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

12/06/08 - the cut*off, beauxregard, the demigs

went to andy's in denton, wif muh buddy tk

the demigs, who tk is now even more totally gay for, started things off. pretty good, i thought. tk liked the new alt-countryish stuff they played. he spent a lot of time beatin down chris demiglio after the set, setting up some sort of after-hours rendevous at a recording studio or somethin. he is so gay for them...after the set, we wandered around the square. public property was attacked, santa was saved, trees were climbed, and tailbones were cracked. good times.

next up was Beauxregard, who i've seen many times. always enjoy their set. good stuff, and very well done. added bonus of a guitar-shaped pinata, which spewed some much-needed munchies. first time to see front-man J Quincy in something other than his usual all-white outfit. last up was the cut*off. seen these guys many times also - see previous write-ups. great stuff, as usual. always get "it's a beautiful life we live" stuck in my head for days after hearing them. went to fuzzy's taco shop afterwards - damn good stuff. back at home, someone decided to fertilize my lawn with fish tacos. good times...

11/15/08 - I Love Math, The Slack, The Cut*off, Dave Little, Sparklepussy Barbie, Dark Knights of Camelot

headed to dada last saturday to catch salim's showcase. was accompanied (and driven (yes!)) by the Green-Eyed Greek Gal, who had managed to leave her family behind in an attempt to relive her glory days in deep ellum.

i ended up having a pretty rough night, because someone kept force-feeding me drinks (i think she wanted to take advantage of me). so i don't remember a whole lot, but i have some crappy pics, so...

Dark Knights of Camelot from Mississippi started things off. weren't even on the original line-up, but they were a very nice surprise. really liked these guys. 3-man band, high-energy, great tunes. catch them if you can.next up was Sparklepussy Barbie, and ohmygawd, no thank you. 80's electro-synth goth industrial. extremely annoying vocals. not my thing at all. we retreated to the (freezing-cold) patio for some respite. GrEGG kept going on and on about being strong like a bull, but i don't know what she was talking about. it was at this point that things got very fuzzy. i do remember some of dave little's set - i enjoyed that, would like to see him again. very entertaining. apparently, the cut*off played, since i have pics of them. GrEGG confirms, and says she liked them quite a bit - i knew she would - that's her kinda thing, and they are very good.and i think the slack played as well - i have a pic with eric neal in it, and he's in the slack, so...the last band we saw was I Love Math. or i should say, GrEGG saw - i was indisposed. she didnt care for them (thot they were too full of themselves), and since her live-music chops weren't what they used to be, she forced me to leave early.
good times, good times.

8/2/08 - Ghost of Blind Lemon showcase

headed down to club dada saturday night to catch the ghost of blind lemon showcase. happily, muh buddies tk and knuckles joined me for the festivities.

'twas a long night - we got down there at 6, so we had plenty of time to get really and truly plastered. i myself set a new record for # of ounces of vodker imbibed without having to use the facilities (yes, my parents are very proud). so you'll have to forgive me if some of the details are a little sketchy.

things got started with Kristina Morland. saw her a couple weeks ago and was blown away, and last night was no different. what an amazing talent. incredible voice, beautiful songs, great songwriting. last night, she had a violin player dude (who tk was totally gay for) accompanying her, which was a fantastic addition. the combination of the awesome vocals and the soulful music routinely gave me chills. wonderful set. probably the highlight of the evening for me (at least musically speaking). bot the cd.

next up was American Werewolf Academy. meh, they were ok - nice sound from the 3-piece band, but the vocals weren't the greatest. knuckles gave them a rating of NSM (not so much). Rahim Quazi continued things outside. some pretty nice acoustic pop. loved the french horn and trumpet. need to check out the cd that chris raves about. back inside were the felons. fred (the keyboard player) has recently gone off to pursue other endeavors, so the boys performed as a three-piece for the first time. there's no doubt - i missed fred's keys, but i still thought the set was great, and i look forward to what dave and the boys will do with their sound. talked to dave, and he said the stuff they've been writing lately has been a lot harder than their previous stuff. i definitely look forward to hearing that. those guys have enough talent that whatever they come up with, it's gonna be great. stay tuned, eh? up next was the cut*off, who i've seen multiple times now. these guys always put on a good show, with some very polished alt-country-tinged pop. last night seemed to be heavier on the country influence than the previous times i've seen 'em, but i dono - maybe not. (you see what i mean about the lack of detail? to further add to the problem caused by large amounts of alcyhol, at some point during the evening we actually started chatting with some females, which is so incredibly rare and shocking that i think i was momentarily disoriented and lost track of why i was there)

back inside were the backsliders, who knuckles is totally gay for (well, at least for the hot chick lead, which i guess means it's not gay after all). anyways, they always put on a rockin show. not exactly my thing, but it does get the ladies dancin. rose county fair was next. it was during their set that the interaction with the females was at a pretty high pitch, so i don't remember a damn thing about them. sorry. last up was Somebody's Darlin, who i've seen before. some really high-energy, bluesy alt-countryish rock with amazing vocals. all in all, a great night - lotsa booze, lotsa great people (wimmens, even!), and some really fine music. hope chris does this again soon.

6/5/08 - The Felons, the cut*off, Salim Nourallah

ahhh, yes - artist-in-residence thursday nights at dada, back in action after taking May off. wish they'd still start at 8:00, tho - that was nice.

June's artist in residence is Salim Nourallah, doing solo acoustic sets. now i understand why this dude gets so much pub. wonderful collection of dreamy, beautiful, sometimes beatles-esque pop tunes, with unique vocals, nice guitar work and instantly catchy melodies. really dug it. definitely made me want to catch him with the full band - i will be watchin for that. next up was the cut*off, from Ft. Worth. definitely enjoyed their set this time much more than the first time i saw them back in november, when it seemed like they played a lot of covers. nice set full of muscular, slightly psychedelic pop tunes. they easily win the award for Band With The Highest Number of Girlfriends Who Remind Me of Jennifer Love Hewitt. they were joined on stage at one point by Jenn Nabb and Salim, who both added some nice vocal touches. definitely want to catch them again. last up was the felons, and i've gushed way too much already about this incredible band on these pages - it's starting to get embarassing. suffice it to say, thursday night's performance did not disappoint. it seems that i NEVER get tired of hearing these guys.