3/7/09 - What Made Milwaukee Famous, Dove Hunter, Black Joe Lewis, Telegraph Canyon, The Orbans, MATAS, Doug Burr, the cut*off, Little Black Dress

endured the beating that is the HOB ($10 parking, service fees, $6 drinks) to catch what looked to be a great line-up of texas bands. had Sunshine in tow, and the Les Savy Fan showed, too.

once again, i was about the only one who paid attention to the "no photographic equipment" warning on the website - last time i'll do that. so all the pics are from my cell phone, and only from the main stage - sorry.

gonna keep it pretty brief - memory's fading...

showed up late, and only caught one song of the Little Black Dress set. liked what i heard, tho i wasn't crazy about the wispy lead vocals. will definitely try to catch a full set of theirs.

Matthew and the Arrogant Sea was up next, and despite the fact that they seem to have permanently adopted the one-drummer line-up, I loved them as usual. still don't like 'I'm No Snake' as a closer, but hey.

The Orbans - really enjoyed their set, much more than i did the last time i saw them. was especially impressed by peter's voice - fantastic. he reminded Sunshine of John Mayer. i think that's a compliment.
Doug Burr - just two band members that night, but damn that was some beautiful stuff. dude can write some awesome songs.
the cut*off - for some reason, i didn't enjoy this set as much as i usually do. kyle's voice sounded strangely reedy that night. Sunshine kept calling him Larry the Cable Guy.

Telegraph Canyon - how cool to see one of my favorites at such a great-sounding venue. awesome as usual - lots of great new stuff. definitely missed "You & Jane", tho.
Black Joe Lewis - blech. high-energy funk/r&b. definitely good at what they do, just not my thing at all.


Dove Hunter - i don't recall any of this set, which probably is a good indication of my interest. Sunshine thought the lead singer was wearing a yamulka.

What Made Milwaukee Famous - second time to see - good stuff

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.