Four friends, two bands, and nine years later, Arcadia Landing is closed for business, according to a statement posted on their MySpace page on July 25:
“It’s been an amazing nine-year run, but there comes a time when people need change and to do something different in their lives. And there are certain opportunities you just can’t pass up even if it means you have to sacrifice something you love so much.” On August 14, singer/guitarist Nate Powers elaborated about the amicable split with his childhood friends from Coventry, reporting that he has accepted a position teaching elementary music in New Hampshire. Having played a few hundred shows over the past five years, beginning as the ska-infused Slik Willy (voted Best Local Act in the Phoenix’s 2005 Best Music Poll) and as Arcadia Landing (2007 BMP Breakthrough Act champs), Powers sounded like a road-tested veteran with no regrets.
“It can be a blur at times to think about what we have all gone through in this band, but when I stop and think for a second, I realize that the past nine years have shaped who I am and who I have become.”
But fans of the Willy/Landing quartet (Powers, singer/guitarist Seth Printer, bassist Jay Blinkhorn, and drummer Chris Benson) will have one last opportunity to catch the crew in action when they headline their farewell show on Saturday at the Living Room where, like so many bands in Rhody rock lore, they performed their first show. It’s an appropriate book-end for another of those oh-so-close local crews who almost broke big while developing a steady fan base by way of a consistently entertaining live set. Lemon Lime Tennis Shoes and Senior Discount round out the bill, with rumors of some “special guests” on hand.
Their 2006 debut Bottom of the Ocean is still worth seeking out (available for $7 on iTunes and cdbaby.com). From the catchy openers “Arms Away and “Time to Breathe” to the bile-churning bass on the closing title track, the disc provided a glimpse into the band’s sonic maturity.
“That album, and the title song in particular, hits me so hard every time I listen to it,” Penrose guitarist Robb Pearson said upon hearing the news. “The writing, versatility, and talent just scream throughout.”
Late last year the Prov-based White Noise Records released an excellent local comp titled The Scene, featuring a new Arcadia Landing, “Chances,” that displayed a natural progression from silly ska fun to a razor-sharp, rocking foursome.
“It’s really sad that they’re breaking up, because we really loved it when all the top bands in the scene could get together to do a big show, and after this show we won’t have the opportunity to do that with them anymore,” said Senior Discount’s Chuck Staton. “A lot of bands around here aren’t very social or accepting of bands in other genres, or are just assholes in general, but Arcadia Landing is just a great, fun bunch of guys.”
ARCADIA LANDING + LEMON LIME TENNIS SHOES + SENIOR DISCOUNT | The Living Room, 23 Rathbone Street, Providence | August 30 at 9 pm | $10 | 401.521.5200
Off the couch!
The arrival of Labor Day means Summer 2008 is pretty much over, but don’t start hibernating just yet. BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY has quickly developed a strong following on the West Coast, and the LA-bred, poppy-punk quartet headlines a bill tonight (the 28th) at the Living Room with Boston-area support PROTECT THE WITNESS and SUNSHINE RIOT. Dial 401.521.5200. Coventry-based trio UNIBROWS sent a copy of “99,999 Needles” (from their ’07 debut Demented Arm Circus) to The Howard Stern Show last year and received an on-air thumbs-up from Stern; check ’em out tonight at JR’s Bourbon Street Rock House (401.463.3080) in Cranston. SHRYNE is readying their debut Here and Now due this winter; they’ll open for HAWKINS RISE at Cats (401.722.0150) in Pawtucket on Saturday (the 30th). Their ’06 debut, What We’re Like and Who We’ve Turned Out to Be, displayed a penchant for no-frills rock a la Wilco and Buffalo Tom. Jerky’s kicks off the long weekend with an 18+ affair when Boston’s COASTER THIEVES (working on a follow-up to their decent ’06 debut Push Push) and Brockton cover band INFUSE sharing a bill on Friday (the 29th). Infuse will kick out party favorites, specializing in loud-ass metal covers of System of a Down, Deftones, and Disturbed. Call 401.621.2244. Or get to the Living Room for a Long Island rock invasion when a handful of Victory Records artists fill a bill headlined by THE SLEEPING and ENVY ON THE COAST; THE SECRET LIVES OF FREEMASONS and entertaining duo THE GAY BLADES (whose debut Ghosts drops next month and deserves a listen) open. If you haven’t reveled in the guilty pleas-ure of an ERIK NARWHAL & THE MANATEES show, this weekend provides three chances to catch the talented madman’s delirium, as he channels his idols Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. Watch what happens when he launches into the frenetic showstopper “Free Alcohol.” Narwhal and Co. will fire it up on Friday at the Narragansett Café (401.423-2150) in James-town, at Corrine’s (401.725.4260) in Pawtucket on Saturday, and at JR’s on Sunday (the 31st). Renowned local jam-band specialists FUNGUS AMUNGUS are still doin’ their thing, so head to the Wheel House Tavern (401.284.0246) in Narragansett on Friday and Club Hell on Sunday. Call 401.351.1977. And you can sweat out the weekend toxins on Tuesday (the 2nd) when the Living Room welcomes “happy house” electronica outfit THE JUAN MACLEAN, aka John Maclean of Six Finger Satellite fame. TRIANGLE FOREST and SPANISH DANCER open.
Chris Conti can be reached at buckeebrooks@gmail.com.
