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...

6/5/08 - The Felons, the cut*off, Salim Nourallah

ahhh, yes - artist-in-residence thursday nights at dada, back in action after taking May off. wish they'd still start at 8:00, tho - that was nice.

June's artist in residence is Salim Nourallah, doing solo acoustic sets. now i understand why this dude gets so much pub. wonderful collection of dreamy, beautiful, sometimes beatles-esque pop tunes, with unique vocals, nice guitar work and instantly catchy melodies. really dug it. definitely made me want to catch him with the full band - i will be watchin for that. next up was the cut*off, from Ft. Worth. definitely enjoyed their set this time much more than the first time i saw them back in november, when it seemed like they played a lot of covers. nice set full of muscular, slightly psychedelic pop tunes. they easily win the award for Band With The Highest Number of Girlfriends Who Remind Me of Jennifer Love Hewitt. they were joined on stage at one point by Jenn Nabb and Salim, who both added some nice vocal touches. definitely want to catch them again. last up was the felons, and i've gushed way too much already about this incredible band on these pages - it's starting to get embarassing. suffice it to say, thursday night's performance did not disappoint. it seems that i NEVER get tired of hearing these guys.

5/31/08 - Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, Red Monroe

had a pretty good night at Rubber Gloves on saturday:


drove up to the place and wtf? a LINE to get in?? outrageous. never seen that before at RGRS. couldn't bleebe it. the place was packed (with squishy female goodness, no less). had to park in the weeds. was worried i was gonna start a grass fire and have nothin but a flask of vodker to fight it with.


first up was Red Monroe, who proved once again why they're in my top 5. i've seen them now too many times to count, and every time they kick my ass with their jangly, groove-filled rock. this time was even better cuz they played not only Blue Mountain Air from the first album, but they closed with A Return to the Old Way of Thinking (prolly my favorite RM song) and Carolina Cigarette. hell yeah! only one problem - waaay too much reverb on eric's vocals - so much so that you could barely hear him. i complained to the sound guy, who looked at me like i was insane, then took time out from eatin his dinner to defiantly swipe at some slider on the board, but i don't think it did anything, i think he was just tryin to get rid of me, cuz i didn't notice much difference. oh well, still enjoyed the set.
next up was Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, who also happen to be in my top 5. totally love their stuff - haunting, beautiful, spacey folk. love matthew's voice. dug their set, for sure, but it sure seemed like a damned short one - like only 4 or 5 songs, maybe? mebbe it was just me, but i was left unsatisfied, wanting a few more.
headlining was Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, from Indiana. was pretty impressed with these guys. 8-man band, with rotating line-up of instruments including geetars, keys, lap-steel, violin, auxilliary percussion, trumpet (dude was amazing when he finally let loose), french horn (!), trombone. lead singer separated at birth from dave grohl. hot chick on keys. unnecessarily illuminated bass drum. some really polished, multi-layered, sophisticated melodic pop/folk. some songs totally connected with me, some fell flat. about 3 songs in i realized - hory sheet, half the damn crowd is singing along! on just about every song! so that explains the huge crowd. these guys must be on college radio a lot or somethin (shows what i know). anyways, really dug the set. i'll never understand it, tho - why is it that kids will come out in droves for some out-of-town air-played band, when equally talented local bands play to near-empty rooms on a routine basis? hmmpf.


p.s. soory for the extra-crappy pics

Saturday night show

Tonight I'll be at Rubber Gloves, listening to two bands in my top 5 list: Red Monroe and Matthew and the Arrogant Sea. So if you're there and you see a middle-aged unhipster stumbling around (yea, flyin solo tonight, as usual), come by and say hey.

5/24/08 - The Felons, Salute, The Farstar

didn't seem to be very many choices this past weekend, show-wise, but thank gawd the felons continued their 'Play Damn-Near Every Weekend In May' Tour, with a stop this past saturday at the dee-dub (that's the doublewide, dontcha know).


first up was the farstar. really enjoyed their set. 5-man band - two guitars, bass, drums and lead sanger, who played a little keys ever now and then. mostly, he rocked back and forth with the microphone and emoted, in that oh-so-Firewater-band fashion. but not to worry, what came out of the speakers was very un-Firewater-like (which is good, in my opinion ('case you hadn't figgered that out)). some really good indie pop/rock, definitely above average. very polished. nice harmonies between lead and geetar player. lead vox not overly strong, but got the job done. was thinkin about buyin the (salim nourallah co-produced) EP, but muh buddy bill beat me to it and let me borrow it (thanks, bill!). i'll be keeping my eye out for these guys in the future - wouldn't mind catching them again.

next up was salute, which i have a hard time saying in anything other than the old HeeHaw fashion: saaaaaa-LUTE! (google it, youngsters). anyhows, if southern rock is your thang, you can't do much better than these guys. 3-man band, sounds like 5. great geetar work, fantastic voice on lead.

you know southern rock ain't my thang, tho, so after a few songs i wandered out to the patio to chat wif the aforementioned bill and the ghost of blind lemon. love talkin music with fellow fanatics.


last up was the felons, and i just don't understand how you could not love this band. from the dark, moody anthems like Worse for Wear, to the infectious, keyboard-driven poppy greatness that is My Best State (which always manages to get just about everyone moving (or at least nodding their heads)), these guys play some of the best pop songs in town. and after saturday night, their stuff can also be categorized as Music For Drunk-Ass Chicks To Dry-Hump Their Roided-Out Boyfriends To. vurry entertaining. anyways, their next show is June 5th at Dada. check 'em out.

see you out there...

weekend recs

i can't do friday night, so i haven't really checked out all the shows, but if yer lookin for somethin to go to, you really should consider checkin out Romp Almighty at the city tavern, somewhere around 9:00. if you do, tell laura and trey i said hey.

saturday night, you'll find me at the doublewide, listening to the farstar, salute, and the greatness of the felons:

http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/may/24/98250/


see you there, eh?

5/17/08 - The Felons, mr. Gnome, Sunward, Falken's Maze

this one's gonna have to lean more towards the "photo-journal" side of things, folks, being as how i had a pretty rough night on saturday. i over-drank, and i paid for it, at one point having to, uh, use the facilities for terribly unpleasant purposes. i'm pretty pissed at myself, since i was really looking forward to a great night of music (my two favorite local bands in one show!), and i don't remember anything, except for a few songs at the end of the felons' set and a couple conversations i had early in the morning as i sobered up. i definitely heard all four bands (i have the pics to prove it), and i'm sure i enjoyed it at the time, but if you can't remember it, what's the point? oh well, another learning experience for me (i'm what you'd call a rookie when it comes to the drank (that's a long, tirade-filled tangent that i'll skip for now)), so i'm not that good at it yet. workin on it hard, tho. real hard.

i do remember that my buddy josephus made it out, tho, wantin to see if the felons and sunward could live up to all the hype i've been spewing. you can read his take on the evening here.

first up was Falken's Maze, and all i can say is that i thought it was unusual that there were 3 keyboard players, and no guitars. that's really all i got.

next up was the greatness of Sunward. absolutely love these guys - see my previous raves here and here. i am sure they kicked my ass again saturday, just sure of it.

next up was mr. Gnome, from cleveland. two-man band: smokin-hot chick on guitar, dude on drums. cool trip-rock, like portishead on roids, howling soulful voice on lead, some really cool, unusual percussion playin by the dude (this is all based on a short video i took of these two, so...).

last up were my boys, the felons (previous write-ups here and here), whose music always takes me to a happy place.

after the felons finished up, dave and the guys decided to play a few radiohead covers in honor of their first dallas appearance in 10 years. i loves me some radiohead, so that was a nice finish to the evening.

speaking of that, i was actually at that radiohead show in '98 at the music hall in fair park, when they toured for OK Computer, and i think i know why they've skipped over dallas ever since then. during the whole concert, thom didn't say one word to the audience - no interaction at all, until one point late in the set, when he walks up to the microphone and says "hello, dallas"...{wild screaming from audience}..."pretty fookin dull in here". of course the audience cheered for that, too, prolly not quite realizing they'd just been dissed. ah, well, 'twas a great show anyways.

see you out there...

5/17 - Saturday night pick

come to Dada on Saturday night to catch the Felons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGJE7w8BNzY

and mr. Gnome:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3MHusvdW6pE

see you there...

awwww yeah! - late-breaking word - sunward has just been added to the line-up. my two favorite local bands in one show - shweet!

5/15/08 - Symphonic, 6thGrade, Wind Ensemble

omigawd, what a night. 7 bands, no cover, free parking, early start (6:30!), right in my backyard. look out, deep ellum, your turf is being challenged.


i was really only there for three bands, so i'll only comment on them..


first up was Symphonic, straight outta McKinney (represent!). 60-70 people on stage - no kiddin. amazing, the variety of sounds comin from all those people - horns, woodwinds, drums, etc. played a raucous version of "marching marines" - melted my face. of special note was the lead bassoon player - unbelievably talented musician. i was transfixed. wanted to buy the cd, but they don't have one yet. shame.


next up was 6th Grade, and holy smokes, were they awesome. i fell in love immediately. right up my alley. fantastic collection of indie show tunes and marches. definitely want to catch them again soon. i thot the snare drumming was incredible, and i dont usually notice the drummer. talked to the snare drummer after the show and babbled on (coherently, mind you) about how amazing her performance was. when i asked her when their EP was comin out, she said "what's an EP?". anyhows, check this band out if you get a chance.


headlinin the show was Wind Ensemble, another 70-man band. omigawd, i couldn't bleebe what i was hearin - i just closed my eyes and blissed out for thirty minutes. heard some Holst, also some Sondheim. vocals were a bit screamy, but OK. i was absolutely blown away by the lead oboe player - what a talent. i usually whip out my earplugs when i see the oboe, but man, can she play that thing beautifully - no squeakin or nothin. catch this band while you can, before they blow up...


all in all, an amazing night.



--------



speaking of great bands, come to Dada on Saturday night to catch the Felons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGJE7w8BNzY

and mr. Gnome:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3MHusvdW6pE

see you out there...

5/10/08 - Somebody's Darling, The Felons, Escort Service, Romp Almighty

Headed down to Deep Ellum on saturday night to catch the felons and romp almighty. got there way too early cuz i got suckered in by romp's bulletin that said they'd start at 8. cant bleebe i fell for that - oldest trick in the book. anyhows, got there early enough to get the last free parking spot in DE (yay, me), and had a chance to talk to laura and trey (romp almighty), and for some reason decided to inform them of my one-time trot-line fishin prowess (ah, me). went back to dada and also had lots of time to chat with my man fred (keyboard whiz-kid from the felons, photographer extraordinaire, and Juno-writer Diablo Cody's Number One Fan (btw, did you know she used to be a stripper? it's true!)).


went back to the allgood cafe at 9 for romp almighty. been waitin forever to see these guys again, cuz i fell in love with 'em at haileys awhile back (see review here). once again, i was transfixed - beautiful voice, totally cool fuzzed-out synthesizer, great guitar playin, haunting melodies. fantastic. only complaint - the sound system at the allgood really just wasnt up to the task. at hailey's that night, part of the greatness of it was being enveloped by their sound and laura's voice, and the allgood just aint set up for that. here's hoping laura and trey start playin more venues that can really showcase their stuff. they deserve it. went back later and got a free EP from laura, who told me their full-length should be out in about three months or so.
back at dada, spent some time on the patio with the usual crew around there - great people. back inside, escort service started off the evening. some decent guitar-based pop/rock, reminded me of bowling for soup sometimes, sometimes the foo fighters. the greatness of eric neal on bass and backup vocals. perty good.

next up were my boys the felons. i've raved over and over about these guys, and i've never been disappointed by one of their shows (see my previous reviews here and here). dave's voice just amazes me. so listen up - the felons are playing a lot of shows in the next couple months - do yourself a favor and check them out.

here's a really terrible video of one of my favorite felons songs, Worse for Wear:

Here's Dave singing happy birfday to valerie (co-owner of dada), whose birfday we were celebrating.

last up was Somebody's Darling. holy smokes, can that woman belt it out. i'm sure she gets beaten down by the constant comparisons to Janis Joplin, but the similarities are inescapable. what a ball of fire and energy (and hair!) on stage. if you dig the whole alt-country-rock thang, check out this band.

see you out there...

5/3/08 - Sunset, The Mercers

well, this turned out to be a really shitty night, live-musically speaking. was gonna go to the granada show, but at the last minute, decided to head to my arch-nemesis, the cavern - lineup there sound a bit edgier and whatnot. big mistake. shoulda known. only had 3 bands lined up to start with, and one didnt show up. fuckers - headstream - remember that. i know i will. hey, why dont i get 1/3 of my money back when 1/3 of the bands dont show?? yea, so i'm cheap - shaddap.

picked up tk on the way there, and josephus showed up, too. got down there at 945 and no sign of headstream, so we headed to public house to wait it out and drank. tk got a wild hair to buy some lobster bisque at the italian joint next door to the cavern and some beeyatch told us to wait outside while waiting for the food. f u you effin beeeyatch, like we'er fuckin homeless or somethin. yea, we were plastered, but we weren't makin a fuss or nothin. ended up on the roof of the public house, saw some dirty dancin from some plastered chick. tried to film it, but it dint turn out. sooryyy, knuckles. all of tk's friends from out of town showed up, and i met 'em all, but dont remember any of em, and they ended up goin to the goddam ghost bar or somethin, so they aint my kinda people anyways, i mean really - the ghiost bar??? no, i'm kiddin, you know any friend of tk's is a friend of mine...

so wandered back to the cavern and the mercers went on at 11:15 or so. and i loved the mercers. four-man band, and their lead sounded a LOT like peter gabriel, which is both a blessing and a curse, cuz i love peter gabriel's voice, but it's also kinda distracting cuz you're sittin there thinkin "omigod, this dude sounds JUST like peter gabriel", and you miss the amazing music that's goin on. but we really did love their stuff. some really excellent dreamy atmospheric guitar-led indie pop goodness. right up my alley, you know. tk bot the cd, and josephus, not understanding the whole buddy-with-access-to-a-shared-drive-who-already-bought-the-cd thing, bought the cd too. good for him - supportin the arts and all. you can tell his divorce aint finalized yet, eh? heheheeh.

click here for a more enlightened pic of the mercers, should you like to see that.

and here's a very dark and over-saturated video:

anyhows, up next was sunset, or should i say {{{sunset}}}. 7-man band , i shit you not. fuckin stage at the cavern wasnt big enough for 'em all. 3 keyboardists, can you bleebe?? 3!! have to say, i really dint care for it. first two songs, dude had so much echo on his vocals you couldnt even hear him. caused tk to show off his geek credentials by uttering the line "dude, i can't help but think of the DOS command ECHO OFF". hahaha, what a dweeb (jus kiddin man, you know i am one too). finally, some dude friend of the band or somethin goes up to the stage and twiddles a knob or somethin and really cut down on the echo, but then for the next two songs, you couldnt hear anything, vocally-speakin. then the sound guy finally comes back in from outside on his smoke break (i am guessing), and twiddles some more knobs, and then you could sorta hear somethin. so some really bad sound problems for them dudes, but i really dont think it woulda changed my opinion. thot maybe it was some good stuff, you know like, head-phone listenin stuff, but live, i just didnt grab me.

click here to see how crammed onto the stage them sunset boys were.

so that was it, dear readers - two bands, some lobster bisque, and archaic DOS-talk. sa-weeet!

see you out there...