Archive - Apr 2010

You ever come across a record that is perfectly suited to your current situation at EXACTLY the right moment in time to maximize its emotional and intellectual impact? If you’re a loyal BoT reader, there’s a good chance that music is so ingrained into your identity that it’s a commonplace occurrence. It’s been a while since something has hit me as hard as Local Natives debut album, Gorilla Manor. Recent events have put me in a place where I’m musically vulnerable, I guess; I’ll avoid wiping my tears on the unknown shoulders of the stranger that’s reading this, and will instead just say “Sun Hands”… check it out. Two other factors combined to make this past Saturday’s show at Mango’s a perfect storm for a peak live music experience: I was coming off the longest period of live music abstinence that I’ve had in at least 2 years, and I was attending the show with a few of my favorite people in Houston – who I’ll be seeing a hell of lot more of from here on out. Onto the show, including video and pictures after the jump.

The best way to start off a rainy Friday is with some melancholy Neil Young. You can move onto happier music as a weekend of social interaction approaches, or get stuck in a depressive rut and spend the weekend watching crappy movies on TV and touching yourself – totally up to you. If you’re one of the lucky ones who punctually scored tickets to the greatest Canadian’s solo acoustic show at Jones Hall on June 4th, then you certainly have nothing to be depressed about. If you’re like me and didn’t get them on time, don’t give up hope yet. You can still pay exorbitant scalper prices (cheapest are $230 right now) on Stubhub… ugh, looks like I’m going the depressive route. This one’s off Harvest, but you already knew that.

We are excited to be giving away two pairs of tickets to see Dr. Dog and Deer Tick at Houston's Warehouse Live on Sunday, May 2nd. All you have to do to win is leave a comment with your full name and either an e-mail address or a phone number in which you can receive text messages. We will be announcing the winner at noon on Sunday, and will be listing the names at the top of this post as well as contacting the winners through either e-mail or text message.

If you are a regular to our site, you assuredly know our obsession with the Philadelphia indie-rockers, so this show has been on our radar for quite some time. Dr. Dog put on one of the best live shows I've seen, so to finally catch them in my hometown is a nice little treat. Deer Tick are just the cherry on top! This will probably sell out, so if you are worried you won't win the give-away, you can pick up as many tickets as needed at Warehouse Live's official Frontgate site.

As always, big thanks to The Messina Group, AEG Live and Warehouse Live for always allowing us to put on these ticket contests. Cheers!

One thing that has come to bother me about our city's music scene over the years is that bands will come through one of our small venues such as Walter's, play a well receptive set to a packed room, then altogether skip Houston for several years to follow. When these bands do actually make it back, it's after a huge swell in their growth, and they end up playing much larger and less personal venues such as House of Blues. One band that most recently did this exact thing was Brooklyn indie-freaksters Yeasayer. They came through with MGMT (another band currently in the same situation, coming to HoB soon...) back in January 2008, and haven't been to Houston since. Yes, they've played Austin on numerous occasions, Dallas as well, but for some reason we didn't make the grade. Maybe because we're lacking a non-corporate venue that is between Walter's and HoB in size, and has a certain indie draw? Hopefully the new Warsaw (formerly The Engine Room) will help us out there.

Despite the two-plus year absence from the Bayou City, I still welcomed them back with open arms, and walked into their show excited to hear them showcase their new material. Check out more from the show after the jump.

I didn't stay long at Warehouse Live on the night Ani DiFranco came to town, but I did happen to get some shots of the first couple songs. I was feeling ill, but thought I could make it through the show. After a few sips of my first beer, I found myself in the bathroom projectile vomiting into the toilet. I wanted to stay at the show, as Ani is quite the electrifying performer and live personality, but my stomach was preventing me from just that. Even Mike Dillon ripping up the vibraphones wasn't enough to keep me there! Unfortunately, I don't have much of a review for you, but I still have a bunch of pictures for you to relive the show.

Check them all out after the jump...

This coming Saturday, Warehouse Live will lay host to the Houston edition of Ford Fiesta Movement's Battle Of The Bands. Team Houston, which consists of local photographers Mark C. Austin and Amber Roussel, are putting on the event that will hopefully send one lucky band to the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Starting at 6 pm, the free event will host the likes of Black Queen Speaks, Peekaboo Theory, Robert Ellis & the Boys, The Tontons, Tyagaraja, VerseCity and Wayside Drive. While the event is free, you must RSVP which will get you an electronic ticket that must be printed out and brought with you day of show. Team Houston is encouraging as many people to RSVP to the event, as it will help out the fan vote that will allow them to win the second mission and grand prize which includes the winner of the Battle Of The Bands performing at Bonnaroo as well as two new Ford Fiesta's, one of which will be donated to Noah's Kitchen, a non-profit group that provides nourishment and nutritional education to the hungry and homeless. If you can't be in attendance on Saturday, you can also show your support by sending a quick text message with the phrase "rockstar" to 44144. Standard rates apply.

For more information, visit the event's official website.

We are giving away 3 pairs of tickets to see Pretty Lights at Houston's Warehouse Live on Thursday, April 29th. All you have to do to win is leave your full name and e-mail address or telephone number in which you can receive text messages in the comment field below. It's pretty simple, but you must leave a way for us to get a hold of you if you want to win. We will be choosing the winners randomly on Thursday at noon, and will announce them at the top of this post, and through the e-mail address or telephone number you provided.

I've seen Pretty Lights on a few occasions, and he always puts on a spectacular show, so I'd highly recommend being in attendance. To guarantee admittance, you can pick up as many tickets as you need at Warehouse Live's official Frongate ticketing site. As always, thanks to The Messina Group, AEG Live and Warehouse Live for always giving us the opportunity to do these give-away's. We wouldn't be nearly as cool without you all!

Dr. Dog perform with Deer Tick at Warehouse Live on Saturday

Nothing can go wrong with a week book-ended by a Dr. Dog show. Seriously... nothing.

Monday, April 26
Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers
Stafford Centre
8 PM

Tuesday, April 27
Awesome Color and Hair Police
Mango's
9 PM

Wednesday, April 28
Megafaun and Breathe Owl Breathe
Rudyard's
9 PM

Check out the rest of this week's shows after the jump.

Ahhhhhh. Another night at Bourbon Theatre. As always, I had arrived about 20 minutes late for the April 20th show in Lincoln, NE. Rushing to get into the venue, I was instantly greeted by a hard hitting performance by the excellent sounds of EOTO with an extremely crowded Bourbon in front of me. As many of you music lovers know, EOTO consists of Michael Travis and Jason Hann of the famed String Cheese Incident. Mixing together several styles of music, while lying heavily on electronic, EOTO offers a much different feel than there days with SCI, yet they attract many mutual fans. Switching up roles from their roots with Cheese, each show is promised to be %100 improvised, making each evening a new experience.

Check out some more pictures from the evening, after the jump

During my "musical revolution", electronic music was out of the mix completely. I had already opened my mind to several new genres of music, but electronic was out of the question. Perhaps it was my exposure to rave culture and house music in my younger years, but the simple thought of of synthesized beats brought illusions of scrawny kids in over sized clothing with candy necklaces, pacifiers, glow sticks and about every synthetic drug you could possibly think of. That combination was enough to make me cringe, and the fact that I now know CPR now and am in know way wanting to go mouth to mouth with a fished out geeker, may have also been a turnoff. That was until the summer of 2008, when EOTO came on the scene, and I was coaxed into it by ex Cheese members. Following that delightful experience, I hit up Rothbury that summer. With it's slew of music, electronic was in high supply, so I was able to seed through what I like, and what I don't. I figured out that my kicker was the ability for the artists to actually play their own instruments. As exciting as a guy and a laptop or turntable are, I can only take so much.

More words and pictures of the evening, after the jump