The Old Ceremony brings baroque rock to Duke Gardens

Photos by Kevin Norris

People packed into Duke Gardens on Wednesday evening for the second show of the 2012 Music in the Gardens series featuring Triangle favorites The Old Ceremony.

The band, led by charismatic frontman and songwriter Django Haskins, rocked through a set of songs from their catalog as well as some songs from their forthcoming Yep Roc debut Fairytales and Other Forms of Suicide, out on August 21.

The new songs performed included the fantastic "Sink or Swim," which Haskins said was written after watching GOP presidential debates. The fans clearly knew the band's catalog and responded enthusiastically to the songs "Til My Voice is Gone," "Reservations," "Talk Straight" and "Poison Pen."

The band sounded solid like they had been on tour for months but hadn't played any official gigs since a pair of shows in early May.

After playing for more than an hour, the band returned for an encore, closing with the crowd pleasing classic "Papers in Order" from their 2006 album Our One Mistake. It was the perfect way to end the evening. Hopefully the new album will bring The Old Ceremony the much deserved success that they are due.