met from Kentucky (in fact they are the only people I’ve met from Kentucky). With that said they were really laid back and quite interesting too. They launched into the single the Zone plays “Ain’t no Rest for the Wicked,” and they also played their new American single “Back against the Wall” (which you can hear live on Jeremy’s CRC podcast). After hearing those two songs performed acoustically and later that night seeing them bring down the house at the Royal it was enough to make me a fan.

After the interview Matt, Brad, and Lincoln made a point of coming around the room and shaking everyone’s hands and introducing themselves. To me that shows incredible character. I’m now a proud owner of their self titled debut album.

The main even of the afternoon was yet to come and was the real treat. Silversun Pickups playing an exclusive acoustic set for Zone contest winners.

The crowd of no more then 60 listeners fell to silent as Brian Aubert and Nikki Monninger came on stage and picked up their instruments. After doing a short interview with Jeremy they launched into “Growing Old is Getting Old” off their newest album ‘Swoon.’ As soon as the song was finished the crowd burst into cheers and clapping.

One thing I’ve noticed about the Silversun Pickups is that they always look like they are genuinely happy to be playing. That is something you don’t see often if ever with a fulltime touring band.

Silversun Pickups played their big singles “Lazy Eye” and “Panic Switch.” The real treat was after the broadcast when they played one more song just for the audience. My favourite song by them and likewise for many people I know “Well Thought out Twinkles.” And even after that Brian and Nikki stayed for photos and autographs for everyone who came out to the acoustic performance. Some people say this acoustic performance was even better then their concert that night.

These three bands are a shining example of the way musicians and the music industry should be going. These bands are made up of people who genuinely care what their fans have to say and think. They are doing something right and we should all take note and hope for more bands like Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra, and Silversun Pickups.