The Ruby Suns - Toro y Moi -- Black Cat - March 24 2010

Toro y Moi - The back stage filled quickly with a surprisingly excited crowd pushing forward. It's a little unusual to find such enthusiasm for an opening act, but refreshing. This is a one-man act with a singer playing some keyboards and electric guitar with loads of samples and drumbeats working with him. Very lush pop kind of reminding me of the Eurythmics crossed with Animal Collective. Great vocals and some nice mellotron/organ like sounds in the mix. The rhythms pulsated with a bit more pop than usual and the songs were well constructed. Some light psyche moves and a touch of shoegaze completed this delectable stew. The crowd dug it and I surprised myself by enjoying it as well.

photo: Bradley Fafejta 

 

The Ruby Suns - This trio is located in New Zealand, although they are lead by a Californian singer/guitarist/keyboardist. He is joined with a percussionist and a bass player/keyboardist. I think there was more sampling and knob fiddling than keyboard playing in this set. It was also strange that when they strapped on the guitar and bass, the sound did not change much at all form the lush pop music they created earlier sans axes. The songs did have a vitality to them, although it got a little "samey" for me after a while. They do have a nice cult following, and a Subpop label connection doesn't hurt that, but I was not overwhelmed. I did enjoy the band and would recommend them to people who like the modern pop sound. They do have something to offer in this world.

Quote of the night: from the crowd- "I got to drink all day... disappointing."

Magik Markers - Buildings -- Black Cat - March 21 2010

Buildings - I last saw this trio at the Sockets Records showcase and thought they were the highlight of the night. Nothing tonight changes my opinion, but rather firmly enhances it as I think this is one of the finer bands in the area. The drumming is powerful, the bass playing fast and adept and the guitarist lays down circular rings of melody. I would not say the music is as complex as what they call "math rock" but it may well be. There are layers of interesting sounds created and I kept listening for overtones, space between sounds and all that sort of jazz and it really did add up to more than a sum of its parts. Or more simply, hyper-Mission of Burma sans vocals. Listen to it the way you like, you will be rewarded on some level, that I can guarantee.

Magik Markers - Again a second viewing of this band. The lineup seems stable with the traditional three piece lineup. There has been a buzz about this band for some time and they are showing why early on here. The sound is very PiL-like, first album variety, with driving rhythms and jagged, noisy guitar and high pitched vocals on top. The sound merges into Hawkwind/Sabbath territory as the set moves on. They do a nifty cover of the Bob Seger System's "Rambling, Gambling Man" and then kind of stall a bit and end the set a bit early by my feel without looking at a clock. A little shambolic and anti climactic at the end, but some very good music early on. So I will continue to endorse this band even if I didn't feel their full impact tonight.

Quote of the night: Some fan during the opening set... "Is this yoga?"

Air - AM -- 9:30 Club - March 17 2010

AM - AM is a singer/songwriter/guitarist who is accompanied by a keyboardist and a percussionist. I immediately hear dreamy pop and continue to listen to whether it will go deeper into shoegaze. It may have veered there a bit, but it stayed in closer to pop with some nice psyche undertones. The percussionist did a great job combining hand-hit bongos with mallet-struck floor toms along with other cymbals and such. It was a nice backdrop for these excellent pop songs. The thing that really made the set was the slight dark undercurrent of the keyboards countering the guitar melodies and hopeful dreamy vocals. Many acts go for the lush shoegaze or dreampop sound which is certainly fine when they succeed. But I find songs like these to be far more compelling with the contrasting elements underneath successfully pulling the song together on the whole. A really good set that the crowd who were slowly filling the club seemed to enjoy as much as I did.

Air - I was thinking between sets how hard it is to get two acts that only have five letters between them. A good punk show could be had with my good friends, DOA playing with DI. Maybe Om could open for Dio in the metal world, but you won't see this too often. Wordplay aside, Air is an electronica duo from Paris, France. I am instantly pleased that they have a live drummer on tour with them. Perhaps it is just me, but it seems there are a lot more electronic artists veering away from exclusively relying on drum machines for live shows which I think is a very good thing. I may be way off, as I don't follow electronica thoroughly, but I know I like the trend I see in my world. One of the duo stayed on keyboards and most vocals while the other rotated heavily between bass and acoustic guitar with the occasional keyboard and added vocals throughout. This was also heavily in the dream pop realm, but really excited me with a lot of progressive moves and even a jazz feel at times. A few of the faster numbers had motortik style drumming and along with Kraftwerk moves, there was a lot of krautrock elements here. At first, I thought it would merely be a decent act, but by the end of the set, they won me over easily. Again, the diversity of sounds and styles was the winning formula. The songs were accessible with some killer hooks and were tough to resist. Great show.

Quote of the Night: from the thickly accented Air guitarist... "The next song we will sing together. ok? It's a French song, you all speak French, right?"   Cute, since the only vocals in the song were whistles.

Megadeth - Testament - Exodus

Exodus - They came out to Dead Can Dance blaring on the PA and I wonder how few people in the crowd recognized that. Then the five-piece metal band kicked it in in a thrash metal style made popular out west where they are from and in New York. The music was simple and assertive with predictable traded leads. In fact, I found myself watching the other guitarist before his lead began trying to guess the moment and the moves. What truly marred this average set was the singer being the cliched asshole that pushes me over the edge. This piece of shit stalks the stage and uses every moment between songs to whine about how everyone was just standing around and not moshing and killing each other (his words). He successfully got some of the sheep to fall in line, but continued whining the whole set. Maybe it was because it was 7:15pm on a Monday night. I would like to think it because they sucked, but they weren't that bad, just cliched enough to make many people want to stand around. He then organized the small pit to go to different sides and run at each and kill each other, and take it out on the people standing on the sidelines. Well, asshole, I would like to see that happen and have someone throw my back out for good. I am standing in this uncomfortable club with severe spinal issues and that would just make my night. Maybe spending the rest of my life in a wheel chair working on lawsuits against your sorry ass, the club and everybody's insurance company would be so much more fun than seeing bands and doing this blog. I don't know, but I do know that the audience just laughed you off and I had no fear of the small mosh pit. He concluded the show by promoting their new album. Well, as The Rock used to say, take that CD, turn it sideways, and...

Testament - Another five piece band playing you know what tonight. The first song immediately shows a vast improvement over the opener with some inventive guitar interplay that did not seem to follow the usual formulas. There was plenty of formula during the whole set, of course, but there is nothing wrong with that if you are strong and fast as these guys are. The singer and band smiled much of the night and had a good time with the set as did the audience. Good effective metal, well delivered.


Megadeth - Dave Mustaine and long time bassist, David Ellefson hit the stage with their two latest members and immediately crank out their signature brand of thrash metal. They are one of the giants of that field and of all metal, although I kind of have them a notch below you-know-who amongst a few others. Still, I always respected the playing and some of the punk crossover work Mustaine did. The good thing is that he has cleaned up his personal act, gotten over his nerve damage and still can deliver the goods. His stage patter was minimal but showed his prickly, yet humorous style making fun of some screwball holding up a t-shirt. Nothing wrong with an attitude, if you are smart or funny about it. He commented about the irony of playing "Darkest Hour" (I believe) for 20 years written about this city in this city. I mosied back wondering if I should stay for the encores, when some young guy in front of me was staggering badly and then passed out in a heap with a thud on the cool concrete. Security pulled him aside from whatever he was overdosing on and I thought I would call it a night. Megadeth was worth it, all in all, I would have to say. Let's leave it at that.

Story for the Night:  Some time ago, a friend of mine in KC went to see "Anvil! the Story of Anvil" and saw four or five metal looking guys in the audience and asked them if they were going to see the Metal festival later that was happening next door. They said "well, yeah, we're Testament".

(sounds of) Kaleidoscope - Kohoutek - Gondola - Inzinzac -- Velvet Lounge - March 13 2010

Inzinzac - Sorry guys, missed the set due to the Giberto Gil show.

Gondola - Haven't seen this power trio in about a year, but looking forward to it. Blue Cheer meets Hawkwind and roars out a monster of a set. Even less vocals thank Kinski with this band, but more than Kohoutek. Still, there were some moments where a song broke out of the jams. But I am not complaining, as the jams were powerful and easy to get into, especially with the powerhouse drummer. Strong stuff and well worth the price of admission alone.

Kohoutek -Still a good band after multiple viewings/listenings. We got the usual dynamic build at the outset with lots of great psyche sounds and moves. Just when they veer a bit too much toward noise for my tastes, they pull back with some creative rhythms and melodic passages. Always a good loud presentation, I found this was a good set tonight.


(sounds of) Kaleidoscope - Another old favorite of mine hits the stage very late. These three bands are doing a small tour in the area and it appears most or all are off to Austin, the Mecca of music in March. Kaleidoscope delivered its excellent song-oriented psyche-rock, with some shoegaze moves and indie appeal. A few songs sounded like Morrisey singing in front of Sonic Youth at their rockingest if you want to audio-visualize something. I like their sound, their songs, and even the way they handled a friendly heckler. I enjoyed trying to figure out if they were really covering Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand" late in the set. They were. They share a drummer with Gondola so the anchor is there. The guitarists and bassist do well on top with good vocals as well. See this band, you will be a happy person.

Quote of the Night: from the crowd - "I AM Greek and I want more!"

Gilberto Gil -- Lisner Auditorium - March 13 2010

Gilberto Gil - After enjoying Os Mutantes last year, I was excited that both Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso were scheduled one month apart this year. Now I will be on the lookout for Tom Ze and Gal Costa to complete the sweep of essential Tropicalia. Gil's career began with the traditional forms of bossa nova and samba and moved into political territory lyrically and more worldly influences musically. He didn't hit the psyche and pop market as much as some of the others, maybe a bit more into reggae and African themes, but he crafted his own sound and message and was very successful (I will write more when I review Veloso). The show was packed and a large portion of the audience spoke Portugese which was very apparent when there was much laughter during one song's lyrics where I had to sit there looking lost. Thankfully, it was dark. He mixed both languages well, and sometimes within the song. He had tremendous grace and humor and still played guitar very well. His voice was solid with interesting whistles in the nature of bird calls. He did a couple songs solo, but was helped most of the time with a cellist and his son on guitar and percussion. His son also showed a nice touch on guitar and some of the songs had outstanding interplay. A very enjoyable evening by a legend who still is healthy and sounds great.

Quote of the Night: "Please, sing along". Not much of a quote, but a highlight it as I think Gil had the most challenging requests for sing alongs and audience response singing that I have ever heard. The audience was expected to follow his patterns which increasingly got more varied and involved falsettos. But the crowd was brave and did well.

The Midnight Wine - Pearl and the Beard - Kalob Griffin Band -- Red & the Black - March 11 2010

Kalob Griffin Band - A five piece hits the stage with the usual electric instruments along with a lap steel and a lead vocalist (Griffin) adding acoustic guitar. The lead guitarist also played mandolin half the time. The sound was honkytonk rock, americana, rock, a bit of folk, a nice mix of styles. There was some unwanted dissonance or out of tune moments, but the sound was mostly good when the guitarists were sliding and ripping leads. Fair songs and a good crowd pleasing style made for a winning set this night.

Tea and Brie dot com

Pearl and the Beard - This three piece from Brooklyn had the interesting combination of acoustic guitar, cello and percussion. All three members sang with two female voices in the mix. They started a capella and slowly added the sounds. Excellent arrangements and creative sounds. The cello was plucked bass style and bowed some. Even the acoustic guitarist was bowed (ala Eddie Phillips from the Creation, who did it before Jimmy Page) some. The music hit psyche notes, stomping rock, moody quiet moments and various other elements into a lovely eclectic stew. A really nice surprise and a band I would be happy to see again. Good luck in Austin.

The Midnight Wine -Did this band say this was there first show? Well, they certainly got their act together before hitting the stage. They sounded quite accomplished for rookies. They had a good rock sound with a real sludgy undercurrent that I thought was distinctive and powerful. Lead guitar work shone through nicely and keyboards filled out the sound even if at times it was low in the mix and the guy was sitting on the floor out of view due to the full club. The songs were quite good with the weakest song being their one cover. Well one of the songs was bound to be good as it heavily borrowed from "All Along the Watchtower". But I am not a lawyer, I just worked with them and socialize with them. A very good start for this local band and good times await.

Quote of the Night: From the headliners... "I forgot how to banter, I worked on it all day with co-workers."

Family Portrait - Andrew Cedermark -- DC9 - March 8 2010

Andrew Cedermark - Mr. Cedermark played guitar and sang along with a drummer and a bass/keyboardist. A good jarring song from the start with barely audible vocals. The sound seemed a bit off and the soundman had them turn down the guitar amp which balanced things better from then on. Alternating between gutsy and spoken vocals, the music steadily followed a bluesy shoegaze rock sound. I preferred the gutsier vocals. Although the songs weren't getting through to me as much as I had hoped, I still heard some decent potential here. Note, work on the stage patter a bit. For instance, you don't need to introduce the band twice. After reading the myspace page, it seems that playing out isn't or wasn't one of Mr. Cedermark's goals.

 
 
Family Portrait - Another guitarist/vocalist with a drummer and bass player and a separate keyboardist this time. Although it was easy to forget about him as he sat on the floor behind the bass player. The guitar was heavy on the reverb and high on the treble. There was some nice tempo and a really good driving rhythm section keeping things going. A mix of garage and classic pop-rock, I suppose. Likable songs and a very nice set. They will certainly be getting some good live experience while beginning a rather lengthy tour with the prerequisite stop through SxSW, like half the other bands I am seeing these days. It will be nice to see them again after this experience.

Quote of the Night: The opening band and audience after learning they have 15 minutes left...
"OK, should we play two fast ones and one slow one? Well, we'll do one fast one and two slow ones, because we only know one fast one."

"Play the fast one last!"
"Play the fast one twice!!"

Seas - Blood Feathers - Tough Shits -- Black Cat - March 4 2010

Tough Shits - Call me old fashioned, but a band starts in a negative position with me when they choose a name that does not warrant listing in a major newspaper or a broadcast. I really don't care if your aspirations are small, it still is a bit too juvenile for me. I have also seen bands try to belatedly change names to try and turn things around (FUs to Straw Dogs, Urinals to 100 Flowers, Stretch Marks to Alley Cats, etc.). But on to the music. We have a five-piece with a vocalist, keyboardist and just the one guitar. The sound is garage pop, with some psyche and rock moves here and there. Lots of backing vocals in a pop manner. Decent enough hooks, but a tad sloppy at times. From the look of the band, if I were thinking in business terms, it looks like this was some sort of merger involving a hostile takeover with the pop band winning out over a grunge punk band. The chatter was a bit a bit goof-ball, too, but I have seen lots worse and they went over well enough.

Blood Feathers - Before the show, I read where these guys were good old school rockers (60s-70s). Well, they clearly started in that terrain, but had a really good modern flavor as well. It is hard to describe exactly how it worked, but it did. Three guitars blazing, a rhythm section and one guy that played sax, keyboards and percussion. Two of the guys sang, rotating lead duties and doing a lot of harmonizing in different registers. The sound was a little too thick at first but crystallized into a powerful roar with strong vocals over the top at all times. I remember seeing the Lazy Cowgirls invigorate the Ramones approach in the late 80s and these guys do the same with an earlier rock sound. Great set.

by morgan 

 

Seas - And now, a DC band to follow the two from Philadelphia. No keyboards here, just lots of guitars with the rhythm section. The songs were more in the indie rock realms which I guess is kind of a singer songwriter approach with just a bit more of a rock sound. Very good songs here as I was drawn in pretty much from the beginning. The sound was more pounding and steady and not as jangly as others in these realms. I did think one song was "Signed DC" by Arthur Lee, until the vocals came in. There ARE only so many chords out there, so nothing wrong with latching onto the ones that sound so good. Solid effort, guys.

Quote of the Night: from the openers as they made the set list as they went along... "Alright you pick a song, then. Take your sweet time."

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Alex Skolnick Trio -- 9:30 Club - Feb 28 2010

Alex Skolnick Trio - The basic trio with an upright bass. Clearly jazz was the foundation with touches of latin inspiration and maybe a couple other worldly moves. A very jazzy interpretation of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" was the oddball, fun moment of the set. Some of the guitar work is reminiscent of players like Al Dimeola I would hazard to guess. The players were good, the music agreeable and gutsy at times, so the set was a nice success and an appropriate set-up for the headliners.

Rodrigo y Gabriela - As I sampled dozens of acts from Bonaroo and Coachella on my computer last year, I enjoyed this duo's set at Bonaroo the most of all the bands I saw. So I was looking forward to catching their first night of a three week US tour. Their sound is highly unique given the fact that they do instrumentals with two acoustic guitars. They have a ton of pace and two very different styles that fit perfectly together. He plays flamenco style leads, although they correctly point out they are not traditional flamenco players. She plays rhythm and percussion all at once covering for about three people in an average band. The songs go from snappy fun high energy folk to spacey psycedelia to moody acoustic to rockers to pretty much whatever they choose to do. One song sounded like an acoustic "Saucerful of Secrets" and had great lighting to match the song. The lighting was widely varied, yet not over-the-top. The staging was good as they both moved around a lot sitting and standing in different spots--theatrical, but again subtle. There were some synthesizers, wah-wahs, and other effects going in underneath, but the playing was excellent. Great ovation from the crowd as they await a second sell-out night tonight.

Quote of the Night: Gabriela noted "touring is a fuckin' soap opera". You gotta like someone with the looks of an angel and the tongue of a sailor as she dropped more f-bombs than I used to hear at the average Exploited show. She did a good job explaining that here style is based on the bodhran, an Irish drum. She uses two fingers and a thumb to simulate flickering drum motion of the bodhran player. Interesting and very effective.

Caustic Casanova - The Last Barbarians - Akris -- Asylum - Feb 26 2010

Akris - The soundman was nowhere to be seen when it was showtime, but when he eventually decided to show up, Akris did have enough time for their set (they had another show elsewhere later that night). It was another one of those bass-drum combos which always have me lifting an eyebrow when I see them start. I've seen it work very well with Lightning Bolt and Nomeansno (who sometimes had a third member), but you better get it right. In this case, they did. The woman on bass sang and had got good enough moves on bass to keep the songs interesting. Drone metal is the sound here and the vocals were helpful. The bassist was saying prior to the show that an organ or farfisa might be nice in the future. I would agree, but for now, the sound works well enough.

The Last Barbarians - Here we have a four-piece (guitar, bass, drums,vocals) from Philadelphia. They immediately reminded me of the 80s hardcore scene where a band would take the intensity and energy, but do some oddball moves with a bit of funk or high-not bass playing which is obviously what we had here. The singer was strong and reminded me a bit of the guy from Freeze. The band had chops and the songs were all pretty intense and catchy. The sound was too compressed for my liking. Some of it may be due to the band's choice, but I will blame the sound guy since he was late. There were a few songs that really grabbed me and I do really like this band.


Caustic Casanova - The second time for me, seeing this local three-piece. They were chatting with me before-hand and said they had 50 songs in their itinerary and also try to do different covers regularly. I think that is really helpful, as when I see local bands too many times in a row, I feel like I am reviewing the same show. Not here. The general sound for this band is still hard psychedelic rock. They space out quite nicely or garage it up when they feel like it. Just call it rock, as it does. They medlied a couple covers, and the second one I spotted as Nirvana's "Floyd the Barber".  They remind me of one of my favorites, Motorpsycho, in that it is hard to pin them down, which is a good thing when it is done well. They are not quite Motorpsycho yet, but they will do nicely as we are not in Norway.  Hopefully, more people will discover this band, show by show. On an unimportant note, the guitarist really looks like Glenn Cornick.
 

Quote of the Night: "Sorry, no diet coke tonight. Can I get you a cranberry juice or water?" Normally, I might be bummed when a bar didn't have a diet coke for me, but being that bars serve the worst diet cokes on the planet, this was a good night.

Damon Moon & the Whispering Drifters - The Last Monarchs - Kid Architect -- Velvet Lounge - Feb 24 2010

Kid Architect - Keys, guitar, bass and drums combine for an instant blast of nice loud progressive rock present immediately and throughout the set. The keyboardist could really play, as all of them for that matter, and he sang well. I get a Porcupine Tree feel with a touch of Dungen. Prog is reasonably hot these days and if you add good songwriting, spacey psyche touches, you have something. This Fairfax outfit does and I look forward to seeing them some more.

The Last Monarchs - A couple guys on guitar/vocals and drums and a couple women on cello, violin with vocals each. Folk rock is the genre here with a nice mix of instruments. Unfortunately, the first song was overloaded with cello and drums. Between soundman adjustments and the drummer adding a lighter touch, things improved as the set went on. A nice mix of happy/deep and folk/rock. Nice set. A couple of the songs stood out and the others were simple clean songs that still resonated well. Good set.

photo by asmith

 

Damon Moon & the Whispering Drifters - Five bearded backswoodmen from Georgia set up lots of effects for their two guitars, bass, keyboards and lap steel. They also have a drummer and there is some instrument shifting. I like their simple low lighting they brought in--nothing fancy, but it's a look not used enough. Very spacey psychodelia going on from note one to the last. Vocals in pretty much every song if I remember right, but they mostly help create the psyche ambiance. I enjoyed the sound a lot. I think the songs can be worked on a bit more with a bit more arranging. The swirling noise was great, but it seemed that there can be more done with the instruments on stage. For example, when I saw Spiritualized, my eyes were moving around constantly trying to see what everyone was playing to create the incredible psychedelic mix in my ears. Well, not every Velvet Lounge band is going to be Spiritualized, but it is something to strive for. Until then, Damon Moon and company is still a pretty cool night out.

Quote of the Night: "I want everyone to know that this is my tambourine debut" from Last Monarchs cellist who proceeded to use her off hand to hit the tambourine frame which is kind of the opposite way you should do it. Keep practicing.

Fredrik - Meredith Bragg - Pree -- Black Cat - Feb 22 2010

Pree - A five piece with the usual instruments and one woman adding backup vocals, keys, glock, guitar and more. The music is delicate, but had a good head swaying loose rock feel on more than one occasion that was quite nice. The vocals were a bit soft and came close but didn't descend to the Joanna Newsome/Cocorosie style which is too frequent for me these days. All in all, a nice set by a band that is worth checking out. I enjoyed this and would like to see them again some day. Good luck to them on their SxSW visits soon.

Meredith Bragg - This is one man act--a guy with an acoustic guitar and voice. We've all seen it thousands of times, but he captured my attention instantly with an excellent first song. Very deep with his singing and delicate finger work. He then varied it a bit from a British psyche-folk feel to an Americana type song, to light rock and more. He's not Roy Harper, but any variety in this format when you can write a decent song is a good recipe for a good set. He had a percussionist come out briefly and a cellist for about half the set. That only enhanced things and brought about a well received ovation at the end. Next stop, a few sets at SxSW, as there are lots of bands I am seeing that are warming up for the 2010 version.

Fredrik - Two guys from Sweden are Fredrik. One plays guitar and sings lead. The other does stand-up drumming and electronics. The percussion was mostly maracas on floor toms with a large film reel set up as a cymbal (Reminds me of one of my rare recorded works where I had a home made drumkit with a cookie cover lid as a cymbal. You will not receive further information on this). I thought the sound was going to be very electronica, but it was more of a smooth guitar that went a bit into the shoegaze style, but also rocked lightly and had a good smooth psyche feel. They pretty much strived for an accessible pop rock sound and succeeded. The vocals were more Dead Can Dance light sort of non-word chants with some lyrics now and then. I was just listening to Neu! right before the show, so the percussion reminded me a bit of Neu!'s motortik, but instead of a quick highway beat, it was more of a slow canoe ride in icy waters. Good stuff. They have created their own space and I enjoyed being a part of it tonight.

Quote of the Night: "I just realized I played the one song with swearing on it" from Meredith Bragg after a song that he played that he had introed by introducing us to his pregnant wife and told us to watch our language as his baby was hearing everything.

Mission of Burma - Office of Future Plans -- Black Cat - Feb 20 2010

Office of Future Plans - The band lines up with guitar, bass, cello and drums. A couple guys sing and things start out nicely. After a couple of songs, I was getting a little disinterested as the songs weren't really connecting. The style was in a Fugazi post-punk mode, lively, pounded, jagged guitar, etc. Then, they did a slow number which varied things nicely. The next up-tempo number connected a lot better and I was enjoying it. The cello switched to guitar and the sound did not change much actually. But the songs continued to get better or grow on me. I ended up enjoying a good band in the end. They are from Baltimore so I will likely catch them again some time.

 Mission of Burma - Three of the biggest and best post-punk bands out of the Boston area have all reunited in recent years to much acclaim. There are the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., and Mission of Burma. Only the last two have actually made it an enjoyable full-time operation with new releases and extensive touring. Nothing wrong with just doing it for the one-time bit of fun (and of course, just a bit of $$), but it has been more enjoyable for me to see the latter two bands on multiple tours and hear lots of good exciting music. Burma has a great style of loud somewhat clashing sounds pulled together in an almost garage-band style of post punk attack. Very tuneful they are, and lots of sound coming from just the three guys on stage. The soundman is their fourth member who did play bass on one cut and worked a magic box plugged into the mixing board. He has been a key member of Burma which is fair as their sound is the key to their success. But without the songs, they would fall back into obscurity. And they delivered again to a very full Black Cat crowd. Still plenty of life in this band as long as their guitarist's ears hold out (their initial breakup was due to severe tinnitus).

Quote of the Night: "The dog said 'I don't deserve this.'"

Yell County - The Courtesans - Secret Pop Band -- The Red & the Black - Feb 19 2010

Secret Pop Band - The farewell show for them, as their drummer is headed to Japan. They were giving away their CDs and wanted to go out with a lot of friends and family present. So there is not a whole lot of point to me going into much detail here. They were a pop band and none to secretive about it. The guitarist/singer reminded me of a friend of mine I worked with at FHA who was in a covers band, but was of course much older than this chap. Anyway, simple decent music here. A good enough start for my night.

The Courtesans - They are another trio and share the same drummer as the Secret Pop Band. So, it is their last show as well. I enjoyed their set more as they rocked out a bit more in a loose, fun fashion. Maybe some of these guys will pop up again some time or they move on to their normal lives which can be lucrative, but oh so dull...
 
Yell County - Not only is this band not breaking up but they added a second guitarist. That obviously filled out the sound a bit and they are likely working on doing some different arrangements as it seemed to be an early show with this line-up. This band is very enjoyable. They play a good hook oriented, steady rock music with roots in punk. It's accessible and fun. Definitely one of the better bands around these parts. Tonight was a bit off unfortunately due to a borrowed bass amp cutting out a lot for a couple of measures every now and then. So I will wait until next time to see how everything comes together for this interesting bunch.

Quote of the Night: After playing their pro wrestling song, the bass player shows a bloody finger to his drummer "Juicing!". "Yeah, I bled the hard way".  Nice use of the vernacular, you smart marks, you.

Little Bigheart & the Wilderbeast - Red Sammy -- Velvet Lounge - Feb 18 2010

Red Sammy - Apologies to the opener as I had theater tickets for the Studio Theater's presentation of "In the Red and Brown Water" which was quite good. I have also seen the Folger's "Orestes" which I enjoyed and "Antony and Cleopatra" presented by the best theater company in the world, the Synetic Theater. If you have never seen their work, by all means go. They do stunning visual and audio presentations that make for innovative and accessible theater. Exciting stuff, but back to the music...
 
Little Bigheart & the Wilderbeast - This is my second time for these young upstarts and they were again able to perform a set I enjoyed. The sound was off early with too much bass and not enough lead guitar and inconsistent vocal microphones. But the soundman was on top of that and everything was corrected. I still enjoy their harmonies and find some of their songs quite inventive. They are all good players and have a really good start on putting together a package of progressive rock with lots of dynamic shifts from quieter pieces to heavy rockers. It's not Canterbury prog, but I was thinking often of some lesser known UK acts like Quintessence or Gravy Train. I can only hope they keep working up to the former's level as Quintessence is one of the little known jewels of the late 60s/early 70s. They closed with "Metropolis" which has some kind of King Crimson like counter lines surrounding the main melody. Good stuff. The crowd dug it, although it was loaded with friends as is often the case for younger bands and that is a good thing. The newcomers will slowly work their way in to see this band and the many other good local bands that keep playing out around town. At least I hope so.

Quote of the Night: I did not really get there in time to pick up anything, so I will mention my new gig as a CD reviewer for a Dutch on-line magazine that mostly covers the folk scene. I will provide a link and more detail when the next issue comes out. I am always available to review CDs or MP3s both for this site and that magazine. Just get in touch.

John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - Toby Walker -- Birchmere - Feb 16 2010

Toby Walker - The show gets rolling with a solo guitarist fingerpicking his way through a classic sounding blues song with great style and flair. He is playing fingerstyle or maybe it's clawhammer-strum as Allan Taylor called his similar style. Whatever you call it, Walker clearly is a master player and a good showman. His set has some standards like "Spoonful" with some originals which were also good and featured plenty of pyrotechnic playing and a decent voice. There are plenty of people to have open up a blues show, so it helps to make an excellent choice like this--a guy who can play, who has a sense of humor and a flair for pulling the audience in and getting everyone revved up for some up-tempo blues. Toby Walker is a great choice for that.

John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - 77 year old John Mayall quickly bounds up on the stage. I looked around to make sure that was really him as no 77 year old should be that spry. He does one song solo before bringing out his band. The band hits the stage and is fairly lean featuring drums, bass, keyboards, and electric guitar. Mayall handles all singing, harmonica, keyboards and plays guitar on one song. Mayall had lots of classics and songs from his lengthy back catalogue. Every time I tried to think of the song I used to hear on the radio in the seventies, I kept hearing Steve Miller Band's "Living in the USA". Thankfully, he closed with the song "Room to Move", so I now can complete my memory with a sound. Although this version was a bit extended and varied from the original. The night mostly featured keyboard solos even more than guitar solos, but on this final number, the bass player came forward and delighted the crowd with a pretty amazing solo. The drummer briefly did his thing and then the band left to a rousing ovation. Everyone was talented and I really do not believe I just saw a 77 year old performer bopping around the stage, never taking a seat or a break and carrying as much of a load as anyone out there. Heck, he even had enough hair to tie up a pony tail. The only signs of age were a heavily reverbed voice and one senior moment where the other keyboardist had to help him with a preset on his keyboard. But even with that, I think if you had no knowledge of Mayall, you would probably guess the guy was no more than 60 based on what you saw. How long can this guy go? We shall see as he shows no sign of slowing down with 62 dates through June and four more in August. I need a rest just thinking about this.

Quote of the Night:  Mayall recounting a comment about his harmonica playing-- "Sonny Boy Williamson thought I was shit."

The Residents - 9:30 Club - Feb 7 2010

The Residents - Walking about a mile through 2 feet of snow only plowed at some points, was the task before me prior to a date with the Residents.  Being that tours are infrequent (they did not happen for at least a decade back in the day) for this band that has been around for 40 some years, the snow difficulty was a small price to pay. The fireplace and beat up lounge chair on stage looked inviting. They also had the three circular projection screens set up that I saw the one prior time I saw them in the mid 80s. Three Residents hit the stage, one in an old man half-mask complete with bathrobe. The other two looked like rastafarian cyborgs. They flanked the stage on guitar and keyboards/electronics.  The old man went by the name of Randy and the others were Chuck and Bob. He explained Carlos had retired which was fine as they did not miss his ten minute drum solos. Of course all of this only exists in their bizarre world, as their real identities have always been a mystery. They have done such a good job of secrecy, they will be able to keep this band going for centuries. Perhaps in the early days it would have been tough recruiting people into their very strange and singular music, but they have paved the way for many other bands that do this sort of thing. Still, as I listened, there is just something about their peculiar style that makes you feel their brand of weird and fun music. They mixed musical short stories with songs of varying tempos, even a couple that rocked a bit. Light humor, dark themes, good staging, very similar to the previous show with an entirely different set of songs. There was good slide guitar work, strong electronics and even a harmonica that would fit in Once Upon a Time in the West. All surrounded the active vocalist who had a lot to say and a lot to sing. No eyeball heads, alas, but the Residents do move on (as is obvious if you follow them musically). A refreshing show from my past which resonated just as well today.

Quote of the Night: The usual door routine-- "Could you pull (your hood out of the way so I can see your face)", "What I really look under 50?", "Yeah, not a day over 16". Oh the fun of dealing with the 9:30 workforce.

Retribution Gospel Choir - Last Tide - Shapiro -- Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Feb 4 2010

Shapiro - A local five-piece with a couple of guitarists, rhythm section and lead vocalist with keyboard. Both guitarists used small synthesizers, quite often as it turned out. The vocals shined brightly and were at the forefront of the sound along with the keyboards. The drummer offered some good backup vocals as well. The band was solid and in a good indie pop-rock style that leaned more toward pop. The sound was a little soft at times, but a propulsive rhythm section kept things moving nicely. The last number rocked hard and there were nice changes in that song and others. I do appreciate that they play with their songs in a different way and not go into too many cliches. Nice job, well received by the crowd.

Last Tide - Another local five-piece with the same instrumentation as above without the extra keyboards. The vocals were buried early but the soundman righted that problem as the night wore on. A guitarist sang most with the female keyboardist filling in nicely and doing a couple leads herself. I always find it nice when you get varied vocal styles in a band. There was a muddy garage sound that clarified itself as the songs went on. But it was good mud, very dense with good psychedelic feel. All three axemen had lots of pedals and switches but retained a solid rock sound. I really liked this band a lot. I am not sure they are a break-out band destined for stardom, but they have a great command of psychedelic rock and good variance in the songs and I will be happy to see them at any show.

Retribution Gospel Choir - Two members of Low make up 2/3 of this band. All that changes here is that the guitarist's wife is not here on drums. Instead they have a guy who also contributes backing vocals. I have seen Low and they are a smart, talented band--very good songs that rock out, but keep the focus on the song. Well, that structure has been amped up big time with this line-up. I was not prepared to how amazingly heavy this band would be. Tough, muscular playing, gutsy, powerful. There were great psyche sounds coming from the guitarist who did some looping to fill it out even more. The bass playing was fluid and excellent and the drummer pounded away nicely. They sounded more like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club I thought, but even more rocking. The songs were as also as good as the overall sound. This is a fantastic band that has moved up very high on my list.

Quote of the Night: "Greetings from Lake Superior". Oh yeah, I forgot that these guys are from Duluth, the city where both myself and Bob Dylan were born. Maybe that's an added connection.

Alberta Cross - Hacienda -- Black Cat - Feb 3 2010

Hacienda - From San Antonio, comes a four-piece with the usual players and a full time keyboardist. They all sing with two primarily in the lead position. The sound is kind of garage rock and I like the swirling organ in the opening jam. There is a feel for some of that old time Texas garage rock which is pretty powerful stuff, even beyond the well known bands. The rhythm was a bit primitive and the songs did not really vary a lot so I didn't get anything that really stood out for me. But I did enjoy the quality and the sound, so it was a solid opening set.

Alberta Cross - This is the second time for me seeing this band. I was quite surprised and impressed the first time I saw them as an opening act. Apparently I was not alone as the backroom was jam packed with fans, many admitting to seeing them the last time in town. They cover a range of styles in the indie world with a bit of Americana, rock and folk in the brew. The songs are so strong, it does not beg one to spend time on categories. They are loud and quiet, driven by guitars or keyboards, whatever they choose. And I am not sure I believe my ears. Is that a mellotron they are touring with or something similar? Wonderful, great sounds, good creativity and just plain great songs. Recommended for music lovers everywhere.

 

Quote of the Night: Well, actually during the day at home: After the evil creature shouts "I'm your Id!!", the response is "You don't scare me with your big words" Huh? I am too embarrassed to mention the source on this one.