BOT Blog

Photo by PKeigan | CC BY-ND 2.0

My name is Michael and I'm a John Mayer fan.

BoT didn't commission this review. I texted Hash Browns halfway through the best concert I've seen since Paul McCartney last summer and told her I was gonna write a few words regardless, and BoT could post them if they wanted to. It is true, the last thing the web needs is more sludge on celebrities clogging our collective bandwidth, but I thought fuck it, I'll join the fray because I actually care about this shit. Read on.

Steel Train will be taking the stage on March 23rd at the handsomely remodeled Waiting Room in Omaha, NE. The show is only $10 and the beer is also reasonably priced, so for a great night of music on a budget, Steel Train would defiantly be worth taking in. For those of you who aren't familiar with the band, they are put into the indie rock genre. I see where they get that classification, but personally notice more of the 60's psychedelic and folk influence in their music, which is never a bad thing. And did I mention that they are praised for their live shows and jam sessions? All of these factors are sure to sprawl out on stage next Tuesday in a collision of decades sure to please the mind, body and soul. Opening for the New Jersey quintet will be It's True and Holly Miranda. Unfortunately, I will just be returning from SXSW and will be unable to make it, but hopefully some of you folks can!

Austin bound,
The Toastman

Phish, some at BoT's primary impetus for every good thing in their musical journey, have announced their Summer 2010 Tour Dates. No info about on sale, but for a smile-inducing video check out Phish.com. Dates below!

June 11 Chicago, IL Toyota Park
June 12 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
June 13 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
June 15 Portsmouth, VA nTelos Pavilion at Harbor Center
June 17 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
June 18 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
June 19 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 20 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 22 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center
June 24 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 25 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 26 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 27 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 29 Canandaigua, NY CMAC
July 1 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
July 2 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 3 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
July 4 Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
August 5 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
August 6 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
August 7 Berkeley, CA Greek Theatre
August 9 Telluride, CO Telluride Town Park
August 10 Telluride, CO Telluride Town Park
August 12 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
August 13 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
August 14 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 15 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley Music Theatre
August 17 Wantagh, NY Nikon Theater at Jones Beach
August 18 Wantagh, NY Nikon Theater at Jones Beach

The most promising to me - given the proximity of family, friends, and/or epic nature to the venue - look to be Atlanta, Berkeley, and Telluride... and I know my midwestern writing mates will be at Chicago and Cuyahoga. I'm quite sure this means that we'll get more West Coast dates (and a fest?) in the Fall, hopefully just before or after a 4-date Texas run. Please give us two nights in The Woodlands!

Good friend to the site and kick-ass photographer, Mark C. Austin, has been pimping his new pet project, the Ford Fiesta Movement, in which he procured one of 20 brand-spanking-new Ford Fiesta's to let people here in Houston test out. Always bringing a touch of music into anything he does, Austin and counterpart Amber Roussel have started to invite different local bands into the backseat of the Fiesta for a series they are calling BackSeat Jukebox. The first of hopefully many videos to come features local Houston act, and BOT-favorite, Buxton working their way through the unreleased track "Boy Of 9" with the help of a few non-traditional instruments. Despite being jammed into the back seat, they still pull of a flawless version of the new tune.

We recently caught Buxton performing several of their new tracks, and you can rest assured that they were all brilliant. We will have a full review of that show soon.

SXSW 2009
What a big week for music in Houston! Because of that massive musical orgy known as SXSW, Houston always has the fortune of bringing in tons of great talent before, during and after the Austin music conference. BOT will be in Houston through Wednesday, before shipping off to the Hill Country to see as many bands as we can see in three days – all while trying to maintain a constant drunkenness in the process. Hopefully we'll see some of you're music saturated faces along the way!

Check out this week in music in the Houston area:

Monday, March 15
Peelander Z, Math The Band, Halo Stereo and Newmatic
Fitzgerald's
9 PM

Chase Hamblin, Tyagaraja and Frank Freeman
Avant Garden
8 PM

Tuesday, March 16
Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bear In Heaven and Freelance Whales
Mango's
9 PM

Japanther, Muhammidali and Leg Sweeper
Notsuoh
9 PM

Rogue Wave, Avi Buffalo and JBM
Warehouse Live
8 PM

Check out the rest of the week's events after the jump.

Mess With Texas 2009
With only a week until SXSW Music is in full force, the people behind FYF Fest and Fun Fun Fun Fest have put together a great group of bands for the fourth annual Mess With Texas Party. Pulling together many of the conferences heavy hitters, MWT4 has also brought about two headliners that currently have no other shows scheduled during the week – Gwar and Man Man. I always look forward to this yearly event, not only because the copious amounts of bands performing, but also because the fact that it is completely free. With a new location closer to all the madness, and a switch to a two day format, MWT4 will also be hosting the likes of Billy Bragg, Man or Astroman?, Frightened Rabbit, YACHT, Grupo Fantasma and several more on Friday, and Andrew WK, Fucked Up, Crystal Antlers, Neon Indian, Holy Fuck and a bunch more on Saturday.

Check out the full line-up after the jump

Last month I had the fine privilege to attend not one, but two performances by That 1 Guy. First was a stellar opening set for Keller Williams when we caught him at The Granada in Dallas, and second was when he made it down to Houston for a show at Rudyard's. I only caught the last few songs of the first set, so I made it a priority to get there for the start of his first performance in my hometown in about a year. As I walked in, he was moments into his opening song, and the craziness was abound. Playing his patented "Magic Pipe," along with special guest appearances from his "Magic Boot" and "Magic Saw," That 1 Guy aka Mike Silverman brought along not only his music, but a full show that included comedic interludes and a host of magic tricks as well. While the audience remained seated throughout the set, they were completely sold by Silverman's antics all night. He is a great performer, and if you've never seen him before, I highly recommend it when he inevitably comes to your town. He is unlike any other act going today, and with his odd instruments and signature style he should be a force on the road and at festivals for some time to come.

Check out my photos from the show after the jump!

Todd Snider performs Friday at Mucky Duck
Monday, March 8
Tha Fucking Transmissions, Brandon West and The Black Hats
Boondocks
9 PM

Tuesday, March 9
Joe Ely
Dosey Doe Coffee House
8 PM

Wednesday, March 10
Robert Ellis & The Boys
Mango's
9 PM

Thursday, March 11
David Gray and Phosphorescent
Verizon Wireless Theater
8 PM

George Thorogood & The Destroyers
House Of Blues
8 PM

Check out the rest of this weeks BOT-Approved shows after the jump.

Want free music? Care about the environment? Headcount, NRDC Action Fund and JamBase have teamed up to form Music For Action, a simple give and take that allows you to walk away with a nice bounty of soundboard recordings from the Bonnaroo Music Festival. All they are asking in return for live tracks from the likes of Phish, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Phil Lesh & Friends, My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Jack Johnson, Death Cab For Cutie and several more is for you to submit a pre-written e-mail to U.S. Senators urging the passing of the recent climate change bill that has already been pushed through the House of Representatives. It only takes a few minutes, and just might be the ticket to influence your state's Senators to take a closer look at the bill, and hopefully vote for it in the long run. The 17 tracks you get out of this whole deal are quite the treat as well, especially My Morning Jacket's take on The Velvet Underground's "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" and Wilco's sonically pleasing "Bull Black Nova."

Check out the full track list of the "Best Of Bonnaroo" compilation after the jump.

The winners of the pairs of tickets for tonight's Portugal. The Man, Port O' Brien and The Dig show are Tom So and Doug Page. Congrats guys!

We are excited to be giving away two pairs of tickets to see Portugal. The Man, Port O'Brien and The Dig at Houston's Warehouse Live on Thursday, March 4th. To win, all you have to do is leave a comment that includes both your full name and a way to contact you – an e-mail address or a telephone number in which you can receive text messages. I can't stress this enough: YOU CAN"T WIN UNLESS YOU LEAVE BOTH YOUR NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION! This looks to be a pretty exciting show, as all three bands are quite good at what they do. I'm still yet to catch Portugal. The Man and The Dig live, but I know Port O'Brien bring it.

If you aren't feeling lucky, or have more people than a pair can sustain, feel free to pick up as many tickets as you need on Warehouse Live's Frontgate ticketing site. At $13.40 a ticket, that's only $4.47 a band. Hell of a deal if you ask me!

Thanks, as always, to The Messina Group, AEG Live and Warehouse Live, as well as all three bands, for allowing us to give away these tickets. Both winners will be announced at 2pm on Thursday, and will be posted to the site. We will also contact the winners via e-mail and/or text shortly thereafter.

Good luck!