4/1/10 - B&BL, Andrew Tinker, Hendrick, Criminal Shift

The Local Edge's Battle of the Bands Finals at Trees. Winner to open Edgefest (meaning they play at 1:30PM to a crowd of 7, but hey...)

Criminal Shift (Plano). Caught these kids a couple years ago and was blown away, and haven't been able to catch them again til now. Seems like the line-up has completely changed, except for Douglas (lead vocals, lead guitar). No more female keyboard player (in fact, no keys at all), now it's just 3 dudes wif guitars plus drums. Once again, I was really impressed by their sound. Very advanced and polished for a band full of youngsters who apparently rehearse in their mom's (nicely appointed, i should say) spare bedroom (see their myspace ;). Some really cool hard-drivin' rock material, definitely more rockin' than the last time i saw 'em. Was especially impressed by Douglas (like last time), who can really howl and belt it out, and also wail on guitar. He's quite the showman, too - very high energy and engaging. Drummer was awesome, too. Other two dudes sounded great, but looked slightly uncomfortable in front of a big crowd. Really enjoyed the set. Check 'em out.

Hendrick. Sure, sure - some very pleasant & polished indie guitar/piano pop, but when did Hendrick get so sensitive? I've never been a huge fan of theirs, but they seemed overly pussified that night. My (female) companion said he (the lead) could get away with it if he was hot...

Andrew Tinker (Denton). Ugh. Did not enjoy this at all. Can't understand how this made it to the finals. Good-timey bluesy piano tunes that suburbanites in Frisco would enjoy whilst supping at an Outback restaurant.

Bridges and Blinking Lights. My kryptonite. Said it many times - awesome music, but vocals of a 13-year-old girl. With strep. Thought they had figured that out when, during the first song, another guitar player sang along with jake, and i'll be damned if you could actually hear the vocals, but no - after a couple songs, he was mostly done, and it was back to straining to hear donald duck.

Really wanted to see Ishi again, cuz they are a riot, but mi companion was snoring so loudly it was interfering with the sound check, so we split.

4/27/08 - Ultraviolet Rock Show

omigod, what a fuckin blast i had on saturday night at the Ultraviolet Rock Show and Art Auction for CF at Club Dada. man, what a night - an incredible line-up of bands, some cool art, a huge crowd full of great people, perfect weather, etc. etc. c'mon, can't we do this every weekend? seriously, i loved the way they alternated inside and outside stages, so there was no break in the action. they packed an amazing amount of entertainment into one evening.

luckily, i had a couple buddies with me (batman and zac), plus all my favorite people were there - fred, dave (who's apparently had some work done lately (only AA's, tho)), amanda, Giggly Underpants Boy (you'll have to ask him), and sweet petey F. lots of incoherent babbling and laughter ensued (well, at least on my part).

anyways, on with the show:

(fair warning - this one's gonna be kinda rough, folks. saturday night was the third day of my three-day live-music bender, so i was what you might call Thoroughly Pickled by then. i'm having trouble recalling a lot of the details, but i'll do my best)

first up was disconnected in '73, a solo acoustic singer/songwriter. couldn't hear all that well (he was outside) but i remember i liked his voice. i think i thought it was unique. that's all i got.

next up was blue petal. very nice. one vocalist, with two back-up musicians on guitar and harmonica (i don't think there was a drummer). when i first saw manya (the lead singer), i instantly thought of Bic Runga, and then i heard her sing, and that reminded me of her too (strange). some really beautiful, haunting songs. loved her voice - amazing. only caught a couple songs, but i'd love to catch these guys again.

outside, lovie took the stage. i've been waitin forever to catch them, but i swear i could not hear a damn thing that night. i still have no idea how they sound live. seriously - you could not hear them. ah well, next time...

next up inside was sunward, who i've seen once before. jeebus christ, their performance was orgasmic (is that gay? that's not gay. is it? i don't care). i'm serious, these guys floored me. absolutely incredible stuff - easily the highlight of the night for me (read my earlier write-up for a description of their sound - i don't wanna repeat myself). yea, they've lost their sundress-wearing keyboardist, who definitely provided some nice scenery, but i hardly noticed. wished their set would never end. they are now tied for first place in the 'My Favorite Local Band' contest.

back outside, the felons (the other co-leader of the MFLB contest - check here and here) cranked it up. unfortunately, they also suffered from the sound system problems, though not as bad as Lovie. i'm used to being surrounded and enveloped by their sound, and the outside system just wasn't quite up to it. still, i loved their set as usual.

next up was el gato, who i was really lookin forward to hearing. unfortunately, i missed most of it, and i really don't recall much of what i did hear (damn you, free beer lady! (just kiddin, can you come back next week?)). heard a couple songs, but they didn't really grab me, so i stumbled back outside.

next up outside was bridges and blinking lights. now, i have made my opinion known aboot these guys many times before (check here and here), so i aint gonna say any more, except to say that after hearing them for a third time, i can definitely say - I Am Not Wrong.

closing out the night was Wonderfool. really enjoyed these guys, some really cool wall-of-soundish psychedelic stuff. some glam, too - heard spacehog, bleebe it or not. would definitely like to see them again (to further evaluate).

have to say, during the wonderfool set, i was distracted and very confused by these gals,

who sat there calmly thru the whole set and slowly waved those giant sunflowers back and forth. very strange. 10 bucks says they're Girlfriends of Band Members.

well, there you have it - one hell of a show, and for a great cause, too. check the link below to pick up the compilation CD - 21 tracks for $15:

http://www.theconnextion.com/ultraviolet/

see you out there...

12/29/07 - Sean Kirkpatrick, Bridges and Blinking Lights

started off the night with knuckles at mckinney tavern, local watering hole and, at least last night, supermodel hangout. tried to watch the aggie game amidst all the distractions. left at 10 to head to the doublewide, and unbelievably, knuckles came with, after performing an inhuman feat involving an entire pitcher of beer, and despite the record-setting scenery at the MT.

doublewide was a pretty hapnin place - shoulder to shoulder in the bar, not so much in the live music area (nothin unusual there). knuckles thot the stamp of a boot that we got on our hands looked like a penis - paging dr. freud.

bridges and blinking lights was up first. saw these guys at RGRS, but wanted to see them again to confirm or refute my original impression. unfortunately, it was confirmed - these guys can rock, but i'm sorry, the lead vocals have got to go. knuckles said exactly the same thing, without me even telling him what i had originally thot. the dude tries to belt it out, but he just doesn't have the voicebox for it. as knuckles said, you're just dyin for him to grab his sack and belt it out (think Ian Johnson from Hogpig (R.I.P.)), but he just can't. maybe it sounds better on a cd, but it just doesnt work live. anyways, like i said, the songwriting, geetar and drum work was nice.

Sean kirkpatrick headlined. second time to see him. this guy's got some major talent - he definitely knows his way around a keyboard. once again, some really cool, well-written, unconventional piano-pop songs. it's amazing how a piano-based trio can still make you groove out with only three instruments - just sean on keys, a dude on synth and a drummer. thot the drummer was aces. if i had to pick on somethin, there were a couple times where i thot the whole stop-the-music-so-sean-can-plink-out-some-discordant-and-seemingly-random-keys on the keyboard seemed kind of forced and out of place. a minor criticism, really. other than that, a really great set.

after zini's (where knuckles attempted to steal my alternate-universe girlfriend), stopped by my beloved club dada to chat with the crazy Bat-Lady of Deep Ellum. a great way to end the evening.

11/10/07 - Bridges and Blinking Lights, Red Monroe, MATAS

went to RGRS to see B and BL and red monroe and MATAS. buddy joe showed up too.

first up was matthew and the arrogant sea and i loved em. totally down-tempish and folky and mellow, but with a twist and i loved the songs. one electric guitar, one acoustic, plus trombone (always like that) , plus dude on floor with gadgets. totally loved the sound, great vocals on lead, love the trombone and the effects, great songs, wouldve bot the cd but joe beat me to it. wnated to talk to the guys afterwards, but they seeem to have split right after. oh well - next time.

next up was george neal - not hte whole band, just him, i'm afraid. just one dude with his acoustic. very angry, he seemed sometimes. sorry, i didn't hear much of it - was too busy tryin to convince joe about my shorter-than-normal people theory about denton, of which there was ample evidence. he didnt seem to buy it, tho. i'm not sayin there's anythin wrong with that - short gals make me ho-ney, i'm just sayin it's weird, is all.

third was red monroe, and first i have to say that eric steele has the hottest fuckin girlfriend on the planet. saw her at the cavern last week too and thats enough about that. second i can say forget what i said last week - this was an awesome performance. how was it so different from teh cavern show i do not know, but it was. did they do more songs from cd #1? carolina cig, a return, and they closed with shotgun heart/fingertips, which just fuckin slayed me. lotsa people up front dancin like fools added to the atmosphere. twas awesome - definitely takin a liking to the newer stuff, too. some really great songs on that new cd. wanted to talk to eric afterwards, too, but he seemed to have gone the way of the MATAS guys - nowhere to be found.

last was bridges and blinking lights. man, they had some great songs. many people on the stage, upwards of 7 or so at some times, even a steel guitar or some shit at one point. fantastic songs, but i have one complaint - the lead vocals. either he was havin an off night, or the mix wasn't right, but every goddam song would start off great, then when he would come in it would just lay a turd. sort of a glen frey type voice - nice but softish or somethin. he seemed to be tryin to belt it out but nothin was comin out. again - fantastic songwriting and musicianship. had some overly-loud and obnoxious goddam friends in the audience that i was wantin to pelt with rocks and garbage, but hey thats not their fault. would definitely like to check out again to see if 1st impression is correctamundo, as fonzi would say.

overall, a very nice night. and only 5 bucks to boot.

.043