4/15/10 - Telegraph Canyon, The Orbans

Part of Spune's free concert series at Lochrann's in Frisco (awesome idea, by the way, Senor Spune...)

The Orban's (formerly Peter Black and The Lifters, for those of you who have a hard time keeping up with the times) opened. Seen them a number of times. Still love Peter's voice - truly awesome. Really enjoyed their set. (Maybe a few too many covers? Yea, maybe.)
Telegraph Canyon headlined. My 7th time to see them?? Who knows. What I do know: they are Absolute. Fucking. Genius. No more to be said.
(Ok, maybe one more thing to be said: Chris - what happened to The Beard??)

8/22/09 - Dove Hunter, Telegraph Canyon

... at the double-wide.

Telegraph Canyon started things off. This was my first time to see them since their latest release came out, so I was really excited to hear the new stuff. I was not disappointed. I just can't say enough about how fantastic this band is (i've written way too many rave reviews (see below), so I'll refrain from repeating myself). 'Course, I'm not the only one praising them these days - they've gotten quite a bit of good press lately, and it's well deserved. Chris and the band (which seems to have grown) thankfully played enough of the "old" material to keep me happy and singin' along, then wowed me with the new stuff as well. Just an awesome performance.
Dove Hunter headlined. I've seen them many times, and while I appreciate their talent, their songs just never seem to grab me. Here and there, a song or two will get me interested, but most of 'em just float on by. Dono what it is - just one of those cases where I don't resonate with the band.

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

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.

6/19/08 - Telegraph Canyon, Birds and Batteries, Salim Nourallah, Lee Simmons

after my week-long vacation wif the kiddos, i was eager to feed the beast, so i headed to dada last night for the artist-in-residence show. turned out to be a pretty good night, thanks to a surprise (at least to me) addition to the line-up. the les savy fan showed, too, but i think he only went down there to hook up wif his new gal-pal (not that there's anything wrong with that).

first up was Lee Simmons, from Austin. did a nice solo acoustic set. very earnest. at one point, whipped out a ukelele. wouldn't mind seeing him with his full band (which is what i usually say aboot solo acoustic acts), but 'twas an enjoyable set.
next up was Salim Nourallah, this time backed up by John Lefler (who plays with Dashboard Confessional, according to Debbie, who seems to know who everyone is and who they've played with) for a few songs, then Chris Holt for a few. Both accompanists added a nice touch to Salim's stuff. Birds and Batteries, from San Fran, were next. really enjoyed these guys. hard to describe their sound - sometimes alt-countryish, sometimes 80's synth-y, sometimes straight-ahead rock, usually a beautiful melange of all three. really good stuff - very unique. would definitely like to catch them again (they seem to come thru here a lot, so keep an eye out).

and the surprise of the night - Telegraph Canyon played last. man, these guys are incredible. every time i see them, i appreciate them even more (see my previous write-up here). just an amazing combination - the folky acoustic guitar, the rockin electric guitar, plus the keys and organ, all accompanied by Chris' incredibly soulful voice and the beautiful harmonies from Sherilyn. amazing stuff. definitely the highlight of the evening for me. btw, Telegraph Canyon has been nominated for several FW Weekly Music awards. you should go here and vote for 'em. voting ends the 23rd, so hurry up. oh, and they're playing saturday night at the prophet bar. praise jeebus. i was sooo happy when i walked in the door at dada and found out TC was playing, but it sure was strange that they weren't listed in the line-up (i know i could've gotten at least Knuckles to come out and see 'em, if i had known). according to Chris, they had that show on their calendars and flyers for a while, but club dada seemed to have no idea that they were supposed to play. what a flaky bidness. i hope such screw-ups don't discourage TC from playing in dallas - that would be a real loss.

another great thursday night at dada, tho the late finish made my friday mornin a bit rough. definitely worth it, tho.

see you out there...

Saturday picks

i'll be enjoyin spring break with my chirren saturday night, but if i wasn't, i would be gettin my ass kicked by dave, fred and the boys of the felons at the (mother-effin) cavern:
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/22/85677/
don't miss it, folks - you will regret it if you do

and if that show wasn't goin on, i would prolly be in denton to see roberto gomez at dan's:
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/22/87627/

and if yer in the fort worth are-ola, see telegraph canyon at lola's:
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/22/82831/

outtie

1/23/07 - Nick Luca, Sean Kirkpatrick, Telegraph Canyon

snagged a mid-week show at dada, since i'll be tied up all weekend. gotta feed the beast when you can...

no Beard at the door - wtf? i thought that dude never left that stool.

first up was Telegraph Canyon. i'd seen these guys last march, and it's taken this long to finally catch them again. my gawd, was i glad i did. they were even better than i remembered. 6 people on stage (plus beard), sometimes 7. lotsa geetars, plus keys, accordian, harmonica. an absolutely beautiful collection of folk rock tunes, some joyful, some wistful, some stirring. all incredibly written and wonderfully performed. love chris johnson's voice - not that it's a big booming voice or anything, but it's just got such character. this was easily the highlight of the evening for me. totally dug the addition of the organ (soulful, bill h called it). gal on keys drove my pants crazy. bot the cd (with a little help from debbie (thanks!)) and gushed at Chris for a sec after the show. will definitely not wait another year to catch these guys again.

next up was the Sean Kirkpatrick trio, who i've seen many times now, and i don't know what it was, but this was easily the best performance of theirs that i've seen. don't get me wrong, i've liked it every time i've seen them, but last night topped them all. maybe it was the environment, the sound system, or a slightly different set, i don't know. there did seem to be less of the seemingly-random key plinking that i whinged about last time. whatever - it was an awesome set. oh, and sean knows the two secrets to doing a great cover: one - pick the right damn song (very rarely done, IMO), and two - make it your own. totally dug 'jesus and tequila'. i did miss 'turn on the interference', tho.

last up was Nick Luca, from tucson, who plays with calexico, DeVotchka, and Niko Case. 4-man band, all geetars. based on the myspace, i expected straightforward indie rock, but what i heard was more folk-influenced with a tinge of alt-country. some very nice songs, some talented geetar playing. maybe it's because i was still so smitten by telegraph canyon, but what kept coming to mind during their set was, this is telegraph-canyon lite. not sayin it wasnt good stuff or anything, but i thot they lacked the depth and character of TC.

definitely had too much to drink, which led to (guess what?) me babbling incoherently at debbie, brian, and amanda. mebbe that should be my catch phrase - babbling incoherently. seems to be a recurring theme.