How a Killer Party turned into a Massive Night.....

So, the night started at Casino El Camino with me and the guys stopping in for a few pre show pops. Once sufficiently lubricated, we made our way across the street to Emos "outdoor" stage. It reminded all of us "old schoolers" of a smaller Liberty Lunch. So we hit the port-o-johns, the bar, and found our way to a pretty cool spot to check out the show. It started on all cylinders and never let up. Craig Finn was as spastic and just fucking out there as I've ever seen any front man before. He posed, danced, shimmied, posed some more and just tore the roof off the joint. Anyone else that would have had his moves would have come off cheesy at best, but he just sold it to all of us. It was as if he was playing these songs for the first time and was so excited to share them with us that he simply couldn't contain himself. The set list is below. Highlights included great versions of Stuck Between Stations, Your Little Hood Rat Friend, The Swish, Massive Nights, and an appropriately religious experience during How A Resurection Really Feels. No wasted songs, no wasted jams, just pure Rock Perfection. They were the tightest band I've seen in years too. The lead guitar player was also just.....well, perfect. The whole band.....ok, I'm rambling, it was just that good. So......as a bonus for all you motherfuckers that like to rock....check below the set list for a link to a bit torrent download of the entire show. That's right bitches, less than 24 hours later we have the show. Thanks to the taper who took the time to get this one on tape. If you don't know how to convert Flac Files, don't bother, just shoot me an email or respond to this post and I'll try to get you a copy.

THE HOLD STEADY LIVE

EMOS OUTDOOR STAGE

AUSTIN, TEXAS

3-27-08

01 Constructive Summer

02 Hot Soft Light

03 You Gotta Dance (with who you came to the dance with)

04 Stuck Between Stations

05 Some Kooks

06 Stay Positive

07 Barfruit Blues

08 Your Little Hoodrat Friend

09 You Can Make Him Like You

10 The Swish

11 Massive Nights

12 Party Pit

13 Chips Ahoy!

14 How a Resurrection Really Feels

15 -encore break-

16 Positive Jam

17 Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night

18 Southtown Girls

19 Killer Parties

http://bt.etree.org/download.php/514233/TheHoldSteady2008-03-27.torrent

Hold Steady...it's coming.

So, last night I saw what can only be described as the absolute best rock show I've ever seen....yes, that's a bold statement, but it was nothing less than a religious experience. I'll have an official review once my head is screwed back on tight. Fuck it was awesome. I also saw that it was being taped from the audience, so as soon as I find that show, I'll post it here.

Yes, you were fucking kidding me....damnit!

So I received an email from my painter friend Donald concerning the line up for this years ACL Festival and to say that I was excited....well....take a look at the poster. WOW! All my favorite acts and many others that I was super stoked to check out.

Well, as it turns out it was a FAKE!!! My buddy Trevor clued me in. Check out the link below for more info.

http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2008/03/24/exclusive_acl_fest_poster_its.html

The Good Life

Justin Townes Earle's "The Good Life" was released today. If you visit Waterloo Records, you can purchase the new album and get his EP "Yuma" for free. I'd take advantage of that deal. Great artist, and after tiring of his daddy's stuff lately, this is a breath of fresh air.

Uncle Tupelo Finally Reunites!!!!!!!

Wow, I thought this would never happen. I am so going to buy their new record! Check out the link below for more info.....hurry!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukOEXaGIQLw&NR=1

Spurs have won three in a row...

The Champs played Dallas today and overcame a 12 point deficit in the third quarter to beat the Mavs. I love seeing Mark "I'm a huge fuck-tard" Cuban look pitiful. He was certainly sweating when the big German and huge fan of "The Hoff", Dirk Nowitzki went down with an injury after colliding with Tim in what was a very physical game. Manu had 26 points and was perfect at the line. The Spurs need to keep up the momentum going into the playoffs....it should be another great run to the Championship. Go Spurs.

Monahans

One of my favorite local bands, Milton Mapes, has gone on to do a side project under the name Monahans. Although I prefer their Milton Mapes incarnation more thus far, this song is pretty good. I need to really give this band a liston as their first record, "Low Pining" got some pretty good press. They have recorded their follow up and it should be out some time this year. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

http://www.austinsound.net/dl/intotheexpanse.mp3

Drams MP3 Live from SXSW

Here is an MP3 for you to download from the Drams set at Mother Egans during SXSW. It was a great set during a day of great music.

http://fs06n2.sendspace.com/dl/9bf58b75f7b83ce4c2b5d8ad977f589d/47e1c3b62b36a151/wp12hl/01%20Footnote.mp3

WILCO Headed to Stubb's in May..

Wilco will play two nights at Stubb's BBQ in Austin in May. The shows will be on Sunday May 11, and Monday May 12th. Tickets go on sale Thursday March 20th. Their last album grew on me and now is one of my favorite's. It also helped to see them play an absolute perfect set on Austin City Limits, and then recently kicking ass on a couple tunes for Saturday Night Live. I've posted a video from that show below. I wanted the one with him in the cool "Nudie Suit", but I couldn't find one.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2008/03/wilco_hate_it_h.html

A drunken superhero....cool.

There is a movie coming out this summer starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize (you're so f-ing hot) Theron. The Fresh Prince plays "Hancock", a down on his luck, alcohalic superhero. Jason Bateman plays a publicist that takes him on as a client to rehabilitate his image. Charlize plays the wife of Bateman's character who ends up having an affair with Smith's superhero dude. What?!@#? I usually hate shit like this, like X-Men, Spiderman.....I was never a comic book geek. Having said that, check out the link to the trailer. It looks really funny. If handled correctly, this movie could be very cool and funny as hell.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/hancock/

"What do you want to do with your life?"

So went the opening line from the 80's Video hit by Twisted Sister..."I Wanna Rock!!!!" Now I was never a big TS fan by any stretch of the imagination, but that song was a huge hit back in the day, and I do remember liking the video. God, it's hard to imagine when Mtv actually played video's. Anyway, as it turns out, the original guitarist for Dee Snider's brainchild of the 80's has re-recorded the song with a different band and a new singer. He hopes to have it played at Barak Obama rallies across the country. So now instead of "I Wanna Rock", it goes...."I Want Barak"...no shit, this is the truth. Follow the link below for the entire story. But I don't blame anyone who doesn't click on the link because there really isn't any more to tell. This guy's a huge fuck-tard. I've got nothing against Obama, but "I Want Barak"....really.....seriously, that's what you came up with. WOW.

http://www.austin360.com/music/content/shared-gen/ap/Recordings/People_French_Obama_Song.html

2008 SXSW Wrap Up

Ok, here is my attempt at a review of this year's SXSW festivities as they applied to the Gorilla and Company. Forgive me for not having set lists for the few shows I was able to see as way too much imbibing seems to have gotten in the way.

As most of you know, a lot of us that attend these shows now have wives and kids, so the days of taking the entire week off and going non stop have long since fallen by the wayside. That said, we seem to be able to "weed out" the bullshit badge shows and attend only the best free day parties, at least those that we can find the time to attend.

Having said that, we did pay to see one show, but it proved to be a pretty decent if sloppy show by some of our favorite bands at Beerland. Two Cow Garage, Grand Champeen, The Drams, and Glossary each played two short sets while rotating members of each band in and out to form "super groups". While this could have been really cool, it mainly proved sloppy and uneventful. I will say The Drams stood out above the rest and seemed to be on a totally different level in terms of sound and performance. As much as I did enjoy their set, it was a bit disappointing that there were no new songs played at all. I will say that the versions of two Slobberbone classics, "That is All" and "Your Love is Waining" were real winners, with the latter being played with some beautiful pedal steel fills that made the song probably one of my highlights of the my entire SXSW experience.

Wednesday brought the free show at Mother Egans that has become somewhat of a tradition for our "crew". Although the line up was pretty much the same as last year, the music did not disappoint. Highlights would have to be the Silos and Chip Robinson of the late Backsliders. Great rocking sets. It was at this show that I decided to see just how much beer I could drink without actually passing out in public. That combined with my two buddies....lets just refer to them as Cheech and Chong, and the constant trips to the "smoking section" made for quite the party. At one point we found ourselves hanging out with some pretty cool 50 + year old dudes that seemed to have several joints burning all at once. Needless to say I am sure this contributed to the haze at which the rest of the event seemed engulfed in.

We ended the day at Baby A's drinking purple rita's and eating mexican food that really seemed like a better idea than it actually turned out to be.

The next morning I found myself wrapped around the toilet to start my day. Having not had that happen in what must be 10 years, lets just say it was not fun. After two showers and multiple helpings of Colgate, I headed back downtown for the New West Records free day party. It was there that I was able to meet up with some of the San Antonio Crew. As always it was great to see them. What a cool bunch of guys. I did get my hand slapped for not updating this blog lately. Be careful what you wish for as this post seems to be never ending....ha!

Free Lone star Beer and fajitas made a good impression, as did a few of the bands that I managed to pay attention to at this year's party. Again, similar lineup to last year, with the exception being The Old 97's. They played a great set of mostly new material from they new record "Blame it on Gravity" to be released May 13th on New West. To say I am looking forward to this record is an understatement as they totally redeemed themselves from the last time I saw them at Stubs. Tim Easton backed up the the Whipsaws from Alaska were great too. The Drams closed it out, but I left a bit before the end of their set as it was identical to the one from the day before.

All in all, it was a success with my only regrets being that I was unable to see Justin Townes Earle, who seemed to be playing all over the place this year, but with wife, kid, and day job, I just couldn't make it work. Maybe next year.

I really wish this was a joke....

Is the end of the world coming? I thought it might be once I heard the news that the Osmonds are back together and torturing folks with their dull brand of "music". I just saw them perform on Good Morning America, and I just had to wonder, how did they get all those people in the audience to show up, much less act like they were enjoying themselves. What was the "door prize" offered, as I cannot and will not believe that they were there willingly. Wow, I really wish this was a joke. For those of you that would like the opportunity to gouge your own eyes out with a fork or other household utensil, go to their blog....it's time that you will never be able to get back, but hey.....it's the Osmonds man!!

http://strengtheningfamilies.blogspot.com/

South By Southwhat the fuck?!

I got this from a yahoo blog. Now I don't care what this writer says, Daryl Hall is not cool. Neither is Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, or Journey's Steve Perry.....all of these guys are uber douche bags of the highest order. They should play private parties for super rich, middle aged, bearded and balding assholes that sing along to every word way too loud. That way there would be no chance of any innocent bystander harmed by the outpouring of bullshit coming from the stage. Having said that, the show may have been ok, but you would never and should never admit to being there at all....period. Thank God I wasn't cool enough to have known about this show ahead of time, or you might be reading a totally different post.....no...... probably not.

SXSW '08: Daryl Hall Or Nothing
Posted Thu. Mar 13, 5:10 AM ET by Lyndsey Parker in Best Of The Fests
Some people may think that going to see SXSW 2008 keynote speaker Daryl Hall perform at South By Southwest is some sort of indie-ironic inside joke. Like, "Ha ha, won't it be funny to see that old has-been who sang 'Private Eyes'?"
But I'm dead serious when I tell you Daryl Hall is cooler than pretty much any skinny-jeaned, hoodie-shrouded band du jour playing SXSW this year.
There's a reason why the Gym Class Heroes named their most recent trek the "Daryl Hall For President '07 Tour" and are working on a Hall & Oates mashup album. Or why Hall & Oates' "I Can't Go For That" has been sampled in about 4,987 hip-hop songs. Or why Daryl gets people like KT Tunstall and (of course) Gym Class Heroes MC Travis McCoy to guest on his online music/talk show, Live From Daryl's House.
It's because Hall & Oates--and by association, the duo's chief songwriter, Daryl--are just plain friggin' cool. No joke.
Never was this more clear than when Daryl performed a free, 40-minute concert at the Austin Convention Center on SXSW's kickoff night, Wednesday. Sure, the audience had its more-than-fair share of mom-jeaned frumps and graying dads in golf caps and Hawaiian shirts...but the crowd actually largely consisted of copiously tattooed hard-rockers and scrawny scenesters with Danny Noriega hairdos. And everyone was singing along, almost kumbaya-style, to "You Make My Dreams Come True," "Kiss On My List, "Sara Smile," and "Maneater."
(FYI, Daryl scored extra cool points for altering the lyrics of the "Maneater" chorus to: "Whoa-oh, here she comes/Watch out boy, she'll steal your song/Whoa-oh, here she comes/Her name is Nelly Furtado." Classic!)
Anyway, let's just see if 99.9 percent of the bands playing SXSW this year are similarly uniting the rock 'n' roll masses with their music at, say, SXSW 2028. And we'll see who's laughing then...

Make that 8 in a row....

Spurs 96, Bucks 94

Manu and company strike again!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280301015