Having a nationally-known headliner can help any local band grab attention, but sometimes things do not work out as planned.
Such is the case with this Friday's show at the Duke Coffeehouse. Originally the finale for the Troika Music Festival, the show was cancelled due to booking complications with national bands.
In organizing the festival this year, the volunteer who roped Les Savy Fav had to drop out of organizing to tend to a family crisis. When the remaining volunteers were going over the show with the band's booking agent, they realized they did not have enough money to secure a performance.
"We tried to negotiate. and the booking agent was not too happy with that and backed out," said Zeno Gill, one of Troika's organizers. "We don't know whose decision it was. It was probably a mutual decision between the band and the booking agent."
After Les Savy Fav and L.A.-based Boy/Girl dropped out, however, Troika followed suit leaving local bands Veronique Diabolique, Cantwell, Gomez and Jordan and Des Ark without backing for their show.
Despite this setback, and the loss of the Troika label, Veronique Diabolique bassist Carl Weisner contacted the other Triangle artists to see if they were still interested in performing.
"We had the time blocked out and just said, 'Hey, [we'd] still like to do it,'" Weisner said.
After contacting the Coffeehouse, Veronique Diabolique, Cantwell, Gomez and Jordan and Des Ark signed on again for the show and added Polynya, another Triangle-based act, to the bill.
This focus on the local music scene is actually in line with the festival's roots. Back in 2002, the Durham Music Festival was a small, one-day event in downtown Durham celebrating the city's music scene. The festival then grew to encompass the entire Triangle. Since then, it has developed into a full-fledged event, encompassing multiple days and venues, with the Duke Coffeehouse being one of the primary sites.
While the festival has kept a local focus and retained its non-profit status, organizers have added the draw of national acts over the past four years. This year's acts included David Bazan of Pedro the Lion, Phosphorescent and Bellafea. A finale show with Les Savy Fav would have rounded out this festival's emphasis on national bands.
Now that the final show is again centered on Triangle artists, however, students may find it more accessible. The show, which originally cost $20, has now dropped to $5 and is free to all Duke students with an ID.
"We made it free for Duke students just because we can," Weisner said.
Of the bands in the show, Veronique Diabolique might stand out as the most eclectic. The band developed in 2004 as the result of a group of friends wanting to play a costumed Halloween show together.
"We were relatively unknown, and [costuming] was a way to make ourselves interesting, at least at first," Weisner said. "It stuck because we weren't really sure how to get out of it."
Since 2004, the band has hatched an elaborate, fictitious story explaining their French Gothic costumes and names. While the costuming is one of the bands more noticeable qualities, they are still focused on the music.
"It's nice to add a little bit in every way you can," Weisner said of the costumes. "I like to think the music's okay. It's fun for us, and I hope it's fun for people who come to see us."
The rest of the bands will offer something different.
Polynya, for example, will present a more electro-indie sound to the Coffeehouse audience, while Cantwell, Gomez and Jordan will meet Des Ark's Aimee Argote in a battle of the bands-flavored face-off.
Unifying all these artists, though, will be the essence of the local scene. Polynya's Pat Johnson said that the Triangle area, with a diverse group of music fans and several college radio stations, has been extremely beneficial.
"It's rare to find an area with three good college stations," he said. "There's a fairly large support network. I can't say anything bad about [the scene] at all. It's quite remarkable."
Weisner promises that in spite of the absence of Les Savy Fav and Boy/Girl, the show will still entertain.
"It's a great show. It's a good lineup," he said. "We're sort of sad it's not a part of Troika, but underneath it there's still sort of that spirit of local music. It's nice that we still get to do it."
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