10/6/10 - Local Natives, Love Language, Union Line

...at the mother-EFFing house of blues.

Have I mentioned how much I HATE the mother-effing house of blues? Who else can turn a $12 ticket into a $27 ream job? Convenience fees, pre-order fees, will-call fees, bend-over-and-stick-it-in-your-ass-just-cuz-we-can fees? Hate those TM bastards.

Plus which - $7 wells??? Eff. You.

Plus which, that ridiculously annoying dude in the bathroom, attempting to spritz us concert-goers with cologne and fill our post-micturation hands with soap, who is, i'm pretty sure, responsible for overall decreased levels of hygiene, as all the dudes duck out of the bathroom without washing at all, just to avoid him. Hope i'm not breaking the man-code here, i just thot u females deserve to know.

So - the show. Which is how the MFing HOB redeems itself.

Union Line - truthfully, i don't remember a thing about them. Didn't offend me, that much i know.

Love Language - ok, i don't remember much about them either, but i know that i absolutely loved them. So says my facebook, and my facebook don't lie. Local Natives - Effing. Orgasmic. Runtelldat, homeboy.

10/2/10 - Skunk Ape, Oh Lewis, Extraordinaires

At RGRS.

Skunk Ape (Denton). OK, let me say up front - i am NOT a fan of punk. At all. And Skunk Ape is a punk band. Why, they're the epitome of a punk band, in my opinion. Thus, the comment i recorded on my iphone - "Total shit punk".

Oh Lewis (Denton). Enjoyed this set more than the last one i saw from them. Some very nice, crunchy, 90's guitar pop/rock. Can't tell you how many times I thought to myself, this sounds exactly like Fig Dish (an awesome late-90's Chicago band that you should check out here ). Same gravely voice, same style melodies, guitar playing, everything. Kinda spooky, but since I loves me some Fig Dish, I enjoyed Oh Lewis as well.

Extraordinaires (Philly) - hmm, not easy to describe this band. Part Jimmy Buffet party band, part Bare Naked Ladies. Strange, yet pleasing melange of cheese, sarcasm, silliness, political rambling, history lessons, etc. All in all, a lot of fun, with some very catchy and well-written songs. Only complaint? The insipid use of inflatables (dice, swords, toucans, etc.) that they insisted on throwing into the crowd. Before too long, all of them ended up on the floor, with all the spilled beer, and if you've ever been to Rubber Gloves, you know that inflatables that have wallowed in the puddles of beer on the floor of Rubber Gloves are NOT what you want flung at your head. Anywho. Another observation - the Extraordinaires' audience EASILY had the largest contingent of horrible white-boy dancers i have EVER seen. Too damn funny. I will attempt to upload a video of one such individual, and I promise, you will agree.
And here he is:

8/23/10 - Delta Mirror, Grassfight, Phantom Caste

At Haileys.

Phantom Caste (Ft Worth) - Pretty standard but solid echo-y rock. Nice falsetto on lead. Overly phallic stand for keyboard. Haircut 100 dude on guitar. Note to guitar player - sipping a drink on stage (complete with lime wedge still on the side of the glass), THROUGH A STRAW? Not likely to inspire the females in the audience. Just sayin, from one highball-drinkin' guy to another. Ur welcome. Grassfight (Dallas) - seen them a few times now, and I always enjoy it, but for some reason, the over-use of the bullhorn got on my nerves this night. Delta Mirror (LA) - lots of recorded electro backing tracks, and very earnest vocals. Was mesmerized by the bass player, who i swear is the Hobbit dude from that episode of The Office (you know, Ryan's friend in NYC), who was wearing a stocking cap in the middle of august. Pretty sure he has special powers. Wasn't overly captivated by the muzak, however. Well, Haircut 100 dug it, anyways.

9/16/10 - Western Giants, MATAS

At Lochranns in Frisco.

Western Giants (Denton) were up first. Just for fun, i thought I'd share the "conversation" my intrepid companion and I "had" on an iphone Notes page during their set:

---------------
Me: Not a great voice, eh?

Me: Lead singer from sundress? {googling followed}

Me: Yes. Shud stick to guitar playing. He's phenomenal in sundress, tho

Me: Warning - I will be singing along w Matthew. At the top of my lungs, most likely

She: Bassist looks good. Maybe they shud put him in front. Doesn't look gay at all in v neck.

Me: At least one of them has a girlfriend - chick w camera.

She: Ok, bassist just checked me out.

She: Waitress cute w shirt too. Didn't really see any of the rest of her.

She: Does the bassist keep making eye contact w u?
Me: I'm not lookin at him. U?
She: Good point.
Me: Ok, maybe I've noticed that, yes, but there's no one here, so..,
He's fascinated by the old farts in the audience.
-------------

And there you have it. fascinating stuff, right? anyhows, we enjoyed the set, tho i'm glad kennon has a day job in Sundress. MATAS (Denton) was up next. I did, indeed, sing along at the top of my lungs. Take THAT, Frisco.

9/10/10 - Fox and the Bird, Listen Listen

At City Tavern.

The Fox & the Bird (Denton) - once again - awesome harmonies, great stuff. Two things, tho - lose the effing videographer, very distracting. And the effing cowboy hat. Listen Listen (Houston) - talented bunch of multi-instrumentalists. Loved the multi-part harmonies. Trombone/trumpet player passed out mid-tune, but soldiered on. Set came to an unceremonious end when the bass amp blew half-way thru song.

8/20/10 - Analog Rebellion, Archeology, Land Mammals, Young and Brave

At Hailey's.

Young & Brave (Denton) - Pretty standard country-tinged pop. Chick on keys. Hair-band-era holey jeans on lead. Chick-led songs better. Nice harmonies. Set went on forever.

Land Mammals (Denton) - Truly awesome. Reminded me a lot of Ella Minnow (one of my favs). Lead singer a cross between brad pitt & rivers cuomo. Hot chick on guitar. Keyboard dude on twice his normal dose of Ritalin, pretty sure. Vocals unusual but they work. Unusually structured songs. Dug it. A lot.

Archeology (Portland) - Hmmm. Great harmonies, but i couldn't shake the 'we're-really-a-praise-band-but-we-like-to-pretend-we're-not' feeling. Axl Rose bandana on acoustic guitar player, long-haired jeezus lookalike lead. Very earnest. Felt artificial, tho it was catchy. Analog Rebellion (Aledo) - Truly awesome. Two guys plus laptop. Amazing guitar work.
Vocals a lot like Death Cab at times. Sometimes soaring & anthemic, sometimes just plain kick-ass rock. Loved it. Wanted to buy the CD from Daniel afterwards, but he couldn't drag himself away from the potential groupie long enough. Next time, then.