flips

Wow--courtesy of MEtv and TiVo I just saw my first video from The Soft Bulletin and I'm tearing up again. Not because of the video this time but because of the situ when I listened to it alot.

Sad Video

Dang this video makes me cry. Is it the colors, the graphics? Or maybe its simply a sad story.

The Meat Puppets - On the Rise
Uploaded by epb21

Parish on Friday!

Yeah! Two Austin bands I have not seen yet but have wanted to for some time--Future Clouds & Radar and Built by Snow--are playing at The Parish on Friday. I won't be tempted to break my Beerland boycott to see the Ugly Beats! I will have trouble on Saturday, however, when The Strange Boys, Hacienda, Shapes Have Fangs, and Follow that Bird are performing there. PS TSO has a new video out.

Memorial Day

Here is a cool picture of my grandfather from WWII.


My picture from in between wars is not nearly as cool.

Black and White Years

Saturday I headed down to Emo's Lounge. I got there too late for The Boxing Lesson, but that's OK since I've seen them before. Pretty Baby from Fort Worth was next. Two guys on guitar and drums, and "Pretty Baby" on vocals (and occasionally floor tom). Their entire set was sequenced with synth and bass synth. I guess there's some benefit to being able to say "our set is exactly 45 minutes 5 seconds long" (or whatever), but there's definitely some spontaneity lost when even the space between songs are on the meter. This may have been the first time I witnessed a mid-set costume change as Pretty Baby changed from a belly-dancer type outfit of a sparkly bra and long skirt to a leather top and bottom. Sorry guys, she put the top on over the bra and the bottom was revealed by taking off the skirt. It was amusing to see all the girls in the audience react to her constant bra adjustment. She was quite animated with lots of body movement and hand gestures. The music was alright having a kinda disco-ish feel with lots of syncopated open hi-hat. This show was all about watching her though. Quite entertaining.

The Black and White Years set was all about the audience. I didn't get down into what I've nicknamed "the moat" (between the stage and a raised bar area) but I'm glad I did. Finally a show where tons of people were dancing! They also used a lot of sequenced parts but I was less annoyed because the parts were more interesting, yet less essential. Pretty Baby had all their bass stuff sequenced and you really need a live bass part to keep the feel. This band also had a disco-ish kind of beat going with the bass drum thumping on every beat, the hi-hat thing, and claps triggered by the drummer. I should really stay away from using the word disco to describe the feel, to avoid any negative connotations. Actually, the syncopated guitar gave it kind of a ska feel too, the type of music that I always got a good workout dancing to in the 90's.

The lead guitar player was awesome and for awhile I thought he might go unnoticed since he was standing near the end of the stage and didn't have any lights on him. After awhile I realized this wasn't the case--he practically had his own fan section in front of him. Also, the lead singer gave him props during the set, and in the album credits. This guy is the band's MVP since he also does the keyboard parts, playing the Juno live on one song. I think he also planned to play the Nord but didn't for whatever reason. The drummer had this crazy look of concentration on his face the whole set. I guess he had a lot to concentrate on with not only the real drums, but electronic drums to play as well.

Back to the awesome audience. It was clear they were all fans because it seemed like they knew the words to every song, and even had specific movements for particular parts of songs. They were requesting songs throughout, and like I said earlier were dancing the whole time. They (I should say we!) also prompted a real, honest encore--the kind where the band wasn't necessarily planning for one, and where the venue had to oblige or the fans would tear the place apart. I should also mention that the place was not comfortable at all--hot and humid, but somehow managed to feel good anyway. I know I was thinking that since I'm sweating anyway, I might as well jump around a lot. I guess everyone else thought so, too!

Saturday at Carousel

I lost my notes from Saturday--more on that later--so I'll have to rely on my failing memory. I was really looking forward to this show since The Carousel doesn't actually have a stage so I knew I'd be get really close to the band. What I didn't count on was so many people dancing that the view was fairly well blocked. I was thinking that The Carrots and The Ugly Beats would be an ideal opening/headlining band combo, but I'm going to have to reconsider after seeing Saturday's opener Hacienda. They had a great 60's groove that fit in really well. I wasn't sure at first but as their set progressed I liked them more and more. They had alot of I to relative minor VI stuff going on in their songs, which is to be expected, but it wasn't too excessive to get monotonous. Also a nice slower instrumental cover of Ticket to Ride that went into some original stuff. I stayed up at the bar for their whole set since I was too self conscious, but I would enjoy seeing them again from closer up.

Only a few songs into the Ugly Beats set and I lost my inhibitions and got up to the dance floor. By the end of the night I was dancing full speed. I was able to keep in beat now that I know the songs fairly well. Since I've been playing along on guitar at home I thought I might enjoy watching their fingering and technique to see if I'm playing things the same way, but I gave up pretty quickly because the left-handed guitar player was starting to drive me dyslexic. They jumped up on chairs behind me during "Get Up" and I played like I was watching a tennis match while they trading guitar chords. Maybe they noticed and got a kick out of my silliness. There are a couple of songs that they play at all of their gigs that I really like and aren't on their albums. I wish I had them! After the set I got self conscious again and left pretty quickly, but not before being complemented on my Mifflin St. shirt by some other ex-sconnies. I wish I could find some other people to go see these great bands with!

Friday Free Gig

I was talked into playing a free gig for a friend of our guitar player's last Friday. We got free beer and food, and it was a really casual graduation party. We played for about an hour, and I wouldn't say the set or the crowd was all that spectacular. What was spectacular was that we got to use some of the equipment of the band before us, which meant I got to use a real guitar amp! Even better, we had originally set up to have both guitars go through the same amp, but the guy from the previous band helping us set up moved our lead guitar to an amp on the other side of the stage. This meant that I could hear myself really well and it sounded good too! I may have to move guitar amp above Nord keyboard and real analog keyboard on the list of music equipment to acquire. Any recommendations?

Homegrown 101X Show

For the second week in a row, I went to a midweek show that had me out very late and destroyed the rest of my week. This one was at Emo's Lounge Wednesday night and was sponsored by 101X. The first band didn't start 'til after 10 so I knew I would be out late. @G and Kristin were there. Fiction was talented but none of us liked them very much. They had two Nords: an electro and a lead, and used some electric cello and a distorted Rhodes with a crazy jury rigged 2x4 sustain pedal. All good stuff, but their music felt messy and it was hard to tell what was going on when multiple instruments were playing similar parts. The drummer played some cool stuff but we really needed a stronger beat to get into their groove. The songs we liked more had a stronger, more regular rock beat.

The Story Of was second. I've seen them three or four times now, so unfortunately I'm running out of things to say. I was glad they played Wanderlust which is the song I'm most familiar with since they play it on MEtv all the time. I paid the most attention to this song and was pleased to see our friend Alex plays my favorite lick in the song on the Juno-G. It just consists of four notes but I like the filter effect. Also the guitar lick at the end was actually played by two guitars, not one as I previously thought. I really like their keyboard sounds in this one. The other keyboard had its identifying marks covered so I couldn't tell what it was. They surprised us by playing All You Need Is Love which they played at the John Lennon hoot night. I wish I paid more attention to the start of AYNIL because they had some sequenced parts and the song starts with brass, so I'm wondering how they get that song going.

I love going to see a band I know and being able to discover another one that I like. The Noise Revival Orchestra was that band this night. They sounded downright strange to begin with utilizing a powerful odd organ part at the start and between songs. They also featured flute in many of their songs which stood out prominently. There was 13 people in this band, 8 in front consisting of the lead singer/guitar player, flute, two or three backup singers, and a three guy brass section. Strange that the lead singer/guitar player was the only one sitting down. The flute player seemed to be drinking the most, which is nice because now I feel less guilty about playing harmonica while having a beer. In back were 5 more people on keyboards, drums, and xylophone. I thought it was strange that they had two drum sets since they mostly seemed to be playing the same thing, but maybe that's necessary when you have so many other band members drowning you out. Near the end they had an a capella part with everyone singing which was very cool. I don't know what to say musically about these guys other than it was very different and took a little while to get into, but I was impressed by what they were doing and will see them again.

Beerland Boycott

I really punished myself Tuesday night. I was still at a bar listening to a band at 2 am! The rest of the week was spent wishing for more sleep.

Tuesday I went to Beerland to see The Carrots before they embarked on their coast-to-coast tour. With four bands on the bill and an start time of 8pm (listed on some websites but not all), I figured getting down there after 10 I would've missed one band at least. It turns out I got there just as the first band was starting! I really didn't realize this right away since I didn't know the band order or which band was which.

The first band turned out to be Bear Claw, and I liked their sound. They consisted of guy singing on acoustic guitar, guy drummer, and girl on a bunch of stuff: melodica, bass, shaker, wood block, etc. They had lots of unison female/male vocals, which I like. The vocals were very echoey which I usually don't like but I thought worked really well for this band. The first song featured melodica, and so did the last song which I wrote down as sounding very "friendly sounding." There was one song where the rhythm was quite challenging to figure out--it turned out to be an 8 count separated into a waltzy 3 and then the 5. I appreciated that song for taking me awhile to figure out. They had to quit during one song due to at least four unbearable seconds of excruciating feedback. Remember the last time I wrote about Beerland? That sound guy needs to wake up!

Follow that Bird was next, an all chick trio (bass/drums/guitar). The lead singer sounded a lot like Chrissy Hynde to me. She used a lot of vibrato in her singing. Their sound check was misleading to me, at times it sounded like they had started their set but they really hadn't. They had a longish break in the middle of their short set but I don't know why. I wrote "loose" in my notes, and I don't know what that means. Did they sound "loose?" If they did, I meant it in a good way. I need to write these things up sooner.

Somewhere around here I realized that only two bands had played so far and the predicament I was in. It's a work night and I'm going to be here LATE! I got it in my mind that I would be able to recharge at LJ's where I could sit and veg for a bit before the Carrots. I waited for Strange Boys to start and listened to a few songs. At times they had a kinda surf music feel, and the lead vocals seemed very Dillonesque in their pitch. I put it in my head that I didn't like the Dillonesque vocals too much and left for LJ's with a clear conscience.

Apparently I wasn't the only one with this idea, because at LJ's I ended up talking to a few people who were also at the show, and were also headed back to the show after a bit. I told them about how I was pissed off at the sound guy/venue, from the feedback of the first set and the last time I was there. They guy I mentioned this to said I really shouldn't blame the sound guy and that the place didn't have very good equipment or something.

I made it back in time for a 1 am start of The Carrots, and this is when all of my doubts about this place are confirmed. The band was on stage but it took forever to get going, and I'm blaming the sound guy/venue again. The Carrots obviously remembered the last time they played there because they told the sound guy they would just switch microphones when the lead singer switched instead of relying on him to figure out who was singing what. So I guess they think he's incompetent, too. Occasionally we would get some really loud crackling or feedback as the sg futzed with stuff on stage--not cool. The band apologized for having a difficult set-up, but really the only difference is a few more vocal mics, which doesn't sound like a big deal to me. After I don't know how much futzing around, the bass player, although not visibly pissed, had to vent and said such things through the mic as "we're just seeing how long you all will stand around" and "we've been rehearsing with this sound guy for weeks" to get that optimum level of audience annoyance. I gotta say, they got it. So, more futzing. Finally, at around 1:20, someone in the band (probably the bass player again) realized if they waited any longer they wouldn't have any time to play, and said "screw it lets start playing" and off they went. After the first song the lead singer commented that "The levels are f'ed up on everything." Maybe the monitors were, but at least the audience levels weren't TOO bad. I had a good time once they got going, dancing to the numbers that I recognize after seeing them twice before.

I wish I could devote more space to commenting on the music, but that setup situation was just intolerable. Thinking back to my conversation at LJ's, it doesn't matter if its the sound guy or the equipment or the acoustics or whatever--the bottom line is that this place has sucked for me for music, and not because of the bands. I don't think I feel safe in there without earplugs due to the sound guy's lack of attention or bad equipment popping or whatever. So that's why I didn't go there last night, and won't again until I see evidence that they've straightened up their act.

News Break

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Friday Night

I didn't do much last night. Of course I went downtown to LJ's and Kebabilicious, but that's it. I wasn't in a great mood, and I think it's because there was a show that I was going to see, but because of the location (Beerland) I decided to boycott it. More on that, coming up right after this news break.

Cinco de Mayo

Nothing really going on for me on Cinco de Mayo, but I hadn't been to the Lakeline Plucker's yet and they were having a party, so I stopped by for some wings. It's in an area of town that I don't frequent so I probably won't be back unless there's something awesome going on. They had an acoustic playin' singer guy doing covers, and the audience was singing along so they were enjoying it. That kind of show doesn't really interest me at all so I ate my wings and left.

Whisky Bar Thursday

Write up of the Beerland show Tuesday night coming soon (The Carrots), but it turns out they have one more show in town Thursday before going on tour. I'm thinking about going again. Anyone wanna go?

Short Gig

I had a short gig Sunday night. We played 5 songs or so, which works out to $14 per song, not bad. Our drummer is also in a brass band and he was able to make us part of the gig. Things were a little hairy when he thought we were also set up, introduced us, and started playing the drums. Then our lead guitar player says he won't be ready for 5 minutes! It would've looked dumb if the drummer stopped, so I started playing chords on guitar and the bass player joined in as soon as he was ready. Great, my first guitar solo in front of an audience, consisting of boring chords! Our drummer was playing our first song, Gimmee All Your Lovin', so I was mostly just playing the guitar chords to that, but got a little adventurous when three minutes of that got a little boring. I wish I could've thought of something cool to play on the keyboard, maybe I would've impressed the hot music major keyboard player in his other band. It was a nice short gig with free BBQ, and we turned it up and scared all the real old folks off.

MC, Lemurs, Grupo Fantasma

It's odd how I feel like I didn't see any live music this weekend, because I did. It was just not in my usual fashion. I didn't make it to the Mad Cowboys show the last few months, due to being out of town or having something better to do, and I still didn't really feel like it on Friday. I think it has become too predictable for me. Still fun, but just the same old thing. I didn't find anything obviously better, so I went to The Carousel to see them, and I had the normal amount of fun. They had a different lead guitarist who was way too overpoweringly loud to start with. People were telling me later that the whole band was too loud and I didn't agree, but later I did agree that they really were too loud when I noticed that I could barely hear the drums, which weren't amplified.

Saturday night I met up with @G, Kristin, and Padre for The Lemurs and Grupo Fantasma at The Old Pecan Street Festival main stage. I'm pretty sure I'd seen the Lemurs earlier this year. I just don't remember where. They were really good, but not that exciting for me, I don't know why. There were a couple little kids up front dancing along that were way more into it than anyone else. They were as entertaining to watch as the band was, if not more. I was curious about the keyboard player's stuff. He had a Roland Juno, an Alesis something--maybe a Micron like the band I saw last weekend, and a few things that I couldn't figure out. He was using something to his left which must've been a drum or effects machine, but I couldn't tell.

Grupo Fantasma was about what I expected, really good musicians with a good grove, yet not really my type of music. They had four guys on percussion, three in the brass section, two guitar players, and one bass. I managed to stay and enjoy the whole set, but was really ready for it to be over during the encore. I mimicked the band members choreography to keep myself amused, and really liked when they made us jump up and down. It felt good and I wish I could've done it more without looking stupid. Padre was taking lots of pictures. Maybe he'll put them online and then I'll post a link.

Nothing really stood out as far as regular Saturday night music, but I planned to go see a band that I had seen before at Scoot Inn. I was looking forward to it since I haven't seen a band at that location yet. But, as I took a break at LJ's I saw in the paper that the show was earlier than I thought and that I was probably too late. So I just hung around LJ's and MS for a bit before heading home.

Guitar

I've been able to play along with music playing bar chords since college, but now I am getting noticeably better at figuring out other chords and riffs quickly too. Last night I played along to the entire latest Ugly Beats CD and could play every song fairly well by the time each song ended. It's not the hardest stuff but harder than your average I-IV-V song, and there are some scales. I am still horrible at playing along to guitar solos, but that too will come if I keep on practicing!