continental club

Legendary Latin/funk fusion eleven-piece Grupo Fantasma made the journey from Austin to Houston last Friday, November 7 for a stop at the Continental Club. We'd missed their set earlier in the year at the Houston International Festival, and were ready for the opportunity to see them again. They tore through many tight numbers that made the overfilled Continental Club gyrate to their infectious beat. We were impressed by their loyal and diverse fanbase, as well as the tightness of their playing, but it was mostly their overwhelming individual talent that won us over throughout the night. We took some videos and pictures from the evening's events, so feel free to take a look after the jump.

Friday night was full of music in Houston, something that has happened only rarely over the past few months. We had already attended Cat Power's show at Warehouse Live earlier in the evening, but were by no means finished, as we still had a full night of music ahead of us. Local favorites Sideshow Tramps and current in-town buzz-makers Buxton descended upon the dingy Continental Club to share a few sets with a host of their fans.

Read about the show after the jump

This Friday, October 10, two of our favorite Houston-based bands are teaming up for what promises to be a great night of music at the Continental Club. Swampy bluegrass gypsy punks Sideshow Tramps will be headlining the show and are slated to begin playing at 11pm. Whenever the Tramps play, fun is never far away - their shows always morph into full-on revival-style dance fests, and you're guaranteed to have a great time.

La Porte-bred indie-folk virtuosos Buxton will get things moving starting at 10. This talented young band has been receiving rave reviews since releasing their excellent full-length debut, A Family Light, earlier this year. Responses to their live shows have been no less positive, and they seem to improve even more each time we see them. Tickets are only $10, so strap on your dancing shoes and spend Friday evening gettin' down at the Continental Club.

See the show poster and watch videos of each band after the jump

Geoffrey "Uncle Tick" Muller of Sideshow Tramps

Sergio Trevino, Jason Willis and Chris Wise of Buxton

Saturday, August 9th, brought the triple billing of Craig Kinsey, Ryan Scroggins and the Trenchtown Texans and Clouseaux to the Continental Club for a nice mixture of Houston's local sounds. We walked into the half-full venue just in time to catch the last notes of Ryan Scroggins, who played a fusion of rock, punk, ska, and reggae tones quite similar to one of my old favorites, Operation Ivy. We didn't come to the Continental to see The Trenchtown Texans, however; rather, our intentions were to find out how well the Sideshow Tramps' Craig Kinsey could translate his solo songs to such a large room.

Read the full review after the jump

For The Lee Boys, making joyful, funky Gospel music is a family affair. The group consists of three brothers and their three nephews serving up 'sacred steel' sounds. True, their sound was born out of the House of God church where their father (or grandfather) served as pastor, but this ain't your grandma's church music. The Lee Boys want to get the crowd involved -- dancing and shouting out are encouraged, if not expected.

Full Lee Boys review after the jump

Moses Guest delivered Breakfast On Tour's first live music experience of 2008 on Saturday, January 5 at the Continental Club. We'd never caught this Houston-based Southern rock/jam band before, and were unprepared for what we encountered upon entering the venue: complete chaos. Okay, not really, but it was definitely more crowded than we'd ever seen the place.

Full Moses Guest review after the jump

Moses Guest kicked off our 2008 musical adventures last night with a much-needed helping of jammy goodness. Eggs, Doughnut, Coffee, Chilaquiles and I joined the crowd at the I've-never-seen-it-so-packed-before Continental Club to take in the band's brand of Southern rock/jam grooves. It was the first time we'd caught this Houston-based group live, and we were quite impressed. Check back very soon for a review by Eggs.

In addition to enjoying the prime groovage, we also got a lot of great shots of the band as well as of show-goers. My personal favorite from the batch of fan photos is this one, entitled (at their request) "Three Stoned Men":

Check out the rest of our pics from Moses Guest's show here, and be on the lookout for soon-to-be-posted videos!

That 1 Guy brought his musical inventiveness to the stage at the Continental Club on Thursday, November 29.

The music of New Orleans has held a special place in my heart ever since seeing my first zydeco group in the French Quarter 10 years ago. Since then I have always been interested in any band that had that crescent city flair. On Thursday, November 15, New Orleans staple Papa Grows Funk rolled into Houston for a gig at the Continental Club.