Catching Up

Ok so I haven't been motivated to post anything, which doesn't seem to matter a whole lot. I left off with the Drinking With Ian taping on Sunday June 27th.

Wed 6/29: Took a couple of nights to myself and got back to the music with the Acoustic Garage Sale. This is a garage sale for charity that usual features quite a few vendors as well as a long list of musical acts. It wasn't very advertised and there were very few vendors. I was able to pick up some cool vinyl and a couple of posters. Grant Hart went on with a rant regarding his thoughts on our Governor and of course the President. He also stated for the record that he himself is an asshole and wanted to make sure everyone was aware. It was quite interesting. Other good performances I caught were Rich Mattson and Whorehouse, featuring members of the Midnight Evils and TC Howlers. Great acoustic cover of ZZ Top's Thank You.

Thur 6/30: Groovie Ghoulies at the Triple Rock. Got their late so I only saw the Ghoulies but as always a really fun show. I catch these guys everytime they come to town.

Sun 7/3: Crazy as it sounds, actually took Friday and Saturday off and just hit bars and did a movie night. Kind of relaxing but by Sunday I was going through withdrawl. And lucky I had Bob Mould to help out with that. He played at the Taste of MN and did a solo plugged in set. It was great to hear his new stuff as well as some great Sugar and Husker Du songs. Will never get sick of hearing Husker Du songs. Really looking forward to him bringing the full band in September to First Ave. Also planning on hitting Austin City Limits where he will be playing.

Monday 7/4: Dillinger Four at the Triple Rock. Great way to celebrate the 4th of July. Missed Metallagher who does Metallica covers with a guy dressed as Gallagher who between songs spouts lame jokes and smashes melons. Heard it was pretty damn funny. They came out for D4s encore and rocked on Master of Puppets. Off With Their Heads and Heads and Bodies were both rockin live as well. The guys in D4 announced that they found out there were only three squad cars on duty in the area so it was fuck the smoking band that night and everyone lit up. A very fun energetic show.

Wed 7/6: Took Tuesday as my only night off this week and was back to the Turf Club on Wednesday to see Maps of Norway. The bill was really wierd with some god awful jazz fushion thing that couldn't get their timing right as openers. Then Maps rocked in their normal fun as hell get you moving sort of way. After them was a sort of neu metal band called Angelic Animosity. Yeah its in the name. Their drummer though did have a bit of a resemblance to Walter Sobchak. We didn't stay for the final band, we found out they had horns and a manual lawn mower and that was enough for us to hit the door.

Thu 7/7: Wayne "The Train" Hancock at Lee's. A nice mellow hillbilly kind of a night. The rockabilly scenesters were definitely out for this one though too busy wanting to look cool and be scene to actually dance, but thats a whole other issue. Always a good time seeing Wayne. He too will be at the Austin City Limits Festival.

Fri 7/8: Tonight was the night of all nights. I love it when I can get in two shows. Six Six Crush was opening for the TC Howlers and The Spokes at the 400 Bar. We were able to see Six Six Crush, than the Howlers and head over to the Triple Rock where we caught Velcro Lewis and headlining was the Midnight Evils. Great performances by all bands and a rockin Friday evening.

Sat 7/9: Signal to Trust and the Stnnng at Big V's. Haven't seen these two bands play together since the lunch show in the Entry just after First Ave reopened. Signal had a new drummer and he proved to fit in perfectly. Always great to see these two high energy bands show their stuff. Especially in a cool place like Big V's.

Mon 7/11: Another night of two shows. Started out with a free ticket to see The Subhumans with From Ashes Rise. Both bands are hard, fast punk rock. From Ashes Rise is rumored to be on their last tour and it was great to be blown away by them once more. The Subhumans who's last show here was canceled due to visa problems was definitely in form. Always look forward to hearing Reason For Existence and was not disappointed. The whole set was tight, fast and loud. All ages show with a great crowd fully into it. After that show it was over to the Turf club. Celebrating the birthday of Vandy from the Midnight Evils with sets from Guided By Budweiser (GBV cover band, Pollard would be proud) and a plugged in set from Vandy and Co who were called Whorehouse at the acoustic garage sale but I'm not sure what last night. Some great covers of tunes by Dylan, ZZ Top, Stones, etc.

....and I'm spent. Ha, that should get me caught up