AVLFest 2024: Day 2 (Part One)

Lavender Blue (Photo by Micah Rogers)

2pm @ Asheville Music Hall — Lavender Blue

Lavender Blue showcased obvious talent and creative songwriting as they performed standards such as "Craggy" along with many new songs from their upcoming album. —Micah Rogers

2pm @ French Broad River Brewery — Boat Command

I should have commissioned my own vessel to attend Boat Command’s Friday-opening set at the French Broad River Brewery — the sky had opened up in a midsummer thunderstorm, leaving the venue’s parking lot a low-level lake. Once I got inside, however, the Asheville four-piece calmed my nerves with a set of laid-back instrumental tracks (including a hilariously downtempo arrangement of “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” by dubstep legend Skrillex). The band’s Facebook page bills its genre as “post-lofi yacht hop,” and that seems accurate; it’s the kind of music you can imagine popping up on a five-hour YouTube playlist of tunes to study and chill by. Lots of guitar reverb, steady drumming, and fuzzy synth tones embraced the relaxed afternoon vibe. —Daniel Walton

2pm @ Fleetwood’s — Rond

There are few things that feel more right than Rond playing Asheville’s one and only Rock’ n Roll Wedding Chapel, the pitch-perfect perch for the local band's brand of rousing and sometimes raunchy punk folk parables. As I wrote in my review of last year’s fest, Rod Murphy and his fellow Rondmates play spirited indie rock songs that sound on the surface like they should be loudly sung in a pub somewhere — and they should be, just as long as you know the lyrics are likely making fun of some of the clientele.

Yes, Rond played their fest set here last year, another Friday afternoon show. Just like they played their annual holiday show here last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, when it may not been been to best idea to gather as a group in the season of COVID surges, so the black-coffin hand stamps that we all got (a signature set piece inside Fleetwood’s) could have felt foreboding, but somehow just felt right.

Running through the rain to get to their 2024 batten-down-the-hatches, hot-and-humid set for a bunch of humans felt right, as muggy and messy is part of Rond’s appeal. But so is strong songwriting and accomplished musical accompaniment. It felt right to see the smiles on the faces of first-time attendees as they couldn’t believe this band was playing singalongable songs about Richard Simmons and Daniel Day-Lewis. And the equal surprise that a song entitled “Big Cock Club” would open with a sweet trumpet preamble (from one-man horn section Forest Tate) that you might encounter on a less penis-specific Cake tune. Every Rond show should be at Fleetwood’s. Every Fleetwood’s show should be Rond. So it is written, so let it be done. —Tom Chalmers

Buddahgraph Spaceship (Photo by Daniel Walton)

3pm @ French Broad River Brewery — Buddahgraph Spaceship

The rain slightly delayed the blastoff of Asheville jam project Buddahgraph Spaceship, but the sky cleared for them to take the outdoor French Broad River Brewery stage. Their approach to soloing was a bit too noodly for my tastes, but I appreciated the funky percussion/drum interplay that propelled everything along. (Also, a wag of the finger to French Broad for spiking beer prices to $8 for AVLFest. I know you’ve got a captive audience, but come on — that’s the highest I saw all festival, and I know y’all do $4 pint nights on Mondays.) —DW

AC Newman, left, and Jay Moye (Photo by Jonny Leather)

3pm @ Citizen Vinyl — Liner Notes ft. AC Newman

Our very own Jay Moye conducted a fascinating conversation with The New Pornographers frontman, spanning the band’s career as well as the artist’s solo projects. Fellow colleague Jonny Leather and I felt honored to be in such close proximity to insightful dialogue of this level, and hope that weekend festivalgoers make it out to upcoming installments with Dylan LeBlanc, Scott McMicken, and more. —Edwin Arnaudin

Billingsley (Photo by Heather Taylor)

3:30pm @ New Belgium Brewing — Billingsley

Billingsley noted that they landed the AVLFest gig for their killer covers, including The Romantics’ "What I Like About You" and Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” but it was their originals and tight harmonies that truly stole the show. The three-piece pulled the crowd in with bass-heavy grooves and rock-solid guitar solos, creating the perfect Friday afternoon escape by the French Broad River. —Heather Taylor

Viv & Riley (Photo by Micah Rogers)

5pm @ Wortham Center for the Performing Arts — Viv & Riley

The Durham-based folk duo played a beautiful setlist in front of a rapt audience. Soaring harmonies, complex melodies, and a mastery of many acoustic instruments were all part of this duo's beautiful performance. Comparisons to folk stars Watchhouse are founded; this is a group to watch and was a treat to have as a part of AVLFest. —MR

We Have Ignition (Photo by Jonny Leather)

5pm @ Eulogy — We Have Ignition

It was my intention to catch the end of The Beard Cult's 3:30pm set, but by the time I stepped foot into Eulogy at 4:15pm, the band had just finished. This left me in the unfortunate position of having 45 minutes to kill before We Have Ignition would take the stage. I looked at the festival schedule and, to my dismay, there were no acts set to play within that spacious gap of time. This is my biggest criticism of this year's AVL Fest: With set times across almost all venues perfectly synced up, the breaks between performances also coincide, and can be rather extended.

So, I took a seat and waited in the cool dark room amongst a handful of others likely in the same predicament. The better part of an hour is an exhaustingly long time to mill around, just to catch a band you're mildly interested in catching. It's not We Have Ignition's fault. They were set up and ready to play. The local trio did eventually get to showcase its heavy, psychedelic surf sound, albeit to a sparse crowd. —Jonny Leather

The Old Futures (Photo by Heather Taylor)

5pm @ New Belgium Brewing — The Old Futures

With solid vocals, tight guitar solos, and a set that kept the crowd hooked, The Old Futures held down the stage with their positive yet laid back vibe. Delivering originals that held their own alongside a reimagined cover of Trogg's “Wild Thing” and a faithful rendition of Modest Mouse’s "Float On" endeared the audience to this solid local band. —HT

Sensational Barnes Brothers (Photo by Jonny Leather)

5pm @ The Orange Peel — Sensational Barnes Brothers

It's a good feeling when you walk into a room and immediately hear someone on stage nailing an Otis Redding cover. No. Redding's original version of "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" can never be topped, and his live performances are beyond legendary, but the two brothers from the soul capital of Memphis and their tight backing band had the crowd at The Orange Peel grooving. The heartfelt cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" was icing on the cake. —JL

Chill Paxton (Photo by Micah Rogers)

6:30pm @ New Belgium Brewing — Chill Paxton

Chill Paxton brought good vibes and a fun, funky sound to New Belgium's beer garden in the early evening. —MR

Gyasi (Photo by Jonny Leather)

Gyasi (Photo by Justin Bowman)

6:30pm @ The Orange Peel — Gyasi

AVL Fest is pretty overloaded with Americana — a genre of music that's generally not associated with thrilling live performances — so I came to The Orange Peel with high hopes that this glam rock quartet out of Nashville would counter all of the tamer acts of the festival with an over the top spectacle. They hit the stage with a confident presence and a sound faithful to ghosts of glam's past, but never quite achieved the unadulterated grandeur of Slade, Hanoi Rocks, or more modern progenitors The Darkness. —JL

Ska City (Photo by Heather Burditt)

Ska City (Photo by Justin Bowman)

6:30pm @ Eulogy — Ska City

By the time I returned to the previously empty Eulogy, the local nine-piece ska outfit was well into its set, and the venue was densely packed. Perhaps all of the diehard Reel Big Fish fans from the '90s ska revival have just been hiding in shame for all of these years — I know I was. Naturally the audience was elated when the band broke out its own cover of A-ha's "Take On Me" — a song which RBF covered for the soundtrack of the film BASEketball. Try as we might to move on from ska, it will keep popping up and reminding us that it's pretty damn fun. —JL

(Sensational Barnes Brothers photo by Jonny Leather)