OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR WIFE #2: Mini-Scene Report / A Week in Live Music (Wilmington, NC)

A few thoughts on the Wilmington scene

One of the twofold blessings and curses of growing up in Brooklyn was how my hometown spoiled me in terms of live music. Not only were new local acts constantly popping up, but I got used to being sure that my favorite bands would stop in my city when they toured. Since moving down to Wilmington, North Carolina for grad school last summer, I’ve learned that touring bands don’t really come here. And understandably so– it makes more sense to hit the North Carolinian cities like Asheville, Raleigh, and Carrboro, which are all much further inland and have more mid-size venues that can accommodate indie rock acts looking to break even in an economic landscape where touring is increasingly high-risk and low-reward.

Wilmington– one of the state’s southeasternmost cities –is pretty far out of the way of most tour routes through the South, and despite technically being a college town, the average band’s reach is much broader in the Triangle. Of course there are some exceptions: Back in August I was lucky enough to catch the release show for the last Mountain Goats album with MJ Lenderman opening in a historic church-turned-venue downtown, Boygenius and Bartees Strange are slated to play the Live Oak Bank Pavilion this summer (unfortunately I’ll be out of town). Generally speaking though, tour stops in Wilmington are few and far between. 

In order to make up for the lack of out-of-town acts, I’ve made a point to keep up with Wilmington’s small but vibrant local scene, the heart of which is The Place. Admittedly, the name sucks (“I’m going to a show at The Place tonight.” “Where?” “The Place.” “What Place?” “The Place!” and so on) but it’s become a hub for DIY music in downtown Wilmington. The 18+ venue housed in the back of Bottles Wine + Beer features a regular rotation of Wilmington bands with plenty of potential for mixed-genre bills. 

Last Saturday, my boyfriend and I arrived at The Place in time to catch the latter half of a set from Huggin’ Molly, a guitar band that played jazzy lo-fi covers of disco hits, which got the crowd of mostly college students and recent grads energized for the night. Following them were the noisy, rollicking scuzz-punks, Narah, the de facto bad boys of the Wilmington scene. However, the moshing didn’t really start until headliners Ridgewood hit the stage. Ridgewood are maybe my favorite Wilmington band, with their concise, shreddy pop-punk that doesn’t take itself too seriously— think 2010s Tumblrcore emo, somewhere between Joyce Manor and FIDLAR. I’ve really been loving their 2022 album I’m Glad We’re Doing This, as well as the singles they’ve dropped over the past couple months. I’m Glad We’re Doing This feels like the last day of school, and it’s a welcome addition to the NC Dirtbag Rock canon (still a work in progress, recommendations appreciated). Their set was the perfect way to close out the night, with fan favorites like “End of the Year Bash” and Calm and Collected,” as well as a surprise cover of Turnstile’s “Real Thing.” Just front-to-back crowd-pleasers.

The following weekend was a welcome exception to the “no out-of-town bands” pattern; I got to catch a late night set from Richmond emogaze legends Downhaul at Reggie’s on 42nd, a welcome consolation after I’d spent most of the evening getting my ass handed to me at both the dartboard and the Family Guy-themed pinball machine in Reggie’s rec room. The only other show I’ve been to at Reggie’s was last fall when I watched a Neutral Milk Hotel cover band play a Halloween show, and as of this weekend, my Reggie’s live show experiences are 2 for 2 rippers. The riffs of Downhaul’s 2021 record, PROOF, were even heavier and more invigorating live, as were the power chords of “The Riverboat,” one of my favorite singles of 2023 so far. Frontman Gordon Phillips announced that the third- and second-to-last songs in the setlist were “for the haters and for the lovers” respectively. When he took an audience vote afterwards, asking which they preferred, the haters won by an overwhelming margin (in a rare moment of earnestness, my allegiance was with the song for the lovers, I guess that’s the price I pay for letting love into my heart). 

I opened my review of Wednesday’s instant classic Rat Saw God over at The Alternative (how’s that for a smooth segue into the self-promo portion of the newsletter?) by touching my personal associations between the North Carolina band’s discography and my own process of settling into my new surroundings. I feel lucky to be living in a state with such exciting music scenes, from Asheville to Wilmington and everywhere in between (if you’re not already following the output of Charlotte indie label Acrobat Unstable, you should change that immediately). My new and growing love for North Carolina is almost inextricable from my love for the many sounds of the state, and I can’t wait to hear more. 

Wanna to hear EVEN MORE rambling about Wednesday, Boygenius, and— to borrow a catchphrase from my esteemed hosts —where those things intersect? I had the pleasure of talking to the Endless Scroll gang for their most recent episode. I’ve long been a fan of their show and it was so much fun to join them (if only for the chance to wax philosophical on the Hold Steady-Mountain Goats-Dillinger Four Holy Trinity, attempt to manifest a new Hard Girls record, and learn the ways of the incomparable Duke Deuce). Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and give them a like/follow/review!