10/16/08 - Bart Davenport, Nervous Curtains, Cocky Americans

another thursday night at Club Dada - good times, good times.

Cocky Americans were up first, and these guys were fantastic. 4-man band: 3 guitars and drums. not the kind of stuff i usually get into - definitely very guitar-intensive, sometimes with a smoldering bluesy southern-rock groove, sometimes more Strokes-like, sometimes with a Doors vibe (but maybe only because Brett's vocal style (which i really dug) reminded me of Morrison sometimes) - but i loved it. very talented musicians, very polished performance, will definitely try to catch them again soon.up next was Nervous Curtains. what else can i say about these guys that i haven't said before? i've gone to see Sean so many times now, my buddies tease me that we must be dating (p.s. i am not gay). all i'll say is - go see this band and check out the new material - you won't be disappointed.Bart Davenport, from california, headlined. some very sugary, super-twee 60's pop - really well done, but not really my thing. did enjoy the harmonies from the gal on tambourine, tho.

10/9/08 - Mr. Gnome, Menkena, Les Americains

headed to the cavern to catch Mr. Gnome. knuckles came with, and the les savy fan showed up later, being as how his cradle-robbing activities were on hiatus for the night.

Les Americains were up first. i dono, seemed like some pretty generic pop rock. really failed to keep my interest. next up was Menkena, and they were...{yawn}......low-key ........ dreamy ...{yawn}... down-tempo..... ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
last up was Mr. Gnome, from Cleveland, who i'd heard at club dada back in may. two-piece band (one guitar plus drums, sometimes keys), but with an unbelievable sound. nicole on guitar was amazing, sometimes playing far-out trippy rock, sometimes blistering hard rock (knuckles, the metallica fan, was in heaven). loved her voice - sometimes breathy, sometimes an ear-shattering howl. sam on drums was insane, turning the drum set into an actual instrument, not just a rhythm section. he adding an amazing dimension to the sound, something i don't normally hear from drummers. my only complaint - it seemed like a really short set, but maybe that's because i didn't want it to end. fantastic stuff. don't miss these guys if you have the chance.
oh yeah - did i mention nicole was smokin hot?

10/4/08 - The Low Lows, Starhead

had trouble findin a show last weekend, but ended up at hailey's.

first up was Starhead, or at least parts of it (they didn't say one word to the crowd (which was pretty much just me), so i have no idea who was playing and who was missing). 4-piece band that night - one acoustic guitar, one electric, a violin and a pseudo-drummer (he had some shakers, a tambourine, and an ozarka water jug, i shit you not). very nice, low-key, down-tempo, minor-key, dreamy folky stuff. love the soulful violin. nice juxtaposition of the electric with the acoustic. not exactly hard-rockin stuff, but it ain't supposed to be. enjoyed it. next up was The Low Lows, from Austin. 6-piece, including two trumpets and one trombone at times. really well done southern gothic rock sorta stuff. really featured the brass at times, which i love. lead has unique voice - kinda reedy, but not at all unpleasant. really dug it.

9/28/08 - The Fratelli's, The Airborne Toxic Event, Electric Touch

headed to the HOB for the first time on sunday to catch airborne toxic event and the fratelli's.

knuckles and the piledriver came with - woo hoo! look out, ladies!

no pics this time - apparently no one takes the "absolutely no cameras" rule seriously, as i was about the only joker in the place to not have one. bouncers didn't care at all, at least until the fratelli's played. weird.

'twas really an awesome night, probably one of the best shows i've ever been to. not that all 3 bands were exactly my taste, but you gotta love a show in a "real" venue, with an actual stage, incredible sound system, and cool light show. but i really think the difference was the crowd - there's just somethin great that happens when the whole crowd gets into it, and they're not afraid to actually move around a bit, or throw their hands up in the air and clap with the band. yea, i know this is old news to you folks that have been to a lot of "big" shows, but it was a revelation to me. i dono, i thot it was just a great vibe that night. maybe it was cuz i was plastered, but i don't think so. (i was getting peppered with some rather salty text messages the whole night, which definitely added to the excitement).

first up was Electric Touch, from austin. absolutely loved these guys. very beatles-esque, i think. bunch of young punks, super-cocky, incredible stage presence, snarly, strutting, doin the whole "usin your guitar as a phallic symbol" thing, all to great effect. wasn't expecting to like these guys, but goddam i did. great set full of fun-time rock-n-roll. about the lead singer's british accent, knuckles says "man, i gotta get me one of them".

next up was the highlight of the night for me - The Airborne Toxic Event, from CA. totally in my wheelhouse - moody, anthemic, beautiful, haunting. i was in heaven. definitely have a weakness for a band with strings. didn't want it to end, couldn't get enough.

headlining was The Fratelli's. i was not necessarily a huge fan of theirs goin in (that's the piledriver), but i absolutely loved their set. very polished, very talented. played an hour and a half, changin guitars every damn song ('sup with that?). no matter - they were great, and the crowd really seemed to know their stuff, which made for a really fun set.

i was prepared to hate the HOB - i'd heard about the security checkpoints, expensive parking, expensive drinks, ticketbastard charges, sterile environment, etc., but i have to say, i loved it there. about the only complaint was the ticket "convenience charges" (what a racket). everything else was no problem - i found a meter right in front, i did my drinkin before i got there, security was no big deal, and it was smoke-free. i'm not givin up my trips to deep ellum or denton any time soon, but i won't hesitate to go back to the HOB either.

9/27/08 - Dead Confederate, Wax Fang, Zest of Yore

ended my (purely metaphorical) boycott of the effing cavern and headed there to catch a couple of post-ACL bands. my buddy josephus was able to stop crying in his beer about the florida loss long enough to show up, too.

and wouldn't you know it, my new buddies in Zest of Yore were the openers. and they was aight. they'll never be a favorite of mine, but i enjoyed a song or two this time. yea, i'm sure it was exactly the same set as that night at hailey's, but for some reason i could tolerate it more - less alcohol, less tired, who knows. still not crazy about the super-high falsetto the lead does.

unfortunately for them, they were completely over-shadowed by the two bands that followed.

Wax Fang, from Kentucky, was un-fucking-believable. 3-man band, but with an enormous sound. sometimes experimental, sometimes bluesy, sometimes hard-rockin, sometimes almost classical. they list Philip Glass as an influence, and i could hear it (i'm a huge fan). song after song, i was in complete bliss, sitting there with a stupid-ass grin on my face. absolutely loved the lead's voice - reminded me of johnny rotten sometimes, but with a great low end. loved the psychedelic visuals, loved the droning kazoos (see the 2nd video), loved the slide guitar (man, that dude can play). awesome awesome stuff. easily the highlight of the evening for me. these guys will be huge someday, if there is any justice in the world. (please note - i realize these are horrible videos, but i just wanted to give you some idea of what they were doin...)

next up was Dead Confederate, from Athens. really liked these guys, too. 5-man band: 3 guitars, keys and drums. great combination of slow-burning southern psychedelia and gloomy roots rock. voice on lead not my favorite - just a bit reedy, but very strong, at times howling. keys were very pink-floyd-organ-like sometimes (and the player was nuts). have to say - after a while, the songs started to blend together a bit. they were very good, but there wasn't a whole lot of variety (one of the strengths of Wax Fang, I thought). super-hot drunken blonde down in front, gyrating up a storm, so they had that goin for 'em. josephus was right behind her, of course, hopin he'd catch some stray boobage, but no luck. anyways, really enjoyed the set.
all in all, the first time i've enjoyed a show at the cavern in a looong time.

9/20/08 - Sarah Jaffe, Chameleon Chamber Group, Matthew Gray

headed out to denton on saturday night, cuz i heard Dan's was the place to be. turns out, i heard right.



first up was Matthew Gray, from one of my favorite local groups, Matthew and the Arrogant Sea. I love MATAS so much, i figured i'd like matthew as well, and i was right. pretty sure everything he played was non-band stuff (except maybe "o, jonathan"), but you can definitely tell where the majority of MATAS' sound comes from. he played a beautiful set full of haunting, sometimes spooky, sometimes quirky acoustic folk/pop. his performance was definitely enhanced by his accompanist, noodling on his electric guitar and providing fantastic backing vocals. really nice stuff. matthew was cool enough to spot me a copy of his demo cd, and there's some really cool stuff on there, too. check it out if you have a chance. cannot WAIT for the MATAS cd release party on october 25th.

next up was Chameleon Chamber Group. 4-piece "band": electric piano/synth (the great paul slavens), cello, violin, and EWI (electronic wind instrument, you noob). played mostly classical pieces, but slightly jazzed up, what wif the electronics and all. interesting, and very well done, but after a while i lost interest and headed out to the patio (in the end, it's still just classical music - not what i usually head out for).

sarah jaffe was up last, accompanied by robert gomez on geetar and kris youmans on cello. love sarah's voice, love the cello. as expected, my favorite was "two intangibles can't be had", which always gives me chills. enjoyed the set.

man, i tell you - dan's is a really hapnin place, with a veritable who's who of denton musicians parading thru there. really cool place. and you wouldn't believe what goes on in the parking lot.

9/13/08 - Airline, Sunward, Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys, Here In Arms, King Bucks

braved hurricane ike to head to dada for method entertainment's second annual bbq bash. knuckles and the piledriver came with, and josephus, batman and wifey showed up, too. damn near a real crowd, eh?

pretty big turn-out at dada, i thought, especially since it was only 7:15 when we got there. and as knuckles put it, the place was crawlin.

doorman made my fuckin year by doin a double-take while checkin my ID and sayin, "man there's no way you look that old". ha!

first band we saw was the King Bucks, and they were damn good. really enjoyed their set, which surprised me, being as how i am not a fan of the country. i would say they probably lean closer to the americana side of the country genre (since i actually liked it), but whatever it was, i dug it. really talented group of musicians, great vocalists. loved the multi-part harmonies. don't know how many were covers and how many were originals, but i liked everything i heard.

next up was Here, In Arms, who i've seen once before. some really nice folky, bluesy, alt-country-ish pop.

Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys were next, with the Unabomber making a guest appearance, sittin in on lead. really like these guys - very well-done piano/guitar-pop tunes, with a little wall-of-sound thrown in every once in a while. everyone in my crew (except for josephus, who has taste) let out a collective yawn and headed over to zini's after a couple songs, but screw them - whattatheyknow. joe and i really dug it. great set.

at one point, john solis (method entertainment head honcho) bought me, the piledriver, and knuckles a shot (a red-headed slut, if you must know), thereby instantly making him Our Hero.

next up was Sunward, who was easily the highlight of the evening for me (but you coulda guessed that, eh?). one of my earlier descriptions of their sound: dark, lush, wall-of-sound, sometimes moody, anthemic art rock with a splash of psychedelia thrown in. loved the new visuals. loved the radiohead cover (i think i might like it better than the original, actually), love the scorching violin, love the psychedelic guitar and lap-steel. fantastic, high-energy set. shoulda been the headliners, no doubt.

at one point, my man pete blew through at ninety miles an hour, just to make an appearance and secure his indie music cred, i guess.

Airline headlined the evening, since Deadman had to cancel, being as how it was raining and all. i've seen airline a couple times before, and i usually enjoy it. maybe it was because knuckles kept screaming in my ear "this band sucks ass" over and over, but for some reason, i just didn't get into it. they played their usual brand of guitar/piano pop, but i had to agree wif knuckles - after a while, it started to get repetitive. i won't hesitate to catch them again, tho, since i've enjoyed them in the past, but last night, they just didn't connect with me.

managed to prove my "creepy old man" status by rapping to manya of blue petal, tellin her how much i liked their set at the ultraviolet show, which caused her to run screaming from the room (kidding, but she did move a few chairs away from me. great ego-boost, that was).

at some point while airline was playing, some fire-twirlers showed up and started flingin fire on the patio. apparently, they were associated with some sort of art show goin on in the far-bar. also associated with that was holy diver, who somehow showed up on the bill. i really wanted nothin to do with what they were bringin, so we went and checked out the (seemingly way-overpriced, at least to this art novice) art in the far-bar. didn't buy anything, case you were wonderin.

all in all, a pretty good night. so i can say what i said last year - nice job, solis.

9/7/08 - Look Mexico, Bear Colony, Criminal Shift

since saturday night turned out to be such a cluster (see below), and being as how it was sunday and all, i headed to church.

psych! it was only the prophet bar (i did read a verse written on one of the photos on the wall - does that count?). wanted to catch Bear Colony, who i'd really dug last February.

praise jeebus - one of the nice things aboot the prophet bar (in addition to a fantastic sound system) - they start shows (relatively) early - 8:00 in this case. vury nice, for us 9-5 workin folk. one of the bad things? $4.50 for a well. bastards.

another great thing, at least sunday night, was the between-set music. turns out it was the (smokin hot) bartender's ipod, and she has fantastic taste. will definitely be checking out dresden dolls.

first up was Criminal Shift, from Plano (represent!). i know, i know - you hear plano, and you see how old they are (juniors in high school!), and you expect whiny emo garbage, but these guys weren't like that at all. i was floored by what i heard. 4-man band: guitar, bass, keys, drums. dude on lead had powerful, at-times howling voice, not at all what you'd expect coming from a high school junior who seems to be going for the whole harry potter look (including a lightning bolt on his guitar strap). very nice harmonies from the keyboard player (you know i love that). thundering bass. very sophisticated songs for their age. some really fantastic high-energy, very-well executed indie pop. loved it. one slight problem - they opened with a cover of "Hey Ya" by Outkast, and I damn near walked outside to wait til their set was over. very glad i didn't. definitely want to catch them again.

Bear Colony, from Arkansas, was next. saw these guys in february (review here) and absolutely loved it, and sunday night confirmed that opinion. 5-man band, including two drummers (MATAS-style), which was awesome. unbelievably powerful, emotional, wall-of-sound, anthemic guitar pop. right in my wheelhouse. i was in heaven. didn't want the set to end. please check out this band if you get the chance.

next up was Look Mexico, and they was aight. similar in style to Bear Colony, but their sound just didn't resonate with me. lead wore strangely-creepy 70's-style wife beater and was goin for the grizzly adams look. whole band sat down on floor at one point during a song. not sure why - seemed a bit contrived. definitely a talented band, just didn't connect with me (it's hard to splain these things).

headlining was Luminate, and if you think i'm gonna hang around to listen to a goddam praise band, most of whom seemed to be wearing vests (never a good sign), you haven't been paying attention.

9/6/08 - Sean Kirkpatrick, Baboon, Red Monroe

jeezchrist what a royal clusterfuck saturday night turned out to be. pretty sure i shoulda gone to dan's instead. ya, pretty sure.

lineup at dada was supposed to be Glen Reynolds, 2/3rds of PPT, Baboon, and Red Monroe (in that order). when i showed up, beard tells me the lineup is Red Monroe first, then Baboon, Roy Ivy, Frankie 45, and PPT. wtf? crazy-ass music biz.

The Les Savy Fan came out wif his friend Scott, both mos definitely on the prowl. Amazing number of hot chicks in the crowd, like i've never seen before at dada. LSF tells me it was deceiving, tho - they were all attached (yes, he checked. yes, all of them).

first up was Red Monroe, only it wasn't. eric steele was MIA, and some dude from Mission to the Sea was in his place (which i knew in advance, thanks to josephus). Was kinda interested to hear how all my favorite RM songs would sound without Eric, but it didn't happen - i recognized one RM song (blue mountain air, one of my favorites), but the rest was i dono what. must've been a bunch of MTTS material, cuz i didn't know any of it. don't get me wrong, i actually liked it quite a bit, and i'll be checking out MTTS, but i loves me some RM, and i was really lookin forward to seein them.
next up was Baboon. they was aight, but i couldn't figure out what was up with the lead - there was definitely Something Very Wrong With His Pants, or maybe he just has Pants Issues. Either he had forgotten his belt and was grabbing his pants to keep them from falling down, or he was trying to hike them up so we could all see his perty shoes, or he was trying to bunch up the material around his package to make it look bigger. i dono, but it was very distracting, and kept the LSF and I chuckling thru the whole set. anyways, it was some pretty good high-energy, slightly-shouty post-punk. heard weezer on some songs, too.
near the end of the set, my man pete shows up and asks if i'm goin to see sean k at the lounge. now, i knew sean was playin there, but i thot i was gonna have to miss him cuz he would play the same time as Red Monroe, but now that things were all fucked up, i realized i could catch him. and so's i did. thanks, petey.

so i stumbled down to the lounge and paid my second cover of the night (so you know i must've been feelin pretty happy). it was a gutterth thing, so there was the usual gutterth trappings everywhere - tv's playing snow, projected images on a screen on the stage, and that one dude who's always front and center, rocking back and forth like he's at the wailing wall, and over-clapping like mad. nah, just kiddin, i love those gutterth guys, they do good work. sean had his full band with him (they are apparently now called "Nervous Curtains"), just like last week, and it absolutely kicked ass. they seem to be coming together more and more each week, as they fine-tune the new material. the addition of Ian's dark synths and Robert's pounding drums make sean's material come alive and kick you in the nuts. and maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like it was definitely harder-rockin than last week. this is no namby-pamby piano pop stuff, folks, it'll kick your ass. absolutely loved the whole set (as i always do).

went back to dada, where LSF and scott were still hangin out, listening to what had to be The Worst Crap I Have Ever Heard. it was 2/3rds of PPT, plus some guy on acoustic guitar. so there were two guys hip-hoppin/rappin, plus the guy playin guitar and singing the most godawful stuff ever (mostly in falsetto, it seemed). they were tryin to get the crowd into it (throw yer hands up, etc.), but no one was buyin it. seriously, what a bizarre and unpleasant combination. maybe it was performance art of some sort? dono, but i found it unbearable. LSF and friend headed to the doublewide (where they apparently attempted to sabotage Kim Pendleton's marriage), and i went back to the lounge to catch The Great Tyrant, which i instantly regretted (a sean k reference, heh heh). i admit, i have pretty narrow taste in music, so i cannot objectively judge bands in genres i don't like (see above), but jeezchrist are you serious? i couldn't take more than one song. sorta like goth screamo death-metal? 3-man band, one goth dude in all black playin keys, plus ZZ-top wannabe on guitar, and drums. mos def not for me.all in all, a very unsatisfying night, only saved from disaster status by my man sean kirkpatrick (and band).

8/30/08 - Zest of Yore, Ume, Record Hop

made the journey westward to hailey's in denton to catch record hop. managed to drag Knuckles and The Piledriver wif me, cuz i knew they would enjoy the greatness of record hop, plus which, RH and Ume both have hot chick lead singers, and those two are just like that.

also enjoyed the company of a local denton gal, who apparently knows everyone in the denton music scene, being as how they all apparently have hung out at Dan's at one point or another (where she apparently has a chair reserved in her name).

first up was Record Hop. i've seen these guys 3 times now (previous write-up here), and they kick my ass every time. blistering, visceral, & gut-wrenching are terms i've used to describe them. small problem at hailey's - couldn't really hear ashley's vocals very well. still don't understand how the sound guy can't hear that, too, and fix it. knuckles and the piledriver seemed to be offended when ashley and scott turned their backs and jammed for like 5 minutes, but i thot they were kickin ass. great set.

next up was Ume, from austin. very similar in style to record hop - some incredible, high-energy, hard-rockin bluesy stuff. 3-man band - 2 guitars and drummer. awesome vocals (sounded just like ashley to me, and you could actually hear them (maybe the sound guy woke up)), plus some amazing guitar playing from the whirling dervish that was the lead. fantastic set - would definitely like to catch them again. knuckles and the piledriver actually liked them better than RH.

knuckles damn near had to kick some indie-rocker ass when the dude dared to get between him and the hot-chick lead (knuckles was front and center, as he is wont to do when there's a hot chick singin lead). too funny. he also had to dodge Drunken Lame' Boy, whose shirt was so shiny he served as a mobile disco ball as he stumbled around.

last up was Zest of Yore, and they were turrrrrrible. not sure what it was, but dear gawd, we couldn't wait for it to be over. didn't like the vocals, the guitar playin, the musical style, nothin. maybe it was because they were a let-down after two great bands, i dono. i'm not sayin they were bad, just that all three of us didn't care for it. at all. they closed their encore (!) with "purple rain", which just about killed us.