Archive - Nov 2009

I was supposed to see Thao with the Get Down Stay Down last year at Houston's Orange Show, but their opening set for Xiu Xiu was rained out, and never rescheduled. Unfortunately I had to wait almost a full year to finally catch the act when they took the stage at Austin's Parish Room during SXSW in the spring. I was incredibly impressed with the amount of energy front-woman Thao Nguyen brings to her live performance, and was immediately in need of another live experience from her and her backing band, the Get Down Stay Down. That need was soon cured by the fine folks at Warehouse Live, when they booked the group for a showcase in their smaller room, The Studio.

Read all bout the show, including openers The Portland Cello Project, after the jump

I've been trying to give Jimmy Fallon a chance since he landed his own late night show, replacing Conan O'Brien as the host that takes care of all of us night owl's. Since his tenure on Saturday Night Live, Fallon has become the awkward actor that is best known for the moments of breaking out of character rather than his comedic skill in the thespian world. His talents as a late night host are still being tweaked with each nightly show, but his ability to pull in talent is uncanny, and has quickly made his show the number one spot for live musical exhibition. The fact that Fallon's house band is the legendary Roots Crew from Philadelphia adds to his indie street cred, but the collaboration with Questlove, Black Thought and crew with all of the guesting acts makes his show immediately worth a watch.

Recently, MC/actor extraordinaire Mos Def teamed up with his partner in crime Talib Kweli for a reunion of their highly acclaimed side project, BlackStar, during a one-off performance backed by both The Roots and the indie-queen tandem of Amber Coffman and Haley Dekle of the growing harmonious indie-weird Brooklyn group, The Dirty Projectors. Being a big fan of BlackStar, The Roots and The Dirty Projectors, this collaboration quickly stood out as a one-of-a-kind performance. While Kweli is featured as more of a back-up vocalist during a run-through of Mos Def's "History" from his most recent LP, The Ecstatic, it still stands out as one of our better Video Omelette's of the year. Give the video a watch:

Hopefully, one day soon, BlackStar will decide to do a nice full length tour that happens to stop somewhere close to me. I will be there with bells on.

New Orleans funksters Galactic brought their live show back to Houston's Warehouse Live with vibraphone extraordinaire Mike Dillon and his Go-Go Jungle in tow. Galactic always brings a pretty great live offering, even after seeing them as many times as I have at festivals and tour stops over the past decade. They freshen things up every couple of years by adding and dispensing of different members including vocalists, MC's and horn players. Their current incarnation features the original five members – Stanton Moore on drums, Ben Ellmen on saxophone, Robert Mercurio on bass, Rich Vogel on organ and Jeff Raines on guitar – and additional support on trombone and vocals for this tour by former Rebirth Brass Band player Corey Henry. They rely heavily on the two horns to front the band, but the true funkiest moments come when the other four lock into a groove. After an intriguing opening set of his own, vibraphonist Mike Dillon stepped up with Galactic to lay down some serious licks. The matching of Moore and Dillon was almost too much talent in the percussion section to handle, but their skills gelled nicely. The set rapped up with a nice round of hip-hop, closing with the title track to their funk/rap fusion album, From The Corner To The Block. A quick instrumental encore closed out the night, giving us a good preview of what to expect on their new back-to-the-roots LP, Ya Ka May, that will be in stores on February 9, 2010.

I brought the camera along, so feel free to browse my shots after the jump.

Congratulations to Hala Dahler, who will be seeing Metric and Band Of Skulls tonight at Warehouse Live courtesy of Breakfast On Tour, Warehouse Live, The Messina Group and AEG Live. Thanks to everyone for participating – if I had it my way, you'd all be winners! We will be giving away plenty of tickets in the coming weeks, so stay tuned to Breakfast On Tour for your chance to win!

We are giving away a pair of tickets to see Metric and Band Of Skulls at Houston's Warehouse Live on November 30, 2009. All you have to do to win is leave a comment with your full name and an e-mail address and/or telephone number where we can get a hold of you. YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION TO WIN. We will choose a winner the day of the show, so make sure you're available Monday afternoon. Feel free to tell us why you really want the tickets – I'll likely award brownie points for the most creative answers!

If you're not into the idea of possibly missing the show, or have some extra cash lying around, feel free to purchase some tickets. For more info about the show, check out Warehouse Live's show description page.

As always, I'd like to thank Warehouse Live, The Messina Group and AEG Live for allowing us to give so many tickets away. You guys all kick some serious ass!

For many years, a tiny establishment located deep in Houston proper has been dishing up nightly live music and quality Mexican food to the masses. The place I'm speaking of is the famed Last Concert Cafe. Many budding jambands have cut their teeth on the wood stage surrounded by the massive sandpit that serves as the outdoor venues dance-floor. Hoola-hoopers and djembe players come to this refuge on a regular basis to surround themselves by a host of like-minded, kind people who make it incredibly easy to allow you to be yourself. Ever since my tenure in Houston began almost 5 years ago, I've been making regular stops to this storied venue for many great shows from both national touring acts, and local groups with weekly residencies like Potroast and The Hightailers. I always know that I'm going to have an incredible time when I go there, and will always leave with a beaming smile on my face.

My most recent experience at Last Concert Cafe was for a tour stop by North Carolina's Toubab Krewe. I couldn't miss Toubab's first trip back to Houston since their inaugural visit to the Bayou City at The JellyPhish Lounge several years back, so instead of sticking around Warehouse Live to see Dinosaur Jr., we headed to LCC to see the Krewe. The Malian-influenced afro-beat group blends several genres, including rock, funk and reggae, to make their own unique fusion. The addition of the not-used-enough-in-live-music kora adds a completely new dimension to their overall sound, which is always the cherry on top of the stellar soundtrack they provide. As always, us BOTheads made sure to spend the night shaking our asses and shuffling our bare feet in the cool sand during Toubab Krewe's two hour set.

Bacon and I brought our cameras along to capture the evenings events, so feel free to browse my shots and his video after the jump.

Austin's yearly springtime musical orgy, better known as SXSW, has slowly been leaking handfuls of artists over the past week, but today saw the announcement of over 200 additional acts to the list. Several of BOT's favorites were announced today, including Frightened Rabbit, Deer Tick, The Crystal Method, B-Real, C-Mon & Kypski, Steel Train, Timber Timbre, Princeton and We Are Scientists. It's also great to see Houston string group Two Star Symphony among the names announced today. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come, and we'll see several more of our local acts headed to the Hill Country for official showcases in mid-March.

Check out the full list of showcasing artists after the jump