3/14/08 - Sydney Confirm, D Numbers, Sunward

made a rare friday night appearance at club dada (spring break schedules, you know). fellow local music aficionado tk, whose wifey-poo was nice enough to give him a hall pass (ca-rack that whip!) came along for the ride.

was runnin late due to a wreck on central, so prolly for the first time ever, i was completely sober upon entering dada. was none too happy aboot that, but i didn't want to miss any of sunward's set- i'd liked what i'd heard on myspace.

and holy shit, was i right. i fucking loved this band. right up my alley - dark, lush, wall-of-sound, sometimes moody, anthemic art rock with a splash of psychedelia thrown in. but what really blew me away was the incredible collection of talent on the stage. 5-man band: lead on guitar/violin, chick on keys & back-up vox, 2nd guitar (sometimes lap-steel), bass and drums. let me tell you, what that dude can do with a violin is stunning - it was run thru filters and such, and he could make the sucker sing, shriek, shred, whatever. it was absolutely phenomenal. half the time it didn't even sound like a violin - you'd swear you were hearing an unbelievable electric guitar virtuoso. anyways, the rest of the band was fantastic, too. loved the harmonies from the backup vocalist (who also jumped around in her red sundress to a pleasing effect). also loved the lap-steel - damn, what an awesome sound. didn't think it was possible for that thing to not sound hillbilly, but he managed it. the sound fit perfectly in their songs. bass player was kickin some ass back there, and i don't usually notice the bass player. anyhows, easily one of my favorite performances of the last year. definitely a band i will keep an eye on.

got to talk to doug (lead of sunward) for quite a while after the set, whilst D Numbers was setting up their super-conducting super-collider. really nice guy. bot the cd. seems doug and i have been leading parallel lives the last couple years, what with our, um, life-changing events and all. however, the parallellisms came to a screeching halt when doug described his recent successes regarding the fairer sex. won't go into detail, but let's just say there won't be any calls to $4300 hookers from his loft.

tk nearly got bitch-slapped by the keyboard chick's gal-pal when he called her "keyboard chick".
now THAT would've been funny.

chatted with dave of the felons, who informed me that he has, in fact, quit smoking, which is cool for two reasons - one, he really needs to, to save those beautiful pipes of his, and two, it means he actually reads this pieceofshit blog.

talked to greg from hendrick - warned him about the life-force-sucking ability of the firewater bands he was gonna be playin with on saturday night.

d numbers, from santa fe was up next. incredible number of machines and wires and such on stage. 3-man band, two guitars and drums, plus loops, effects, etc. some really fantastic psychedelic grooves, some absolutely incredible beats, wonderful stuff (i was blitzed by then, which really enhanced the effect (is that so wrong?)).

last up was sydney confirm, and they were teeeerible. maybe i should give them a pass cuz they were worn out by sxsw, or maybe this is just a genre i don't "get", but shee-ut i was not diggin it at all. 3-man: guitar, drum, and keys/vox, tho there didn't seem to be much need for the actual keyboard, since all he did was hit one button and a track would start, and he would then sing (horribly) over it. at one point early on, tk leans over and says "it's napoleon dynamite, with pedro on guitar and uncle rico on drums". ok, i couldn't take them seriously after that. again, i freely admit that this type of stuff just ain't my bag, so mebbe they're the best ever at it (whatever it is), but i just couldn't take it, so we left.

went to zini's, as usual, but my alt-universe girlfriend was nowhere to be found. we ate their pizza anyways.

3/12/08 - Dreamend, Ezra Furman, XYZ Affair, Aaron Robinson

went down to the cavern for one of those mid-week SXSW-y shows - just couldn't pass up the chance to see some (hopefully) great out-of-town acts on their way south...

first up was Aaron Robinson, from Nashville. Unfortunately, he was without his band for this show. just him and his geetar. pretty standard singer/songwriter stuff. nice voice, no vibrato tho (strangely enough). had to laugh when he broke out a tom petty cover (won't back down). can't seem to get away from that mother.

next up was XYZ Affair, from Brooklyn. totally loved this band. 4-man band with an awesome set of super-catchy power-pop tunes. heard weezer, happy bullets. loved all the vocals - nice falsetto on the lead, lots of oohs and aahs from the backups. many times, all four of 'em would sing in multi-layered harmony (always dig that). lead was an absolutely fantastic guitar player, which was finally featured on (of all things) a sinead o'connor cover (nothing compares to you). that dude can play some geetar - he should feature that more often. a fantastic performance from a super-talented group. easily the highlight of the evening.

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons from boston were next. 4-man band - no keys, lead on acoustic. very, very good. distinctive yet pleasant voice on lead. heard some ramones, some of the catchier neil young songs, but the most predominant vibe was the violent femmes. nice set of infectious folk-rock songs. very talented group.

last on the bill was dreamend, from chicago. these dudes had "music-school band" written all over 'em. 5 people in the band, including a chick on cello, and one dude on full-time BELLS (i shit you not). bass player and drummer reversed roles - bass player was seated, hunched over his bass, and the drummer was standing whilst pounding on his drums in that oh-so-experimental kind of way. lead vocals not so hot. some dreamy, psychedelic, melancholy spacey rock, kind of like mogwai or EITS, but with bland vocals. just didn't dig it.

the cavern was absolutely empty - not too suprising, i guess, given it was wednesday night and all the bands were out-of-towners.

not a bad show - two out of four ain't nothin to sneeze at (yes, i've seen much worse).

Recs for this week

hory sheet, what with the time change and all, plus all these mid-week late-night SXSW-y shows to go to, i'm afeered my performance at work might be in jeopardy (sorry, boss). not to mention the punishment my liver is about to endure. here are my recs for the rest of this week:

Wednesday night:
dreamend, ezra furman, aaron robinson, xyz affair at the cavern
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/12/88316/

or

cloud cult/my brightest diamond/kid dakota at the granada
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/12/69406/

Thursday night:
white rabbits, minmae at the cavern
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/13/88317/

Friday night:
sydney confirm/d numbers/sunward at dada
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/14/87621/

or

Birdmonster/Red Monroe at doublewide
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/14/88343/

Saturday night
dono yet, but here's a charity event bein played by my buddy batman and his band (that's him on the right - ain't he superhero-ish?):

lotus/damian giglio/beating around the bush/1000 miles from home at the liquid lounge
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/15/87919/

Sunday
poor man's sxsw at club dada, tho i haven't seen the line-up yet


so hey, if you see a middle-aged un-hipster undergoing liver failure and zonked out in a bar at some point this week, just poke me a few times, and i'll be on my way. my boss'll thank you.

3/8/08 - Honey Thief, Holy Trinity River, Dustin Morris, Wolff and Tuba

on a day like this, you get into your car and drive like mad
on a day like this, you feel a little sad.
a day like this is worth a million dollars easy
on a day like this, you take the good with the bad...


hibbety hibbety hobbety hobbety easter;s on its way

hello boys and grils

jeezus chrust it's 3 AM, thanks ben franklin you motherFUCKER!

against my better judgement, i went to the mothereffin cavern tonight, my arch-nemesis (can a fuckin club be a nemesis, you ask? oh i think so). knew the best show of the night was prolly at the granada with centromatic, but just felt like rollin the dice a bit tonight. mi amigo joe the boy toy (aka two-beer joe) showed up, too. praise jeebus. i parked in the hood behind the cavern, and for the first time felt a bit skeered due to some of the um, patrons hanging out back there and the graffiti on the fences. decided to do all my front-loadin in one shot, instead of comin back later, so i set a new record - 8 oz of buckeye liquors shittiest vodka and coke in like 5 goddam minutes i shit you not. i was so proud. i immediately alerted the media.

crickets, was what i got! you bastards!!!! i COMMAND you to RESPOND to my text messages!! no matter what hour it is!! even if it's to tell me to SHUT UP, BEEEYATCH!

first up was wolff and tuba, and this was some of the craziest coolest shit i've seen in a looong time. check his myspace - he is super serious aboot everything you hear coming out of his tuba, so like there;s no mike or anything, just pickups on the tuba, and he drums on it, plays it thru filters, loops it, sings thru it, and talks at you thru it between songs and everything. massive piece of electronic equipment in front of him, loopin and filtering everything. fascinating stuff, i tell you. really cool. i thot, if i was gonna start a band, it would be just like that, with me and my trumpet, electronically masturbating. yeah, that's the term that kept comin to my mind. thats not a negative thing, you understand. i am a FAN of masturbation.

next up was dustin morris and the greenstar band, and theys aight, i guess. 4-man, no keys, lead on acoustic, somewhat reedy voice, but ok. broke a string like half-way thru but dint seem to make a difference. what does that mean? not sure. some decent bluesy soul-y guitar pop.

next was holy trinity river, formerly of dallas, now from brooklyn (repre-ohnevermind). 3-man. raspy reedy voice on lead, but ok. some really good bluesy, punky southern-style rock. you know that aint my thing, but i could tell they was pretty damn good. josephus really dug it. i really dug the lead's girlfren (A-1 spinner material (oh god i am so sorry)) . gave us a free EP, athankyouverymuch. eric steele of red monroe stood right next to me in the crowd, and i was dyin to tell him what a huge fan i am and how i've seen them 4 or 5 times and how much i dug 'blue mountain air' last sunday, but then the band was done and he was like schleppin their equipment and shit and then he was gone. so if you have eric steele draggin your shit around town, you must be good, eh?

go check oot joe's review - it'll be much more coherent and music-critic-y and shit.

last up was honey thief, and ok, they wasn't so great. really really generic guitar-strummin wall of sound alt-rock with not-so-great lead vocals. not rilly bad vocals, like if i was singin or anythin, just very average and plain vanilla, which matched the muzak. joe seemed to be done workin over all the ladies in the crowd, so we left.


peace oot

3/1/08 - New Frontiers, Homer Hiccolm, Quiet Company, Gazelles

Why does it always have to be...fire?
Why does it always have to be...brimstone?

blahdeblahdeblah i have nothing to say, you have nothing to hear i am very drunk

holy shit i think my dog can sense when i';m drunk and she;s like scared of me when i am, isnt that weird??

went to dada tonight for quiet comapny and new frontiers and praise baby jeebus the piledriver came with me!! gawd damn i hate goin alone, so thanks for that, mr. P!!!!

inhaled 8 oz of the cheapest goddam vodka i could buy at the sto, wheeeeee!! gooood stuff, that is. ok, mebbe not good stuff, but you know.....it woiks.. just aks the piledriver he had some too

beard pretended he dint know me, but that;s ok, i dont mind payin for thees guys. the piledriver almost has to go all krav maga on some guys ass he bumps into at the door. now THAT wouldve been funny.

first up was the gazelles, who i've seen at least like twice before and said "meh" bof times. this time was no different except i was much drunker, so i thot theys aight, but the piledriver hated the lead, says he was way too earnest, so i trust his judgement, he was not as drunk. he is the master judger of earnestness, you know... i shit you not. i dont remember much, truthfully.

ran over to zinis so mr p could catch a bite and a glimpse of my alt-universe girlfren. luckily, he did not show an interest, else she surely would have fallen for his luxurious sideburns, you know. they are glorious and hipnotic, after all.

next up was quiet company, who i;'ve seen multiple times befo - see below you lazy bastards. i love this band, and they did not disappoint. kicked me ass.

i think we went to zinis AGAIN to meet up with batman (who had just finished his set wif 1000 MFH at the curtain club) and wifey-poo and i-could-swear the suspiciously underage-lookin dude from the xmas party. mr p. had more pizza, no doubt to make more in-roads with whatser-name, the pizza gal. sneaky bastard.

next up was homer hiccolm and the rocket boys, who in my opinion need to change their name, just sayin. dont member the details, but i remember thinkin they were great - lotsa dudes on stage, keys and geetars and such (howzat for detailed reporting?), super guitar/piano-pop stuff.

last up was new frontiers, their cd release party and all. twas perty good, but the solo acoustic interlude in the middle was a total buzzkill. nice enough, allright, but i'd rather hear the whole band, if ya don mind.

huge crowd at the dada, been along time since i seen it like that. oh, and dude - you, the early-forties poser with the spiky hairdo and steroid arms, sittin at the table with yer back to the band like yer too fuckin cool to even care, drinkin yer bud light - i fuckin HATE you.

on the way to the car, the piledriver practically TAUNTS the cops, daring them to come bust our asses. funniest goddam thing i've seen in a long long time.


ok, i'll add links and shit tomorrow, dont be a dick

2/24/08 - Red Monroe, MOM, All in a Golden Afternoon

short and sweet, just like my trip to dada...


actually had to be at work on sunday night, but needed to kill some time, so i thot i'd head down to dada for a couple hours to catch some of the last day of the melodica music fest so's i could keep my local music cred intact. plus i wanted to see red monroe.

had two stages goin on - the outside stage was a lotta death metal, grindcore, noise, that kinda shtuff. lotsa black, lotsa hair, lotsa tats. not the usual dada crowd. felt a little out of place wearin my american eagle sweatshirt (and the fingers plugged firmly in my ears didn't help either). i won't pretend to understand that uh, music, so i won't even try and critique what i heard. one band had a dude wearin a giant longhorn-type skull over his head, another dude in stained choir robes with his face painted red. couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be funny or not, but i thot it was ('tho i kept the giggling to a minimum, lest i get skewered by a longhorn).

inside, the acts were closer to the usual dada fare. first band i saw was all in a golden afternoon - one chick, one dude, two guitars, plus lots of electronics. ambient, atmospheric, slightly psychedelic instrumentals with wispy vocals. whipped out an autoharp at one point - don't see that too often. some nice, pleasant tunes.

next up was MOM, who get a ton of press around here, so i was pretty excited to finally hear them. really dug these guys. two man instrumental band - violins, cello, guitar (played with a bow sometimes), plus lots of electronics. some beautiful, enveloping, soothing, multi-layered tunes. reminded me of lemon jelly sometimes (check 'em out, if you like MOM). for a brief second, i heard mannheim steamroller, but only for a moment. nice accompanying visuals ('tho it was hard not to be distracted by the 'cinema dada' playing on the wall - had to close my left eye to block it out). a very unique experience.

red monroe - phenomenal, as usual (seen them 3 or 4 times now). i think these guys get better every time i hear them. driving bass lines, incredibly catchy guitar riffs, infectious vocals. if their live performance doesn't get you rockin, there's somethin fundamentally wrong with you. played blue mountain air, one of my favorites, for the first time (pretty sure). had to head back to work after their set, but they alone made the trip worthwhile.

2/23/08 - Lifters, Romp Almighty, Binary Sunrise

you see you see. you SEE!!!! this is why you go out and see bands, you power thru the lack of sleep and the fact that you have to go to work in the mornin and the long ass drive, because you never know when you'll find a band that goddamn near makes you fuckin cry. THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why you do it.

ok, this pre-amble was written before i went out, when i was sober, so it's all clever and shit:

left most of my buddies behind and to their own devices tonight, some to carry on cringe-worthy conversations with beer wenches who have the phrase "cum-guzzling" as a part of their conversational vocabulary (ick), and some to recover from a long day of daddydom (ok, mad props). however, the tim harrigan groupie (shiver) came out with his gal-pal (wonder if she knows his secret) along with joe the boytoy to hailey's, so i did not have to cry in my beer alone.

to be fair, i didn't exactly have any must-see shows to offer up, but i thot the trip to hailey's might be worth it. decided against the dan's silverleaf show - just can't take that much country in one sitting.

ok, back to inebriated-land again (see? i am all out of clever). first of all, let me tell you - vodka and sprite zero? no. nonononono. terrible. but i managed.

first up was binary sunrise. what happened to "the push", who was supposed to be first? fuck if i know. anyhow, BS was a 4-man band, lead sanger with lilliputian keyboard and rugby shirt and long hair and basketball goggles like that shithead ballhog kid on my daughter';s basketball team, so i hated him just for that. i kid. lead geetar had one of those belts that's too long and hangs down like some sort of phallic symblol. very phunny. i dont know what the hell this band was supposed to be, altho i was entertained, i will say that. sometimes very retro, 80's sorta synth stuff (reminded joe some of devo). sometimes bluesy, rockabilly stuff??? not bad or anything, just no definable style - kinda all over the place. but still pretty good.

next up was unfuckingbelievable - romp almighty. one chick playin acoustic guitar in impossibly lowcut black dress (turns out, she was wearing a shirt) (sorry, i am a man), one dude on drums with feet and left hand, and synth on right hand. omigod omigod, i loved these two. absolutely beautiful voice and guitar playin, loved the synth, some incredible songs (the myspace doesn't do them justice, btw). can't believe i haven't seen them before now. this was the one that damn near made me cry, with her beautiful soaring voice and the incredibly moving melodies. fuck you if you think i'm a pussy. fuck you. it was a beautiful thing.

last was the lifters, and i thot these guys were mighty damn good. 5-man band, w/ full-time keys. started off with some totally solid guitar/piano pop wall-of sound songs, which i totally dug. believe it or not, heard some chemistry set, calhoun and quiet company, but maybe that's because i want to hear them in every band. amazing voice comin out of the lead (who is not a big dude). funny, when they crossed into alt-country territory, i lost a bit of interest, but that's when the tim harrigan groupie perked up and got interested. different strokes, eh? anywho, they only played 1 or 2 alt-country tunes, then went back to beltin out their fantastic power-pop anthems, which they are damn good at. very polished, very professional. closed with their best song. wouldn't mind hearin them again.

all in all, a pretty damn good night.

My Saturday night picks

Nothin just jumps out at me as a must-see tonight, but here are a few possibilities:

Looks like a humdinger of a show at Dan's in Denton tonight:
http://www.myspace.com/rollingtrainwreck

Now, bluegrass and alt-country ain't really my thang, but I saw 100 damned guns at SHQ a year ago and dug 'em, so i'm thinkin the rest of this show might be pretty good too.

Another possibility: The Lifters, Binary Sunrise and The Push at Hailey's:
http://haileysclub.com/

And if I had to pick a Melodica show, I'd go to the one at Avenue Arts, to see Red Monroe, Swirve, and Transona Five:
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u48/sonicsoular/avenueartsscheduleFIX.jpg


see you out there...

Adventures in Binge Drinking

ever had one of those high-stress, shit-filled days that give you the desire, almost the need, to get utterly and completely plowed? (no? you lead a charmed life). that was yesterday for me.

that's right - i took the night off, at least as far as live music goes. I couldn't really find a show i was excited about anyways, plus i had fed the beast on thursday with bear colony, pet hospital and jon cook (see below). So after my ulcer-inducing day, i headed over to my buddy the piledriver's house with my vodker in tow, being as how he's one dude who is always up for some major drinkin.

got a little worried there when we made an ice run to the local 7-11, and my host wanted to buy some KY ("look, it's the warming kind", he kept saying), but it's OK - he left me alone. now his randy little dog was a different story - i'm pretty sure that little bastard owes me dinner, at least. (i'm just kiddin about the KY, that was actually me, tryin to embarass the piledriver and give him a reputation at his local quickie-mart (i was already pretty far gone at that point)).

we did listen to quite a bit of music (we both have some keeller shit on our ipods), there definitely was some incoherent babbling, and i christened his bathroom, so it sorta felt like a normal night out for me.

actually, i guess i did hear some live music after all, cuz the piledriver whipped out his acoustic and proceeded to melt my face with the likes of 'jesu, joy' and 'frere jacques'. no, seriously, he's pretty good - i'd kill to be able to play like that.

decided that one of my life goals is to learn all of the lyrics to the gorillaz' "clint eastwood", so i can drunkenly belt it out at the top of my lungs when i hear it in some bar somewhere. dream big, huh?

anyhows, the night ended peacefully with the piledriver passed out on the couch, and me crashed in his guest room. i'm sure his dog had a field day.

until next time...

2/14/08 - Bear Colony, Icarus Crane, Pet Hospital, Jon Cook

started out the evening by celebrating the piledriver's birfday at twin peaks (at his insistance), where all the waitresses wore teddies (thankyou, st. valentine, patron saint of gaudy whores). And what music greeted my ears when i walked up to the place? None other than everyone's favorite octogenarian pseudo-rocker, tom petty! wheeee! Anyhow, we got ignored as usual, but damn, that bud ice went down smoooove (hey, it was cheap).

left the boys leering creepily at the waitstaff and drooling in their beers to head down to the prophet bar, in search of some musical salvation (am i clever, or what?). (Ed. note: if my oh-so-witty remarks are confusing you, it might be because you don't know that the prophet bar is part of The Door, which is owned by a church. so now you know). Engaged in some idle chitchat with the gal at the door, who was very nice, at least until i violently used the lord jeebus's name in vain, at which point she slammed the window closed on my hands (kidding) and clammed up (i'm sure she was praying for me at that point. praying hard).

anyhows, caught the last half or so of Jon Cook's set. solo acoustic singer/songwriter. Dono what it was, but i fell for it. totally loved it (not my usual reaction to solo acoustic singer/songwriters (which is a yawn)). Sometimes i'm just in the mood for it, and last night i was. i think Jon had a lot to do with that - loved his voice (reminded me of leonard cohen sometimes), loved his songs - mostly melancholy, wistful (is that redundant? sue me), beautiful geetar playin, not over-earnest or over-emoting (a common fault, i think). very genuine. very talented.

ran down to club dada to catch Pet Hospital, cuz i digs me some pet hospital. chatted with brian and amanda (who is much more chipper these days (yay)), and met the Dallas Observer's new music editor, Pete Freedman (straight outta Colorado Sprangs, Home of Half a Million Rabid Evangelicals^TM (or so i'm told)). There's been much weeping and moaning and gnashing of teeth by the music-scene insider types around here about who the new editor would be, what kind of job they would do, etc. Well, at least in my opinion, this dude seems to have the right stuff. Even before we met, i liked what i read - liked his writing style, his attitude, the way he threw himself into the scene. Turns out he's a super nice dude, too. And hey, we even like the same bands and internet radio station (can you say 'validation'?). Plus which, amanda gave him three pages of homework to do, so she'll have him educated in no time. Check out Pete here and here.

oh yeah - Pet Hospital. saw these guys a few weeks back (read review here), and thought they were awesome, and they re-affirmed that opinion last night. seemed like it was maybe a different set - not as many hard-rockin numbers as i remember, but still fantastic - i love the down-tempo stuff, too. some dude (prolly someone's dad?) gave out free EPs to the crowd, which at that point was just me, amanda, brian, and pete. didn't seem to bother them, tho - they put on a great show.

stumbled out of dada and went back to Salvation Central. Had missed Victory March, apparently. but that's OK, pete says they suck (i'm kidding! i'm kidding!). Icarus Crane was setting up. Lo and behold, who joins me at the bar but the aforementioned Music Editor (must've been jonesin' for an evangelical experience (i think i saw him praying with the chick at the door)). At that point, the incoherent babbling (you know it) began with a vengeance (on my part, i should say). Turns out we both have ties to central new york (repreSENT!) - he went to syracuse U and i grew up in that area. he's also friends with the dudes in Ra Ra Riot, one of my favorite bands from last year (hey, mebbe he can set me up with the sweet sweet violin player when they come thru town). Anyways, i always have a blast when i can converse with someone who's as passionate aboot music as i am.

Icarus Crane. two-man instrumental band - geetar/synth and drummer, plus seizure-inducing disco lights. dudes had some nice tunes, some cool grooves, but after 3 or 4 songs, i had gotten a bit tired of it (if you see me with one finger in my ear, and my other ear turned away, you know i'm not diggin it). seriously, tho - they were good at what they were doin, it just wore on me after a while. i think that's why the good lord invented vocalists (hey, mebbe all that prayin is workin on me).

last up was Bear Colony, from arkansas. holy shit, these guys were fantastic. awesome. right in my wheelhouse - moody, minor-chord-driven, beautiful wall of sound arty guitar pop (not much like the myspace, btw). great pipes on lead. 5-man band (full-time keys/synth). heard some coldplay, some early radiohead influence. Pete says he heard 'Shiny Toy Guns' (look at him, showin me up on the whole band reference thing). if you have a chance to see these guys, don't pass it up. didn't have the cash for the cd; pete got a free one (nice to be a music editor, eh?).

was done at midnight, but i (once again) did not take advantage of the 'early' finish, and went to the fillmore pub, where the piledriver was chasin married women (as he is wont to do), knuckles pretended to like scotch to impress the waitress, and dave-the-big-guy-who-had-too-much-to-drink pestered all the bar patrons on his quest to find shrimp (i have no idea).

Thursday night shenanigans

Plannin on goin to the Prophet Bar thursday night to hear Bear Colony, Icarus Crane, Victory March, and Jon Cook ('tho i might run down to club dada when pet hospital plays):

http://www.theprophetbar.com/calendar.htm

damn, that's twice in one week i've been to the prophet bar. praise jeebus, eh?

2/9/08 - Kevin Devine, Jealous Girlfriends, Quiet Company

had a hard time findin a shew, but finally found that quiet company was playing at the prophet bar, a venue i usually ignore cuz of the affiliation and the inflated cover charge. but i love quiet company, so. tk, another QC fan, came along for the ride.

stopped off at dada first to chat with mis compadres there, but alas, no one home. oh well, beard entertained us with von ehric stories, tk inhaled a couple more lonestars (i could swear at one point he was gonna start shotgunning), and we discussed the glorious complexities of modern adult life and such, as we always do.

left dada, jumped in the chick-magnet-mobile, and drove around the block lost a couple times before settling on a parking space about oh, 100 feet down the street from where we originally parked. well sheeut, it sure looked further than that on google maps.

so how is it that the first band is supposed to go on at 8:30, we get there at 9:10, and we've missed the first two bands??? stupid fuckers.

BUT, not to worry, we did not miss Quiet Company. Seen these dudes at least twice before at dada and once at hailey's, and i love 'em every time. they've added a fourth member to their band, so you've got full-time geetar now (tyler used to switch between geetar and keys), which makes their live show rock oot even more. check out the cd - it's got some fantastic, finely-crafted, mostly mellow acoustic/piano-pop tunes on it - but the goddam live show is incredible. even the mellow songs on the cd turn into full-blown rock anthems when played live. i mean these guys kicked ass. my gawd i loved it.

tk chatted up lead singer tyler (i think) after the set, and they compared notes aboot the deep meaning of the lyrics to 'love is a shotgun' and the glorious complexities of modern life and omigod he'll talk about that shit to anyone, apparently. just kiddin, tk, you know i love you, man.

just when i thot the high point of the evening had passed, tk brought me a jager shot. ha! just kidding (i mean, he did, but that wasn't the high point, i'm sayin). seriously, the highlight of the evenin had to be the set by jealous girlfriends. four-piece band, straight outta brooklyn. smokin hot chick lead guitarist/vocalist (omigawd, i think i'm in love), peter frampton lookalike on geetar/vocals (tk can have him), plus keys and drummer. totally unique blend of shoegaze, grunge, and new wave. loved the mix of his-and-hers lead vocals - great effect (check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hedc9JDDq0). their stuff was totally in my wheelhouse, and i loved every minute of their set. might even have to trek over to lola's in march to catch them on their way to sxsw. no sign of holly after the set - she must've sensed a drunken middle-ager was on the prowl.

between sets, i wandered thru the smoky passageway to the other side of the building, where i witnessed the sad sad sight of the former gypsy tea room ballroom (where i saw the genius of eels) being defamed by goddam screamo bullshit, complete with shirtless screamo-heads pseudo-moshing in front of the stage. kill me.

last up was kevin devine, also from brooklyn, and touring partner of jealous girlfriends (did i mention how incredible they were?). this guy seems to have a big following up north. his myspace is all solo acoustic-y stuff, but i thot sure he'd have a full band and at least attempt to rock out a bit. but what we saw was just him on acoustic and another dude on electric, basically just playin his acoustic songs. we heard four or five songs like that and had had enough. he might have said something aboot 'the full band' comin up later on, so maybe we missed the whole rockin out part, but we could take no mo. kept thinking of 'waking ned devine'. dono why.

went back to dada to see if anyone was about, but no luck. went to zini's so tk could meet my alternate-universe girlfriend. the pizza was amazing, as usual.

dropped by the fillmore pub in plano, second home of knuckles and the piledriver. they had somehow managed to convince one of the beer wenches to sit with them and buy them shots. what gentlemen, eh? some truly disturbing revelations unfolded, involving very intimate personal encounters and bodily functions (you dont wanna know, bleebe me).

Friday night - the felons at the doublewide

recommendation for Friday night:

check out the Felons playing at the Doublewide with Somebody's Darling and Melba Toast. Can't vouch for SD or MT (tho I've heard good things aboot SD), but the felons will kick your ass.

sorry, i can't do friday nights, so you're on yer own.

still tryin to find a saturday show. suggestions are welcome...

supabowl rant

(warning - abundant profanities ahead)

ohhhh, vodker and gingerale how i love you!! muah!

watchin the supabowl with the brahs and halftiem comes around and holy fuckni shit are you kiddin me??? tom petty??? tom. fuckin. petty?? that is all you can come up with?? fuckin 70year old tom fuckin petty??? jesus christ what a load of shit. with all the fuckin bands out there. come on, grow a fuckin sack and put someone on with just a tiny bit of edge, will ya?? not some fuckin geriatric sideshow. oh boy - free fallin!!! i've only heard that song three thousand fuckin times!!! i need to hear that again!! wheeee!!!! where's my fake lighter??

ok, so i'm not gonna see radiohead or animal collective, i accept that, but how about somethin from the fuckin 21st century??? there are plenty of mainstream bands that would do - arcade fire? weezer? even foo fighters. (sure, tom seemed to please the piledriver and his girlfriend wayne, but that aint no real endorsement, i can tell you). omigod, i can't believe they showed that crap. kill me.

rant over

1/31/08 - Druggist, Eaton Lake Tonics, Chris Holt

left a truly hapnin' scene at the fillmore pub in downtown plano (don't laugh!) to head down to club dada for some mid-week shenanigans.

joined by batman and the tim harrington groupie (scary, i know, but he behaved).

saw the last half of chris holt's set. he was accompanied by two of his buddies from his full band (eric neal and steve luthye), who played everything from violin to keys to bass to mandolin. heard mostly covers, but they were nice ones - led zep's going to california, and pink floyd's nobody home and comfortably numb. since the wall is prolly my favorite album of all time, i dug it. lots of talent on stage, no doubt. dug the addition of eric's vocals on many of the songs.

next up was eaton lake tonics. these guys play a nice collection of fairly straight-forward guitar -led indie pop songs. to be honest, their songs were kind of hit and miss for me - some songs connected, some didn't. liked the more down-tempo tunes - i think they work better with the lead's vocal abilities. dug the closer - 'i kicked the pieces out into the ocean' - at least i think that's what it was.

last was druggist, from san antonier, and these guys kicked some ass. three-man band, lead played both geetar and keys. nice pipes on lead. vocals on bass player were more talk-singy, but not annoyingly so - i actually liked it (i usually dont like that style). some nice anthemic radiohead-influenced stuff here and there, some jangly pop, some piano pop. great songs. totally dug it.

really appreciated the early start (8:00) - 'twas over around 11ish. really nice on a weeknight. ok, so no, i didnt take advantage of it (headed back to the fillmore, where they boys were still drinkin (lushes!)). but i could have, that's the point.

1/23/07 - Nick Luca, Sean Kirkpatrick, Telegraph Canyon

snagged a mid-week show at dada, since i'll be tied up all weekend. gotta feed the beast when you can...

no Beard at the door - wtf? i thought that dude never left that stool.

first up was Telegraph Canyon. i'd seen these guys last march, and it's taken this long to finally catch them again. my gawd, was i glad i did. they were even better than i remembered. 6 people on stage (plus beard), sometimes 7. lotsa geetars, plus keys, accordian, harmonica. an absolutely beautiful collection of folk rock tunes, some joyful, some wistful, some stirring. all incredibly written and wonderfully performed. love chris johnson's voice - not that it's a big booming voice or anything, but it's just got such character. this was easily the highlight of the evening for me. totally dug the addition of the organ (soulful, bill h called it). gal on keys drove my pants crazy. bot the cd (with a little help from debbie (thanks!)) and gushed at Chris for a sec after the show. will definitely not wait another year to catch these guys again.

next up was the Sean Kirkpatrick trio, who i've seen many times now, and i don't know what it was, but this was easily the best performance of theirs that i've seen. don't get me wrong, i've liked it every time i've seen them, but last night topped them all. maybe it was the environment, the sound system, or a slightly different set, i don't know. there did seem to be less of the seemingly-random key plinking that i whinged about last time. whatever - it was an awesome set. oh, and sean knows the two secrets to doing a great cover: one - pick the right damn song (very rarely done, IMO), and two - make it your own. totally dug 'jesus and tequila'. i did miss 'turn on the interference', tho.

last up was Nick Luca, from tucson, who plays with calexico, DeVotchka, and Niko Case. 4-man band, all geetars. based on the myspace, i expected straightforward indie rock, but what i heard was more folk-influenced with a tinge of alt-country. some very nice songs, some talented geetar playing. maybe it's because i was still so smitten by telegraph canyon, but what kept coming to mind during their set was, this is telegraph-canyon lite. not sayin it wasnt good stuff or anything, but i thot they lacked the depth and character of TC.

definitely had too much to drink, which led to (guess what?) me babbling incoherently at debbie, brian, and amanda. mebbe that should be my catch phrase - babbling incoherently. seems to be a recurring theme.

Best of 2007

Well, Ok, everyone seems to do some sort of 2007 "best of" list, so OK, here you go. better late than never, eh? (p.s. - i am drunk)

2007 was an uh, interesting year for me, one of personal transitions, revelations, transformations, blah, blah, blah...

while i could easily come up with a top ten list of personal revelations for 2007, i really dont think anyone would give a shit, so here's my list of the top 10 performances i saw in 2007 (yeah, ok, no one gives a shit about this either, i know):

1. Chemistry Set, Calhoun (Club Dada, 1/11/08) - final show for Chem Set. on one hand, a glorious night due to the extended set by my favorite local band. on the other hand, deeply depressing since it's their last show. see below to view my opinions on this truly awesome band. stephen duncan is a musical genius, and the dallas music scene will not be the same without him. here's hoping he keeps making music, as he promised me. this evening was bolstered by an awesome set by calhoun, another one of my favorites.

2. tartufi (club dada, 12/8 and haileys, 12/9). truly transcendant live music experience. enough said. check. them. out.

3. o'brother, comrade, broadcast sea, pompeii, dignan, new frontiers, quiet company (haileys, 1/20). this was one of the first shows i went to, and it set the standard for months to come. this was where i was first introduced to pompeii, so it has to rank near the top, if only for that. but the new frontiers and quiet company sets ranked highly also. fantastic night.

4. method entertainment night at club dada, 8/18. unbelievable collection of fantastic bands in one night: greater good, chemistry set, calhoun, latture, and airline. nice job, solis.

5. paul banks (cavern, 7/21 and 9/29). you know i hate the fuckin cavern, but the absolute genius of paul banks transcended that shithole of a venue. this dude can write one hell of a song, and he's got the pipes to belt 'em out, too. absolutely phenomenal.

6. ra ra riot, red monroe (haileys, 3/13). fell in love with ra ra riot and their cello- and violin-playing. also rocked out to the exquisite red monroe for the first time. magical, even though eric stormed off the stage early cuz of hailey's awful sound problems.

7. rufus wainwright (nokia, 8/10). rufus has been one of my favorites for years, so to have him come to dallas (finally!) was such a fantastic gift. a truly beautiful, funny, entertaining evening. hate the fucking nokia, tho - $15 parking, $6 rumandcokes. fuck. you.

8. animal collective (granada, 5/26). ok, i wasnt even gonna go, but i won tickets from bigDlittled, and goddam, am i glad i went. no, i didnt enjoy every song they played, but when they played a song i dug, it was an exhilarating experience.

9. the whigs, wild sweet orange, calhoun (club dada, 1/16). this was when i was truly turned on to the greatness of calhoun, in addition to the other two outstanding acts. great night.

10. demigs, new frontiers, dear and the headlights (haileys, 8/1). tk fell in love with the demigs, which makes it easier to get him out more often so i dont have to go out alone, so this night has to rank up there just cuz of that. got to see new frontiers again and belt out 'mirrors' at the top of my lungs, too (poor tk). loved dear and the headlights, too. gooood night.

other bands i saw and dug in 2007, in no particular order...

stumptone
bosque brown
happy bullets
the felons
matthew and the arrogant sea
radiant
jd whittenburg
telegraph canyon
stavely
florene
swirve
record hop
the campaign
backflap
sean kirkpatrick
three fantastic
the dodos
tammany hall machine
quiet company
david ramirez band
1000 miles from home
the aimless never miss
robert gomez
hardin sweaty...
burning hotels
the gunship
million year dance

there's another list that needs to be compiled, and that's the list of people who have completely transformed my life in the past year, ranging from a new group of friends at work, to music-scene insiders who have managed to make me feel at home in a world that is completely outside my comfort zone. but that's a thing for another night, after waaay more vodker...

1/18/08 - Pet Hospital, Radio Radio, Airline (Club Dada)

alien angels, come to take me home. rolling back the stone. lost but not alone. close my eyes and start to float...

(written whilst still abuzz, so...)

despite an egregious lack of sleep over the entire week, i forced myself to venture out to club dada, and as usual, i'm glad i did. no amanda, which ok is definitely a part of the goddam reason i go out there, and no usual crowd for airline, like debbie and mr. ghost and such, but that's ok, brian made up for it. amanda, i hope he's on your payroll. that's one fuckin-a awesome dude. but you knew that.

goddammit, one of theese days i'm gonna spill my fuckn guts about the kind of peopel i've met in the last year and how my whole life perspective has shifted 180 degrees... holy shit you wouldnt believe. how has it taken me four decades to finally see the light? jeezus christ...

anyways.

Airline - saw them before on method entertainment night. thot they paled in comparison vs chemistry set and calhoun, but thats not really an insult, cuz you know how i feel about those two bands. tonight, i was won over. sometimes heard coldplay, sometimes U2. lotsa great bluesy stuff, too. some jangly pop. great pipes on lead. 4-man, with keys. dug the keys and back-up vox. nice job, dude. had ubiquitous drunken girlfriends dirty dancin in front. nothin wrong with that. totally dug the set.

Radio Radio - i tell you i was not sure about this group goin into it, after hearing their myspace page. sounds like depeche mode meets depeche mode, and had a depeche modey baby. very retro. but their live show is not like that at all. totally rockin. yeah, a bit retro, but nothin near as bad as i was expectin. doesnt sound like a great endorsement, i know, but seriously, it was a great set - nothin like the myspace at all. buddy joe the boy toy would've been in heaven. 4 man, no keys - lead just sang. ok, so here's a rousing endorsement - for the first time, prolly EVER, i totally got into a cover - they did bowie's 'i'm afraid of americans' and it fuckin KILLED. jeezus christ that was good.

Pet Hospital was last. before they go on, brian says they're a band that could go the distance, i'm thinkin are you shitttin me? (based on the myspace) but goddam he was right. wasnt sure what to expect, i mean how many great bands come out of fuckin coppell, anyways?? well, at least one, as it turns out. 3-man band, but goddam it sounded like much more than that. how do they do that?? amazing. lead vocals higher register, but not annoyingly so. did some hard rockin shit. then pulled back and did nice solo with geetar and harmonica. these dudes are talented. keep an eye out.

outtie

1/12/08 - Fishboy, Poison Control Center, Teenage Cool Kids, Sparlin Jessels

man, did i take one for the team last night (what team? well, alright, you got me there). operating on five hours sleep and with a lingering hangover from the night before (curse you, my enabling friends (i kid - please dont stop)), i headed out to denton, Home of The Beard and Sister Pants and Preternaturally Short People^TM. kept thinkin the whole way, this is a mistake, this is a mistake, i need some rest. but i soulja'd on, as always, in search of my next live music fix.

first up at RGRS was Sparlin, Jessels, whose myspace headline reveals way too much information. folk singer/songwriter. 'twas amazing to see 10-15 people in the crowd who seemed to have come to see him and sang along with every song. reminded me somewhat of leonard cohen, but only the more upbeat, major-chord songs of his, and with interesting, clever lyrics. he seemed to get flustered by a broken string on his acoustic, had to switch to an electric, then proceeded to forget words, forget chords, stop repeatedly during songs and say 'what the fuck?'. declared himself the worst opening act ever. hmmm. nah, just kidding, i've seen worse. i did enjoy the songs, between all the 'what the fuck's.

Teenage Cool Kids from denton also seemed to have a decent-sized crowd come out for them (relative to the usual denton crowd, you understand). played down on the floor for some reason, and despite the prevalence of the aforementioned short people, i couldn't really see them (aint that the point of havin a stage?). 4-man band, as far as i could tell. heard some punk, pop punk, garage. pavement, weezer (the music, not the vox), and fig dish. lead and back-up vocalist did the annoying sing-shout-intentionally-clashing vocal thing a lot, which just rubs me the wrong way (is that a punk thing?). lead vocalist's voice was completely shredded (after a two-week "tour"), so it may not have been a good time to evaluate them. these guys were definitely good at what they were doin (with the exception of the vocals), but it just didnt do it for me.

Poison Control Center from iowa was up next. 4-man band totally unconcerned with their vocal performance. 'twas all about the energy and havin a good time. not sayin there's anything wrong with that, but i just wasn't into it. everyone in the band sang, but singin wasn't the forte of any one of them. one singer sorta sounded like malkmus, one just plain caterwauled, the other two were unremarkable. bassist separated at birth from rich hall of sniglet fame. super-high energy performance. they seemed to be obsessed with doin backward somersaults on the floor whilst playing. lead guitarist spent a lot of time playing in strange yoga positions. other dude liked to jump off the stage and run thru the crowd. lots of (attempted) audience participation - singalongs, dancin, clappin and such (always a challenge in denton, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it). very eclectic group of songs, some bluesy, some punk, some ballads. i definitely appreciate their energy and passion - they left it all on stage for sure. went on waaay too long for me (i guess they figgered that since they came all the way from iowa...)

fishboy was last. second time to see them, same impression. good collection of well-written jangly pop songs with oh-so-clever lyrics. the problem? his voice (seems to be a pattern with me, eh?). when he takes it slow and relaxes, his voice is fine, but when he gets keyed up and starts beltin it out (relatively speakin), he reminds me of gilbert gottfried (aka the aflac duck). the band was definitely tight, and i dug some of the songs, but overall, it just wasnt my bag, baby.

1/11/08 - Chemistry Set, Calhoun (Club Dada)

rare outing for me on a friday (due to familial obligations, ya see). but i couldnt miss chemistry set's last show. no fuckin way. goddam crazy ass music bidness - calhoun and chem set swapped sets. chem set goin on second instead of first. !!!
oh shit i'm fucked. gonna get home at 230 now. fuck. this will not go over well.

new record: 6 and 1/2 rum and cokes without christening the bathroom
mighty impressive, i know. thankyou, thankyou.

told amanda WAAAAAY more than she wanted to know. 6.5 rum and cokes'll do that to ya.

thanks josh for introducin me to malibu and coke. jeesus that was good...

pretty damn good crowd there for the shew. my crew included tk, knuckles, batman, the piledriver, joe the boy toy, dan from work.
hey, they left early ('cept tk, my DD), but you know - not everyone's as indie music cool as i am.

saw Ghost of BL, debbie, solis, fred, bill , jason there. wish i'd said hi, but i'm a fuckwit, what can i say. did talk to dave of the felons - great guy, forgot what we talked about. and hey, dude, quit fuckin smokin - dont ruin that phenomenal voice of yours.

look at me with all those fuckin links. sheeee-ut

Calhoun was great as usual. see my other posts below for my gushing reviews - i'm too tired.

chemistry set was, of course, fantastic (again, see below for all of my previous reports). of all the fuckin bands to be breakin up/moving, it has to be my fuckn favorite. goddamit. you have no idea how much i'll miss them. well, shit - at least they went out with an incredible last show. played all the ones i wanted to hear: the usual set, plus house of OK, a day like this, into the light, and many many more. it was a magical set. my usual complaint, tho - why dont bands finish with some original material, especially when its so goddam strong?? sure, play a cover or two, but how can you think a beatles cover is better to finish with than 'into the light'?? i dont get it. anyways, talked to stephen afterwards and made him promise to keep making music, because he has a fuckin gift. he said somethin about having half an album already recorded, so thank gawd for that. cannot wait. hope to gawd they come back to town sometime.

sorry this is shite. the glorious complexities of post-modern life are distracting me at the moment. guess i need another rum and coke, eh?

goodbye

1/5/08 - Amo Joy, Dove Hunter, Happy Bullets, JD Whittenburg, Travis Hopper, The Felons

looooong but satisfying night at club dada.

first up were the felons, who, with one performance, launched themselves damn near to the top of my 'favorite local band' list. outstanding group. i wish i had the know-how to describe them properly, but i'd call it dark, minor-chord-driven, sometimes-moody, sometimes-anthemic art rock. definite radiohead influence - mostly their early stuff (which, in my mind, is a good thing). 4-man band - geetar, keys, bass, drum. terrific voice on the lead, great falsetto. loved the way they weren't afraid to stop down the music and just feature the voice. keys were actually treated equally with the geetar (which i dig), and were very nicely done. fantastic stuff. where's the EP from these guys? forgot to ask. looking forward to seeing them again.

next up was Travis hopper, with a collection of alt-countryish pop songs. i admit, i wasnt concentrating too much on their set, as i was babbling incoherently at the felons. plus, alt-country aint my thang. sounded nice, from what i heard. um, the lead vocals weren't exactly my favorite - kinda thin and breathy.

walking to my car between sets to uh, freshen up, i saw an SRO crowd at Kettle Art watching the deep ellum film retrospective. twas cool to see such a crowd.

next up was JD Whittenburg and crew. enjoyed their set as usual. see previous report here. couldnt hear amanda well enough, but didnt feel like gettin attitude from the sound guy.

happy bullets were up next. i've seen them many times now, and i dig it every time. they've got a full arsenal of crowd-pleasin tunes - they always get everyone dancin. only complaint - more horns! love the cornet/trombone combo. also, they dont end on their strongest song.

dovehunter was next, with some blues-infused southern pop rock. lots of talented individuals on the stage. 5-man, all geetars, including a thundering bass. some jam-band songs. good stuff, just not my bag. sorta lost the audience during their set, too.

last up was Amo Joy, from Indianapolis. 4-man, with keys, kazoos, slide whistles, etc. it's funny, i was thinking how much they reminded me of the happy bullets, but i thot, geez, man cant you come up with a more original description? then amanda comes by and says, do you see why i call them the baby bullets? so i guess it's OK - they reminded me a lot of the happy bullets - the same sort of catchy, infectious, playful and well-written pop songs. have to say, i like their vox more than the HBs. twas a nice set.

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.

12/28/07 - Future Cast, The Campaign, JOsh weathers Band

hey hey hey people!! this one should be shoert, cuz i'm pretty wasted asnd unable to expound on the usual matters like i usually do. lucky for you, i think!!

knuckles was the designated driver - you are my hereo, knuckels!!!

started out at hooligans on the sdquare. god i love the square!!! i mean i really love it thtere. hooligans was nice, and so was teh waitress sam. got. loaded. up!!! thanks, tk, you are my hereo, too!!!!

went to haileys then. first was josh weathers band, a southern rock sorta band. lotsa bluesy pop rock numbers, the kind that gets the ladies dancin. gotta love em for that if nothin else. some really good stuff.

lotsa delicious scenery. lotsa evidence of my short people theory, too.

damn near had a crowd of friendds there, what with joe the boy toy and batman and wifey, plus tk and knuckles. itwas great!!!

next up was the campaign, who i'd seen before at my beloved club dada. some more great stuff, piano-led bluesy pop. gawd i cant stand covers - they played the billy joel cvoer again(movin out), and i had to fuckn leave the place until they were done. i mean actually leave the fuckin place!! man thats weird, but thats the way i am. other than that, i loved their set, once again. some kick ass stuff.

tk almost got his ass kicked by some hot blonde. hahahahaha!!!! wtf????

last up was the future cast. formerly the barons, and if you like Muse, you'll like them. very very similar. uh, very. i like muse, so i was amused (ha!). but i'm afraid they'll need to define their own sound if they're gonna make it further.

hey! finally there's somewhre to go in denton for eats at 2 in the mornin!! somewhere called fuzzy's or somethin like that just south of dans silverleaf. a taco joint sorta like tin star, except cheaper. damn good stuiff- check it oot!! skip the fuckin hot sauce, tho. thats my advice. oh, and their bathroom works just fine.

outtie.

mebbe sean k and bridges and blinking lights tomorrow at the doublewide...

12/26/07 - Max, Broose (@ the fucking Cavern)

omigod have i mentioned how much i HATE THE FUCKING CAVERN???? jesus christ if i never set foot in that place again i'll be a happy man. cmon, spune, cant you find a different venue?? cheezus.

tonight was an example of me tryin to force one in. couldnt really find a good show, but i needed to feed the beast, and i liked what i heard on Mur's myspace page (who Max the headliner was a part of), so i thot what the hell. bad decision, and not really the acts' fault(s). the cavern is just not the place for intimate, acoustic geetar/piano solo acts, what with all the fucking glamour girls with their fucking pointy shoes sipping their fucking white wine talking about their fucking iphones they got for christmas, yakking louder than the fucking band, then when the music stops, turning around and screaming woohoo like they were actually fucking listening to the music. goddam, i hate that place. yeah, those people are probably at other venues too, but at least at those places there's room for them to socialize somewhere else, instead of right in fuckin front of me.

broose opened up, just him and his geetar, some nice songs, some above-average geetar work. really nice. notfernothin, but he looked like he was separated at birth from Will Arnett from SNL, except with bleach-blonde hair. wore some sort of lederhosen with elfin boots. nice stuff, from what i could hear over the din.

max, from Mur, was next. started out solo on the pianer. nice husky, low voice (sorta heard joe cocker sometimes). switched to geetar after a few songs. joined by friend with electric a while later. again, some really nice songs, and i dug his voice, but goddam, it got impossible to ignore the fucking crowd after his first few. had some dickwad in an oh-so-hip-and-ironic crocheted grandma hat practically back himself on top of me. couldnt take any more, so i left.

and the search for the next show begins...

12/20/07 - Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, Florene, Backflap, Scarily Terrible/Verulf (RGRS)

had to get in one last show before a short hiatus, so i headed out to rubber gloves on a thursday night.

missed a childlike fear. i'd seen them before, and i just wasn't motivated enough to make it there in time.

second was Scarily Terrible. or Verulf. i'm not really sure, since they never said. lots of people on stage - 2 guitars, drummer, keys, and two dudes sitting on the stage, alternately tweakin knobs on their machines and runnin out the back door in the middle of songs to do gawd knows what. played i think 2 songs. seemed like the geetar player played the same refrain over and over for the length of the 10-minute long songs, and the others embellished around that. no vocals, per se, just ahhs and oohs. twas aight.

next up was backflap. 4-man - guitar, bass, keys, drummer. keyboard chick in distractingly tight jeans. really unconventional, totally infectious songs. loved the bizarre song structures. totally appreciate the creativity. heard some primus influence. drummer did excellent job of keepin it all together. had a song about a cow, and one about a lesbian who hates weiners, i think. great set. really dug it. would love to see again.

florene - seen these guys before. 2-man, tons of keys and macs, definite panda bear/AC vibe. good stuff. like what the geetar added. played 3 or 4 long songs.

Matthew and the Arrogant Sea - 3rd time to see these guys (see previous reports here and here). startin to learn the set - love "you still love me blondie" and "i'm no snake". didnt like the 3rd song, a really slow instrumental that he acknowledged was a cock-tease. anyways, besides that, it was another enjoyable (tho short) set. i'm always amazed when bands play with such great energy and passion when there are only 5 people in the audience. gawd bless em for that.

froze my ass off in there again. why is there a ceiling fan goin 90 miles an hour when it's 45 degrees outside?

overall, a good night - will definitely help tide me over until i can venture out again...

12/15/07 - Chemistry Set

OK, OK - I have heard the clamoring of my adoring public, so here's yer damn trip report (tony).

this was the night i proved my dedication to and sacrifice for the indie music scene, leaving a truly hapnin xmas bash at batman's house with lots of free booze and an abundance of females to support one of my all-time favorite bands. i left behind beer-with-a-side-of-motor-oil pong, drunken discussions about piledriving, and the (alleged) wing-man assistance of the legendary mr. Q (in my defense, i thot he was bustin my balls).

anyhow, with my sanity and manhood being questioned by all, i drove down to downtown dallas to City Tavern, with tk ridin shotgun. i was amazed how alive that area is - traffic jams on main street, tons of people, valet stands everywhere. ended up findin a metered spot that you didnt have to pay after 6 - nice. why isn't deep ellum like that? hmmm, suspicious. no cover at city tavern - also nice. twas a nice place, from what i remember - lotsa wood, i think. not overly smoky.

got there for the last few minutes of Arthur Yoria, performing solo. wouldn't mind hearing more of him sometime. had loopers, machines, etc. to jazz up the sound. really pretty good, from what i heard.

headlining was the always stupendous Chemistry Set. As i've said before, i am so in love with this band, i dont think i could ever be disappointed with one of their performances. every song is so well-written, clever, catchy, rockin, beautiful - what else can i say? they are literally the only band in town whose show i would never miss, hapnin xmas party or not. they graced us with an extended set, too, hitting all of my favorites. it was a fantastic set, and i am incredibly glad i went. got to talk to meredith before and stephen after - really nice folks. made a couple requests for their next show (1/11 at Dada - don't miss it).

went back to the party afterwards (2:30ish), but it was mostly a sausage-fest at that point. drunken sausages, at that.

12/9/07 - Tartufi, Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, Handclaps and Harmonies

had to go to haileys to see tartufi again - bands that good just cant be missed, no matter how hard it is to get up and go to work the next mornin.

and hey! knuckles came out, after learning aboot the joys of hard licker and sody-water. heh heh, after a few of those, you'll be up for anything.

first up was handclaps and harmonies, a 5-man band with a sound reminiscent of the beatles and the beach boys. after hearing their myspace page, i was worried i was gonna hear a bunch of sappy, happy silly songs, but these guys were much better than that. yes, there was a bit of sappiness (turn your frown upside down), but the 50/60's-inspired happy pop songs were very well written and executed. nice job with 3-part harmonies, too. love that. have to say, tho - the all-white pants have gotta go (or at least a few of them need to move up a size, IF you know what i mean. heh heh, just kiddin guys).

amanda showed up (tartufi are good friends of hers). knuckles asked me if i'd been caught cheating (goin somewhere besides dada, he meant), but i said hey, if she's here too, it's not cheating, right? then knuckles said somethin about the rules involving threesomes, how you have to pretend you're not enjoying it or something. at least that's been his experience with that sort of thing.

got to talk to brian from tartufi for a bit - he remembered me from the show the night before. super nice dude. i'll be able to say i knew him when...

next up was matthew and the arrogant sea, and i'll tell ya - these boys have something. second time i've seen them, and i liked it even better than the first time. sort of a spacey folk feel, sorta like animal collective, but much more melodic and beautiful. i'd maybe even compare it more to panda bear's stuff, but maybe thats just cuz of the filtered/echoed vocal effects that they both use. incredible set of pipes on lead - dude can belt it out. some hauntingly beautiful stuff, i thot. definitely nearing the top of my list of local faves.

Last was tartufi, who once again were phenomenal (see yesterday's post for my first review). they did an extended set (shweet!), so we got to hear both some newer and some older material (the new stuff was "for amanda", and the older stuff was "for our new friend steve, who came out two nights in a row". ha! how cool is that?). absolutely loved the way lynne would sing a line or two, loop it, sing over that and loop it, then sing over that to create a 3-part harmony. truly beautiful. sometimes when i heard her sing, it would remind me so much of Le Mystere De Voix Bulgare - how's that for an obscure reference? and man, can she play the geetar (and bass). fantastic, hard-drivin stuff. even got the thumbs-up from knuckles, a heavy metal-head.
once again, a truly fantastic performance - definitely made me glad i made the trip.

during their set, a clearly plastered chick started foolin around on the steps up to the stage, and amanda showed she could have a second career as a bouncer. now THAT was funny.

unbelievably, the joint was nearly empty. i dont pretend to understand.

comments

well shee-ut, somehow i screwed up the comments settings and turned them off, but you'll be happy to know i fixed it, so you can now comment away (for real).

12/8/07 - Drams, Happy Bullets, Shibboleth, Tartufi, JD Whittenburg

been a while since i wrote one of these completely sober, so, fair warning

went to club dada (geez, four weeks in a row now) for boca tinta's b-day bash.

when i hold out my ID to beard, he says, i dont need that, i know who you are. heh heh. cool. then he tells me his sure-thing picks for some bowl games, reelin off a list of teams (including my aggies, i should mention). i'm thinkin, hey thanks for the tip, man, but i am in no shape to remember anything right now.

couldnt get there til 8, so i missed dave little (comedian). first band i saw was JD Whittenburg, who i'd seen before at haileys. definitely enjoyed this set more than the haileys one, couldnt really tell you why. seemed like jd's voice was a bit stronger this time, less reedy. sound system was definitely better, i know that (tho i had to harass the sound guy to turn up the #2 mic - yea, im workin on it, he says. workin on it??? isnt it just a damn knob? ah well, he eventually fixed it). they played a set full of really nice piano pop songs with just a tinge of alt-country. have to say, just like at the haileys show, the thing that did it for me was the backing vocals. i have a thing for harmonies, and this band does it so well - probably the best i've heard in the past year. (yes, it's amanda, but no, i'm not brown-nosing - look at my blog entry for the haileys show - i said the same thing, and that was back before i knew her). i think the advantage JDW has is that amanda is a full-time vocalist (ok, with part-time tambourine duties), and that allows her to concentrate all her efforts on it, and she is very, very good at it. she adds so much more than just a few harmonized notes on top of the lead, the notes she sings have a life of their own. beautiful voice, too. i know i would definitely not enjoy JDW as much without those beautiful harmonies. anyways, it was a very enjoyable start to the evening.

next up was Tartufi, from san francisco, and omigod, this was an absolutely transcendant experience. all apologies to my favorite local bands - still love you guys, but this had to have been the best set i have seen since i started goin to shows a year ago. amanda told me they would blow my mind, and she could not have been more right. this is a case where the unbelievable music coming off the stage completely resonated with me. i cant explain why, i have a hard time even describing what i was hearing. one guy on percussion (and bullhorn, ha!), and one gal on guitars, vocals, plus effects, loopers, etc. she'd play a riff on one guitar, loop it, then switch out to a bass or some other guitar, play that for a bit, do some vocals and loop it, etc. etc., until they'd built up a beautiful multi-layered sonic landscape. definite GYBE and Animal Collective influences, but more melodic and listener-friendly (which is not an insult, in my book). just some really remarkable music, howzat for descriptive? i was absolutely transfixed. met the band after, babbled incoherently at them, and bot the cd. if you ever have a chance to catch these guys, do not miss it (i'm even considering driving out to haileys tonight to catch their (midnight!) set, as insane as that is, on a work night). truly incredible.

at some point, mis compadres showed up. no random-chick tonsil-hockey tonight, tho, but not for lack of tryin on their part.

next up was shibboleth, who i've seen before. they did a nice set of catchy, bluesy, head-bobbin instrumental tunes.

then was the happy bullets, who i've seen twice before. really enjoyed this set. liked the way they continually switched up the lead vocal role, kept things fresh. absolutely loved the trumpet and trombone combo (plus the trumpet player was hot (it's a chick, you asses)). a great set of well-written, smart, plucky, infectious indie-pop songs. i think "vice and virtue ministry" has to be one of my favorite songs right now - go check it out on their myspace page. made the mistake of lettin amanda know i loved that song, so when it came on, she yanked me off my chair and brought me up front to dance. a total riot, but omi-effin-god, i'm one of those people that should never dance in public. thank gawd i was pretty plowed, and thank gawd my buddies didnt have a phone with video, or i'd have to move out of state.

last was the drams. very tight group - you can tell these guys have some talent, and they've been at it for a while. 6 guys on-stage, including slide guitar. shades of Sorta, the eagles. dont know if they always have the slide guitar, but they definitely veered into alt-country territory tonight (not that there's anything wrong with that). seemed to be a decent crowd there for them, based on the number of people singing along.

very very tired at that point, so skipped zini's, much to my alternate-universe girlfriend's disappointment, i'm sure.

all in all, another exceptional night at dada.

12/6/07 - Smile Smile, Calhoun, Frontier Brothers (Cavern)

writin this WAY too long after the event, just so you know...

frontier brothers - 3-man (guitar, keys, drums (no bass)). definite beatles influence, some space-pop and power-pop. lead vocals a bit unconventional (smiths-like?), not my fav. some good stuff, just didn't connect with me.

Calhoun - read one of my prior reports to see how much i dig calhoun. i do have to say, tho - this performance wasn't quite as magical as the dada show. dono why, mebbe the environment ( i hate the cavern), mebbe the sound system - not sure. still a great set.

Smile Smile - listened to a couple songs, but since i'd already heard them twice, and it was really late on a weeknight, i split.

12/1/07 - Lamar Murphy, The Campaign, Great Raven, Ryan Parker

well you're on a bridge to nowhere and you;re gettin there fast, put it in the past, put it in the past. if this is a race then i hope you come last, youre on a bridge to nowhere and youre gettin there fast...

another great night at club dada for me. i tell ya, amanda as co-owner there has been teh best thing that couldve happened to me, i've had so many good nights there since she's taken over the booking, it's incredible. she definitely knows what she's doin

and hey! i was actually not alone tonight!! DP decided to venture out finally. so nice to have company along!

here i was so worried that i was gonna be persona non grata at dada (whoa!) cuz of the crappy (meaning negative) review i wrote last week, but amanda was actually HAPPY that i had written it, despite the fact that she was the one that booked the crappiness. man that gal's got the right stuff - honesty, integrity, passion. if only everyone in the Dd music scene had what she had, it'd be a different story 'round here. she is the greatest.

it was a bluesy bluesy night at dada, starting with Ryan Parker, and thankfully it wasn;t just him and his geetar - he had a bass player and drummer with him. this guy was perty good. nice voice. half the time he played an electric geetar, half the time an acoustic, sometimes i heard dave matthews, sometimes SRV. have to say, sounded a tad repetitive after a while, same old bluesy riffs/melodies. also, a bit too cheery and love dovey maybe (i'm a bit jaded on the whole true-love bullshit right now). some really nice guitar work and some nice bass work, too. lots of talent on the stage, just need to mix it up a bit, and stop talkin aboot yer lovely wife. why does that piss me off so much? well it dont take sherlock holmes to figure that out.

next up was RUMANDCOKE, and it was delicious. well mebbe not, but it did the trick anyways.

after that was Great Raven, a last-minute fill-in. i had seen these guys once before at the cavern, and didnt really connect, but tonight was different. at the cavern, i swear teh lead sanger spent 90% of his time at the keys, over-emoting, but tonight, he spent 90% of his time on teh geetar, and it was night and day. these guys kicked my ass. still in the bluesy pop vein of the evening, but they rocked the joint out. 5-man band, with keys. DP's favorite band of the evening. they still seem to be obsessed with wearing funky hip headgear, but tonight i forgave them for it. they didnt seem to be selling a cd, and didnt stick around afterwards to chat. oh well - next time. i will definitely see them again.

some decent scenery there, tonight, to keep DP happy. (ok, me too)

third was the campaign, from fort worth. these guys were fantastic. im sorry, teh myspace page shows three guys, but i seem to remember 4 of them up there. mebbe i was seeing double. have to ask DP. lead was definitely on keys, pounding away, i remember that much. great bluesy piano pop sorta stuff. amanda says she heard squeeze (black coffee in bed) - yes, thats a great comparison (why cant i come up with that stuff? shee-ut). did a cover of billy joel's movin out, and it fit perfectly in their set, if that tells you anything. great keybd work, i like that a lot. dug the lead vocals. got me noddin my head like a bobblehead, i can tell you. im sorry, im very tired. very talented group. would love to see again. got a free cd from 'em.

checked out the scene at kettle art a couple doors down. some really nice stuff in there, i thot. amanda dragged me over to meet frank, etc. such nice people. omigod if i had life to do over agin i think i would surround myself with artsy types with noserings and tats and mohawks and such. sweet baby jesus, can i have a do-over??

last was Lamar Murphy, from tennessee. omigod, the place absolutely cleared out before these guys started. i felt so bad for them - DP and me literally the only only ones left, besides employees. anyways, they were pretty good- vocals a bit unusual, not exactly mainstream melodies - more complex than most. i really dont know who to compare them to - modest mouse, maybe? 4-man band, but one dude only played the tambourine and shaker, and did backup vocals that you couldnt hear. as DP said, if times got hard, he'd be the first to go. sorry, that's mean. these guys were definitely talented, but in more of a headphone-listenin way, and not a live rock show way, knowwhatimean? i think they cut their set pretty short, bein as how there was no one there.

last but not least: pizza at zinis - you know it.

11/23/07 - The Peekers, jean-eric, Marcus Rubio

after watchin my aggies kick some longhorn ass at the infamous mckinney tavern, i found myself on my way to club dada at 6fuckin30 to meet up with batman and his crew to see hard day's night. easily the earliest i've ever been to deep ellum. wasnt expectin a cover for these jokers but there was one. fuckers played for like 4 freakin hours, one boring-ass beatles song after another. yeah, yeah, the were goodat what ttehy were doin, and they sure got the ladies dancin, but come on, how many fuckin times do you wanna hear those same fuckin beatles songs?? jesus, enough is enough, i say. after they weer finally done (like 1015, no shit!), went to zini's to get some pizza, served by the far-out lookin but insanely cute goth chick who i determined would be my girffriend in an alternate universe. nuf about that. batman damn near ate pizza off the floor, he was so hungry. wouldve liked to have seen that, i can tell you.

back at dada, marcus rubio took the stage, and let me tell you, this dude has some major talent. one-man band (18-year-old!), plays a lot of violin (which i'm always a sucker for), uses effects and loops and such. would play the violin, put it in a loop, then whip out acoustic geetar to accompany. many-layered songs. great stuff. (batman was offended that music was comin out the speakers while he wasnt touchin an instrument. good grief, batman, its called tech-no-lo-gy, thats how a one-man band has a kickass show when he's only a one-man band). voice not exactly the best, a tad whiny (might've been straining cuz of the venue), but it worked. really enjoyed the set.

next up was jean-eric, who are apparently cronies of the peekers. jesus christ what are they supposed to be? i sure as hell dont know. alternative-lifestyle dude and chick in 50's glasses, rappin white-man style to tracks on their ipod. does the carpet match the drapes? does the carpet match the drapes? thats all i member. just aboot killed me. and yes, eric informs us, his carpet does indeed match his drapes. blarch!

last up was the peekers, from shreveport. 6-man (uh, with two chicks, soory). dono what their deal was, but they did not seem to give a shit about their performance. lots of shitty-ass singin, damn near caterwaulin is what i'd call it, bandmembers singing out of tune with each other (i dont think on purpose), callin up people from the audience to add to the cacophany (yea, thats what we need - lets get eric from jean-eric to sing with us, he can make us sound even more disjointed!), guitars screechin, barely a melody to be found, people more interested in drinkin and smokin onstage than actually performing. i dono, i couldnt take it. left early. now keep in mind i'd been drinkin since 230, so i was pretty ragged out at that point, and my patience was pretty thin. maybe thats their schtick, all chaos-y disjointed happy-go-lucky shit (tho no one seemed happy), but i just didn't get it. i tried to stick it out, hopin it would get better, but it never did (plus my ride was walkin out the door).

ah well, left with a big smile on my face anyways.

Please - comment away

I may regret this, but I have now enabled anonymous comment posting, since my buddies told me how creatively frustrated they were because they couldn't leave comments on my blog (note - i am lying). I still have accept/reject ability, tho, to avoid the spam problem.

So please - comment away, even if it's to say this blog is worthless (tho I already know that).

11/16/07 - The Whigs, Wild Sweet Orange, Calhoun (no really)

like i said, this was a fantastic night, for a lot of different reasons.

started the front-loading activities at bone daddy's, getting ignored by the waitress who'd rather spend her time with the punkass bitches in cocked-to-the-side straight-brim ball caps. yeah, the usual. headed to dada alone, also as usual - DP bailed on me, somethin aboot 3.5 hours of sleep or somethin.

completed front-loading activity sittin in my car on elm street (love dada, but can't afford to drank there, not my beloved licker, anyways).

talked to beard at the door, told him i felt like a dick, but i should be on the list. never done that before, but i needed to. luckily amanda was there at the bar, and somehow she remembered who i was, but she let me in anyways (har!). felt bad about actin' the cheapskate, but they were totally cool about it. pretty sure i told beard way more about my life than he wanted to know at that point.

got to talk to amanda quite a bit (at least it seemed like quite a bit to me, and i'm sure it did for her). there was a lot of blog-talk - you people wouldnt understand. just kiddin. i knew somewhat about the viciousness that's in the local music scene - i read weshotjr's comments section - but i had no idea of the extent of the vitriol. she had story after story about the hatred, the slander, the backstabbing. people going out of their way to tear others down. i was amazed. i just dont get it. if those people would just take a step back and look at things with a wider perspective, they'd realize - in the grand scheme of things, those who are involved in the local indie music scene occupy a very small corner of society - it's like your own private club, full of (relatively-speaking) like-minded people who share a love of and a commitment to music of one kind or another. you are all "in this thing together" - why would you want to tear down your own brudders and sisters? passionate debates and rivalries are fine, even a good thing for the scene, but in the end, you've got to support each other. maybe it's a middle-age perspective thing - as you get further on in life, i think you adopt a more live-and-let-live attitude. well, except for punkass bitches in straight-brim ball caps. oh and bluetools, too. yea, F those guys.

enough of that, eh?

first up was Calhoun, and what i kept thinking to myself during their set was, this. is. why. i. do. this. This is IT. their music was life-affirming, magical, blissful, soul-filling. exactly what i needed. song after beautiful song, i was in heaven, standin there with eyes closed and a giant stupid-ass grin on my face. they play a blend of earnest folk and pop rock that just envelopes you with its melodies, harmonies, and straight-out rockin guitars. it's a performance like this that makes it all worthwhile. i could've left then and been happy. great call by amanda, who booked them after hearing wild sweet orange. they played a lot of songs from the cd they're workin on - can't wait for that. needles to say, i'll be seeing these guys as much as possible in the future. got to talk to tim briefly after the set, and told him how much what i just heard meant to me, and i'm sure he thought, well at least we have the drunken 40-year-old market sewn up.

next up was Wild Sweet Orange (love that name), from alabammy. loved these guys. very similar in style to calhoun, maybe less folk-influenced, just some beautiful, melodic guitar-led pop. 5-man, usually 3 guitars plus bass. loved the (unique) voice on lead (reminds me of someone, just can't place it). great set. sorry i don't have more to say, i just know i totally dug it. definitely will catch them again the next time they roll thru town.

at this point, i was descended upon by a few music-scene-wannabes from work (kidding!), some of whom began to provide a demonstration of the mating rituals of the north-american fitted-shirt-wearing suburban professional. fascinating!

headlining was The Whigs, from georgia. apparently, one of rolling stone's "ten bands to watch". 3-man band with an unbelievably large sound. definite strokes, white stripes vibe sometimes. sometimes a bluesy, rolling stones vibe, too. good stuff. coulda done without the 20 minute monologue beforehand, tho. dude was gettin on my noives. dono what he was sayin.

went with batman to Zini's pizza across the street afterwards (after seeing that the mating ritual was becoming frenzied). this will have to be a regular stop for me now after dada shows. nothin hits the spot at 2 in the mornin like a great slice of pizza, and they have that there.

was gonna go on about the life-affirming human interactions that went on, but i'm sober now, so i'll spare myself the embarrassment. but there were many examples of how positive human interaction can be its own form of therapy (who knew?). from the kindness of relative strangers, who make the effort to engage you in conversation and even pretend to be interested, to the actions of friends helpin a socially-inept brudda out, well, i'll just say it was a night that definitely improved my view of humankind.

told ya it was gonna be gay.

11/16/07 - The Whigs, Wild Sweet Orange, Calhoun

this was a fantastic night, in a lot of ways. music - unbelievable.
interaction with fellow human beings - incredible. pizza - yummy.

so much to say, but it'll have to wait til tomorry (er, later today).
get ready fer some really gay shit, tho.





...a peacebone got found in a dinosaur wing...

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.

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