Pay the government and go see good music
Why do I always wait until the last days possible to do my taxes? It's never as hard and excruciating as I think it will be, but that never keeps me from procrastinating every year. Ugh. I think I have a natural resistance to authority....i.e. the government. Maybe I'm subconciously rebelling. Maybe it's because I HATE dealing with finances.
So I'm going to relax a bit and hit up
Good Records this afternoon to see an in-store performance by some Canadians -
Great Lake Swimmers bring their mellow, acoustic beauty to Dallas this afternoon at 1:00. Check it out if you are interested.......if anyone is even reading this!
Wall of Sound
Last weekend Spune Productions put on the annual Wall of Sound Festival in Fort Worth. Last year it was in Denton. Next year, hopefully it's in Dallas. As each year goes by, the festival gains more and more publicity and clout. This year national acts such as Low, Pedro the Lion's Dave Bazan, and Okkervil River were invited to headline. This is our second year to be involved, and both times, we have come away with a great impression of how it is run. Lance Yocum of Spune is almost single-handedly making the tri-cities more than a passing thought in the national music scene. Not only is he booking fantastic bands at the Cavern and Hailey's, he has created a festival that DFWD can hang its hat on for years to come. It is just going to get better from here on out. Along with the attention SXSW brings to Texas, the WOS festival is a nice tag-on to a month of incredible music throughout the state.
My impressions about the show and what bands I was able to catch:
Mission to the Sea: Our friend Deck always plays a beautiful set and this time was no different, in fact it may have been better. Subbing in for the cello player was a pedal steel guitar play from Austin. However incredible the cello sounded in the mix, the pedal steel may have been better. Soul-aching gorgeous-ness.
Loxsly: Another band from Austin. I think I would have liked them better if I stuck around, but the first few songs' lack of cohesion mixed with sound issues mixed with my hungry belly forced me to leave to find some food. After going back and listening to them on myspace, I realized they have some interesting songs and wondered where those songs were live. They had a pedal steel guitar as well, but it sounded a bit superfluous for their sound.
Cue: One of the better bands of the day. Self described "chamber rock." These guys produced some epic soundscapes that were very Mogwai-ish. Apparently the crowd knew what was coming, because they were packed in to see these guys. They played with a great energy and their sound was complemented with a fantastic violin player.
Pink Nasty: Apparently was a last minute addition from Austin. Pink (who may have come with her brother, Black Nasty....wow) sounded a bit like PJ Harvey but had a good upbeat set.
Black Angels /
Experimental Aircraft: I've written about these guys before; we have played 2 shows with them (both being excellent). Exp Aircraft have never sounded better than they did on Saturday in my opinion. Accompanied by a video background and a large, cavernous space, they took their show to a new level. Rachel's soft voice is in perfect contrast to the loud, droney layers of guitar sound. Unfortunately the Black Angels couldn't quite pull off the "best I've seen them" award, but it was a solid set. Their sound issues maybe came from the fact that they performed on the side stage (cramped space) or the fact that that much reverb is hard to control in a place like Ridglea Theater. They would have been better served on the main stage with its sound crew. Regardless, they are one of my favorite live bands and it was a pleasure to see them again.
The Angelus / Pleasant Grove: The Angelus started with the same song as last year (and maybe every show) with the frontman swinging the huge bells and the semi-chanting drawing the crowd into a meditative state. It was actually the perfect sound for my decompression state of mind (we had just finished our set). I tuned out everything else, closed my eyes, and sat in the swirl of gorgeous vocals and guitar layers. As the Angelus' set ended, a Pleasant Grove guitar followed the last chord and kept the music flowing between bands. PG is a band I have always enjoyed for the music as well as the antics of the lead singer, but I have seen them put on better shows. I heard a rumor most of the songs were new, so maybe they haven't been live-tested enough yet. Regardless, I look forward very much to their new album.
John Lamonica: John is an incredible artist and I really hope for the best for him. He played an intensely quiet, acoustic set and held the crowd in his hands. Whether he's punking out with Tiebreaker or plucking acoustic (solo or laptop-enhanced), he deserves to make it somehow.
Treewave: Low-fi groove electronica extraordinaire. Here's what happens....I think.....one guy plays Atari catridges that sync up with a portable DVD player and projector. Treewave "program" appears onscreen and the backing percussion tracks are chosen using the Atari controllers, printer adds more percussion beats, while one member "plays" melody with a midi controller keyboard and the other member (a girl) sings vocals over the top? However it's done, it's wonderful stuff, esp Combat Rock, which syncs up the beat to a projection of the old Atari game where you have battling tanks. Super creative and ingenious, really.
Midlake: Incredible set from the creators of the "album-of-the-year-to-be." The sound guys almost nailed these guys, and that is a compliment, because I can imagine they are tough to mix. The new album, Van Occupanther, comes out soon and we managed to hear 3-4 songs from it. With most of them swirling around the internet somewhere, I think a lot of people were familiar with the new ones. Accompanying each song were full-fledged videos of young brides, foxes turning into humans and vice versa, and turn of the century lost loves. Very inspiring.
Other notables: The Southern Sea, Zookeeper, Mazinga Phaser II, Kissing Cousins, My Education
Best of
Top 5 Shows at SXSW:
- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
- Rogue Wave (tough call here - could have been #3, but the venue won it for them)
- The Most Serene Republic
- The Colour
- Seis Pistos
Top 5 Foods at SXSW:
- Queso Catfish - Paradise
- Migas - Star Seed Cafe
- Brats "all the way" - Bratwurst stand on 6th
- Enchiladas - Jaime's
- Pancakes - Kerby Lane Cafe
Top 3 "Celebrity Sightings" at SXSW
- Running into the Colour at Starbucks....these guys look straight outta the 60's in their black, gypsy garb....more often found at any coffee shop NOT called Starbucks
- Meeting a couple of Dashboard Confessional guys, including the heighth-challenged singer.....but he still had perfect hair.......plus they were very approachable and pleasant.
- Literally almost running into the lead singer of The Most Serene Republic.......staring for a second, realizing I had just seen them play the night before.....complemented their show....hurriedly asked if Momos was crowded....left quickly because, by God, Holy Fuck was playing......was probably a bit rude unintentionally.......sorry Adrian!
SXSW Day 3
Saturday 3.18
Red Monroe day, bitches. We had 2 shows, both on 6th St, one at 2 pm and one at 6 pm.
Blind Pig Pub - This is the place we played last year opening up for the Burden Brothers (gag). As soon as I walked in, memories of a 12-minute long version of "Dirty Sanchez" clung to me like white on rice as I puked in my throat. So, I thought, there was no way this year's show would be that embarrassing. The Blind Pig crew has really made the outside area pretty unique and fun for bands. At least this year, no one can play silent guitar to the street below...i.e. look like a douchebag to the people around. Especially when the amps are faced the opposite way. But I digress....
This show was a cool chance to "warm up" for the bigger crowd at 6 (at least we hoped). We ended up playing pretty well anyway to a small crowd. The band after us was called
Seis Pistos from Mexico and they pretty much barraged us with punk rock tunes in spanish. The singer's between-song banter was pretty hilarious in his choppy english and humble jokes. I bet these guys are wildly popular back in Chihuahua.
We meandered over to the Chuggin Monkey, our 2nd venue and caught
The Colour, who we almost had a show with in Dallas. These guys are about to put out a CD and it should catch fire, no doubt. They are a music PR director's dream. They've got the look, the tunes, and they're from LA.
A big thanks to everyone who came to the 6 pm show, we had a great crowd and even some people peeking in the open windows from the streets. I finally got to play the tamborine a bit and despite some the house bass amp crapping out, we had a great show and I think played to some important people.
So after 2.5 good days, something negative had to happen. I circled the 6th St area no less than 5 distinct times, trying to find a way to get to the alley behind the Chuggin Monkey. In doing so, I'm pretty sure a part of my soul was sucked away in the midst of the insane traffic and one way streets of Austin. I swear I've never been so mentally exhausted in such a short amount of time. It was excruciating. Legally, it was impossible to get to the alley, so I finally had to maneuver down a one-way alley the wrong way. Oh and let's not forget the swift kick to the back of my car that I received from an impatient horse in one of those "romantic" carriages when I ventured a bit too far out in the street and dipshit oncoming cars kept me from being able to get out of the way. Ugh.....looking back it's kind of funny. Too bad I couldn't get the license plate of that buggy.
So, SXSW came to a close as we left the next day (post-driving 30 miles up I-35 to find a hotel...not that I expected anything less). We are looking forward to writing in the next couple of weeks and putting together an incredible show for the
Wall of Sound Festival on April 8th and 9th.....
Red Monroe - Blind Pig Pub
Seis Pistos
The Colour
Red Monroe - Chuggin Monkey
SXSW Day 1 and 2
Thursday 3.16
I arrived in Austin late, mostly because of my procrastinated packing, and managed to find the party right away. See, I was one of the lucky 150 people to win a South by Stereogum badge to gain entry to
this party. Let me just say, you can't beat free Fat Tire beer to complement Rogue Wave and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. As I was telling one of my new
friends, Rogue Wave keeps impressing me more and more. I keep waiting for them to a) sound bad, b) write a bad song, or c) appear in a sex tape with Scott Stapp, but these guys just keep on truckin'. The sound was pristine and the performance made me forget all about missing out on Aloha, Thunderbirds are Now, and What Made Milwaukee Famous. Up next was Ted Leo and wow, did that guy bring it or what.... I had no idea he put on such a good, tight show. They absolutely rocked the Parish.
R.W.
Ted Leo
About the whole weekend, I was the official Wee Demon SXSW Festival Correspondent, and I managed to see some good shows and run into important people (by that I mean I saw Sam Machkovech walk by me). In order to fulfill my job to the fullest next year, I will need a hotel room, internet access, a laptop, a per diem, an official SXSW wristband, gummi worms....(are you listening, boss?)
I managed to run into an old friend at the party, one I had only seen once in a couple of years - Luc, man, good to see ya.
After the party, I managed to get some food at Paradise on 6th St. The Queso Catfish is highly recommended - and that brought an end to Day 1, but I was off to a great start.
Friday 3.17
Started the day off right with a great breakfast at Kerby Lane Cafe and met up with some D-town friends, including a couple of hobos, Jobo and Soapy, who happen to play music in a local band. We walked the drag, killed some zombies, found a sweet sale, requested music from a street clarinet player, and finally found a place to hang and see some bands. Cream Vintage was hosting a free show along with free beer (Shiner, even). Needless to say, we stuck around....at least until we got our uh....2 free beers. Actually we saw a decent band from Oakland, CA called Heavenly States. We then split up and I left with the gals to try and catch Band of Horses at Pok-e-Jo's. Unfortunately, we got there a few minutes too late, but got to see The Essex Green, kind of a mellow folk-pop band AND we got another free beer.
Then it was off to the Waterloo Icehouse to catch some singer-songwriter types, including Austin Collins and Tody Castillo. I was in a huge hurry to leave and catch my favorite buzz band right now, Holy Fuck back at Cream and it turns out we should have left even sooner than we did, because we caught the last song as we were walking up. More about HF later.
Off to Bar Austin to hang out and sit for a bit before The Most Serene Republic played at Spiros. If bands had siblings, TMSR would probably be Broken Social Scene's younger brother. That's the best way I can describe a band who's lead singer plays trombone, they have 3 guitarists, everyone sings (all 7 of them), and cant quite fit the stage they're on. These guys hail all the way from Milton, Ontario and they brought it. Also playing outside at Spiros was a NY rock band called Soft.
How can I forget the evening's last party - an extravagant affair on the balcony of the Driskill Hotel that somehow Liz got us into, where we managed to meet the lead singer and guitarist of Dashboard Confessional, and some other marketing/promo people.
8 bands in one day - not bad for a quality Day 2.
Jobo and the Giant Strawberry, who proclaimed, "This place is a serious acid trip....there's strawberries wiping the windows down!"
Heavenly States
Austin Collins
Brian Borcherdt of Holy Fuck and me
The Most Serene Republic - Spiro's
Mental preparation?
Just thought it was a cool picture.
Month in sports
The Dallas Stars hockey team has gone 7-2 since the Olympic break, looking to put together a good stretch run into the playoffs. They are averaging 3.5 goals per game in the last 9 and are feverishly chasing Detroit to win the Western Conference and get the important 1 "seed." Barring some major upsets, it could definitely be Dallas vs Detroit in the Western finals, and whoever gets first place will have home-ice advantage. That said, the Stars are 22-10 at home and 23-9 on the road, so it may not be
that important. They can win on the road, they can come from behind (NHL record 10 come-from-behind victories), and they have good defense (allowing fewest shots by opposing teams in NHL). This is a championship recipe.
Stars vs Anaheim Ducks tonight at the AAC.
PS - dammit, i can't upload photos right now....
In basketball news - the OU men's team got to the NCAA tournament only to be beaten in the first round by UW-Milwaukee's "fightin" Panthers. I only say that because the Sooners had zero fight in them from what it looked like, especially in the past 3 games, which they lost. So anyway.......looking forward to next year. This was kind of a hugely disappointing year, after being a pre-season top 10 team. But, it helps when......
..the OU women's basketball team (yes, I am a fan - these girls kick ass) beat their first round opponent in the NCAA tournament and play BYU tonight. I have to admit, I played in the women's basketball pep band at OU and actually it was a blast. We got to take some trips up to Kansas City, Purdue and Richmond, VA. Oklahoma forward Courtney Paris (a freshman) is one of the best players in the country and has already rewritten several Big XII records in her
first year. She is the first woman in college basketball history to record 700 points, 500 rebounds, and 100 blocks in a season. She is nothing less than dominant, and is a huge reason these girls have what it takes to make it to the Final Four.
The Dallas Mavericks continue to play extremely well in Avery Johnson's first tenure as head coach. Since I last updated they have gone 12-4, and in a similar situation to the Stars, chasing San Antonio for that first place spot.
Tomorrow night - Dallas vs Houston Rockets at the AAC - I'm seriously thinking of making this game, because I LOVE to see me some Rocket beat down.
Let's start with .......well.....
It's good to be back, but I have one hell of an assignment in front of me......trying to recap the past month of my roller coaster life.
About a month ago, "things" were suddenly flipped upside down. Those of you who know me, know what I'm talking about. In some ways, I'm back at square one, which has its positive and negative associated aspects. I'm obviously choosing to think about the positive ones, like how there are opportunities to start with different interests and paths. Planning for the future is a bit more of a challenge...in fact, I have been challenged more in the past year than I have in my whole life. If any sort of old wise saying were ever 100% true, then please let it be the one that claims I'll come out on the other side of the maelstrom stronger. Those of you who believe in God, I would ask that you pray for me and those who don't, just maybe think about me or whatever you do when you hope.
Thanks.
A Month later....
Updating soon with SXSW, Canada, Nashville, Cleveland, and life news.......stay tuned and thank you.
-M
A complete lack of action
One of the best websites ever:
You're the Man Now Dog search for "vader picard wheel of fortune" .....one of the all-time best.
FYI - this is what gets sent out at work. I'm confused here. Is this a guy catching some kids smoking out on a Colorado ski trail? Is this an American spy trudging through the harsh Eastern Bloc? Ohhhhh I get it.....it's obviously about blizzard-prone Fort Worth and keeping the manufacturing plant from being invaded by aliens. Got it.
Government - 1
Extraterrestrials - 0
Hockey is on a 2 week break for the participation in the Olympics, which the Canadians will win...again. Of course I hope the US does well, but I'm secretly rooting for the Fins! Bode Miller....what a choke job.
Spring Training in baseball is about to begin and am I ever pumped about the Rangers this year.
In basketball, the Mavs are still tearing it up, tied for the best record in the West. The Sooners are in 3rd place in the Big 12, with a big game at Colorado coming up tonight on ESPN2.
A bit more
New Flaming Lips!
Yeah Yeah Yeah SongGoin On
V-day musings
Happy Valentines Day blah blah blah. Not to seem like one of the typical v-day cynics, I just get bored with it quickly. There is hope for couples though. In fact, I hope all of my friends who are in relationships have these staggeringly beautiful moments of nervous butterfly twitches and unexplainable contentness. There is something wonderful about seeing that in others, and it almost makes up for the fact that I can't say that.
So it's been a few days since I updated...We played an amazing show over the weekend at Club Clearview in Deep Ellum. We played with 2 fantastic bands, What Made Milwaukee Famous and the Valentines. The energy was high and addictive. There is nothing like seeing people dance at your show to make you feel like you own the place. Sam from the Dallas Observer was front and center and exclaimed that if we keep this up, he will get behind us in a big way. There were friends from the past and new friends met and free beer and ........
Utter chaos.
While waiting outside for directions to the Valentine's afterparty, we witnessed a fight/shooting at an intersection in Deep Ellum - right on Elm St. We ran inside as soon as the shots were heard, and as far as I know, no one was actually killed. It kinda freaked everyone out, so I just went home. I just hope the morons who started it got plenty of jail time for that. Things like that drive me to never come to Deep Ellum anymore, and obviously I'm not the only one. Wake up Dallas. Wake up Deep Ellum club owners.
I will post show pics later....
Upcoming shows:
Voxtrot/Happy Bullets - the Cavern - Friday
Nada Surf/Rogue Wave - Gypsy Tea Room - Friday
and dont miss...
Pilotdrift/Supergrass - Gypsy Tea Room - Saturday
I'm listening to the new Clearlake CD - Amber. Mixed opinions so far...the production quality is 10 times better than their last CD....there are way too many straight forward rockers on here for a band as smart as these guys.....some of these rockers are pretty damn good though....I miss the more mellow, pensive songs....
Be sure to check out:
Smallwire
R.W.
Ted Leo
Jobo and the Giant Strawberry, who proclaimed, "This place is a serious acid trip....there's strawberries wiping the windows down!"
Heavenly States
Austin Collins
Brian Borcherdt of Holy Fuck and me
