Colour Revolt
Live Review: Colour Revolt, Turbo Fruits, August 20, 2010, The Earl, Atlanta
By: Denton Poteet
Former Fat Possum labelmates Colour Revolt and Turbo Fruits don’t seem like the most natural tourmates. The former plays with cool precision, while the latter wallows around in the dirtier side of rock music. They’re currently out on the road together, though, on a tour that took them through The Earl, in Atlanta, this past Friday night, August 20, 2010.
Nashville’s Turbo Fruits opened, burning through 45 minutes of their punky stoner-blues in front of a Tennessee flag. The band came to life as the side project of Be Your Own Pet guitarist Jonas Stein, but it became his full-time gig once BYOP called it quits.
They mean business, too.
The banter between songs may have seemed mush-mouthed and chemically altered (an impression that’s only reinforced by lyrics like “an eruption of THC”), but the songs were dead on. The style may be loose, but these four guys have chemistry. They tour all the time, and it shows.
Unfortunately, the crowd was polite but subdued, with most people keeping their distance even after Stein encouraged everyone to fill in the large, empty space in front of the stage.
The crowd had no problem moving in close for Colour Revolt, however. It might not have been the largest crowd The Earl has ever seen, but those that turned up where clearly excited to be there.
The band played on a stage that was primarily illuminated by a handful of thrift store lamps with exposed bulbs. Their one hour and 15 minute set leaned heavily on the recently released The Cradle, with album standouts “8 Years” and “She Don’t Talk” as highlights.
What’s even more obvious live than on record is that Colour Revolt are a 2 Guitar Band in the tradition of great 2 Guitar Bands like Fugazi, Television, and any band featuring the Reis/Froberg combo. The most interesting about their music is the interplay between bandleaders and guitarists Jesse Coppenbarger and Sean Kirkpatrick. They’re even better live, where the guitars are nervier and more immediate (The Cradle has many strengths, but it can occasionally sound a bit too slick).
It’s been a rough couple of years for Colour Revolt, with line-up changes – and a break from Fat Possum – nearly derailing their career. But they don’t look any worse for the wear. They’ve just put out the best recorded material of their career, and their stage show is focused and engaging.
It looks like they’re going to be alright.
Editor’s Note: Denton Poeteet is the also the author of Little Advances. You can follow him on Twitter @littleadvances.
[...] Colour Revolt: live review and video I covered this past weekend’s Colour Revolt/Turbo Fruits show at The Earl for Dead Journalist. You can read that review here. [...]
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