9/29/07 - Paul Banks, Last Gasp

started out at lucky's roadhouse again, this time the joint was empty (no more $.25 drinks, eh?). went back to car to, uh, fetch something and stepped in ankle-deep mud pit behind lucky's. in sandles. shee-ut. got to use bathroom at cavern for somethin besides pukin', tho. heh heh. joe finally showed up. missed first band - no loss, based on their myspace/purevolume. went back and forth from cavern to lucky's between bands, watchin mr. q make time with ultra-wasted a&m drop-out chick (that's right, darlin, i graduated in '98) who's name we forgot but had bachelorette-party gal friends with s&m gear. how does he do it? must be his stylin' shirts. anyways, the show:

paul banks - this man is a musical genius. listen to his cd - i dare you to disagree. the next rufus wainwright, i tell ya. amazing voice, as i've said before. fantastic songwriting. wish he had closed with "color", instead of sam cooke/beatles/bowie medley. both songs show off his pipes, i just think it's best to close with your own material, especially when it's so goddam strong.

the last gasp - 2nd time to see. excellent, as before. loved the harmonies from the keyboardist. really enjoyed the set. met christian afterwards - super nice guy, gave me their demo cd.

a pacific model - 3rd time to see. some songs in definite radiohead territory, some more ordinary. powerful lead vox. Cure cover - bleh.

pretty good crowd at the cavern, which means the usual annoying louder-than-the-band chatter and scuse-me scuse-me as people try to get to the bar. was entertained by preternaturally short dude with pony tail and goatee makin time with the ladies, or was that his 50-something sugar daddy boyfriend behind him pretending to groove to the music? i don't know, i should be nicer.