8/23/08 - AM Ramblers, Telegraph Canyon, Monahans, Doug Burr

headed out to hailey's to catch one of my favorites - telegraph canyon. fellow live-music fan joe the boy toy showed up, too. he managed to chat up half the women in the place before i even got there - dude has skeels.

pretty good crowd - pre-semester shenanigans, eh?

first up was Doug Burr, someone i've seen a lot of hype aboot. He had a full band backing him - keys, guitars, banjo, pedal steel, drums. everyone sat. doug has skunk hair. some pretty good stuff, tho it drifted off into alt-country land more often than i like. one or two were phenomenal wall-of-sound anthemic guitar pop tunes, wish there were more like that. seemed to go on quite a while - i think he's used to headlining, not opening. last song a real snoozer.

next up was Monahans, from austin. um, yeah - i can't say i can recall much about them. i was, uh, very distracted (it involved plenty of incoherent babbling, that's all i'll say (gentlemen never tell, and neither do i)). 5-man band, pretty sure, lotsa guitars. what i remember hearing (during lulls in the babbling) was pretty good - i'd like to hear them again, when i can devote my full attention to them.

next up was telegraph canyon, who proved once again why they are one of my favorites (read prior writeups here and here). another awesome set by this terrifically talented group. did miss sherilyn's harmonies, tho. hopefully a short-term absence.

last up was AM Ramblers, who seem to be following me around from show to show. again, some really well-executed bluegrass. if that's your thing, look them up.

all in all, a decent night of music, and some very interesting conversation. not too shabby.

7/18/08 - Lifters, Telegraph Canyon, AM Ramblers, Kristina Morland

started out friday night at BJ's in plano. great happy hour to start the evening. yep, i can say this with all honesty - i really love BJs. i can't emphasize enough how much i love BJs. really.

headed down to the pegasusnews showcase at dada. batman and wifey showed up, too. met them at zini's, where i was delighted to see my alternative-universe girlfriend working once again, even coming out from behind the counter to run up the stairs in her short-shorts, i'm sure just for me. praise jeebus.

back at dada, kristina morland was up first, and i loved her. you know solo acoustic singer/songwriters don't usually hold my attention, but she had me hooked from the first song. absolutely loved her voice - beautiful yet powerful, effortlessly flowing out, pitch perfect. and wonderful songwriting to boot. the comparisons to sarah jaffe are inevitable, but that's pretty high praise, i think. great set.

AM Ramblers, who seem to keep showing up on a lot of the line-ups i've seen lately, were up next. again - very very good bluegrass, great harmonies, hot girlfriends drinkin lonestar, one of the leads separated at birth from thom yorke. batman's wife said they were a cross between the old 97's and robert earl keen. i don't know the genre very well, so i'll have to take her word for it. they both fell in love, bot both cd's.

next up was Telegraph Canyon, and i have run out of superlatives for this band (read my prior reviews here and here). such a unique blend of musical styles (Mike Orren of pegasusnews described them as a cross between Wilco and Arcade Fire - not bad). love the "tension" between the folky acoustic guitar and the almost-psychedelic electric guitar, love the amazing vocals of Chris and Sherilyn, love the patented chris johnson scowl. talked to chris afterwards - he said they're working on new stuff (cd comin in March, i think?), but stuff'll start leaking pretty soon. can't wait.

up last was (were?) Lifters, (previous review here). lead separated at birth from paul simon. great voice. some very polished, very nice alt-countryish pop.

'twas a really solid line-up. nice job, PegNews.

6/26/08 - What Made Milwaukee Famous, Three Fantastic, AM Ramblers

left my buddies knuckles, the piledriver, and mr. amsterdam to their nefarious plans (including the assault of municipal property) and headed down to the effin cavern to catch a midweek show.

first up were the AM Ramblers, who I saw a couple months ago at Hailey's. Once again, if bluegrass is your thing, you can't do much better than these guys. Great 4-part harmonies. Very talented musicians.

Next up was Three Fantastic, from Houston. 4-man band - 3 guitars plus drums. saw these guys over a year ago at the Liquid Lounge, and was floored by 'em. i described the frontman as a jim morrison impersonator - howling voice, high-energy, total showman. this time - not as much. the lead seems to have calmed down somewhat over the last year or so, or the songwriting has changed quite a bit (or i'm just not remembering it very well). these guys can rock, no doubt - amazing playing from both guitar players. the vocal parts seemed almost uh, how can i describe it - loungish? i'm not sayin they were bad (in fact, i dug his voice), but you end up with an unusual combination of melt-your-face guitar playin and lounge singing. it was definitely unique and interesting, i'll say that. definitely worth checking out, if you get the chance.

What Made Milwaukee Famous headlined. was really looking forward to their set, as i really liked what i heard on their cd. only a 4-man band last night (apparently the lead guitarist was sick) - guitar, keys, bass, drum. fairly large group of loyal fans singin along with all the songs (and by fairly large i mean like 7 or 8). definitely a very high concentration of Rhythmically Impaired Dancers (gawd bless 'em). some songs definitely had a happy weezer-ish pop vibe, others were more anthemic and coldplay-ish, but with more masculine vocals (great voice on that dude, btw). lead was very funny, very engaging. i definitely enjoyed the anthemic songs more - the others i could take or leave. overall, 'twas a nice set.

4/26/08 - Red Monroe, Green River Ordinance, Burning Hotels, AM Ramblers

on the second night of my three-day live-music bender, i headed out to haileys to catch their end-of-school free show (gawd bless you, mr hailey).

first up were the AM Ramblers, a folk/bluegrass outfit wif 2 acoustics, a mandolin, a banjo, and a stand-up bass. good stuff. love the four-part harmonies. was hopin they'd do a dirge-like number (dono why, i was just in the mood for it), but alas. i dont know bluegrass too well, but i enjoyed their stuff, and they really seemed to be good at what they do.

talked to Jamie from Green River Ordinance and his (smokin hot) wife between sets. really nice dude. i cant remember much what we chatted about, but i can tell you he's a cool dude.

tons of short people in attendance, once again. tried to document it with my camera without gettin my ass kicked. the pics didn't come out - yer just gonna have to bleebe me.

next up was the burning hotels. seen these dudes before at the cavern (see writeup here). totally loved it. again, heard radiant sometimes. some great jangly stuff sometimes, too. could swear their last song (stuck in the middle) was a cover (i said the same thing the first time i saw 'em), but they told me it was theirs. i swear to gawd i've heard that song before, but i'll be damned if i can figure out where. one of these days i'll figure it out. anyhows, all of that nonsense aside, i totally fuckin loved their set.

btw, definition of a Really Bad Sign - i run out of coke, but i'm so far gone that i drink the vodker straight outta the flask. really cheap vodka, mind you. ack.

Green River Ordinance - also awesome. very polished, very tight - more so than your typical local band (apparently, they've been signed, and they recently sold out the house of blues). some great guitar-based indie pop, some songs with a tinge of alt-country. definite third-eye-blind influence. really loved it. plus which, these guys win the award for having the Highest Percentage of Drunk-ass Hot Chicks Dancin in the Audience. best turnout i've seen in a loooong time. thanks for that, boys.

Red Monroe - kicked my ass as usual (seen them too many times to count). their set is now entirely composed of their new stuff, except for Blue Mountain Air (one of my faves). love the new stuff, but miss the old stuff, too.

Black Tie Dynasty was up next, but they aint my thang, so i split.