While half of Indianapolis was busy getting drunk on the lawn to the mellow tunes of Dave Matthews and his band at Verizon, a small group of individuals seeking something harder gathered downtown in the ominous shadows of Madison and Palmer streets. The Vollrath, Indy’s newfound hot spot for an eclectic selection of live music throughout the week, was nowhere near capacity, but hosted a strong crowd nonetheless.

Ohio natives Two Cow Garage are the epitome of Midwestern rock’n’roll. Their music is steeped in the classic rock with which the region is saturated, frequently producing powerful sounds reminiscent of 80’s hair bands. Skewed slightly by a touch of southern flavor and rounded out by subtle nods to punk rock, the band offers a musically satisfying and high energy live show.

Two Cow Garage is currently on tour in support of their fourth album, Speaking in Cursive, but couldn’t resist showcasing a few of their best works from the band’s previous release, III. “Great Gravitron Massacre” engaged the audience with its easily singable “nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nahhh-nahhhh” chorus. “Should’ve California” slows things down to muse over discontent with past decisions made (“I should’ve been smarter. I should’ve been stronger. I should’ve been you.”). The live version intensified the emotion of the song with extreme crescendos to a near-a cappella extended rendition from guitarist and lead vocalist Micah Schnabel. And “Come Back To Shelby”, with its walking baseline, dance-worthy guitar melodies, and quickly recognizable chorus, is a crowd pleaser no Two Cow concert would be complete without.

Instead of merely transitioning from one song to the next, the band took advantage of a small crowd and talked amongst themselves and to the audience, telling stories and sharing background information about the songs they sang.

“What’re you doing?” bassist Shane Sweeney asked as Schnabel reorganized his side of the stage. “Putting up [opening act Austin] Lucas’ really expensive guitar,” he answered and then looked to the crowd and confessed, “We’re known for breaking shit.” The disclaimer held true as they entered the next song, fully utilizing the stage on which they performed. Schnabel hopped with fury from behind the drummer straight into the audience, stopping in between to show off his eye-catching skinny jeans amidst a guitar shredding rock star stance. Sweeney, bearing arms full of symbolic tattoos, got rowdy too. After accidentally running into the mic stand, which by way of the domino effect knocked over his drink, he sheepishly attempted to fix the mess at the song’s conclusion. The crowd didn’t mind; no use crying over spilled beer.

Drummer Cody Smith gave clue to musical inspiration by his apparel: a black, sleeveless Iron Maiden t-shirt. His style is rugged and durable, continuously pounding out rhythm with a tight grip on his sticks. Perhaps an unconscious aid to concentration, Smith’s tongue hung from his mouth for nearly all of their set, an awesome accompaniment to his wide open eyes and frequent smile. Instead of a distraction, however, the quirky habit came to be reassurance that he was tuned in and having just as much fun as the rest of us.

Rivaling one of Verizon Wireless’ biggest events of the summer at a small bar in the hood of southern downtown is a difficult challenge to undertake. Still, Two Cow Garage, practically infants in the ever-growing music industry, are well on their way to bigger and better things. One dedicated fan had driven from Terre Haute just to see them play, claiming he’d been waiting years for them to schedule a show he could attend. Though the room was sparsely populated, the band performed with astounding vigor and strength, wanting to give those in attendance something to carry home and talk about. As Two Cow proved that night, standing within feet of the performers, making direct eye contact, engaging in conversation, and being at the true heart of the performance is something you just can’t experience at an amphitheater.

Two Cow Garage

At the fault of no one but their own pitiful selves, the crowd lacked personality and friendliness. A little girl in a purple tank top tapped me on the shoulder and defied, in her snottiest voice, “Oh cool! You stole my spot!” as she nudged me out of the mass and into the aisle way. Countless couples were in attendance, apparently for the pleasure of public groping instead of live music. Perhaps most frustrating is that the whole audience knew the music and they knew it well, evident by the mass sing-alongs that transpired during much of the concert. But, with the exception of Cursive’s most rowdy songs, the energy was low and the fans appeared to be exactly opposite of just that.

Musically, Cursive is an acquired taste. Lead singer/guitarist Tim Kasher is their unique identifier, with a vocal range as wide as the color spectrum. His style is comparable to Modest Mouse and Ugly Casanova leader Isaac Brock, laced with slight Dr. Dog inspiration. As his songs disintegrate into wails that splinter and shriek like an adolescent in puberty, one of two things happen to the listener: instant discredit as a result of talentless vocal training or immediate memorization through the beautiful, other-worldly sounds created by a single soul. We all chose the latter.

The entire band gives it their all, though, and aids equally in the crude, vigorous sound. The leopard print carpet covering the stage where bassist Matt Maginn and guitarist Ted Stevens stood could only have been saturated in sweat at the show’s conclusion.

They’re not all fast tempo and yelling, however; Cursive also has a delicate, tranquil side. Most notable of these moments was the closing number prior to the encore set, What Have I Done from their latest album, Mama, I’m Swollen. What began as a seemingly standard song precipitously morphed into something unexpectedly grand. Riding the fence between spoken word and song, in What Have I Done Kasher reflects on life’s accomplishments both from the past and future. The song begins with heavy emphasis on lyrics (“So is this my destiny? From starlight into eternity, the gods must be laughing down at me.”) and light musical background. As it progresses, however, Kasher’s vocals are backed first by a steady bass line and percussion beat, then by building layer after layer of stately sound from the entire band. He rounds out the song wailing, rather than singing, in that sweet, beautiful voice of his.

The encore set was long, almost a mini-concert in itself, leaving one in awe of Cursive’s intensity and endurance. Again, the audience was presented with an equal mix of up-beat tunes and mellow rock. A tired and perspiring crowd clapped with gratitude and patted the band on the back as they exited the stage, closing the best Monday that most of us had experienced in a long, long time.

Cursive @ Radio Radio
http://www.cursivearmy.com

July 27th, 2009
Indianapolis, Indiana

(All Photos By Gary Mead)