Looking for a little southern comfort to keep you warm now that it's chilly out? Search no further than the Virginia Coalition concert this Friday in Morrell Lounge.
Any Virginian worth their salt (and there are so many of them at Bowdoin, right?) listens to VACO, and all the cool kids from the D.C. area caught on after the release of its second album, Townburg. VACO is now promoting their recently released fourth album, OK to Go, but expect plenty of old favorites from its previous albums Townburg, Rock and Roll Party, and The Colors of the Sound.
Virginia Coalition is a great band, and it puts on without a doubt the best live show of any band I know. Here's a sample lyric: "So it's one if you're certain, two if you just ain't clear, we came to get down 365 days a year."
Its music combines southern rock with folk, jazz, blues, and gogo, much in the same vein as other great Virginia and DC Area bands like the Pat McGee Band, Georgia Avenue, The Low Life, Jack's House, and Eddie from Ohio, or, if you haven't heard of any of them, Dave Matthews.
Not knowing the words to any of the songs isn't a problem either, since Virginia Coalition also does a lot of sweet eighties covers to sing along to, almost always featuring a rendition of Toto's "Africa." Although some of its best songs, like my personal favorite, "Nicole's Song," are slow songs, it usually refrain from playing them at their concerts, which keeps the vibe upbeat and the crowd moving.
So whether you are an old time VACO fan like me, or are just hearing about it now, as clichéd as it sounds, this really is a small band with a lot of heart, and it is definitely worth checking out before it gets even bigger.