September 4, 2009
Where: The Cafe 567 (Cherry St., Macon, GA)
Who: Dignan by Luke Goddard

There were about 5 acts going tonight. Some dude named Hunter opened the show, then followed Amy Godwin. I did everything I could to get there on time to hear Amy, but it just didn’t work out. Right as I walked in, Amy made her final clap in her song, “Sunflower Talk,” which is a lovely, little acapella tune. Personally, I went to support a buddy of mine, Alec Stanley, and of course, to hear Dignan (probably one of my all-time favorite indie-rock bands).

From all of the shows I’ve been to in my life, I tend to only remember the parts that were good (to me). Because I can’t remember the first half of Alec’s set doesn’t mean it wasn’t good; it just means it (first half of his set) wasn’t demanding me to pick up my pen and write notes on my memo pad. About half-way through his set, this young buck put his guitar down and turned around and plopped down on Godwin’s keyboard bench. After playing the first verse on the keys, suddenly this 17 year old, mullet-headed aged 10 years. The memo pad walked out of my pocket, jumped on the table where I was sitting, and screamed, “Write down the word, ‘piano,’ so you remember this later.” And I did. I forget this dude is 17 sometimes. While songs like “Shari Jean” are definitely geared towards reaching his drooling female fans, his piano tune (name unknown to me), “Ready to Come Home,” and “Introvert” catapult this teen-talent into the land of “I’m-ready-to-tour-full-time.” While the guys in the room would move closer to their ladies out of fear that this “cute” kid could win over the hearts of their dates, it wasn’t long before every one of them (insecure dudes) were bobbing their heads to “Ready to Come Home” and “Introvert.” It’s not Stanley’s expertise on the guitar that sets him apart; it’s what he speaks about in his songs– God, death, sin, and freedom. Watch out for this guy. No doubt he’s got the passion it takes to go places, but saying that his talent, both lyrically and musically, are beyond his years is an absolute understatement.
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Click HERE to listen to Alec Stanley’s “Introvert.”
Click HERE to listen to Alec Stanley’s “Ready to Come Home.”
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Dignan, a band from McAllen, TX, a community that’s 95% Hispanic, certainly did not disappoint tonight. Sweet Lord, they brought the house down! Being a pretty devout fan of Dignan, especially their older stuff, I had big expectations going into tonight’s show. There was no middle ground. I knew it could go either way. EIther I was gonna walk out of their like a kid who was just told that Santa is a hoax, or like a 24 year old virgin who just had her first kiss. It was the latter– a giddy 24 year old, female virgin. Unknowingly, a friend of mine, Bryan Yeager, is filling in for Dignan during this Fall 09′ tour. Let me just say this to Dignan: You are idiots if you don’t ask this guy to come on full-time! Yeager was flawless. Dang, the whole band was flawless. Usually, I can find flaws in a set. Not here, folks. Andy Pena’s vocals will grab a dude by his balls and say, “You ain’t goin’ no where, buddy.” And you just never knew what David Palomo was going to play next. He’s the multi-instrumentalist in the band . . . playing everything from the accordion, to the trumpet, to the xylophone, to the bells. I believe it to be Palomo’s versitility musically that truly sets this band apart. Instead of playing the trumpet in “They’re Outnumbered,” Palomo played the accordian, which totally worked. Dignan ended their set with one of my favorites off of their older album (“The Guest”), called “Listen.” Both “They’re Outnumbered” and “Listen” are available for streaming below. And yes, you should stream them… and be gripped by the balls.