Review by Ryan Getz

Evening lineup – Kingsfoil, The Castros, Fresh Wreckage, The Common Loons

A recent Thursday evening at frequent IATU hangout Kobo, a little known band from PA, whose claim to fame (so far) is their celebrity drummer, made their debut appearance in Columbus. They rounded out a fun evening of music in this intimate venue among friends old and new of I Am Tuned Up.

The Common Loons opened the show with a solid set of power blues-rock. I totally made that phrase up, but it accurately describes their stage presence, I think. Covers of both a Black Keys tune and “Twist and Shout” rounded out a mix of just as fun original songs as well. Unfortunately this was the band’s final performance before the Ohio State school year let out (they are all students). I’d like to see more of this refined group.

Fresh Wreckage is a rare female fronted alternative/emo rock group that writes songs that simultaneously breaks preconcieved notions of what alternative/emo rock is and is ridiculously catchy. Bobbi Townes is a vocal powerhouse, backed by husband Harold Townes on the drums (who looked like he was having the time of his life) and three of their best friends. The band performed an incredibly tight and on point set and might be one of my favorite new Columbus discoveries. Look for them on tour in the Eastern US in the coming months.

The Castros are good friends of IATU (Marco is a contributor) and well known among the Columbus music scene – both as performers and friends of all. Accompanied by a backing cellist, the husband and wife singer/songwriter duo performed many of their standby tunes, both whimsical (“Pumpkin Pie”) and deep (“Furious Love”). While Sara prefers to remain stationary and humble, Marco has no inhibitions. Classic.

Kingsfoil are a pop-rock band foremost. One that simply happens to have a member (drummer Frankie Muniz) with some carried over fame from an acting career. Jordan Davis’ singing was on point and consistent. The rest of the band provided adequate backup for both the rockers and the ballads. It’s a shame that people need to use Muniz’ fame to promote this band still. They definitely have the chops for mass appeal. Those in attendance ate up the performance and even got an encore out of the band – something that doesn’t happen too often in the smaller shows Kobo hosts. Kingsfoil aren’t reinventing the wheel, but if noticed by the right people, their fanbase could dramatically increase.