2/4/10 - Dust Congress, Daniel Folmer, New Science Projects, Ryan Thomas Becker

An all-Denton night at Trees. K, i will admit, i journeyed down to Trees mainly to see Matthew Gray's Writer, who i absolutely love, but who apparently canceled at the last minute, which disappointed me greatly, just sayin...

When I got there, Ryan Thomas Becker was playing, solo. K, make no mistake, RTB is a fucking genius, enough said. Sure, not quite as ass-kicking as when he's playing in RTB2, but still, such an amazing talent, he's a definite must-see. So do it. "My cannonball, my cannonball..." Next up was New Science Projects. My position on this dude is well documented, so I won't repeat myself. I'm afraid his uh, unique presentation is more suited to the intimate settings to be found in Denton. In the wide-open Deep Ellum venue in which he found himself, his style was mostly lost on the (scant) crowd. My opinion only, i assure you.

Next up was Daniel Folmer, who I've seen multiple times before. I remember nothing of his set, I'm afraid. I'm sorry, it was just one of those nights.

Same goes for Dust Congress, who I've enjoyed many times before.

8/21/09 - Ella Minnow, Daniel Folmer, Big Round Spectacles

...at Hailey's. solo.

Big Round Spectacles was up first. one dude on keyboards, sometimes wif harmonica. some pleasant little ditties, pretty standard stuff, fairly enjoyable, nothing overly compelling. voice was on-pitch at least, if not a little reedy. piano-playing was a touch inconsistent - wrong notes, tempo problems, etc. - which is kind of a handicap when that's the only instrument being played. still, it was entertaining enough that I watched the whole set, so...

Daniel Folmer was up next, accompanied by a bass player and drummer. I was pretty impressed with Daniel the first time I saw him, when he played a mostly-acoustic set at Dan's, but not as impressed the second time. Last night? Not a good night. Something was missing - he faced sideways, never looked at the audience, never smiled, no banter (except when he was castigating all the people at the bar who wouldn't come over and listen), and it just seemed like he was completely half-assin' it all set. Didn't see any of the emotion or passion that I remember from the first set at Dan's. Not sure what to make of it - maybe just an off night? (Pointless side note - the drummer reminded me of Kevin, Rod's brother in Hot Rod. Told you it was pointless).

Ella Minnow headlined, and holy shite, this band is phenomenal. I officially Fell In Love with Ella Minnow last night. Seen them a couple times before, and my appreciation of their talent grows every time. Incredible voice on the lead, with an amazing range - great lower register, plus a sometimes-shouty, growling, spoken-wordy-type style, plus a beautiful falsetto, and he flies across the whole range with incredible ease. And what an amazing amount of energy and passion he brings to the set - he is a sight to behold. And the songwriting - dear gawd, the songs! Whoever writes this stuff is a freakin' genius. Most songs are (relatively) long and somewhat complex, with multiple tempo changes, time-signature changes, and even genre-changes, all within one song (please don't get the impression that these are pretentious art-rock tunes or anything, cuz they're not - they flat-out rock!). Love that kind of creativity & uniqueness. Even when they stopped down and played a more-conventional alt-countryish tune, they managed to inject it with enough style, energy, and funkiness to make it unique. just an unbelievable set. definitely vaulted them near the top of my 'favorite local band' list. said they were working on a new album - can't wait for that. seriously, folks - check out this band - you will not be sorry.

8/6/08 - Parata, RTB2, Loxsly, Daniel Folmer

went out to hailey's on wednesday night -tryin to get my fill before i go out of commission this weekend.

happily, another live-music nutjob i've recently met - The Tara^TM - showed up, too, so i didn't have to drink alone (how cool is that!). plenty of incoherent babbling ensued (on my part, i should say).

up first was daniel folmer. saw him once before, playing with only a keyboard player, and really dug it. last night, i was excited to see him set up with a full four-piece band. bleebe it or not, tho - eh, not so much. not that it was bad by any means, but i definitely liked him better with a stripped-down band - i think it's a better fit for his intimate, soulful music. next up was loxsly, from austin. really dug these guys. nice collection of dark, slightly-psychedelic indie pop, full of great keys and pedal steel. the only lighting on stage came from projected images on a sheet they had rigged up behind them. dono why, but it kinda bugged me that i couldn't see them. really enjoyed the set, tho. rtb2 was next, and they were amazing. my third time to see 'em, and it was easily the best of the three. great bluesy, gut-wrenching stuff with incredible guitar work and kick-yer-ass drums. of special note last night - ryan's outstanding vocals (i'd never noticed how great his voice is). and my GAWD can that dude play. i'm always amazed how they can sound like a full band with only two guys on stage. funny how much your mood influences your opinions - the song i thot was a beating last time was one of my favorites last night. anyways, 'twas a great set. parata was last. seen them three times also, with mixed results - it seems like it's different every time, and not at all what i remembered. this time, i heard a lot of weezer, and even some happy bullets, bleebe it or not. The Tara said she heard the Beach Boys (and the ramones, i think). anyways, they were good at what they were doin, but every song started sounding the same after a while.

6/7/08 - Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, Florene, Daniel Folmer

jeebus chrust what an incredible line-up tonight at dan's silverleaf, a place i have to say, i usually associate with high cover charges and alt-country acts. but tonight they totally nailed it. absolutely perfect line-up. first up was daniel folmer, and hells yeah, this guy has Something Special. seen a lot of great pub for this dude, and liked what i heard on myspace, so i was really lookin forward to his set, and he did not disappoint. jeezchrist, how can such a young dude write such mature and soul-searching songs? played sometimes wif an acoustic, sometimes electric. had friend playin keyboards, too. definitely had Technical Problems, some amp buzzin so loud it threatened to drown him out, so some songs he played totally unplugged wif no mic or nothin. eventually figured it out, tho. anyhows, really loved what he was doin up there. instantly wanted to buy the cd, which i did later, just droppin the money into his briefcase and takin the cd, jeezus i hope he got it.
next up was Florene, and jeezus. effing. christ. please, for the love of all that is holy, go see this band. seen them 3 or 4 times now, and they have gotten exponentially better each time. in-fucking-credible. second song they played - orgasmic. i swear to gawd i almost came in my pants. ok, not really, but you get the point. incredible aural collage of guitar, synths, filtered vocals, beats, etc, etc, all from only two dudes (and a shitload of equipment). totally awesome. methinks aaron definitely has some Performance Artist in him, pulling a black silk stocking over his head and face part way thru for a couple songs, then smearing white makeup on it to form a face - LOVE that shit. reminded me of laurie anderson, someone he's prolly never heard of, but should. talked to Gavin afterwards and bot their cd, too. can't wait to see them on the 20th at dada. made their way into my top 5, they did. last up was Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, who as you know, are already in my top 5. was disappointed with their short set last week at RGRS, and verbally pelted one of the MATAS guitarists with that oh-so-important bit of information as he was takin a whiz, and he said they got fucked over at that show or somethin - wonder what that story is. anywho, there were no such problems tonight - they played all the ones i wanted to hear. i swear, when these guys get rockin, there is no denying their amazing musical abilities and awesome songwriting. of special note for me tonight - the guitar playing of this dude. amazing. also - as usual - matthew's vocals - emotion-filled, gut-wrenching, powerful, transcendant. quick story - one time i saw MATAS on a sunday night, and matthew asked the crowd - anyone go to church this morning? then he said, "yeah, me neither - this is my church". and i thot, hell yeah - you have no idea how much that resonates with me. anyhow, i loved every second of their set, can't wait to see them again. all in all, a fantastic night in denton...