Cold Water Music: Old Time Relijun @ the Echo August 30, 2007

I will admit to occasionally listening to some far away, hillbilly Appalachian music. Bluegrass or whatever. But it's weird to consider it joining forces with another form of music so polar opposite from it, like indie rock. Oh, and sounding good. Real good. Or maybe it's just that the front-man of Old Time Relijun, Arrington de Dionyso, looks as if maybe he crawled his way out of some backwater village out in the Ozarks. Regardless, it was another hot night over at the Echo August 30, and also marked the start of a much needed vacation for myself.

Let's just say that in the summertime, smoker or not, taking a break on the smoking patio out back is almost a necessity when you can only allow yourself shallow breaths inside. That said, we showed up as close to the start time of OTR as possible, however we always get bored waiting and end up at the Echo earlier than planned. Also, tonight there was a butt load of bands playing beforehand (Jail Weddings, the Holy Kiss, Woman, and Jeremy Jay).

Deciding to hit the merch table before OTR played, we were able to catch Jail Weddings. First, they're all kinda entertaining to watch, what with the gazillion people on stage (okay, 8 I believe). Their music is a mix between garage, doo-wop and that 60's bad girl music I so adore and have an ever-growing collection of 45's from. They were fun however it got too stuffy so we went outside. IF it had been a bit more accommodating then maybe we would have stuck around for the whole set. (Yes, I know by this point I must seem like some kind of high maintenance type that is easily annoyed by heat... and smells. But I'm not that bad.)

Taking the stage, this four piece seems to have an aura of something slightly odd about them. They seem dressed up in suits or dress shirts, but slightly frayed around the edges, like a worn disguise. And then before you realize it, de Dionyso is down to his undershorts and starts howling, eyes bulging out at you. It's a bit scary if you're not expecting it; but we were and found it delightful. Launching into the set, pounding drums and a haunting sax, lyrics seems to be torn from throats while Aaron Hartman makes frantic love to his stand up bass. It's part spectacle, part tribal dance. Getting lost in the music I forget the set, however they did play a number of tracks off their new, soon-to-be released album "Catharsis in Crisis" on K Records. And they did a crazy fast version of "Cold Water" and yet still made it last for what seemed 10 minutes. That maybe have been the highlight of the show, screaming the refrain back at the band. It was an amazingly good show, one I've enjoyed the most as of late. And yet the place cleared out towards the end. Too bad, ya'll missed a good one.