Manchester Orchestra/Thrice
The Tallest Man on Earth/NursesIn his role as The Tallest Man on Earth, Kristian Matsson is Sweden’s leading fluid folksy guitarist. There’s no telling why he tries to pass as a Southern yokel. The new Wild Hunt isn’t the work of a new Dylan, but the album will certainly bring back memories to Dylan fans who sat through plenty of lousy ramblings while hoping for their hero’s comeback.
Nurses wander a different tired territory with Apple’s Acre, where they ape an artsy grandeur that sounds like a reunited Guided by Voices. Hopefully, Robert Pollard will hear them and realize why it’s a lousy idea to reunite Guided By Voices. (Thursday, April 29, Bottletree.)
MegafaunLast year’s Gather, From and Fly began much like Megafaun’s debut album. Patient listeners endured some backwoods fragility while hoping that the North Carolina act would finally do something interesting with their soulful gospel influences. In a slightly related development, Megafaun abruptly became a woodsy rock band on the third song. They even kept up the newfound enthusiasm—with some inspired pop touches—to the end. That’s what happens when folkies get tired of writing variations on “Rocky Raccoon.” It’s like 1972 all over again. (Friday, April 30, Bottletree.)
Alice in Chains/Akon/Seether/Theory of a Deadman/FuelWith the demise of City Stages, the Schaeffer Crawfish Boil now takes on the sole burden of providing weird musical mixes for a Birmingham outdoor music fest. This first night has only one true aberration, though. The evening starts with a collection of aging alt-rockers struggling to survive in an era where radio stations have ditched the “X” in their station ID. Fuel kicks things off at 5 p.m., and their mildly thrashing rock has remained the same since their brief flurry of hits—and that awkward flirtation with Chris Daughtry before ending up with new vocalist Toryn Green.
Theory of a Deadman shows up at 6 p.m. without hipster history or “American Idol” baggage. They just keep writing catchy, overblown rock that confirms (or damns) them as the intellectual Nickelback. Seether offers sort of the same at 7:15, although the veteran band—having taken a tortuous route from South Africa to L.A.—seems more triumphant with their heavy rock. They have ditched their irritating dark underpinnings and now sound freed from fashionable touches.
A lot of people will consider Akon to be a token rap act, but he’s moved way beyond his early thug antics. That’s not too surprising from a guy who started his career sampling Bobby Vinton. The busy producer has restyled himself into a soulful popster who is certainly more innovative than Usher. That makes for a fairly smooth transition to the 10 p.m. show by headliners Alice in Chains. The quiet comeback of last year’s Black Gives Way to Blue was pretty much proof that the misfit Seattle outfit was always a heavy metal act. The new band sounds like aging classic rockers indulging in solid blues and decent balladry. You also have a sober frontman with new vocalist William DuVall, and a chance to finally hear their older songs performed in tune. (Friday, April 30, Schaeffer Crawfish Boil.)
Goo Goo Dolls/Train/B-52s/Jay Sean/Jason Derulo/The Rocket SummerThe second night of the Schaeffer Crawfish Boil is a weird slapdash event. You get reliable headliners, though, with Goo Goo Dolls at 10 p.m. playing perfectly bathetic rock that appeals to romantics and won’t offend rockers. Train is a lot more interesting at 8:10, having slowly charted a strange path since the heady heyday of 2001′s Drops of Jupiter—which was only their second album after forming in 1994. Back then, the San Francisco act was a weird mix of sensitive songwriting and jam-band instrumentation. Today, with last year’s Save Me, San Francisco being only their fifth album, Train uses their jam tendencies to sound fetchingly rootsy while marrying mainstream country music with hard rock vocals.