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

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.

10/20/07 - Chemistry Set, Phil Marshall, Hundred Inevitables

wow. totally cool night. totally cool. now let me try to remember why.
went to club dada to see chemistry set. picked up tk on the way. had to preternd to be sober in front of his fam. think i pulled it off.

woohoo - found parking spot right on front of dada - like i's royaltry or somethin. wow, beard is at the door, said he was like one day out of icu or somethin. jesus what a tough mother. super nice guy. check out the benefit shew: http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2007/oct/28/68294/

listened to phil marshall - from UK, actually heard him before at rockhouse live. fantastic stuff, 4-man band, one acoustic one electric, voice altering tween gravely and falsetto, some great electric guitar work. really nice guitar pop. really dug it. tony bot the cd.

saw amanda there from bocatinta.com and now part owner of dada. tony the bitch drags me over to meet her befpre i'm wasted enough but she is super nice. says she loves my blog (??!!?!?!), hloy shit. says "you're adventures in live music?? i thot you'd be some 20-something hipster!". hahahahaa is that an insult or not??? i dono. she was so nice - gave me the jd whittenburg cd (thanks, amanda, i don't think i said that!), we talked aboot the music scene and bloggers a bit, it was so totally cool. she said i was on the list at the door since i was linked off her page - holy shit ami actually sort of part of teh scene now?? too cool. way too cool. wish i could remember the whole conversation (maybe tomorrow). jesus i think i said somethin about a midlife crisis or some shit. how pathetic.

then saw the hundred inevitables out of dallas. have to admit - first song, wasn't so sure - thot, this is your lead vocalist? are you kidding me? pretty weak start, but got much stronger as the set went on. 4-man, with lead sometimes on keybds, sometimes just singin. great pop songs. nice backing vocals from guitarist. at one point looked at tony and said, am i wasted or is this really great? he said they were great, so there you go. would definitely like to see again.

i absolutely love dada. deep ellum, i know, but i like that place so mcuh better than lower greenville, where there's so many fuckin cops you think you're only one stumble away from gettin busted or towed or filmed by fuckin avi adelman. plus dada has that fantastic outdoor patio where you can chill between sets and listen to yer buddy's philisophical ramblings about frequencies and resonances and shit. such a great place.

pretty sparse crowd there, however. mebbe everyone was at the carter benefit show, i dono. all the bands gave it their all, tho, i'll say that.

last was the chemistry set, and i have to admit that i've lost all ability to be objective about them - i fuckin love this band. they could have the shittiest set ever, and i would love it, cuz i know and love all the songs. their songwriting is phenomenal, i dono what else to say. buy the cd, you'll see. such a notch above the rest.

talked to meredith (keybds) afterwards, and she was sweet enough to front me their first cd. watched tk fail Wingman 101 miserably as he talked to her aboot all the things they had in common, like drawing schlongs and such.

now it is sleepy time...

9/15/07 - Chemistry Set

OK, got pretty messed up at lucky's roadhouse before-hand (25 cent drinks!), so I missed alice rose and pretty much zest of yore. sorry, dudes, have to catch you next time. but chemistry set was incredible. where was the fucking crowd??? godammit, i just don't get it. incredible set - pilot kiss my karma, world in reverse, million dollar day - jesus these guys are good. bought the cd, finally (thanks, tk!).

finally, a good night at the cavern, but only because the crowd was thin. went back to lucky's afterwards to sober up - too funny, watchin 5'2" vanilla ice in sunglasses dirty dance with some britney spears wannabee's.

chemistry set next week at city tavern - be there, shitheads. i know i will.

9/1/07 - Chemistry Set, JDW, Shibboleth

Hailey’s - 9/1/07 Walked to SHQ first to check out the art show - very, uh, interesting. lots of boobies.

Anyways, the show at Hailey's:

Shibboleth - nice instrumentals, some keyboard-led, some guitar-led. very catchy.
JD Whittenburg - great tunes, loved the harmonies (amanda from boca tinta), lead vox a bit nasal
The Chemistry Set - fantastic as usual. "world in reverse" an amazing song - someone must be a radiohead fan. great set.

the sound mix was, as is all too common, lousy. it always amazes me that the sound guy, who's standing about 10 feet away from me, can't hear what everyone else can - the backup vocals can't be heard, the drum's too loud, or whatever. very frustrating.

hailey's was damn near empty - where was everybody? I figured since school had started, crowds would be picking up, but nope. oh well, they missed a great show.

8/18/07 - Airline, Latture, Calhoun, Chemistry Set

method entertainment all-day event - got there at 7:30

salute - G southern rock (not my thang, tho), 3-man, greasy-long-haired ball cap bassist
greater good - VG, 6-man, where have these guys been?
chemistry set - awesome
calhoun - also awesome, david herman look-a-like lead (flickerstick guitarist)
latture - incredible, piano-led indie pop, awesome back-up vox, great violin; from little rock
jonathan tyler & the northern lights - G, but southern rock again
airline - VG, not quite as good as others


best show in a long time. 5 incredible bands in one night. hope method does it again soon.