4/27/08 - Ultraviolet Rock Show

omigod, what a fuckin blast i had on saturday night at the Ultraviolet Rock Show and Art Auction for CF at Club Dada. man, what a night - an incredible line-up of bands, some cool art, a huge crowd full of great people, perfect weather, etc. etc. c'mon, can't we do this every weekend? seriously, i loved the way they alternated inside and outside stages, so there was no break in the action. they packed an amazing amount of entertainment into one evening.

luckily, i had a couple buddies with me (batman and zac), plus all my favorite people were there - fred, dave (who's apparently had some work done lately (only AA's, tho)), amanda, Giggly Underpants Boy (you'll have to ask him), and sweet petey F. lots of incoherent babbling and laughter ensued (well, at least on my part).

anyways, on with the show:

(fair warning - this one's gonna be kinda rough, folks. saturday night was the third day of my three-day live-music bender, so i was what you might call Thoroughly Pickled by then. i'm having trouble recalling a lot of the details, but i'll do my best)

first up was disconnected in '73, a solo acoustic singer/songwriter. couldn't hear all that well (he was outside) but i remember i liked his voice. i think i thought it was unique. that's all i got.

next up was blue petal. very nice. one vocalist, with two back-up musicians on guitar and harmonica (i don't think there was a drummer). when i first saw manya (the lead singer), i instantly thought of Bic Runga, and then i heard her sing, and that reminded me of her too (strange). some really beautiful, haunting songs. loved her voice - amazing. only caught a couple songs, but i'd love to catch these guys again.

outside, lovie took the stage. i've been waitin forever to catch them, but i swear i could not hear a damn thing that night. i still have no idea how they sound live. seriously - you could not hear them. ah well, next time...

next up inside was sunward, who i've seen once before. jeebus christ, their performance was orgasmic (is that gay? that's not gay. is it? i don't care). i'm serious, these guys floored me. absolutely incredible stuff - easily the highlight of the night for me (read my earlier write-up for a description of their sound - i don't wanna repeat myself). yea, they've lost their sundress-wearing keyboardist, who definitely provided some nice scenery, but i hardly noticed. wished their set would never end. they are now tied for first place in the 'My Favorite Local Band' contest.

back outside, the felons (the other co-leader of the MFLB contest - check here and here) cranked it up. unfortunately, they also suffered from the sound system problems, though not as bad as Lovie. i'm used to being surrounded and enveloped by their sound, and the outside system just wasn't quite up to it. still, i loved their set as usual.

next up was el gato, who i was really lookin forward to hearing. unfortunately, i missed most of it, and i really don't recall much of what i did hear (damn you, free beer lady! (just kiddin, can you come back next week?)). heard a couple songs, but they didn't really grab me, so i stumbled back outside.

next up outside was bridges and blinking lights. now, i have made my opinion known aboot these guys many times before (check here and here), so i aint gonna say any more, except to say that after hearing them for a third time, i can definitely say - I Am Not Wrong.

closing out the night was Wonderfool. really enjoyed these guys, some really cool wall-of-soundish psychedelic stuff. some glam, too - heard spacehog, bleebe it or not. would definitely like to see them again (to further evaluate).

have to say, during the wonderfool set, i was distracted and very confused by these gals,

who sat there calmly thru the whole set and slowly waved those giant sunflowers back and forth. very strange. 10 bucks says they're Girlfriends of Band Members.

well, there you have it - one hell of a show, and for a great cause, too. check the link below to pick up the compilation CD - 21 tracks for $15:

http://www.theconnextion.com/ultraviolet/

see you out there...

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.

4/25/08 - State Bird, Midwinter Fits, Tiger!

yea, you guessed it - went to Dada on thursday night. sure wish the whole early-start thing would catch on everywhere - it sure makes it nice (or at least, easier) for us workin stiffs.

was very excited - actually found somewhere to park for free down there (screw you, i aint tellin). jeebus chrust, how pathetic is it that i get a chubby over savin two bucks for a parkin meter? ah, me.

First up was Tiger!, which was just Andy on piano that night (no drummer). My third time to see him, and it was easily my favorite of all three. Dono if it was cuz he did covers that i didn't know, or more of his own stuff, but it definitely felt more heartfelt and emotional that night. Some really good stuff. talked to Andy afterwards and told him i'd really love to hear more of his own stuff. Dude has a gift, and he needs to start sharin it.
so andy - get after it. make us cry.

next up was midwinter fits, who i also saw two weeks ago (see writeup here). once again, some really beautiful mellow folk rock tunes. seemed like they were havin a hard time gettin tuned, and why it was all on-mic i dono (i'm not savvy bout those sortsa things). if i had to offer one suggestion, i would say that, at least once or twice during the set, they should crank it up a bit, let that electric guitar loose, and pin your ears back (calhoun-style). but that's just me. still, a really nice set.

Last up was state bird, from ohio, who was a nice surprise. based on the small amount i'd heard, i expected straight-forward folk rock, but what i heard was far from that. kind of hard to describe, actually - definitely folk-rock based, but more complex than that - some songs almost straight rock, then the next, they'd whip out the accordian. some strangely structured songs, too. very creative. really enjoyed it.

yes, as you can see, i've found a way to waste even more time doin this blog thing, by taking and posting pics (bleebe me, addin pics on blogger.com sux balls). well, i used to be into photography, and so. plus which, no one can stop me.

This Saturday Night at Club Dada

Got this email from Dave of The Felons about this saturday night at dada. check it oot: 8 bands, smoke-free, art, and only 5 buck! gonna be a great night...

------
Join Lovie and El Gato and our friends....to help us raise awareness about the fight for a cure for Cystic Fibrosis... You'll find all the details in the attached flier -- but here's a recap:
Saturday, April 26thClub Dada in Deep Ellum - 2720 Elm Street
Music, Art Auctions start at 9:oopm SHARP!

$5 minimum donation at the door - the entry cost is low.. BUT BRING YOUR MONEY!!!! THERE WILL BE LOTS OF GOODIES ONCE YOU'RE INSIDE!:

* The first opportunity to buy the UltraViolet Benefit CD which features 20 Dallas musicians and Sebadoh ($15 - includes 11 previously unreleased tracks)
* fabulous arts auction of works from more than 35 artists/photographers
* cash-n-carry photo booth
* tshirt silk screening (with the ultraviolet logo)

Here's the band line-up:
outside stage - 9:00-9:20pm - disconnected in 73
inside stage - 9:25-9:45pm - Blue Petal
outside stage - 9:50-10:15pm - Lovie
(auctions end at 10pm)
inside stage - 10:20-10:50pm - Sunward
outside stage - 10:55-11:25pm - The Felons
(auctions end at 11pm)
inside stage - 11:30-12:00pm - El Gato
(auctions end at midnight)
outside stage - 12:05-12:35 - Bridges and Blinking Lights
inside stage - 12:35-1:15ish- Wonderfool

If you can't make it but would like to pre-order the UltraViolet Benefit CD, you can find links to the UltraViolet E-Store at:www. myspace. com/ultraviolet_rockforcf OR www. myspace. com/lovie

Otherwise... we'll see you there! And please feel free to share this email with your friends!
Lovie and El Gato

4/12/08 - Drunks with Guns...

...or, Adventures in Binge Drinking II.

due to an overwhelming outcry (meaning one drunk said somethin), i am writing up the events of april 12th, when there werent no good shows to go to... be forewarned - this one is real inside, mainly for my buddies...

so it was saturday, and there werent no good shows to go to (i mean it was a baaad saturday), so we all decided to head over to the piledriver's house to drink oh-so-heavily in celebration of his marriage to Swamp Boy. jus kiddin (they're only engaged). here's what i remember:

in attendance: me, tk, the piledriver and his randy little dog, & swamp boy.

Swamp Boy tried to kill us all by servin us uncooked pork products. blarch. thanks be to jeebus we had all that alcyhol in us.

waaaay too many masturbatory sock jokes from them military types. what a sick bunch.

we all proved we truly have a Death Wish by stumbling into the piledriver's Gun Room and alternately fondling and ogling his private arsenal. jeebus chrust, i know where i'm headin when armageddon hits. all hail Lord Piledriver! um, soory aboot the whole "glow-in-the-dark lefty" thing. heh heh. it's Lord Lefty from now on.

got a demonstration of krav maga techniques when lord lefty attacked his punching bag thingy in his dining room (he has a very, uh, unique decorating sense). jeebus chrust II, i wouldnt wanna make that dude mad - methinks he has some Anger Issues. or maybe there's some freudian thing goin on there, being as how his gym bag is One Giant Phallic Symbol.

went out to the garage to check out lord lefty's motocycle, which has a color scheme meant to show his support of the gay rights movement.

once again - lotsa great music from our ipods. treated my buds to a rousing performance of "clint eastwood", although not memorized. workin on it...

used our favorite toy to gauge our drunkenness (not that we were even thinkin of drivin - 'twas just for fun), and the piledriver lord lefty proved he was twice the man of the rest of us by blowin a manly .08 to our piddly .04s.

crashed in a spare room, leavin his rat-fink dog free reign to piss on my bag of dvds. thanks, bitch.

4/16/08 - Ella Minnow, Siberian, RTB2, Here In Arms

here's a shorthand version of my trip report - i'll fill in the rest later (or maybe i won't):

went to hailey's on wednesday night (ya, flyin solo), since i'll be out of town this weekend - gotta feed the beast, you know.

short people EVERWHERE. nice and squishy female ones, too. mmmmm...
played everbody's favorite game, 'Guess Who's the Lead Singer's Girlfriend'. i won.

Here, In Arms - 4-man. outstanding bluesy folky rock, great voice on lead. crowd-pleasing, bluesy rockin tunes. would definitely like to hear again.

RTB2 - 2nd time to see - one dude wif electric guitar, plus drums. good bluesy sorta guitar rock. this was a case where i could tell the dude was really talented and what-not, but i just could not wait for it to end. last song a BEATING - lots of musical masturbation, had like a 6 minute jam session in the middle of it.

Siberian, from seattle. 5-man: 2 guitars, keys (which i never heard), bass, drums. started off with some nice rockin wall-of-sound stuff, but tailed off quick - kept hopin/waitin to get my ass kicked, but they just never quite did. songs a bit too "nice". nice falsetto on lead, nice harmonies from bass player, fantastic lead guitar player. some really pretty indie pop, but i was just in the mood to get my guts ripped out, and they just wasnt the ones to do it. they did finish with some more wall-of-sound goodness, tho.

ella minnow - 5-man: 2 guitars, bass, keys/sax, drums. really talented group, great musicianship, some really rockin tunes, but i just couldn't get into it. couldn't really tell you why, but it had somethin to do with the song structure, or lack thereof. kinda jam-band territory sometimes, heard some GYBE. vocals good, but all over the place, and i guess i just like a bit more structure to my songs. 3 or 4 songs in, i realized i wasn't gonna get into it, and it was 1:10 in the fuckin mornin, so i split.

outtie

4/10/08 - Laura Palmer, They Mean Us, Riyad, Tiger!

being as how it was thursday night and all, i headed down to dada for my midweek fix. wasn't really sure aboot goin, but after havin a couple Tsing-has with the Piledriver (aka Glow-in-the-Dark Lefty) after work, it sounded like a damn fine idear.

nice to see amanda and josh back in town, after a much-needed break. always enjoy talkin with them. good people.

first up was Tiger!, artist in residence for April. Once again, i dug what i heard - nice, melancholy piano playin and a soulful voice. got to hear his original material this time - nice, though there didn't seem to be a whole lot of it. heard the same covers as last time. have to say, it did drag on just a bit - he seemed to run out of material, and kept askin the crowd what they wanted to hear, and they had nothin (i tried Rufus, be he didnt know any).

after he was done, i for some reason ('tho it might've been the alcohol) thought it would be a good idea to walk the three miles (kidding) over to the Allgood Cafe, where i knew Romp Almighty was playin. i had almost gone to that show to begin with, being as how i loves me some Romp Almighty, but there were too many uncertainties aboot the show, so i ended up at dada instead. anyways, by the time i got there they were done, and Laura and Trey were sitting outside on the porch. and yes, as you can imagine, the incoherent babbling began. i went on and on about how much i loved their set at haileys a while back (see review here), how she almost made me cry that night, etc. etc. really enjoyed talking to her, i mean, them. i'm pretty sure she said they had a full-length coming out soon - lookin forward to that. they also apparently play every monday at the barley house, so i'm gonna have to add that to my schedule one of these weeks (like, tomorrow, maybe?).

back at dada, Riyad was just about done. solo acoustic dude wif dreads and all. umm, not so much. did not have what you'd call a pleasant sanging voice, sang a lot of fast-talk-singy sorta protesty folk stuff. not my thang. and his closer, a protest-folk-style medley of hip-hop songs, has got to go. not sure who is supposed to enjoy that.

next up was They Mean Us, from McAllen. 5-man instrumental band - guitars, bells/violin, drums. 'twas ok and nice and all, but if you're gonna be totally instrumental, you really gotta have somethin special, at least to catch and keep my attention (like Mom, or D Numbers). they did play some nice atmospheric, lush tunes - just nothin i could get really excited about.

last up was Laura Palmer. holy shit, what a hoot. just her (wearing a giant indian headdress) on acoustic, plus a drummer who sometimes sang back-up. totally hilarious, catchy, clever pop songs about a great variety of oh-so-inappropriate topics ("he's got a hipster hairdo and he's kind of a rapist. once, twice, three times a rapist"). had me in stitches. check out her myspace for a sampling of her wit. "i wanna dance on the belly of god and queef right in his eye". now that's not somethin you're gonna hear too often out there. loved it.

that's it. see you out there...

4/5/08 - Deep Ellum FArts Festival - the felons, happy bullets, tah-dahs

holy jeezus fuckin christ it has been a long tim since i ben this far gone (well at least while writin one of these, unnerstand)

wanted to catch the felons but i was afeerd they were goin on at 6 at teh deep ellum arts festival at SPACE you know, and i couldnt get there til 7ish, but i went anyways thinkin well shit at least i can see the tahdahs and the happy bullets and lovie anyways, and maybe some art, cuz i used to be into photgraphy, you know. but goddAM, i am glad i went, cuz as usual, everything was runnin late and i got to SPACE and there was the fuckin felons warmin up!!!! holy shit i was so fuckin happy they hadnt played yet. found a meter, btw (yay, me!). brought my trusty flask to space, cuz it was supposed to be a byob potluck dealyo, and i figgered there would be like a table with like food and cokses and shit,. but that idea seemed to fail midserablty, cuzx thre werent no food nor cokes nor nothin for me to mix my vodka with, so here i am walkin around with my goddam flask in my back pocket wonderin is that OK, since it's byob, or can i get busted and sent to jail, even tho? so anyways, i sat down just as the felons were startin and omigod i cant say enough how much i love this band. i closed my eyes and just like blissed out i am tellin you, for the whole fuckin set. every song just unfuckngbelievable. theyre comin out with a 3 song EP, which i got an advnaced copy of you motherfuickers!!! (thanks dave, yer the greatest!!) hahaha, you have to wait, but not for long i dont think, it will be available soon, just keep an eye out. pete freedman showed up to catch the felons, proving he can make the right choice ever once in a while anyways. hung out with fred's folks - some really cool folks, and i dont think they realize what an unusually great job theyve done raisin a kid like fred, but i told em so anyhows. btw, really nice uh, space there at hal samples' space - amazingly good sound for a sort of impromptu music venue.

anyways, after that blissful experience, i wandered back to my car to hold my own potluck dinner out of my trunk which consisted of a main course of VODKA with a side of diet COKE!!!!! and it was qwuite delicious, i can tell you, and my whole dinner party was quite taken with it, to be sure. got several compliments - oooh, what a nice flavor that gordon;s vodker has, ooh why tahnk you, the diet coke adds such a nice accent dont you think??? oooh, why yes it does, i MUST have the recipe!!!

much of what happened after that was a blur, my dear friends. but i know i went back to SPACE, cuz i knew the route back there. didnt get a chance much to see the art goin on in the street, cuz it was gettin dark. aftwer a while the happy bullets played, even tho they were supposed to play after the tahdahs. it was a cool set, as usual, wif trumpets and all. ive seen them like four or five times now, scroll down to see writeups (coherent ones, you know). anyways, enjoyed it like i always do.

saw some people out in the street with a couple of great pyrenees, same kinda dog i have, and theirs were like super friendly, not paranoid like mine, and they said i needed to consult the dog whisperer, and i said um, no, i dont think so. but thanks.

ran over to dada after the HB set, cuz i dint know what else to do, and that's like home base you know? and saw some burlesque show or some shit that knuckles would be very happy to see. beard sure liked it, i can tell you. and as if a flask full of vodker werent enough i had to buy a goddam shot cuz it was only 1 dollar and i told michelle to pick one and she gave me a fried apple pie which was vuuuury good, i have no idea what was in it, but ther was booze in it, i can tell you. somehow managed to lose ttrack of time (can you believe it?), and ran down to where lovie was playin, cant remember where, but they was damn near done, goddamit, how did i screw that up? been waitin forever to catch them, but it'll have to wait. shit. went back to SPACEy spaceboy, and the tahdahs were playin, cept it was just roy and a couple others, so it was alot like thursday night, when he played solo. but it was really good, cept i was hopin laura palmer would come up and sing for the last song "lord dont you let me down...", like she did that time at rubber gloves, cuz she drives my pants crazy, yes much more than roy does. but she wasnt there, but that's ok, it was still really good.

that is all. if you dont have any plans for sunday, go down to the deep ellum farts festival. it's really cool. and it's free, for you cheapo broke-ass bastards like me.

good night

4/3/08 - Clint Niosi, Midwinter Fits, Roy Ivy, Tiger!

in what is rapidly becoming a regular thang for me, i headed down to dada on thursday night to catch a midweek shew (gotta get my fix, you know).


first up was Tiger! (the artist in residence for the month), which is mainly one dude (andy, i later learned) on piano (yes, an actual piano), joined by a drummer and sometimes a second vocalist. andy's got a wonderfully deep, gruff, emotion-filled voice that can make damn near anything sound soulful, including the goddam Mattress Giant jingle (you know it: ooohh-ah! ooooh-ah! etc.) - funny as hell. got there late, so i only heard a few songs, but i dug what i heard, including two leonard cohen covers and a beatles cover. loved the moody, melancholy piano playing - it matched his voice very well. would've liked to have heard his original material, but that was probly earlier in the set. maybe next week.


during the outrageously-long and leisurely-paced set change (doesn't anyone else have to work in the morning?), i got a chance to chat with fred (from my Favorite Local Band the felons), who kept me thoroughly entertained and laughin my ass off. amazing, how with-it and together that dude is, at such a young age (nice job, bill h). now if only he'd quit smokin ('tho i think he said he was gonna quit smokin when he turned 21, just to be ironic. ha!). thot for a second i was gonna get to watch the felons rehearse, but alas, it was not meant to be.


next up was Roy Ivy, lead sanger from the Tah-dahs, who did a solo acoustic set. it was exactly what i expected from the tah-dahs lead - funny, clever, smart and quirky pop tunes. he sang what should be my work buddies' theme song, the one that goes "i got a damn good excuse for drinkin, it's called monday. i got an even better excuse for drinkin, it's called tuesday", or somethin along those lines (sorry - it was thursday, so i was drinkin). anyways, the dude is truly talented. enjoyed the set.


next up was Midwinter Fits, from Arlington. really really liked these guys. some absolutely beautiful, haunting, melancholy, mellow folk rock. 5-man - acoustic, bass, mandolin (nice!), keys, drums. great vocals on the lead, and wonderful harmonies 'tween the lead and bass player - you know i love that. great set. the highlight of the evening for me. definitely would like to catch them again.

last up was Clint Niosi, another talented solo acoustic singer/songwriter. a real natural behind the mic and on the guitar. loved his voice - kept tryin to think of who it reminded me of, and landed on Bono. really like his fully-arranged stuff on myspace, and would love to catch him with a full band sometime.

that's it for now.

see you out there...

3/29/08 - The Slack, Pet Hospital, Beauxregard, Land Mammals

ok, this entry will be subtitled, The One That Overuses Capital Letters. Why? cuz i WANT to.

went to the liquid lounge, mainly to see pet hospital, but also wanted to check out the slack. small place, but the layout somehow makes it work. great sound system, too. also like the outdoor patio, to where you can stumble with your drink, if you're so inclined.

the tim harrigan groupie (THG) and batman, both flying solo, showed up too. THG, mebbe not understanding that i had just front-loaded my full compliment of oh-so-unpremium vodka, bought me a rumandcoke, thereby officially puttin me Over The Edge. understand, i am not complaining. but henceforth after that, i was not exactly in the kind of shape to critically analyze, or even sorta remember, what i was seeing/hearing. so, fair warning.

very young and squishy crowd at the lounge - prolly due to the youngish nature of some of the bands. nice.

first up was land mammals, a 4-man band straight outta irving. lead singer separated at birth from rivers cuomo. these guys were a riot. i hope to gawd they were supposed to be, at least some of the time. 1st song featured one of the guitar players doin a really really awful falsetto, but i think that was the desired effect. i can tell you, it had me in stitches. i got the giggles, and couldn't stop - it killed me. anyhows, after that, the rivers lookalike (The Man With The Impossibly Deep Voice For His Body Size) took over (loved his voice, btw). these dudes played some totally catchy, quirky, but at times rockin indie pop. excellent stuff. they even whipped out a trumpet and trombone at one point - love that. really dug the unusual songs, really appreciate that kind of creativity. kind of hard to describe their stuff (see above), but i know i totally dug it. will definitely want to catch them again.

next up was beauxregard, The Band of Many Many Skinny Ties. really wasn't sure what to expect, based on their myspace (thot it might be a bit too retro for me), but i can tell you, i loved what i heard - lookin at my cellphone outbox, i called them "fukin crazy awesome". 5 or 6 people on stage (soory), including Hot Chick on Keys. most of the band members seemed to be almost in my age bracket (encouraging to us oldsters). some really catchy, crowd-pleasin retro-ish pop, very well performed. good-timey stuff, really good. another one to catch a second time.

walked over to the curtain club between sets and reaffirmed my hatred of screamo. seems like no matter when you poke your head into that place, it's always the same-soundin shit (excluding, of course, batman's band - them guys are great). saw scotty mankoff in the entry hallway makin some drunkass chick pose like a porn star for some pictures. THG wanted to know if she'd do that for a cellphone camera. we didn't ask her.

next up was pet hospital, who kicked my ass as usual (3rd time to see 'em - reviews here and here). 3-man outfit, but with an amazing ability to fill a room with sound. seemed like the set was more like the first time i saw 'em - more hard-rockin stuff than the 2nd time. don't let the myspace fool you - these guys can rock out. seems like steven is getting more and more confident with his vocals - i thot he sounded great last night. 'twas a fantastic set.

last up was the slack, and holy shit, these guys are in a completely different league, at least as far as musical talent goes. unbelievable amount of talent on stage. chris holt is an absolutely phenomenal musician - i don't think i've seen anyone dominate the guitar quite like he does. it was amazing, i can't say that enough. loved his voice, loved eric's harmonies, loved the keys. all the songs finely crafted and expertly performed. if you appreciate virtuoso guitar playing, do yourself a favor and check these guys out.

went to zini's, as usual, but again my beloved was not there - starting to get worried that she might be seeing someone else. THG, batman, and I chatted w/ brian aboot the music biz until the wee-est of hours of the mornin.

great line-up at the lounge - kudos to lion dog records for puttin in together.

3/27/08 - Swirve, The Felons, Enormous Magic Verb

ran down to dada on thursday night to catch The Felons, after having to wait waaay too long to catch them a second time (see my first review here). and ok, it's official - The Felons are now my Favorite Local Band. I completely fell for this band last night. Fell hard. Like how i fell for radiohead. Like how i fell for rufus, and arcade fire. It's hard to explain - their music just resonates with me, takes me to a place where everything's ok, brings me peace. A rare thing, i can tell you. Dave's amazing, soaring vocals, the way the guitars and keys blend and complement each other, every song so well written, so well performed. 'twas a beautiful thing. i did not want their set to end, and i can't wait 'til i can catch them again. it was amazing.

it also amazes me that these guys don't have an EP out yet (they're killin me) - hell, they don't even have a music player on their myspace page to help tie me over 'til the next show. talking to dave afterwards, he told me they wanted to take things slowly, make sure they were ready before they put anything out there. i can understand not wanting to rush things and hell, they know way more about the business than i do, but damn, they are eons ahead of 90% of the local bands out there, and i can't help but think that if they just put something out, if it's even half as good as what i've heard live, word would spread like wildfire. but what the hell do i know, eh?

first up last night was enormous magic verb, and they was perty good. 4-man band - keys, bass, cello (not a typo), drums. some nice piano pop. lead vox maybe not the strongest, but serviceable. dude can certainly tickle the ivories. didn't really hear the whole set, as i was makin the rounds, beatin down the likes of dave, fred, josh, brian and bill with plenty of incoherent babbling. really enjoyed hangin with them. and many thanks to josh for turnin off the goddam 'cinema dada' projector during the felons' set (that thing drives me nuts when bands are playin).

last up was swirve, who i've seen before. really cool avant-garde jazz tunes. trumpet with filters, loopers, etc., plus drummer and vocalist. maybe a bit more experimental than the last time i saw them. not as many groove-filled tunes as last time, but still damn good. didn't hear one song from their CD - it was all new material. at least, that is, during the part of the set i heard - twas gettin late and i was about to fall asleep on my feet, so i took off about half-way thru their set.

all in all, another great night at dada.

see you out there...

catch The Felons and Swirve on thursday night at club dada

been waiting forever to catch the felons again, and now they're playing at club dada this thursday night on the same bill as swirve, another one of my favorites:

http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/27/89276/

here's my review of the felons, and here's my review of swirve. enormous magic verb opens - haven't heard them yet (they sound ben-folds-five-y).

should be a killer show. see you there, eh?

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

Go vote for Lovie

You really should vote for Lovie in the Quick battle of the bands. To be honest, I haven't caught them live yet, but they have a reputation for putting on a great live show, and i do like what i hear on myspace. plus which, i think B&BL sucks balls (see my reviews here and here). well, ok, maybe that's overstating it a bit - i did dig their music, but how a band with such a flawed lead vocalist (hey, this guy agrees with me) can make it to the final round is beyond me. go vote.

3/14/08 - Sydney Confirm, D Numbers, Sunward

made a rare friday night appearance at club dada (spring break schedules, you know). fellow local music aficionado tk, whose wifey-poo was nice enough to give him a hall pass (ca-rack that whip!) came along for the ride.

was runnin late due to a wreck on central, so prolly for the first time ever, i was completely sober upon entering dada. was none too happy aboot that, but i didn't want to miss any of sunward's set- i'd liked what i'd heard on myspace.

and holy shit, was i right. i fucking loved this band. right up my alley - dark, lush, wall-of-sound, sometimes moody, anthemic art rock with a splash of psychedelia thrown in. but what really blew me away was the incredible collection of talent on the stage. 5-man band: lead on guitar/violin, chick on keys & back-up vox, 2nd guitar (sometimes lap-steel), bass and drums. let me tell you, what that dude can do with a violin is stunning - it was run thru filters and such, and he could make the sucker sing, shriek, shred, whatever. it was absolutely phenomenal. half the time it didn't even sound like a violin - you'd swear you were hearing an unbelievable electric guitar virtuoso. anyways, the rest of the band was fantastic, too. loved the harmonies from the backup vocalist (who also jumped around in her red sundress to a pleasing effect). also loved the lap-steel - damn, what an awesome sound. didn't think it was possible for that thing to not sound hillbilly, but he managed it. the sound fit perfectly in their songs. bass player was kickin some ass back there, and i don't usually notice the bass player. anyhows, easily one of my favorite performances of the last year. definitely a band i will keep an eye on.

got to talk to doug (lead of sunward) for quite a while after the set, whilst D Numbers was setting up their super-conducting super-collider. really nice guy. bot the cd. seems doug and i have been leading parallel lives the last couple years, what with our, um, life-changing events and all. however, the parallellisms came to a screeching halt when doug described his recent successes regarding the fairer sex. won't go into detail, but let's just say there won't be any calls to $4300 hookers from his loft.

tk nearly got bitch-slapped by the keyboard chick's gal-pal when he called her "keyboard chick".
now THAT would've been funny.

chatted with dave of the felons, who informed me that he has, in fact, quit smoking, which is cool for two reasons - one, he really needs to, to save those beautiful pipes of his, and two, it means he actually reads this pieceofshit blog.

talked to greg from hendrick - warned him about the life-force-sucking ability of the firewater bands he was gonna be playin with on saturday night.

d numbers, from santa fe was up next. incredible number of machines and wires and such on stage. 3-man band, two guitars and drums, plus loops, effects, etc. some really fantastic psychedelic grooves, some absolutely incredible beats, wonderful stuff (i was blitzed by then, which really enhanced the effect (is that so wrong?)).

last up was sydney confirm, and they were teeeerible. maybe i should give them a pass cuz they were worn out by sxsw, or maybe this is just a genre i don't "get", but shee-ut i was not diggin it at all. 3-man: guitar, drum, and keys/vox, tho there didn't seem to be much need for the actual keyboard, since all he did was hit one button and a track would start, and he would then sing (horribly) over it. at one point early on, tk leans over and says "it's napoleon dynamite, with pedro on guitar and uncle rico on drums". ok, i couldn't take them seriously after that. again, i freely admit that this type of stuff just ain't my bag, so mebbe they're the best ever at it (whatever it is), but i just couldn't take it, so we left.

went to zini's, as usual, but my alt-universe girlfriend was nowhere to be found. we ate their pizza anyways.

3/12/08 - Dreamend, Ezra Furman, XYZ Affair, Aaron Robinson

went down to the cavern for one of those mid-week SXSW-y shows - just couldn't pass up the chance to see some (hopefully) great out-of-town acts on their way south...

first up was Aaron Robinson, from Nashville. Unfortunately, he was without his band for this show. just him and his geetar. pretty standard singer/songwriter stuff. nice voice, no vibrato tho (strangely enough). had to laugh when he broke out a tom petty cover (won't back down). can't seem to get away from that mother.

next up was XYZ Affair, from Brooklyn. totally loved this band. 4-man band with an awesome set of super-catchy power-pop tunes. heard weezer, happy bullets. loved all the vocals - nice falsetto on the lead, lots of oohs and aahs from the backups. many times, all four of 'em would sing in multi-layered harmony (always dig that). lead was an absolutely fantastic guitar player, which was finally featured on (of all things) a sinead o'connor cover (nothing compares to you). that dude can play some geetar - he should feature that more often. a fantastic performance from a super-talented group. easily the highlight of the evening.

Ezra Furman and the Harpoons from boston were next. 4-man band - no keys, lead on acoustic. very, very good. distinctive yet pleasant voice on lead. heard some ramones, some of the catchier neil young songs, but the most predominant vibe was the violent femmes. nice set of infectious folk-rock songs. very talented group.

last on the bill was dreamend, from chicago. these dudes had "music-school band" written all over 'em. 5 people in the band, including a chick on cello, and one dude on full-time BELLS (i shit you not). bass player and drummer reversed roles - bass player was seated, hunched over his bass, and the drummer was standing whilst pounding on his drums in that oh-so-experimental kind of way. lead vocals not so hot. some dreamy, psychedelic, melancholy spacey rock, kind of like mogwai or EITS, but with bland vocals. just didn't dig it.

the cavern was absolutely empty - not too suprising, i guess, given it was wednesday night and all the bands were out-of-towners.

not a bad show - two out of four ain't nothin to sneeze at (yes, i've seen much worse).

Recs for this week

hory sheet, what with the time change and all, plus all these mid-week late-night SXSW-y shows to go to, i'm afeered my performance at work might be in jeopardy (sorry, boss). not to mention the punishment my liver is about to endure. here are my recs for the rest of this week:

Wednesday night:
dreamend, ezra furman, aaron robinson, xyz affair at the cavern
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/12/88316/

or

cloud cult/my brightest diamond/kid dakota at the granada
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/12/69406/

Thursday night:
white rabbits, minmae at the cavern
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/13/88317/

Friday night:
sydney confirm/d numbers/sunward at dada
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/14/87621/

or

Birdmonster/Red Monroe at doublewide
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/14/88343/

Saturday night
dono yet, but here's a charity event bein played by my buddy batman and his band (that's him on the right - ain't he superhero-ish?):

lotus/damian giglio/beating around the bush/1000 miles from home at the liquid lounge
http://www.pegasusnews.com/events/2008/mar/15/87919/

Sunday
poor man's sxsw at club dada, tho i haven't seen the line-up yet


so hey, if you see a middle-aged un-hipster undergoing liver failure and zonked out in a bar at some point this week, just poke me a few times, and i'll be on my way. my boss'll thank you.

3/8/08 - Honey Thief, Holy Trinity River, Dustin Morris, Wolff and Tuba

on a day like this, you get into your car and drive like mad
on a day like this, you feel a little sad.
a day like this is worth a million dollars easy
on a day like this, you take the good with the bad...


hibbety hibbety hobbety hobbety easter;s on its way

hello boys and grils

jeezus chrust it's 3 AM, thanks ben franklin you motherFUCKER!

against my better judgement, i went to the mothereffin cavern tonight, my arch-nemesis (can a fuckin club be a nemesis, you ask? oh i think so). knew the best show of the night was prolly at the granada with centromatic, but just felt like rollin the dice a bit tonight. mi amigo joe the boy toy (aka two-beer joe) showed up, too. praise jeebus. i parked in the hood behind the cavern, and for the first time felt a bit skeered due to some of the um, patrons hanging out back there and the graffiti on the fences. decided to do all my front-loadin in one shot, instead of comin back later, so i set a new record - 8 oz of buckeye liquors shittiest vodka and coke in like 5 goddam minutes i shit you not. i was so proud. i immediately alerted the media.

crickets, was what i got! you bastards!!!! i COMMAND you to RESPOND to my text messages!! no matter what hour it is!! even if it's to tell me to SHUT UP, BEEEYATCH!

first up was wolff and tuba, and this was some of the craziest coolest shit i've seen in a looong time. check his myspace - he is super serious aboot everything you hear coming out of his tuba, so like there;s no mike or anything, just pickups on the tuba, and he drums on it, plays it thru filters, loops it, sings thru it, and talks at you thru it between songs and everything. massive piece of electronic equipment in front of him, loopin and filtering everything. fascinating stuff, i tell you. really cool. i thot, if i was gonna start a band, it would be just like that, with me and my trumpet, electronically masturbating. yeah, that's the term that kept comin to my mind. thats not a negative thing, you understand. i am a FAN of masturbation.

next up was dustin morris and the greenstar band, and theys aight, i guess. 4-man, no keys, lead on acoustic, somewhat reedy voice, but ok. broke a string like half-way thru but dint seem to make a difference. what does that mean? not sure. some decent bluesy soul-y guitar pop.

next was holy trinity river, formerly of dallas, now from brooklyn (repre-ohnevermind). 3-man. raspy reedy voice on lead, but ok. some really good bluesy, punky southern-style rock. you know that aint my thing, but i could tell they was pretty damn good. josephus really dug it. i really dug the lead's girlfren (A-1 spinner material (oh god i am so sorry)) . gave us a free EP, athankyouverymuch. eric steele of red monroe stood right next to me in the crowd, and i was dyin to tell him what a huge fan i am and how i've seen them 4 or 5 times and how much i dug 'blue mountain air' last sunday, but then the band was done and he was like schleppin their equipment and shit and then he was gone. so if you have eric steele draggin your shit around town, you must be good, eh?

go check oot joe's review - it'll be much more coherent and music-critic-y and shit.

last up was honey thief, and ok, they wasn't so great. really really generic guitar-strummin wall of sound alt-rock with not-so-great lead vocals. not rilly bad vocals, like if i was singin or anythin, just very average and plain vanilla, which matched the muzak. joe seemed to be done workin over all the ladies in the crowd, so we left.


peace oot

3/1/08 - New Frontiers, Homer Hiccolm, Quiet Company, Gazelles

Why does it always have to be...fire?
Why does it always have to be...brimstone?

blahdeblahdeblah i have nothing to say, you have nothing to hear i am very drunk

holy shit i think my dog can sense when i';m drunk and she;s like scared of me when i am, isnt that weird??

went to dada tonight for quiet comapny and new frontiers and praise baby jeebus the piledriver came with me!! gawd damn i hate goin alone, so thanks for that, mr. P!!!!

inhaled 8 oz of the cheapest goddam vodka i could buy at the sto, wheeeeee!! gooood stuff, that is. ok, mebbe not good stuff, but you know.....it woiks.. just aks the piledriver he had some too

beard pretended he dint know me, but that;s ok, i dont mind payin for thees guys. the piledriver almost has to go all krav maga on some guys ass he bumps into at the door. now THAT wouldve been funny.

first up was the gazelles, who i've seen at least like twice before and said "meh" bof times. this time was no different except i was much drunker, so i thot theys aight, but the piledriver hated the lead, says he was way too earnest, so i trust his judgement, he was not as drunk. he is the master judger of earnestness, you know... i shit you not. i dont remember much, truthfully.

ran over to zinis so mr p could catch a bite and a glimpse of my alt-universe girlfren. luckily, he did not show an interest, else she surely would have fallen for his luxurious sideburns, you know. they are glorious and hipnotic, after all.

next up was quiet company, who i;'ve seen multiple times befo - see below you lazy bastards. i love this band, and they did not disappoint. kicked me ass.

i think we went to zinis AGAIN to meet up with batman (who had just finished his set wif 1000 MFH at the curtain club) and wifey-poo and i-could-swear the suspiciously underage-lookin dude from the xmas party. mr p. had more pizza, no doubt to make more in-roads with whatser-name, the pizza gal. sneaky bastard.

next up was homer hiccolm and the rocket boys, who in my opinion need to change their name, just sayin. dont member the details, but i remember thinkin they were great - lotsa dudes on stage, keys and geetars and such (howzat for detailed reporting?), super guitar/piano-pop stuff.

last up was new frontiers, their cd release party and all. twas perty good, but the solo acoustic interlude in the middle was a total buzzkill. nice enough, allright, but i'd rather hear the whole band, if ya don mind.

huge crowd at the dada, been along time since i seen it like that. oh, and dude - you, the early-forties poser with the spiky hairdo and steroid arms, sittin at the table with yer back to the band like yer too fuckin cool to even care, drinkin yer bud light - i fuckin HATE you.

on the way to the car, the piledriver practically TAUNTS the cops, daring them to come bust our asses. funniest goddam thing i've seen in a long long time.


ok, i'll add links and shit tomorrow, dont be a dick

2/24/08 - Red Monroe, MOM, All in a Golden Afternoon

short and sweet, just like my trip to dada...


actually had to be at work on sunday night, but needed to kill some time, so i thot i'd head down to dada for a couple hours to catch some of the last day of the melodica music fest so's i could keep my local music cred intact. plus i wanted to see red monroe.

had two stages goin on - the outside stage was a lotta death metal, grindcore, noise, that kinda shtuff. lotsa black, lotsa hair, lotsa tats. not the usual dada crowd. felt a little out of place wearin my american eagle sweatshirt (and the fingers plugged firmly in my ears didn't help either). i won't pretend to understand that uh, music, so i won't even try and critique what i heard. one band had a dude wearin a giant longhorn-type skull over his head, another dude in stained choir robes with his face painted red. couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be funny or not, but i thot it was ('tho i kept the giggling to a minimum, lest i get skewered by a longhorn).

inside, the acts were closer to the usual dada fare. first band i saw was all in a golden afternoon - one chick, one dude, two guitars, plus lots of electronics. ambient, atmospheric, slightly psychedelic instrumentals with wispy vocals. whipped out an autoharp at one point - don't see that too often. some nice, pleasant tunes.

next up was MOM, who get a ton of press around here, so i was pretty excited to finally hear them. really dug these guys. two man instrumental band - violins, cello, guitar (played with a bow sometimes), plus lots of electronics. some beautiful, enveloping, soothing, multi-layered tunes. reminded me of lemon jelly sometimes (check 'em out, if you like MOM). for a brief second, i heard mannheim steamroller, but only for a moment. nice accompanying visuals ('tho it was hard not to be distracted by the 'cinema dada' playing on the wall - had to close my left eye to block it out). a very unique experience.

red monroe - phenomenal, as usual (seen them 3 or 4 times now). i think these guys get better every time i hear them. driving bass lines, incredibly catchy guitar riffs, infectious vocals. if their live performance doesn't get you rockin, there's somethin fundamentally wrong with you. played blue mountain air, one of my favorites, for the first time (pretty sure). had to head back to work after their set, but they alone made the trip worthwhile.

2/23/08 - Lifters, Romp Almighty, Binary Sunrise

you see you see. you SEE!!!! this is why you go out and see bands, you power thru the lack of sleep and the fact that you have to go to work in the mornin and the long ass drive, because you never know when you'll find a band that goddamn near makes you fuckin cry. THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why you do it.

ok, this pre-amble was written before i went out, when i was sober, so it's all clever and shit:

left most of my buddies behind and to their own devices tonight, some to carry on cringe-worthy conversations with beer wenches who have the phrase "cum-guzzling" as a part of their conversational vocabulary (ick), and some to recover from a long day of daddydom (ok, mad props). however, the tim harrigan groupie (shiver) came out with his gal-pal (wonder if she knows his secret) along with joe the boytoy to hailey's, so i did not have to cry in my beer alone.

to be fair, i didn't exactly have any must-see shows to offer up, but i thot the trip to hailey's might be worth it. decided against the dan's silverleaf show - just can't take that much country in one sitting.

ok, back to inebriated-land again (see? i am all out of clever). first of all, let me tell you - vodka and sprite zero? no. nonononono. terrible. but i managed.

first up was binary sunrise. what happened to "the push", who was supposed to be first? fuck if i know. anyhow, BS was a 4-man band, lead sanger with lilliputian keyboard and rugby shirt and long hair and basketball goggles like that shithead ballhog kid on my daughter';s basketball team, so i hated him just for that. i kid. lead geetar had one of those belts that's too long and hangs down like some sort of phallic symblol. very phunny. i dont know what the hell this band was supposed to be, altho i was entertained, i will say that. sometimes very retro, 80's sorta synth stuff (reminded joe some of devo). sometimes bluesy, rockabilly stuff??? not bad or anything, just no definable style - kinda all over the place. but still pretty good.

next up was unfuckingbelievable - romp almighty. one chick playin acoustic guitar in impossibly lowcut black dress (turns out, she was wearing a shirt) (sorry, i am a man), one dude on drums with feet and left hand, and synth on right hand. omigod omigod, i loved these two. absolutely beautiful voice and guitar playin, loved the synth, some incredible songs (the myspace doesn't do them justice, btw). can't believe i haven't seen them before now. this was the one that damn near made me cry, with her beautiful soaring voice and the incredibly moving melodies. fuck you if you think i'm a pussy. fuck you. it was a beautiful thing.

last was the lifters, and i thot these guys were mighty damn good. 5-man band, w/ full-time keys. started off with some totally solid guitar/piano pop wall-of sound songs, which i totally dug. believe it or not, heard some chemistry set, calhoun and quiet company, but maybe that's because i want to hear them in every band. amazing voice comin out of the lead (who is not a big dude). funny, when they crossed into alt-country territory, i lost a bit of interest, but that's when the tim harrigan groupie perked up and got interested. different strokes, eh? anywho, they only played 1 or 2 alt-country tunes, then went back to beltin out their fantastic power-pop anthems, which they are damn good at. very polished, very professional. closed with their best song. wouldn't mind hearin them again.

all in all, a pretty damn good night.

My Saturday night picks

Nothin just jumps out at me as a must-see tonight, but here are a few possibilities:

Looks like a humdinger of a show at Dan's in Denton tonight:
http://www.myspace.com/rollingtrainwreck

Now, bluegrass and alt-country ain't really my thang, but I saw 100 damned guns at SHQ a year ago and dug 'em, so i'm thinkin the rest of this show might be pretty good too.

Another possibility: The Lifters, Binary Sunrise and The Push at Hailey's:
http://haileysclub.com/

And if I had to pick a Melodica show, I'd go to the one at Avenue Arts, to see Red Monroe, Swirve, and Transona Five:
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u48/sonicsoular/avenueartsscheduleFIX.jpg


see you out there...

Adventures in Binge Drinking

ever had one of those high-stress, shit-filled days that give you the desire, almost the need, to get utterly and completely plowed? (no? you lead a charmed life). that was yesterday for me.

that's right - i took the night off, at least as far as live music goes. I couldn't really find a show i was excited about anyways, plus i had fed the beast on thursday with bear colony, pet hospital and jon cook (see below). So after my ulcer-inducing day, i headed over to my buddy the piledriver's house with my vodker in tow, being as how he's one dude who is always up for some major drinkin.

got a little worried there when we made an ice run to the local 7-11, and my host wanted to buy some KY ("look, it's the warming kind", he kept saying), but it's OK - he left me alone. now his randy little dog was a different story - i'm pretty sure that little bastard owes me dinner, at least. (i'm just kiddin about the KY, that was actually me, tryin to embarass the piledriver and give him a reputation at his local quickie-mart (i was already pretty far gone at that point)).

we did listen to quite a bit of music (we both have some keeller shit on our ipods), there definitely was some incoherent babbling, and i christened his bathroom, so it sorta felt like a normal night out for me.

actually, i guess i did hear some live music after all, cuz the piledriver whipped out his acoustic and proceeded to melt my face with the likes of 'jesu, joy' and 'frere jacques'. no, seriously, he's pretty good - i'd kill to be able to play like that.

decided that one of my life goals is to learn all of the lyrics to the gorillaz' "clint eastwood", so i can drunkenly belt it out at the top of my lungs when i hear it in some bar somewhere. dream big, huh?

anyhows, the night ended peacefully with the piledriver passed out on the couch, and me crashed in his guest room. i'm sure his dog had a field day.

until next time...

2/14/08 - Bear Colony, Icarus Crane, Pet Hospital, Jon Cook

started out the evening by celebrating the piledriver's birfday at twin peaks (at his insistance), where all the waitresses wore teddies (thankyou, st. valentine, patron saint of gaudy whores). And what music greeted my ears when i walked up to the place? None other than everyone's favorite octogenarian pseudo-rocker, tom petty! wheeee! Anyhow, we got ignored as usual, but damn, that bud ice went down smoooove (hey, it was cheap).

left the boys leering creepily at the waitstaff and drooling in their beers to head down to the prophet bar, in search of some musical salvation (am i clever, or what?). (Ed. note: if my oh-so-witty remarks are confusing you, it might be because you don't know that the prophet bar is part of The Door, which is owned by a church. so now you know). Engaged in some idle chitchat with the gal at the door, who was very nice, at least until i violently used the lord jeebus's name in vain, at which point she slammed the window closed on my hands (kidding) and clammed up (i'm sure she was praying for me at that point. praying hard).

anyhows, caught the last half or so of Jon Cook's set. solo acoustic singer/songwriter. Dono what it was, but i fell for it. totally loved it (not my usual reaction to solo acoustic singer/songwriters (which is a yawn)). Sometimes i'm just in the mood for it, and last night i was. i think Jon had a lot to do with that - loved his voice (reminded me of leonard cohen sometimes), loved his songs - mostly melancholy, wistful (is that redundant? sue me), beautiful geetar playin, not over-earnest or over-emoting (a common fault, i think). very genuine. very talented.

ran down to club dada to catch Pet Hospital, cuz i digs me some pet hospital. chatted with brian and amanda (who is much more chipper these days (yay)), and met the Dallas Observer's new music editor, Pete Freedman (straight outta Colorado Sprangs, Home of Half a Million Rabid Evangelicals^TM (or so i'm told)). There's been much weeping and moaning and gnashing of teeth by the music-scene insider types around here about who the new editor would be, what kind of job they would do, etc. Well, at least in my opinion, this dude seems to have the right stuff. Even before we met, i liked what i read - liked his writing style, his attitude, the way he threw himself into the scene. Turns out he's a super nice dude, too. And hey, we even like the same bands and internet radio station (can you say 'validation'?). Plus which, amanda gave him three pages of homework to do, so she'll have him educated in no time. Check out Pete here and here.

oh yeah - Pet Hospital. saw these guys a few weeks back (read review here), and thought they were awesome, and they re-affirmed that opinion last night. seemed like it was maybe a different set - not as many hard-rockin numbers as i remember, but still fantastic - i love the down-tempo stuff, too. some dude (prolly someone's dad?) gave out free EPs to the crowd, which at that point was just me, amanda, brian, and pete. didn't seem to bother them, tho - they put on a great show.

stumbled out of dada and went back to Salvation Central. Had missed Victory March, apparently. but that's OK, pete says they suck (i'm kidding! i'm kidding!). Icarus Crane was setting up. Lo and behold, who joins me at the bar but the aforementioned Music Editor (must've been jonesin' for an evangelical experience (i think i saw him praying with the chick at the door)). At that point, the incoherent babbling (you know it) began with a vengeance (on my part, i should say). Turns out we both have ties to central new york (repreSENT!) - he went to syracuse U and i grew up in that area. he's also friends with the dudes in Ra Ra Riot, one of my favorite bands from last year (hey, mebbe he can set me up with the sweet sweet violin player when they come thru town). Anyways, i always have a blast when i can converse with someone who's as passionate aboot music as i am.

Icarus Crane. two-man instrumental band - geetar/synth and drummer, plus seizure-inducing disco lights. dudes had some nice tunes, some cool grooves, but after 3 or 4 songs, i had gotten a bit tired of it (if you see me with one finger in my ear, and my other ear turned away, you know i'm not diggin it). seriously, tho - they were good at what they were doin, it just wore on me after a while. i think that's why the good lord invented vocalists (hey, mebbe all that prayin is workin on me).

last up was Bear Colony, from arkansas. holy shit, these guys were fantastic. awesome. right in my wheelhouse - moody, minor-chord-driven, beautiful wall of sound arty guitar pop (not much like the myspace, btw). great pipes on lead. 5-man band (full-time keys/synth). heard some coldplay, some early radiohead influence. Pete says he heard 'Shiny Toy Guns' (look at him, showin me up on the whole band reference thing). if you have a chance to see these guys, don't pass it up. didn't have the cash for the cd; pete got a free one (nice to be a music editor, eh?).

was done at midnight, but i (once again) did not take advantage of the 'early' finish, and went to the fillmore pub, where the piledriver was chasin married women (as he is wont to do), knuckles pretended to like scotch to impress the waitress, and dave-the-big-guy-who-had-too-much-to-drink pestered all the bar patrons on his quest to find shrimp (i have no idea).

Thursday night shenanigans

Plannin on goin to the Prophet Bar thursday night to hear Bear Colony, Icarus Crane, Victory March, and Jon Cook ('tho i might run down to club dada when pet hospital plays):

http://www.theprophetbar.com/calendar.htm

damn, that's twice in one week i've been to the prophet bar. praise jeebus, eh?

2/9/08 - Kevin Devine, Jealous Girlfriends, Quiet Company

had a hard time findin a shew, but finally found that quiet company was playing at the prophet bar, a venue i usually ignore cuz of the affiliation and the inflated cover charge. but i love quiet company, so. tk, another QC fan, came along for the ride.

stopped off at dada first to chat with mis compadres there, but alas, no one home. oh well, beard entertained us with von ehric stories, tk inhaled a couple more lonestars (i could swear at one point he was gonna start shotgunning), and we discussed the glorious complexities of modern adult life and such, as we always do.

left dada, jumped in the chick-magnet-mobile, and drove around the block lost a couple times before settling on a parking space about oh, 100 feet down the street from where we originally parked. well sheeut, it sure looked further than that on google maps.

so how is it that the first band is supposed to go on at 8:30, we get there at 9:10, and we've missed the first two bands??? stupid fuckers.

BUT, not to worry, we did not miss Quiet Company. Seen these dudes at least twice before at dada and once at hailey's, and i love 'em every time. they've added a fourth member to their band, so you've got full-time geetar now (tyler used to switch between geetar and keys), which makes their live show rock oot even more. check out the cd - it's got some fantastic, finely-crafted, mostly mellow acoustic/piano-pop tunes on it - but the goddam live show is incredible. even the mellow songs on the cd turn into full-blown rock anthems when played live. i mean these guys kicked ass. my gawd i loved it.

tk chatted up lead singer tyler (i think) after the set, and they compared notes aboot the deep meaning of the lyrics to 'love is a shotgun' and the glorious complexities of modern life and omigod he'll talk about that shit to anyone, apparently. just kiddin, tk, you know i love you, man.

just when i thot the high point of the evening had passed, tk brought me a jager shot. ha! just kidding (i mean, he did, but that wasn't the high point, i'm sayin). seriously, the highlight of the evenin had to be the set by jealous girlfriends. four-piece band, straight outta brooklyn. smokin hot chick lead guitarist/vocalist (omigawd, i think i'm in love), peter frampton lookalike on geetar/vocals (tk can have him), plus keys and drummer. totally unique blend of shoegaze, grunge, and new wave. loved the mix of his-and-hers lead vocals - great effect (check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hedc9JDDq0). their stuff was totally in my wheelhouse, and i loved every minute of their set. might even have to trek over to lola's in march to catch them on their way to sxsw. no sign of holly after the set - she must've sensed a drunken middle-ager was on the prowl.

between sets, i wandered thru the smoky passageway to the other side of the building, where i witnessed the sad sad sight of the former gypsy tea room ballroom (where i saw the genius of eels) being defamed by goddam screamo bullshit, complete with shirtless screamo-heads pseudo-moshing in front of the stage. kill me.

last up was kevin devine, also from brooklyn, and touring partner of jealous girlfriends (did i mention how incredible they were?). this guy seems to have a big following up north. his myspace is all solo acoustic-y stuff, but i thot sure he'd have a full band and at least attempt to rock out a bit. but what we saw was just him on acoustic and another dude on electric, basically just playin his acoustic songs. we heard four or five songs like that and had had enough. he might have said something aboot 'the full band' comin up later on, so maybe we missed the whole rockin out part, but we could take no mo. kept thinking of 'waking ned devine'. dono why.

went back to dada to see if anyone was about, but no luck. went to zini's so tk could meet my alternate-universe girlfriend. the pizza was amazing, as usual.

dropped by the fillmore pub in plano, second home of knuckles and the piledriver. they had somehow managed to convince one of the beer wenches to sit with them and buy them shots. what gentlemen, eh? some truly disturbing revelations unfolded, involving very intimate personal encounters and bodily functions (you dont wanna know, bleebe me).

Friday night - the felons at the doublewide

recommendation for Friday night:

check out the Felons playing at the Doublewide with Somebody's Darling and Melba Toast. Can't vouch for SD or MT (tho I've heard good things aboot SD), but the felons will kick your ass.

sorry, i can't do friday nights, so you're on yer own.

still tryin to find a saturday show. suggestions are welcome...

supabowl rant

(warning - abundant profanities ahead)

ohhhh, vodker and gingerale how i love you!! muah!

watchin the supabowl with the brahs and halftiem comes around and holy fuckni shit are you kiddin me??? tom petty??? tom. fuckin. petty?? that is all you can come up with?? fuckin 70year old tom fuckin petty??? jesus christ what a load of shit. with all the fuckin bands out there. come on, grow a fuckin sack and put someone on with just a tiny bit of edge, will ya?? not some fuckin geriatric sideshow. oh boy - free fallin!!! i've only heard that song three thousand fuckin times!!! i need to hear that again!! wheeee!!!! where's my fake lighter??

ok, so i'm not gonna see radiohead or animal collective, i accept that, but how about somethin from the fuckin 21st century??? there are plenty of mainstream bands that would do - arcade fire? weezer? even foo fighters. (sure, tom seemed to please the piledriver and his girlfriend wayne, but that aint no real endorsement, i can tell you). omigod, i can't believe they showed that crap. kill me.

rant over

1/31/08 - Druggist, Eaton Lake Tonics, Chris Holt

left a truly hapnin' scene at the fillmore pub in downtown plano (don't laugh!) to head down to club dada for some mid-week shenanigans.

joined by batman and the tim harrington groupie (scary, i know, but he behaved).

saw the last half of chris holt's set. he was accompanied by two of his buddies from his full band (eric neal and steve luthye), who played everything from violin to keys to bass to mandolin. heard mostly covers, but they were nice ones - led zep's going to california, and pink floyd's nobody home and comfortably numb. since the wall is prolly my favorite album of all time, i dug it. lots of talent on stage, no doubt. dug the addition of eric's vocals on many of the songs.

next up was eaton lake tonics. these guys play a nice collection of fairly straight-forward guitar -led indie pop songs. to be honest, their songs were kind of hit and miss for me - some songs connected, some didn't. liked the more down-tempo tunes - i think they work better with the lead's vocal abilities. dug the closer - 'i kicked the pieces out into the ocean' - at least i think that's what it was.

last was druggist, from san antonier, and these guys kicked some ass. three-man band, lead played both geetar and keys. nice pipes on lead. vocals on bass player were more talk-singy, but not annoyingly so - i actually liked it (i usually dont like that style). some nice anthemic radiohead-influenced stuff here and there, some jangly pop, some piano pop. great songs. totally dug it.

really appreciated the early start (8:00) - 'twas over around 11ish. really nice on a weeknight. ok, so no, i didnt take advantage of it (headed back to the fillmore, where they boys were still drinkin (lushes!)). but i could have, that's the point.

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.

Best of 2007

Well, Ok, everyone seems to do some sort of 2007 "best of" list, so OK, here you go. better late than never, eh? (p.s. - i am drunk)

2007 was an uh, interesting year for me, one of personal transitions, revelations, transformations, blah, blah, blah...

while i could easily come up with a top ten list of personal revelations for 2007, i really dont think anyone would give a shit, so here's my list of the top 10 performances i saw in 2007 (yeah, ok, no one gives a shit about this either, i know):

1. Chemistry Set, Calhoun (Club Dada, 1/11/08) - final show for Chem Set. on one hand, a glorious night due to the extended set by my favorite local band. on the other hand, deeply depressing since it's their last show. see below to view my opinions on this truly awesome band. stephen duncan is a musical genius, and the dallas music scene will not be the same without him. here's hoping he keeps making music, as he promised me. this evening was bolstered by an awesome set by calhoun, another one of my favorites.

2. tartufi (club dada, 12/8 and haileys, 12/9). truly transcendant live music experience. enough said. check. them. out.

3. o'brother, comrade, broadcast sea, pompeii, dignan, new frontiers, quiet company (haileys, 1/20). this was one of the first shows i went to, and it set the standard for months to come. this was where i was first introduced to pompeii, so it has to rank near the top, if only for that. but the new frontiers and quiet company sets ranked highly also. fantastic night.

4. method entertainment night at club dada, 8/18. unbelievable collection of fantastic bands in one night: greater good, chemistry set, calhoun, latture, and airline. nice job, solis.

5. paul banks (cavern, 7/21 and 9/29). you know i hate the fuckin cavern, but the absolute genius of paul banks transcended that shithole of a venue. this dude can write one hell of a song, and he's got the pipes to belt 'em out, too. absolutely phenomenal.

6. ra ra riot, red monroe (haileys, 3/13). fell in love with ra ra riot and their cello- and violin-playing. also rocked out to the exquisite red monroe for the first time. magical, even though eric stormed off the stage early cuz of hailey's awful sound problems.

7. rufus wainwright (nokia, 8/10). rufus has been one of my favorites for years, so to have him come to dallas (finally!) was such a fantastic gift. a truly beautiful, funny, entertaining evening. hate the fucking nokia, tho - $15 parking, $6 rumandcokes. fuck. you.

8. animal collective (granada, 5/26). ok, i wasnt even gonna go, but i won tickets from bigDlittled, and goddam, am i glad i went. no, i didnt enjoy every song they played, but when they played a song i dug, it was an exhilarating experience.

9. the whigs, wild sweet orange, calhoun (club dada, 1/16). this was when i was truly turned on to the greatness of calhoun, in addition to the other two outstanding acts. great night.

10. demigs, new frontiers, dear and the headlights (haileys, 8/1). tk fell in love with the demigs, which makes it easier to get him out more often so i dont have to go out alone, so this night has to rank up there just cuz of that. got to see new frontiers again and belt out 'mirrors' at the top of my lungs, too (poor tk). loved dear and the headlights, too. gooood night.

other bands i saw and dug in 2007, in no particular order...

stumptone
bosque brown
happy bullets
the felons
matthew and the arrogant sea
radiant
jd whittenburg
telegraph canyon
stavely
florene
swirve
record hop
the campaign
backflap
sean kirkpatrick
three fantastic
the dodos
tammany hall machine
quiet company
david ramirez band
1000 miles from home
the aimless never miss
robert gomez
hardin sweaty...
burning hotels
the gunship
million year dance

there's another list that needs to be compiled, and that's the list of people who have completely transformed my life in the past year, ranging from a new group of friends at work, to music-scene insiders who have managed to make me feel at home in a world that is completely outside my comfort zone. but that's a thing for another night, after waaay more vodker...