On Jasper Radar -- Upcoming Events at NBT by Emily Moffitt

What’s been lovingly referred to as the “New New Brookland Tavern” by Columbia denizens, (or maybe just me) the freshly relocated Columbia staple New Brookland Tavern in the former Cotton Gin bar has reenergized the nightlife of Five Points and continued to bring communities together. There is a show for everyone there, and with new programming taking place almost every day, there is no shortage of things to do.

On Sunday, July 21, from 6 – 11 p.m., grab a ticket for Daddy Lion, Husband, and Moses & the Wilderness. The concert focuses on celebrating ten years of “introspective indie pop.” It also functions as a touching reunion for Daddy Lion, a dream pop group whose lead singer Jeremy Joseph moved away from Columbia not too long ago. The electro-pop duo Husband consists of resident Jasper Board of Directors member and Managing Director Bekah Rice, along with her husband Adam Corbett. The duo features local sound engineer MIDIMarc in this performance as well. Moses & the Wilderness is the solo project of Moses Andrews III, a live performer and session musician that brings soul and wit to any genre. Tickets for the show are available online for $10 before fees..

Join Mirci at New Brookland Tavern on Wednesday, July 31 for a family-friendly night of comedy, Laugh Therapy, presented by Healthy Laughter. Featuring side-splitting stand-up sets by Comedian Akintunde and "Atlanta's Best Clean Comedian" Joel Byars. Beats courtesy of your DJ & host for the night, Preach Jacobs. Participate in raffles, mental health trivia, and more! Entry is $9.88 to honor the Suicide & Crisis Prevention Lifeline. Proceeds from ticket sales go towards Mirci and supporting their mission. Tickets are available online or at the door.

The New Brookland Tavern adds programming to their schedule weekly. Check out their website for other great events and concerts.           

New Brookland Tavern Welcomes THE WOGGLES and the Release of Their New Album

New Brookland Tavern welcomes The Woggles with special guests, Brandy and the Butcher, to help celebrate the release of their new LP, Time Has Come on June 12th. According to musician and Jam Room director, Jay Matheson, “The Woggles have been one of the best garage rock bands in the US since the mid 90s and put on a stage show that is beyond compare.”

Check out their new single as well as their new LP in its entirety.

According to Matheson, the show will be a 2 band affair with Matheson’s own local Rock and Roll band Brandy and the Butcher opening.

Cover tickets to the show are $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the show.

Doors are at 7:30 with music starting at 8:30.

See you there!

Read more about the Woggles from Jasper Magazine music editor Kevin Oliver here.

ALBUM REVIEW: Decadence - Book of the Redeemed by Kevin Oliver

Decadence

Book Of The Redeemed

Self-released

There comes a time in the shelf life of a heavy rock band when the sum total of its experience and commitment adds up to a career defining moment, whether it’s that hit song that connects with a mass audience, or just an artistic statement that is so clearly above and beyond anything else they’ve done to that point. For Columbia’s Decadence, this new album Book of the Redeemed is the latter–an astounding, bracing listen that reveals more depth and meaning with every page that’s turned. 

The band has been a stalwart presence on the local and regional heavy music scene for a while, and this release was a long time coming–now we know why. Not only is the production and songwriting top notch, singer Scott McGrady’s lyrics are deeply personal. This had to be a difficult set of songs to write and record, not to mention let loose into the world for others to judge if they are worthy or not (They are.). 

Decadence straddles that line between commercial appeal and unapologetic, raw power better than most, and the production on the new songs showcases the intensity of the band’s sound, with stop-start arrangements that drop out completely, then blast back moments later with even more unrestrained fury. Drummer Ben Burris and bassist Ryan Wicker have played together long enough now they move and groove like a single unit, powering the monster riffs that cut through each tune. McGrady has a decent singing voice when the song calls for it, but most of these tracks require his most angst-laden, guttural near-screams. 

The content of the lyrics is as intense as the music, and McGrady has said online that there is an intentional running theme present, related to a friend who dealt with abandonment, pain, and anger, and moving on from that. “Abandonment” relates a story of being placed in foster care, inserting a line out of a childhood prayer to really drive home the innocence lost in the process:

Strangers tuck me in my bed

Shuffled through this castoff’s deck so

Now I lay me down to rest

Left alone through your abandonment

The most furious track is “Take Your Shot,” which addresses that person with a problem that won’t allow anyone to help, or even admit they need help in the first place. It’s like the band pours that frustration directly into the stacked guitar riffs of Dustin Welch, as McGrady sings: 

Tell me how to understand

Why you need to live this way

While I watch you take another shot at what this could have been

The somewhat title cut “Redemption” is the slowest, most melodic one of the bunch. McGrady channels Roger Daltrey of the Who, circa “Behind Blue Eyes,” as he sings the chorus in triumph: 

And now I see

A new dawn rising

I feel redemption

And I’ll leave

It all behind me

Won’t let it blind me

This is the sound of someone, or maybe some band, that’s gone through hell, come out the other side intact, now appreciating but not dwelling on the experience. Sounds a lot like they’ve been redeemed, doesn’t it? 

Decadence releases Book of the Redeemed officially this Saturday, with a release show at New Brookland Tavern that will also feature The Baldwin Massacre, Ozmyridis, and Sorrow Of Silence.