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The Jips open up the LM5 showcase with a punch of straight up rock at the Highdive. Photo by Wallo Villacorta, buzz photographer.

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Highdive »
Address: 51 Main St. Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 356-2337
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An evening of surprisingly powerful collaborations and clever covers, LM5 was an experience not to be missed. In case your Thursday didn’t involve time spent at the Highdive, buzz recaps the ins and outs of the musical performances.

The Jips

First act, The Jips (whose name eerily resembles that of Stephen Malkmus and “the Jicks”) looked like a middle school band recently turned high school, yet their beats rocked the joint from surprisingly mature originals to Elvis Presley remixes. With strong and strident but remarkably clear and in-tune female vocals, The Jips’ rendition of the now vintage Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” proved quite the crowd pleaser

World’s First Flying Machine/Agent Mos/Liam Bird

In the first local collaboration of the evening, the surprisingly fluid mixture of World’s First Flying Machine, Agent Mos and Liam Bird (of Organic Flow) set the standard for the evening with full group interpretations of individual artists’ songs, as well as recognizable covers. Playing off of indie favorite Vampire Weekend’s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” World’s First Agent Bird (a suggested name for the act) was a testament to strength in numbers.

Jonathon Childers/Sunset Stallion

Announcing “everyone’s a winner,” the LM5 alt-country/acoustic rock combination of Jonathon Childers and Sunset Stallion took to the stage midway through the evening. Childers and Sunset Stallion’s Hannah Newman commenced as a heart-wrenching duo, strikingly reminiscent of the award-winning soundtrack music to the indie flick Once. Sounding like a perfect amalgam of Ryan Adams on uppers, a haunting Grace Slick figure and technically brilliant violin accompanists, the super group performed a knock-you-out-of-your-seats rendition of Wilco’s poignantly honest “Handshake Drugs.”

Robots Counterfeiting Money/Post Historic

Reviving their previous Great Cover-Up collaboration, Robots Counterfeiting Money and Post Historic combined forces for a powerfully convincing set that suggests the two acts would make one fabulous, albiet large, group. The highlight of the performance easily came in the familiar, falsetto-tinged cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Some pop music just begs to rock out, and Kelly Clarkson is a perfect example.

Curb Service/Santa

Beginning with a bassline uncannily familiar to that of CU darling Hum’s hit “Stars,” Santa and Larry Gates of Curb Service jammed out in a set that quickly changed the antsy concert-goers into mellow music fiends. Balancing psychedelic jams with indie-pop lyrics, the collaboration undoubtably impressed the crowd. As stated by a myriad of band members and event MCs, we’ve most definitely got a “special thing” going on in Champaign-Urbana, and this performance was certainly proof. Recalling the set’s opening basslines and buzz among the audience, Santa and Curb Service closed with an immaculate rendition of Hum’s chart-topping “Stars” that only left the Highdive anxious for more.

Zmick

Local favorite Zmick brought the performance aspect of the show to a close as they started their LM5 set with an Abbey Road-worthy showcase of the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” in the form of a sultry, prog-heavy cover. In the tradition of the evening and its celebration of quality music, Zmick honored the Talking Heads with a worthy, head-bob-inducing “Psycho Killer.” Ending on a jam-proficient note even Umphrey’s McGee would be proud of, Zmick finished off their set and left the crowd gyrating to memories of the funk for the rest of the night.