Thursday, December 22, 2005

First Ave Anniversary Show

Did I just see Craig Finn (of the Hold Steady) sing I Wanna Be Your Dog with Mike Watt on bass? I believe I did. Did I also see Grant Hart later join them on stage and play a mean keyboard? Yes I think I saw that too.

I got there just before Jesse Greene who does a great job filling a larger stage. I like her voice and she of course has her mean violin. The X-Boys featured quite a few guys from the Suburbs and Chris Osgood from the Suicide Commandos. Pretty fun jammy set. I hear they play together almost every week at a VFW somewhere. I'm going to have to check that out.

Most of my evening was spent in the Entry which seemed like a competition of great guitar players. It was truely inspiring. Ernie of the Mofos, Gerard of Rifle Sport and Curtiss and Vern. The guitar playing was simply phenomonal. The Mighty Mofos as always rocked my socks off. I don't know if you've seen a bigger grin on my face then when I talked to Ernie Batson about it afterwards (well other than that whole bus, head scratching incident in Orlando). Love the Batson brothers, and Randy is one hell of a bass player. Next up was Rifle Sport. Awesome kind of melodic punk. I don't know how I'll go through a Christmas season again without hearing that band play Little Drummer Boy. Was really really cool. And then Curtiss A, doing a lot of his Beatles tunes and a Stones tune, him and Vern just tore apart their guitars.

Back to the mainroom for Mike Watt. The set was only a few songs but all star. See comments above about Grant Hart and Craig Finn. I prefer Watt in the Entry but this was a good time. The Koalas headlined and by that point there was no one around. No band wanted that slot but the Koalas did better on the big stage then I thought they would. And as usual Lori's drumming was stellar.

Dillinger Four and Falcon Crest 12-9

Dillinger Four and Falcon Crest in the Entry.

Ummmmm......


Yeah.....


There were/are:

Bruised knees

kicked forearms

bloody noses (not mine)

bare asses

sweat pants

farewell dances

free whiskey

Christmas tree

And someone wrongfully being kicked out of the 7th St Entry (which sounds bad but its probably good)

John Lennon Tribute: 25 Years

John Lennon tribute was fucking smokin'! Curtiss A is a major rock star. I've always known this but its nice to be reminded every Dec 8th. Who else could sing Imagine and include the term cocksucker? John, the drummer from the Hypstrz is one of the three drummers that played through out the night but he's the one that played on every song. They had two drum sets up, a string bass, and easily 12 people on stage at different times. Jim Boquist, Slim and his kid joined for I'll Cry Instead, I Don't Want To Spoil The Party and I'm A Loser. My Dad and I go to this every year and its really fun to dance my ass of with some of these hippies. Some lady hugging me and saying "love everyone." They all throw their arms in the air and groove a bit. It was so fun. And I think I've decided that my theme song is Rock and Roll Music.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Six Six Crush @ The 400 Bar

Last night was Six Six Crush at the 400 Bar. Its been a while, I think I may have been suffering a brief bout of Six Six Crush withdrawl. Something was different last night though. They picked up the pace a bit and their vocals were very loud which is not normally the case. I had a hell of a time.

They opened for Useless whom I did not stick around to see. This is for one major reason. The singer/lead guitarists is one best guitar players I've ever seen. I'm not joking on this one. The problem is that he limits himself. The sets mostly consists of covers and not very challenging ones at that. I would love to see him doing more of his own songs and really shredding the guitar like I know he can. I'm starting to wonder if maybe, he just can't write songs.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Updates

I've been slacking on the posts but not on the shows. Here's updating shows for most of November and pretty much brought things up to date. Tonight is the ever awesome Six Six Crush at the 400 Bar.

Chicago Invasion 12/3 - Triple Rock

Loved the Effigies. They are nearing 50 and don't look anything like the punk they play. I thought the bass player was very talented and the guitar riffs were fast and rockin. The singer has a very strong voice and almost competes with the guitar in a good way.

The Methadones were a bit too pop punk for me. My head was bobbing, my foot was tapping but it just didn't hold me. I probably would have been more into it if I knew their songs better. They spent way too much time talking about emo bands between the songs. Though I have to say I was very surprised by the cover of "He's A Whore."

Hypstrz CD Release Show 11/25

Friday was of course the Hypstrz CD Release show. Was greeted by one of my favorite local musicians, Billy Batson, right away who thanked me for coming and we chatted a bit. Very nice guy. The openers were Nikki Corvette and her band. Now I saw them last Sunday and thought it was because I was in a bad mood but I'll have to say I like that band but I don't care for her all that much. Her vocals just don't do it for me and her little dance seems almost forced. Supposedly she's very well loved, but I wasn't all that impressed. Second up was the Conquerers (sp?). Good band that does covers but makes their own sounds. Played some classic tunes with very solid guitar playing. The Hypstrz were flat out brilliant. Rocked us from start to finish and I danced my ass of. Loved that set, every minute of it. Played a couple of encores and you could tell the guys were having a blast. So much fun and a good size crowd. I bought a Hypstrz tshirt and a copy of their original 45 which is a hot commodity. I still highly recommend the CD that can be ordered on amazon. 37 tracks for $13, can't beat that. I also managed to walk home with a dozen roses from the bass player of the Hypstrz. Really sweet guy and he deliveres flowers for a wholesaler and brought in a bunch of flowers for the ladies in the crowd. A great show and only $4 cover. Couldn't ask for much more than that.

Hypstrz CD Release Show 11/25

Friday was of course the Hypstrz CD Release show. Was greeted by one of my favorite local musicians, Billy Batson, right away who thanked me for coming and we chatted a bit. Very nice guy. The openers were Nikki Corvette and her band. Now I saw them last Sunday and thought it was because I was in a bad mood but I'll have to say I like that band but I don't care for her all that much. Her vocals just don't do it for me and her little dance seems almost forced. Supposedly she's very well loved, but I wasn't all that impressed. Second up was the Conquerers (sp?). Good band that does covers but makes their own sounds. Played some classic tunes with very solid guitar playing. The Hypstrz were flat out brilliant. Rocked us from start to finish and I danced my ass of. Loved that set, every minute of it. Played a couple of encores and you could tell the guys were having a blast. So much fun and a good size crowd. I bought a Hypstrz tshirt and a copy of their original 45 which is a hot commodity. I still highly recommend the CD that can be ordered on amazon. 37 tracks for $13, can't beat that. I also managed to walk home with a dozen roses from the bass player of the Hypstrz. Really sweet guy and he deliveres flowers for a wholesaler and brought in a bunch of flowers for the ladies in the crowd. A great show and only $4 cover. Couldn't ask for much more than that.

More Koalas, 11/23

Wednesday I went and checked out the Koalas for the second time. Definitely still held up as one of my new favorite local bands. For people who have never seen Lori B. on the drums, its really something to check out. She also sings a song as well. I love her but I'd have to say I like their front person better but its cool that the band mixes things up like that. They will be playing the First Ave Bootleg Release show on December 14th along with the likes of the Hold Steady and many others. Going to be a great show.

Hypstrz/Nikki Corvette 11/20

First show was an instore performance by the Hypstrz at Treehouse Records. Not many a better Sunday than one where you can roll out of bed, grab a coffee, walk two blocks and see great garage rock for free. I loved every minute of it. And seriously I don't know where else I've had so many of my favorite people in one room (and they were all sober).

That night I went to see Nikki Corvette play with the Divebomb Honey. Divebomb, is fun synth new wave that as always I enjoyed. Nikki Corvette is one of my buddies favorites and while she was fun, I just wasn't in the mood. Her nasaly voice turned me off a bit. I can see when I'm in a better mood, that I would dance all night to this, so maybe Friday when they open for the Hypstrz.

Plate - O- Shrimp Club Underground 11/19

went to see my friends band Plate-O-Shrimp play their last show of 2005. They say they'll be back for the Ramones tribute in May but the hiatus will be a long one. The band was definitely on. One of the best performances I've seen by them. John's vocals sounded the best I've heard them in a while and he seemed to be looking to prove how much he could rock. The crowd was a lot of friends so even their originals were sing alongs. But some great covers included Makes No Sense At All, Chinese Rocks and You`re Gonna Kill That Girl were right on. Glad I decided to hit this show despite everything else going on that night.

Detroit Cobras 11/18

Friday I went to see the Detroit Cobras with the Reigning Sound and Chooglin'.

Chooglin is my friends band that consists of members of the Midnight Evils. Yes they are named after a CCR song. And you can obviously see their influence on this band. What they play is very classic rock ala zz top, thin lizzy, with a splash of seger and they do it very well. Jesse the guitar player was the drummer for the Evils and its scary how good he is at two instruments when I can't even master one. I also really like Brian as a vocalists as he adds a perfect bit of soul to the rock sound.

Reigning Sound is a band I really enjoy. Though I'm going to go ahead and say their set was a bit long. I found myself getting bored with it too quickly. I loved everything they played off of "Too Much Guitar" and I think its a perfect pace for the bill they were on. The Reigning Sound is some damn good memphis garage rock.

Next up the Detroit Cobras. I enjoyed the show but the band didn't seem to into it. They even told the crowd they were a day away from home so they were trying to get through it. Rachel's voice is as awesome 2 months into a tour as it is on the record. She's a beautiful bad ass. The show was not as rockin as I hoped but after breaking up fights and keeping drunk people standing I was able to dance my socks off and thats always a plus. It was a sold out show at the triple rock which doesn't happen all that often.

Koalas @ Shaw's 11/17

I got a last minute notice that the Koala's were playing at Shaw's and since I had never seen them, I headed over. The Koalas feature Lori Barbero on drums from the fantastic Babes In Toyland. Wonderful drummer, amazing person.

First I sat through this band that I don't know their name and the only reason I would want to would be so I could avoid seeing them in the future. They had a song that was supposed to be dark and depressing. But the singer sang "mama's into razors and dope" like she was in the Patridge Family singing C'Mon get happy. She also sang a song about a girl who was doing dirty deeds and was pretty much in the gutter. "In a taxi with a guys hand down the front of her skirt and drugs up his nose." You can tell that this is far from anything this singer has ever experienced. No feeling behind any of it at all. The song that had the most emotion in it was called "Britney Spears Got Married Last Night." And of course they had to have a song calling Bush the anti christ, which could have been funny but they sang it in the same sing song way as every other tune. They were all together crappy.

But the Koalas kicked ass. Their vocalist has an even more punk PJ Harvey sound with an echo. And the music is a perfect grunge/punk/straight rock sound. I was really impressed and really mad that I had waited this long to see the band. I will hopefully be checking them out this wednesday as well.

Birthday Suits 11/12

Started out at the Urban Wildlife for the $2 beers and no cover. I walked in to a pretty shitty ska band who's every song sounded like the annoying Reel Big Fish song about working at Burger King or something.

Next up was Fighter Heyabusa was up. Sorry, but fuck did I not like this band. I was so discouraged I decided I couldn't sit through it to see if the headliners were any good.

So I ran to the Entry and caught the last song of the Divebomb Honey, who I've seen a number of times. Fun new wave band with two keyboards, really strong bass and thick female vocals. The show was to celebrate the cd release by the Birthday Suit. Now I had not seen this band before but they are a two peice of members that were in the band Sweet J.A.P. so I knew this had to be good. This band is so strong that its hard to believe its a two peice. Normally I'm not a big fan of higher pitched vocals (note my love of Nick Cave and Tom Waits for example) but the guitars more than make up for it. And Hideo Takahashi was thrashing about on stage during solos and even ended up playing atop bar stools. Was more than happy to see this performance.

More on Sweet JAP, Birthday Suits and Divebomb Honey:

http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1301/article13851.asp

11/11 - Big V's

Friday night I went to Big V's for the Panty Huffers, All American Cheapshots and the Abusers. Stellar line up for a great night at Big V's. The Abusers opened and I haven't seen them since a show at the Terminal where they played with Plate O Shrimp. They were snowsuit clad, Hamm's hat wearing and in full force. The rock was strong and punk and made me realize how much it sucks that I haven't seen them in almost a year. Hope they do some more dates soon.

Next up were the Cheapshots. Pretty much everyone left the floor for this band which made me sad. They were having some sound issues, but I really like the All American Cheapshots. They're a good blend of the early 70s pre punk that I love and the greatness that is 80s Ramones style punk. Not to mention Chad is just a great great guy. He and his lady go on the greatest rock adventures and know everyone. Always have a good time with those people.

Last but not least the all might Panty Huffers. Rob of the Huffers is a crazy frontman who is all over the place and I love every minute of it. He walked the full bar, sang on University Ave in St. Paul with pants undone, writhes on the floor, visits the ladies room and stops ceiling fans with his head. Which is usually doable, but this night, there was some blood shed by one of the blades. They have pretty hardcore ceiling fans at Big V's. Pool table dancing and piggy back riding all over quick riffs and fun get you moving music, if you can keep from staring at Rob, aka peckerwood. I love the energy this band has and they're all around great entertainers. Looking forward to seeing them with Bloodcow and Black Strap in about two weeks.