Show notes, 2013 so far

These are the notes I recorded on my phone during the shows. In some cases, I added my tweets from that night.

The usual caveats apply: I am not a music critic, I don't pretend to be. I likes what I like. These are my opinions only, worth what you paid. If you are a thin-skinned band member, you should think twice before proceeding. You have been warned.
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1/25/13 trees
Home by Hovercraft. Absolute genius. Short set. It's so amazing, how happy of a place they take me to. So thankful

Low dark hills. Good, mellow shit. But boring, in the end. Wall of sound, but audience lost. Medium tempo strumming, never rock out

The orange. Kinda heavy rock. Audience lost, totally. Who the fuck booked this show???

Chambers, from Denton. Baruch the scribe as lead, plus violin. Dug it

Air Review.  Beautiful stuff. Two covers, tho, ugh. Third cover as encore, wtf? Had to look up lyrics on his phone, funny

2/8 trees
Glossary, from Nashville. High energy, but super-ordinary rock, lead with cabby hat, chick w tambourine

Quiet company. GodDAM! Love Quiet Company - so great, such energy. Been a fan since 2007. Still blow me away, every time. Touching tribute to his wife, dancing in front of her. Red trombone. Quit their full time jobs. Re-recorded shine honesty.

Telegraph canyon. Shrooms in the desert story. Lotsa oldies. Awesome set, as always

3/2 dada
Bethan. Violin. Strong voice. good

Gotta call it like I see it - not diggin Datahowler at all, don't get how it fits with HxH & Bethan. Not just me, either, crowd uninterested

Just when I thot Home by Hovercraft couldn't be any better - violin!!

3/7 Granada
No "special guest" opener, as advertised. Liars
Nicole Atkins opened at 8:15. Solo w hollow body electric. Fine, but boring

Eels. Meh. Too many new ones

3/8/13 35 Denton, Day 1
Sleep. Not my thing at all. Seemed like they played the same song for hour & a half.

Wrestling? wtf

Peopleodeon at the hive. Fucking awesome, cept we couldn't hear the vox. Is the sound guy deaf? Loved it, tho.

Mellow mushroom for king automatic. Started at 11. Blech, bluesy guitar rock

The hive, zorch. Way more electronic than I remembered.

Man Man. Longest sound check in history. Bad ass piano rock. Loved it.

3/8/13 35 Denton, Day 2
Rain delays.
The hive. Killer mike/ magic mike. Preachin Jesus & killing.

Sweetwater for hope trust.

Demigs. Then pageantry. Meh.

Back to dans for valleys

Akron/family. Uh, no. Crowd totally disengaged

3/28 prophet bar
Reinventing Jude. 3 guitars, violin, sax, drums. No one here. Funky, jazzy, poppy. Good

Paco Estrada. Oh no

Sorne. Second time to see. Some awesome, crazy-ass shit.

4/15 trees
Wintersleep. Good shit, Scott joined em for a song

Frightened rabbit. Orgasmic. No Nitrous Gas, tho :(

5/2 prophet bar
Old warhorse. Chris welch from pine box serenade. Yucky rootsy bluesy rock

Spooky Easy. Didn't really enjoy it as much as I'd hoped

Hacienda. Bass, keys, drums. Didn't dig it, left early

5/10 Granada
Goodnight Ned. Freakin awesome. 2 guitars, violin, keys, bass, drums. Multiple harmonies, gut-busting music. Fantastic.

Telegraph Canyon. Beautiful.

Sons of Fathers. Incredible set. Spine-tingling harmonies. And damn, can that dude rock the upright bass. Amazing

6/1 trees
Home x Hovercraft. Sound mix bad at first. Can't really hear cello.

Quiet Company. Awesome energy, as usual.

The Features, from Nashville. Awesome. Very catchy songs, slight country touch, very heartfelt. Loved it

6/8 dada
Birds of night. Denton. Don't like lead's voice. Dirty gritty rock.

Goodnight Ned. Good stuff.

Pretty sure every band here tonight has prepared for this show by not showering for several days.

Room sounds. Blech. Ordinary. Buncha longhairs, every song sounds like a pseudo-rootsy version of 'hey jealousy'.

Bravo Max! Now we're talkin', much better, not rootsy at all, great catchy songs. Dug it

6/16 dada
Listened to Radiolab on kera on way down. Fascinating.

Dada, big crowd already, daylight, very young.

Dark Rooms. Daniel hart. Violin. Tracking shit. Lotsa Falsetto. Can't hear backing vox. Standup drummer - Lisa Bonet? Ok, but wouldn't see again.

Savoir Adore. Lotsa electronic recorded shit, too much for my taste. Good, for that kinda thing.

No AC. Ridiculous.

Sea Wolf. Speaker problems 2 songs in, sound man on chair, tryin to fix things. First 2 songs kinda boring. Never got better. Vox never rose above the music.

6/26 dada
What the HELL is going on with the whole college-girls-wearing-poochy-grandma-jeans/shorts thing? It's wrong, just wrong.

The Chloes. All girls. Sleestak lead. Lotsa covers. Bubble machine. Awful.

Shannon & the clams. Ick. Complete copy of 60s rock, no unique take on it. Hated it. Josh & Jessica loved it. So curious - why are most of the folks into them under 5.5', (both male and female)? Sociologists, discuss

Mikal Cronin. Meh, not my thing

7/12 Granada 
Dark rooms. First 2 songs kicked ass, downhill all the way after that. Audience bored to tears. Needs to learn how to pace. Too much recorded shit for my taste. Couldn't hear Lisa bonet's backup vox (again).

Seryn. Glorious. Harmonies a bit repetitive, same intervals over & over, but still good.

Alpha rev. Great, but closed w Hallelujah cover. Lead w Travis-like mullet.

7/20 Granada
Nervous Curtains. Goddam, they never fail to blow me away. Loved the new stuff, loved how they made the "old" stuff fresh. Cool visuals, too

Blackstone rangers. Gal in shiny stretchy pants, dude a win-butler-wannabe in art smock. Not bad

Octopus project. Damn - an amazing melange of electronica, kick-ass guitar, and theremin. Always an incredible show.

8/7 prophet bar
Dovetail. All wearing stupid-ass hats. Long stringy hair. Backup singer axl rose wannabe. Harmonies horrible at times, painful. Pontificating about the future of our children. "It'll get u down!!" Awful rendition of I shall be released, led by key player. Horrible. Way more Americana than I remembered.

Luna arcade. Lead not playing anything, never a good sign, stupid headband. "Caught in a cross. fire. The flames of my de. sire". Awful 80s rock. Horrible.

Ours. Overly earnest. Everyone in black. Dear gawd, he takes himself so seriously. Muse-like. 10-minute stop-down for falsetto bullshit.

8/24 dada GOBL showcase
Empty at first.

Supposed to be Venetian sailors, but only one guy on acoustic showed. Lotsa covers. Boring

Family piano. Trey from Sorta, 2 keys, upright bass, no guitar, gal backup singer.  Piano pop. Very ordinary. Whistling.

John singer sgt. Shawn & Seth singing every song. Trombone. Not great. Most song intros: "Here's another song originally sung by someone else famous who isn't here (Will Johnson, Rhett miller), etc"

Show notes, 2012

These are the notes I recorded on my phone during the shows. In some cases, I added my tweets from that night.

The usual caveats apply: I am not a music critic, I don't pretend to be. I likes what I like. These are my opinions only, worth what you paid. If you are a thin-skinned band member, you should think twice before proceeding. You have been warned.
__________________________________________________________________
1/7/12 prophet bar
Lions in the lawn. Four man, all guitar. Shorty bald lead.  Scrambled to bring out new guitar half way thru song, dono why. Givin' it their all, gawd bless em, but suffering from 'Only girlfriends of bandmembers are interested' disease

Relo. Fourman, all guitar. Decent.

Darstar. Good-timey rock.

Sealion's lead - a bearded, bespectacled version of Thom Yorke, complete with the 'I don't give a fuck about the audience' attitude. Yay, us. Great, tho

1/14 granada
Menkena - Ahhh, so great to hear Dave Hickmott's voice again. Tho Jimmy Menkena's giant perm, BC glasses and perennial leather jacket kinda creep me out.

Air Review, givin' it their all, but failing to get this comatose crowd movin'. Sad.

Mon Julien: kinda like BTD, Part Deux. Same cocky frontman, with the same kick-ass voice. Dug it

2/10 Prophet bar
Dr seahorse. 2 dudes. One dude singing, with striped gloves, other dude in keys, drums. Too Souly for me, but gawd bless em for their effort. Except for the cover of 'man in the mirror', fuck that

Plain Jane automobile. Fucking awesome

The language room. 5-man, all incl keys. Pretty damn good.

2/24 prophet bar
Zhora. Bjork wannabe with twiddle box, dude on laptop, dude on drums with stupid masks, dono why. Big crowd for opener, tho totally uninvolved. I think I'd like 'em better if they actually like, played instruments & shit

Quiet hooves. 9 peeps, 2 trumpets, 3 keys, violin, stand up drummer. Pretty sure everyone is wasted. Some crazy-ass shit.

Reptar. Vampire weekend wannabes, Joe cocker lead. good stuff, fun

3/9/12 35 Denton Day 1
Mountain goats - Confession: I was excited to see these guys, cuz I thot I saw em years ago. Turns out, it was Heligoats. Oops. Still great, tho

Coves - Digging Caleb Ian Campbell's new band, like I knew I would.

Family Fiend at Mellow Mushroom. Blech. Sorry, boys

Blurries, ok

3/9/12 35 Denton, Day2

Totally digging The Eastern Sea. Any band that features the trumpet...

Omfg, how I love Sundress, have I made that clear?

Jeezchrist, lead from Gardens & Villa has a whole *quiver* full of wooden flutes. Not a good sign, IMO. Pluswhich, they opened with a cover. Fail

3/24 dada
Beard at door, just like old times.

Low dark hills. Nathan from new frontiers, solis on drums. Good stuff, but kinda sedate

The rocketboys. good stuff. LDH cud learn a few things from them. Same Unabomber lead as years ago

4/6/12 Deep Ellum arts festival
One Red Martian. 4-man, keys. Decent pop, somewhat unique, not cookie cutter.

Bob here in new suit.

Analog rebellion. Absolute. Fucking. Genius.

Smile smile. Full band, less annoying banter

Quiet company. Rocked

Burning hotels. Ok. Got a tad repetitive. Maybe I've seen them too many times.

4/13 liquid lounge
Randall shreve & sideshows. Vaudevillian piano rock, awesome.
Plain Jane Automobile, even awesomer, met duke. Complained about weird vibe.
Language Room, emoish, but harder. Very good.

5/19 dada
We're not dudes. Young girls. Funny. Highest MILF count of any show I've EVER been to. Unreal.

Home by hovercraft. Crazy ass shit, an Irish clogger as one of the principal instruments. Makes me giggle. Totally dug it.

Daniel Hart. Boooring

The Colurs. The presence of >4 music stands on stage? Not a good sign, but we'll see. Not sure if they're playing tonight, or rehearsing for a show tomorrow. Jeezusfuckinchrist, play already. Violins, cellos on stage.  Lounge music.  Oh no, no, no. No *conducting* of the string players allowed, under any circumstances. Even for a Denton band.

5/29 dada
Bawcomville. Blah. Boring.  Michael moore on bass. Crappy. Can't believe they're opening for P&a

Bizarro. Last time I saw Plants & Animals, they were bringin the house down, opening for Frightened Rabbit. Tonight they played for 15 people...

6/1 lumineers at good records.
Short, stripped-down set. Boring, waste of time

6/2 La Grange
The Cush. Seen 'em many times, just can't get into it.

Laura Stevenson  - vox too whiny, compared to the stuff i heard on the web.

Chelsea Wolfe - took herself too seriously, "I just wanna get off the stage", black & white dress. Too goth & serious for me, saw Sean there. Swear to gawd, I'm the only one at this show not wearing black

6/19 dada
La big Vic.  3 peeps, chick on violin, dudes on synth, guitar, lotsa recorded shit. Ok, kinda retro

Moonface w sanii. Spencer Krug with danish band. Geico caveman guitar lead, all look bored. Sometimes tribal, sometimes trippy. Goddam smokers, spencer called em out

6/29 prophet bar
Bethan. Dug it. Great voice on lead. Dude on saw, gal on violin. Just needed to kick us in the crotch, but didn't

Achtone. 5- man, sax/flute. Pretty great. Some vox, not much.

Sorne. Cardboard cutouts, Egyptian theme. Tribal.  Not sure I understand everything that's going on on stage right now, but I'm diggin it. phenomenal voice

7/19 rockin rodeo
$18 cover, but $5.25 doubles
New Rufus playing

Whiskey folk ramblers. Really enjoying it, tho I'm trying to determine if they're totally disinterested, or just too cool to act like they are. But great, nonetheless

Merriment. One gal one guy. Booooring

Eisley: expertly-created, perfectly-executed pop. Blech

7/27 dada
Home by hovercraft. Awesome girl pounding on the keys. Dude on tuba and PIL vox. Love it. Vox sometimes like David Byrne, tindersticks, Johnny rotten

Mur. Meh - old man rock. Audience snoozing.

My wooden leg. 2 dudes, guitar & drums. Some tunes Beirut-ish, catchy, but most not

8/10 Stella fest at haileys.
6:30 first band. Goblins? One dude or chick in black hoodie & laptop. Crappy.
Freak the mighty. No vox. Gybe-ish. Blech.
Ari roar. One dude on keys. Nice voice, über-sensitive, but good.
Cozy hawks. Blech
Holy mammoth. Not bad. Gybe with echoey vocals
Skipped blood witch
Sundress - great, as always
Holy wave, psych, folks with overhead & trippy foils

8/16 dada
Spacebeach. Blech. Totally unengaging. Mostly instrumental.
Adebisi shank. Didn't play International Dreambeat. Stupid face mask. Ok
Fang island. Awesome

8/25 dada
Salim solo. ok, booooring, went on way too long
Sunward. great. Fearless & Weird Fishes covers.
Chemistry set. Didn't play all my favs, different arrangements, but chills, nonetheless
Tabula rasa. Heavier than I like. Lead playing scrapy thing. guiro?

10/5 Index Fest
$5 ATM fee cuz they don't take cards. fuckers
Heartless Bastards - great start
Bethan - dug it again
Grimes - awful
Myths - even worse
Quiet Company - awesome
Elite Gymnastics- wtf? Awful, hippy sitting with umbrella & twiddling box on stage
Atlas genius - good

10/10 trees
Fuckers started at 8:35, tactics said 9. How fuckin hard is it?

Geographer. from San Fran. 3 man, electric cello, super-gay 80's synth pop, straight from a John Hughes movie. too electronic.

Freelance whales. Orgasmic. Don't ever miss

10/14 Meyerson
Teddy Thompson, London. Solo acoustic.  Ordinary folk/country, funny, last song "home" was gorgeous.

Crystal warren, mcgarrigle cover. Breathtaking

Rufus - amazing. ridiculous rufus apollo encore

10/18 AT&T PAC
AT&T PAC patio sessions - bizarre combination of daycare center & hipster indie rock show

Home by hovercraft. So good

Air review. Good stuff, tho i don't care for the solo stopdowns

Doma showcase 11/10
Clint niosi at dada, fuckin sorority gals louder than him & violin chick. Good stuff

On patio, John singer sergeant. Booooooring, despite Shawn & Seth on last song. The most exciting thing about the set? The Baby Dolls posters on the fence behind 'em. Sorry, man, I almost fell asleep

Home by hovercraft. Orgasmic

Jessie frye at la grange. Nope

Mystery skulls at trees. One dude w laptop, singing like prince. Awful.

Made the haul to prophet bar for datahowler. Dude w laptop yet again.

Salim back at Reno's. Kinda think it's funny, Salim playing at Reno's. Dono why, zackly - u tell me

Cutter on inside Reno's, more laptop bullshit. Plus drums.

Dada for mora collective. Sax, bass, drums, blech

Outside, blurries, just can't get excited. Leads voice very weak

La grange for eyes wings other things. Good, but loooow key

Dada. Blackstone rangers. Gal w funny haircut. Electronica. not for me

Nervous curtains, not my fav set list, but still rocked

Dada, southern renaissance, drunk dancers, blah country

Trees, Ad+, ick, hiphop cliches

Oil boom, good bluesy rock

Dada 12/30 hotel tesseract
Bizarre dude/chick in mask with distorted voice as MC. "Welcome to hotel tesseract. Open ur mind..." Dude in mask & cloak at laptop control board. Dono why.

Trey chick. Dude on acoustic, gal backup vox. U and me something something mattress. Trey Pendergrass? yes

Orgullo Primitivo. Dude on angry sax, plus screamo drummer. Funny as hell.

Home by Hovercraft. So beautiful

Show notes, last half of 2011

These are the notes I recorded on my phone during the shows. In some cases, I added my tweets from that night.

The usual caveats apply: I am not a music critic, I don't pretend to be. I likes what I like. These are my opinions only, worth what you paid. If you are a thin-skinned band member, you should think twice before proceeding. You have been warned.
__________________________________________________________________
Haileys 4/10/11
Two knights. One guitar, drums. Oh yeah, love that two-hands-on-the-fret shit. Young, angry, enjoyable

Babar. No vox. Just math rock tapping. Blech. Don't get it. "This song is called x and is about this", then 3 minutes with no words. Giggle.

Manned missiles. Great rock. Tried not to hold their drunk-ass fans against them.

4/20/11 the loft
Sundress - trippin' balls

Freelance Whales - goddam, this band loves them some bells. Loved it.

Arcade fire 4/30/11
Omg, i officially hate Gexa fucking energy pavilion. So "state fair", with the $14 beers, the sausage-on-a-stick, plus the ticket-checking Nazis.
Arcade Fire was awesome, tho.

Dada 5/20
Austin band, my something. Instrumental, buncha olds, bass player tryin to sell it, rest of em bored, violin player reminded me of eastbound & down dude

Air waves, straight outta Brooklyn, yo. Pretty awesome.

Joan of arc. Lotsa instrumental math rock. Almost walked. Started singing. Much better.

Gal from Air waves confused by Bob.

Loft 5/22/11
The Ones You Loved. Wow. Proof that even the Mormonites can kick ass on stage. Who'da thunk it?

Hells yeah. The Rocketboys seemed to have jettisoned Holmer Hiccolm without a hitch. Awesome.

Sweet Jeezus. An Horse. Fantastic.

Loft 6/7/11
Caddywhompus
Family of the Year
Givers

Haileys 6/17
Alphabet. Four man, all guitars. Finger tapping, ugh. Lead, not a great voice. Buried in the mix, probly a good thing.

Mary walker. Her on keys, dude on bass in jorts, drums. blech. Sorry Mary, despite ur super-low neckline & the bass player wearing the super-ridiculous jorts, ur not for me

Hares on the mountain. Jc, George Neal, rtb, two more. Very folky. "Ain't no big man sittin in the sky. Ain't no angels sittin way up high". HOTM, I love u for no other reason than that

Roy Robertson: very nice, but u shud work on ur addiction to the massive amount of reverb u use on ur vocals. Admission is the first step

My gawd, I loves me some Sundress, have I made that clear? Even tho they exceed the Max Allowable # of Wife-Beaters Per Band (one)

6/23 dada
Oax. Started off boring, got better. Still, meh. Pretty routine pop rock.

Other lives. Cello, violin, trumpet. Awesome. Squeezebox, Autoharp. Everyone a multi-instrumentalist. Drummer picks up clarinet, violinist picks up trumpet. Incredible.

Rosebuds. 4 man, violin. Very nice pop.

Dans 7/1.
Salim w acoustic & electric guy. Very pleased w himself. Good stuff, tho.

Elaine Greer & friends. Awesome. Kristina morland voice plus full band.

Sour notes. Elaine & guitarist from her band. Good, hard to categorize.

Matas. New bass player

7/15 dada
Gallery cat. Criminal overuse of "make some noise!!". Good hip-hop, if ur into that. 2 singers, plus guitar, bass, keys, drums.

Larry gee. Fuckin 10 people on stage, 2 saxophones. Soul. ugh

Dovetail. With Bob accompanying. 7 on stage, Russell brand-ish lead.  Took themselves waaaay too seriously, esp lead wearing pajama pants

7/21 Granada
Stupid ass juggler opener. wtf

The Submarines. 2 people, acoustic, electric, bells. Cutie, but horrible knees.

Eels. Awesome

8/4 the door
New regime. Suckage. Ordinary rock, hated vox

Wallpaper. An absolute riot

AWOLNATION. good, mixed screaming w falsetto

8/19 dada
Sphynx - guitar, synth, drums. Gayest pants ever on all 3. Icky falsetto & creepy porn stache on lead. Very synthy pop. Enough falsetto to deafen all dogs in a 2-block radius. Not bad, tho

The globes. Awesome

El ten eleven. Great. Lotsa loops, like tartufi, but no vox, catchier

8/26 haileys
Ethereal and the Queer Show. Blonde chick singing, with scarf on head, longhair dude on guitar, chick dancing in background. Electronic. Funny

New York city queers. Houston. Hot ass bass player in white shorts & black hose. Decent pop.

Black & white years, Austin. Supergay lead, over-vibrato Vox, porn stache. Electro. Reminds me of George quartz. Didn't get it at first, but finally did. Great stuff. Ended up loving it. Actually had fans singing along.

Holy fiction. Nice orchestral pop. Very earnest.

Sundress - nuff said

9/1 loft
The lukyas. Chick lead, quirky vox, French horn, trombone. Lightbulbs. Ok

The dodos. Awesome

9/9 spune fall social, Dada
Mission to the sea. Boring
Gold beach. Meh
Bethan.Ok
Seryn. Great
Telegraph canyon. Amazing
Balmorrhea. Ok, but instrumental

10/11 dans
Pillars and Tongues. 3piece squeezebox violin drums/bass, recorded tracks. Western, nice harmonies, very nice

Dark Dark Dark. Was hoping for Wild goose chase & Make time. No such luck. Beautiful tho

A Hawk and a Hacksaw. 5-piece, klezmer. Devotchka without the vox. Oh wait. Vox now.

10/23 palladium
Little hurricane. 2 peeps, bluesy guitar, hot chick on drums. Nice

Dear hunter. Lotsa people on stage. Good stuff.

White denim. Good, but not my thing

It's Denton short in here.

Manchester orchestra

11/05 Trees
Bear Hands. Wow - Archie Morris of ER fame found a gig as a frontman. Who knew?

Royal Bangs - dug it

We were promised Jetpacks - awesome. Sweet jeezus, the lungs on Adam Thompson. Amazing.

12/3 dada
Comrade, nice, but never Rock out
Radiant. Great stuff, did not end on strong song
Blurries. Ok
Quiet company. Always good, lotsa emotion from Taylor

12/11 Dan's, A Spune Xmas
Voltrevolt. Loved it. Lead sounds like a billygoat, sez Josh. On patio, freezing my ass off.
The Angelus. Ok, too serious, o night Divine?
Spooky Folk - Little drummer boy??
Doug Burr - opened with O Come all ye faithful
Seryn. Way too many church hymns
Goddam, when did this turn into a church service??

12/28 Wednesday la grange hotel tesseract
Gal at door asks me: "what happened to the hotel?" Say what??
Bartender ripped me off , charged me 4 for a 2
First band. Vaqueros electronicos? No idea, they didn't say. A bit too country for me

Manya, with Doug for a song. Pretty

Trumpet with mute, guitar player from first 2 bands as lead singer.
Then chick singer. very incestuous, this is

Doug explains, says its a collective.

Next band hot chick singer, no incest, no idea who they were, iris leu?

Fuck, bob showed up

Sitting w lesbian couple, they're cool. Pronounced Astronautalis "Astro-no-TALis". Cracked me up. I straightened 'em out.

3/20/11 - Maps & Atlases, Rural Alberta Advantage, Miniature Tigers

...at The Loft. 

Miniature Tigers. Awesomeness. Great start. Lead singer: Win Butler, Jr, in a poncho

Lead from Rural Alberta Advantage: woody harrelson, Jr.

Lead of Maps & Atlases - Charles Manson, Jr

3/12/11 - 35 Conferette, Day 2

!!! - Dancing of lead reminds me, strangely, of Napoleon dynamite

 Portugal. The Man  - meh. Decent enough, but I've seen dozens of locals that are better

The Boom Boom Box - George Clooney, moonlighting as lead singer of The Boom Boom Box, still obsessed with bunching his pants around his package

 Parts and Labor 

Gayngs- booooring

3/11/11 - 35 Conferette, Day 1

Land Mammals - great start

Dr. Dog, featuring Chris Johnson - awesome

Ella Minnow - always great

The Orbans  - ditto
Baruch the Scribe - swear to gawd, 45 minute sound check, lead's a bit of a diva

Lost in the Trees- the band I most wanted to see that night. Awesome, but had to stop half-way thru their set, cuz it was 2. I'll never forgive you, baruch

2/21/11 - Heartless Bastards, Record Hop, The Cush

..at Dan's.

The Cush (Ft Worth) was up first. Slow, trippy, twangy at times, nice harmonies. But ultimately? A tad boring. I swear the bass player used only one string the entire set.

Record Hop (Denton) was up next. Been way too long since I've seen them. Awesome as usual.

Heartless Bastards (Cincinnati) - loved these guys when I caught them nearly two years ago at Hailey's. Played mostly new tunes that I didn't know, so I didn't enjoy it as much. I'm no expert or nuthin', but I think you gotta mix some oldies in with the new, to keep the audience energized & singin' along.

2/12/11 - Orange Peel Sunshine, Les Americains

...at the Doublewide. Don't remember a whole lot aboot this show. Recorded on my iphone: "Les Americains: all plaid, all the time. Cute!" That is all. Orange Peel Sunshine and The Boom Boom Box played, too, tho I only seem to have evidence of the former.

1/23/11 - The Moondoggies, Quiet Life, The Naptime Shake

Aaaah, so awesome to be back inside Club Dada, where it really all began for me. So great to smell the fresh lacquer, see the amazing renovations, the massive (relatively speaking) amount of space in front of the stage, even some functioning toilets (!). Sure, there seemed to be no actual heat in the place, but the forced-air propane heater reminded me of the good ol' days, so never you mind.

I was so enraptured with the new digs that I really didn't pay attention to the bands all that much, other than to note that the whole line-up, while very good, was just a bit too folky/country for my taste. Probably should have known that going in, but I was looking for any excuse to get back to Dada...

The Naptime Shake:

Quiet Life

The Moondoggies

1/8/11 - Novaak, Peopleodian, Eyes and Ears

...at Hailey's.

Eyes and Ears (Denton). Two dudes - guitar & drums - plus a gal painting (Eyes and Ears, get it??). Mostly instrumental (a few oohs and aahs here and there). Pretty cool. Kinda veered into jam-band territory at times, but I enjoyed it overall.Peopleodian (Denton). Very interesting electro-pop. Led by the love-child of David Byrne and Bill Gates, who stayed hunched over a Korg on top of milk crates. Also featured guitar, drums and a female vocalist, who seemed to be intentionally singing in a different key. 'Twas a strange thing - I really enjoyed the music in every song, and I really enjoyed the vocals, but they just didn't seem to fit together (I'm sure there's some Point I'm missing). Definitely interesting to listen to, but a tad unsettling to my ear.Novaak (Denton). Ugh. I really don't get all the accolades this band is getting. Very standard, very 80's chick-led pop (here's a sample). Lead singer definitely channeling Debby Harry, minus the energy. Blech.

1/1/11 - lalagray, Sundress, Comrade

...at City Tavern.

Comrade (Austin?). Seen these guys a few times now, and described them as "slightly weepy". I'm stickin' with my assessment, but my intrepid companion disagreed: "Weepy sounds so sad. Certainly sentimental, slow, intentional. Wish I knew what he was sayin".Sundress (Denton). Easily in my top five all-time favorite local bands, but you knew that. My intrepid companion's comment: "Trippy!"lalagray (Dallas). Was looking forward to seeing Ashley, what with all the positive press she's gotten 'round these parts. This night, she performed solo, with only her keyboard. Nice collection of tunes, and i loved her voice. But i have to admit - while her songs were pleasant enough, none of them grabbed me, or hooked me. Maybe it was just my mood that night, maybe it was the lack of a full band, maybe it was the (seemingly always) douchey audience at the CT that threatened to drown her out, but it seemed like each song just floated past, blended into the next one, and the next one, til the set was over. Anyways, I'd like to hear her again someday, to (hopefully) correct my impression.

12/14/10 - Mini Mansions, Man Factory, New Fumes

...at The Cavern.

New Fumes (Dallas). One dude, plus laptop, guitar, autoharp. Wore a strange badger mask, on backwards. Had a projector duct-taped to milk crate, showing very interesting visuals on a sheet behind him. Couldn't see how the badger mask or the visuals were related to the songs, but I'm sure that's The Point. Very creative, very interesting. One nit-pick: dammit, interACT with the audience, will you please? Like most electronic artists I've seen, there's never a pause between songs, no talking to the audience, hell - no acknowledgment of our existence. Anyways, I did enjoy the set.
Man Factory (Arlington) - Longest. Sound. Check. In. History. 2 guitars (could swear they're twins), bass, keys, drums. Catchy pop. Inspired a drunk-ass front-row fanboy to clink his glass with his buddy so hard he broke it. I chuckled.
Mini Mansions (LA). Unusual 3-piece. Side project of Queens of the Stone Age bassist, so, you know, there's that. Keys, standup drums (very popular this year), guitar. Sometimes Beatles-esque, sometimes mellow psych pop. Wanted to be key-driven pop, but the drums & guitar wouldn't let it. Awesome cover of Heart of Glass, & you know I hate covers. Dug it, overall.

12/5/10 - Sundress, Final Club, Land Mammals, River Mouth,

...at Hailey's.

The River Mouth (Denton) opened. 3-man band, two of them long-hairs. Stereotypical bluesy southern psych rock with super-heavy reverb on the vox. 'Twas ok, but hasn't that been done before? Like, a million times?Land Mammals (Denton). Said it many times before - I loves me some Land Mammals. Check 'em out.Final Club (Denton). Jangly, shouty, punkish noise rock. S'ok. My advice to lead - turn towards the fucking audience every once in a while (a pet peeve of mine, I'll admit).

Sundress (Denton). Ahhhhh, Sundress. Exquisite. Glad to see they're finally getting some well-deserved buzz around here.

12/2/10 - Mr. Gnome, The Baker Family, Dim Locator

...at the Dee-dub, with Knuckles and the Piledriver.

Dim Locator (Denton) - one guy with slide guitar, plus foot-operated drum-type accessories. Massively talented, there's no doubt, definitely knows his way around that guitar. Some pretty decent bluesy tunes. Sometimes felt like technique was over-emphasized, but that's probably just me.

The Baker Family Band (Austin). Pretty enjoyable indie pop, though they took themselves a bit too seriously for my taste. Very Local Natives-esque, says The Les Savy Fan. I liked the way the blonde gal danced, it made my insides feel funny.

Mr. Gnome (Cleveland) headlined. Seen them many times now, and been blown away every time. Phenomenal.

11/24/10 - Stew!, Geronimo

...at The Curtain Club, with Knuckles.

I don't remember much about this night, but here are three things i learned: one - Knuckles thought that one of the bass players fancied himself to be Cliff Burton (whoever that is). Two - if you let Knuckles drive your car, and it has a bump-shifter mode, he will attempt to burn up your engine, and three - knuckles' couch is mighty comfy. That is all.

This is Geronimo. Or maybe Stew.This is the other.

11/6/10 - Margot & the Nuclear So & So's, Jookabox, ???

...at The Loft, where i seem to be spending an alarmingly increasing amount of my income...

Um, I have no idea who opened. The Burnt Ones were supposed to, but they didn't show. Some dude wif an acoustic played instead. Loved his voice, which was somewhat unique. Some friendly advice, tho - say your effing name every once in a while - people might actually remember you. Jookabox was next, and I have no idea what they're supposed to be, but I dug it. A lot. Super-high energy, fun stuff. Would love to see them again.

Margot and the Nuclear So & So's headlined. Meh. Coulda had the crowd (which seemed to be filled with ardent fans) in absolute ecstasy if they had only bothered to actually acknowledge their presence. Too bad.

10/19/10 - Frightened Rabbit, Plants and Animals, Bad Veins

...at the Loft.

Started out thinking the Studio Bar & Grill (below the Loft) had the weakest pour in Dallas. Ended up knowing it didn't.

Bad Veins (Cincinnati) - these boys seem to have an affinity for opening for Scottish bands, being as how I saw them open for We Were Promised Jetpacks in Denton back in February. Anyhows, loved them then, and I loved them again. Great stuff. Plants and Animals (Montreal) - pure awesomeness Frightened Rabbit (Selkirk) - having endured the Lucy-van-pelt football treatment back in April (mother-effing vol-CANO!), i was completely stoked to witness FR's return to Dallas, and i was in no way disappointed. The boys presented a perfect mix of the old and the new (Midnight Organ Fight and The Winter of Mixed Drinks), while engaging the audience with anecdotes, witty banter, and their version of Scotch humor between songs. 'Twas everything I'd hoped for.

10/6/10 - Local Natives, Love Language, Union Line

...at the mother-EFFing house of blues.

Have I mentioned how much I HATE the mother-effing house of blues? Who else can turn a $12 ticket into a $27 ream job? Convenience fees, pre-order fees, will-call fees, bend-over-and-stick-it-in-your-ass-just-cuz-we-can fees? Hate those TM bastards.

Plus which - $7 wells??? Eff. You.

Plus which, that ridiculously annoying dude in the bathroom, attempting to spritz us concert-goers with cologne and fill our post-micturation hands with soap, who is, i'm pretty sure, responsible for overall decreased levels of hygiene, as all the dudes duck out of the bathroom without washing at all, just to avoid him. Hope i'm not breaking the man-code here, i just thot u females deserve to know.

So - the show. Which is how the MFing HOB redeems itself.

Union Line - truthfully, i don't remember a thing about them. Didn't offend me, that much i know.

Love Language - ok, i don't remember much about them either, but i know that i absolutely loved them. So says my facebook, and my facebook don't lie. Local Natives - Effing. Orgasmic. Runtelldat, homeboy.

10/2/10 - Skunk Ape, Oh Lewis, Extraordinaires

At RGRS.

Skunk Ape (Denton). OK, let me say up front - i am NOT a fan of punk. At all. And Skunk Ape is a punk band. Why, they're the epitome of a punk band, in my opinion. Thus, the comment i recorded on my iphone - "Total shit punk".

Oh Lewis (Denton). Enjoyed this set more than the last one i saw from them. Some very nice, crunchy, 90's guitar pop/rock. Can't tell you how many times I thought to myself, this sounds exactly like Fig Dish (an awesome late-90's Chicago band that you should check out here ). Same gravely voice, same style melodies, guitar playing, everything. Kinda spooky, but since I loves me some Fig Dish, I enjoyed Oh Lewis as well.

Extraordinaires (Philly) - hmm, not easy to describe this band. Part Jimmy Buffet party band, part Bare Naked Ladies. Strange, yet pleasing melange of cheese, sarcasm, silliness, political rambling, history lessons, etc. All in all, a lot of fun, with some very catchy and well-written songs. Only complaint? The insipid use of inflatables (dice, swords, toucans, etc.) that they insisted on throwing into the crowd. Before too long, all of them ended up on the floor, with all the spilled beer, and if you've ever been to Rubber Gloves, you know that inflatables that have wallowed in the puddles of beer on the floor of Rubber Gloves are NOT what you want flung at your head. Anywho. Another observation - the Extraordinaires' audience EASILY had the largest contingent of horrible white-boy dancers i have EVER seen. Too damn funny. I will attempt to upload a video of one such individual, and I promise, you will agree.
And here he is:

8/23/10 - Delta Mirror, Grassfight, Phantom Caste

At Haileys.

Phantom Caste (Ft Worth) - Pretty standard but solid echo-y rock. Nice falsetto on lead. Overly phallic stand for keyboard. Haircut 100 dude on guitar. Note to guitar player - sipping a drink on stage (complete with lime wedge still on the side of the glass), THROUGH A STRAW? Not likely to inspire the females in the audience. Just sayin, from one highball-drinkin' guy to another. Ur welcome. Grassfight (Dallas) - seen them a few times now, and I always enjoy it, but for some reason, the over-use of the bullhorn got on my nerves this night. Delta Mirror (LA) - lots of recorded electro backing tracks, and very earnest vocals. Was mesmerized by the bass player, who i swear is the Hobbit dude from that episode of The Office (you know, Ryan's friend in NYC), who was wearing a stocking cap in the middle of august. Pretty sure he has special powers. Wasn't overly captivated by the muzak, however. Well, Haircut 100 dug it, anyways.

9/16/10 - Western Giants, MATAS

At Lochranns in Frisco.

Western Giants (Denton) were up first. Just for fun, i thought I'd share the "conversation" my intrepid companion and I "had" on an iphone Notes page during their set:

---------------
Me: Not a great voice, eh?

Me: Lead singer from sundress? {googling followed}

Me: Yes. Shud stick to guitar playing. He's phenomenal in sundress, tho

Me: Warning - I will be singing along w Matthew. At the top of my lungs, most likely

She: Bassist looks good. Maybe they shud put him in front. Doesn't look gay at all in v neck.

Me: At least one of them has a girlfriend - chick w camera.

She: Ok, bassist just checked me out.

She: Waitress cute w shirt too. Didn't really see any of the rest of her.

She: Does the bassist keep making eye contact w u?
Me: I'm not lookin at him. U?
She: Good point.
Me: Ok, maybe I've noticed that, yes, but there's no one here, so..,
He's fascinated by the old farts in the audience.
-------------

And there you have it. fascinating stuff, right? anyhows, we enjoyed the set, tho i'm glad kennon has a day job in Sundress. MATAS (Denton) was up next. I did, indeed, sing along at the top of my lungs. Take THAT, Frisco.