After the second consecutive Friday-night show celebrating the 10th anniversary of the local indie Kimchee Records, it was easy to see how the label has managed to thrive over the past decade. A total of 11 artists performed at T.T. the Bear’s Place last Friday and at the Middle East the Friday before, and there were still plenty of active bands associated with the label to put on another show or two. Geoff Farina began the T.T.’s proceedings with a set of acoustic songs for the lucky early arrivals. The album he recorded for Kimchee is full of guitar explorations, but the former Karate and Secret Stars frontman played a batch of more accessible tunes from his latest project, the Glorytellers.
Next to the stage was Shepherdess — they haven’t released an album on Kimchee, but singer/guitarist Hilken Mancini, formerly of Fuzzy, collaborated with Buffalo Tom’s Chris Colbourn on a duo disc for the label. After Mancini led Shepherdess through a set laden with covers of everything from Dinosaur Jr. to the Byrds, Colburn joined them on stage for a couple of tunes from Hilken Mancini and Chris Colbourn and closed with a rendition of Dylan’s “Oh Sister.”
Driving down from Maine without their lead singer, Seekonk were the evening’s odd band out. But Todd Hutchisen and Dave Noyes ably filled in on vocals for the ailing Sarah Ramey, and they relied on their talent for atmospheric pop to carry the set, one of the evening’s gems. Cordelia’s Dad reunited in full rock mode. Best known for their softer folk material, they played loud and caustically, and the results were impressive, especially when you considered that they hadn’t shared a stage in seven years.
Fronted by Maria Christopher, the band 27 said goodbye to drummer Neil Coulon by tearing through songs from old albums and a new one set to come out in April on Relapse. And Tiger Saw closed out the festivities by reverting to the line-up that recorded the first of their three Kimchee titles and sticking to songs from those discs. Their folk pop was the perfect way to wind down from the evening of local rock.