Fans who found their way to Raleigh's Lincoln Theater for Acoustic Syndicate's unofficially annual Thanksgiving show may have been surprised at what they heard – that depends on their recent history seeing the band. Acoustic Syndicate continues to move forward with alarming insistence, not exactly shunning their previous existence but at least regarding it from afar. They drew a nice crowd of holiday weekenders and longtime fans together for a traditional gathering on one of the coldest nights of the season, but the show was far from nostalgic.
Armed with an album’s worth of new material for the first time in nearly a decade, Acoustic Syndicate returned to Carrboro, NC’s Cat’s Cradle for a Saturday night show that turned out to be a showcase for new songs instead of the usual barrage of crowd favorites. The McMurry clan (Steve, Bryon, and Fitz), along with bassist Jay Sanders and Billy Cardine on dobro, are newly committed to making music again, and it’s invigorating for the band and their fans to hear freshly minted songs emanating from the stage.
In 2011, it seems that Acoustic Syndicate is really and truly back, at least in a regional sense, with bassist Jay Sanders fully on board, several tour dates in the southeast, and their first new batch of songs since 2004.
[Originally Published: October 6, 2009]
Baba O’Riley is the first track on the 1971 album Who’s Next by legendary British rockers The Who. Did you know that the song’s title is a reference to both Meher Baba and Terry Riley? I did not until today.
I don’t know about you, but when writing this I kept having memories of a scene in Freaks and Geeks when Seth Rogen’s character scolds Lindsay Weir for referring to this song as Teenage Wasteland. I would wager a number of our readers have had a similar experience.
The Contestants:
Acoustic Syndicate: Leading off this week is this great band formed in 1992 from North Carolina. They disappeared for a little while, but Acoustic Syndicate is back and have two shows scheduled in NC the weekend of Thanksgiving. Source: 5-29-2005
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/acousticbaba.mp3]Video from Asheville 2007:
READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…
