02-19-2010, 03:39 PM
I've seen a lot of live shows, but I've been slacking when it comes to posting about it. Since I last posted a review (in Nov?) I've been to quite a few. So here's a quick summary:
Nov 27 - Chris Velan - I saw that Kenny Schick was playing at a local Santa Cruz venue. I went to SJSU w/Kenny. He was in Dot 3 and we were part of the SJ underground music scene in the late '80s. I always want to support musicians coming to Santa Cruz cause I am getting sick of driving 1.5 hours to SF to see a show and then driving 1.5 hours back home. I got there (Cypress Lounge) and it was nearly empty. The people at the bar weren't there to see the show. Kenny and his wife Sabine are a guitar playing duo, akin to Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings. They opened and played some covers and some originals. They were ok. It seemed like they were still getting used to playing together...a little rough in patches, but definitely shows promise. Then there were these two guys from New York. Can't really describe them...not bad, but forgettable. Then this small bearded guy comes on. He's got this huge pile of effect on the floor. He starts banging out some loops and plays on top of it. At this point, I think there are 6 people in the bar outside of the other performers. This guy is amazing. Great songs/lyrics. Versatile...blew me away. Check him out if you get a chance.
Dec 10 - Sun Volt at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz - I've heard these guys on RadioParadise.com a few times. Country-tinged rock a la Wilco. The singer has a good sounding voice. I was going to go with a co-worker, but he didn't show. I wasn't familiar with any of the tunes, but I really enjoyed the show. Especially the pedal steel player, he was great!
Dec 28 - CvB & Cracker at the Independent SF - I didn't get to go to the Camper/Cracker Campout in October because I was busy with work. I've never seen Cracker and I'd been listening to a lot of old Camper at the time, so I was excited for this show. Ashwan Batish (Sitar player) was also on the bill and I figured he'd open. I went out to dinner with a friend, then had to run across town, find parking, then catch the show. When I got there, Camper had already started and I missed a couple of songs, but it was still fun. I found this great place to park over by the sound board on the right side of the stage. I could see really well and just hang out. Ashwan and son were the filler act. Yawn... Then Cracker came out. They played a bunch from their new release as well as some old stuff that I didn't recognize and a few that I did. For as succesful as Cracker is compared to Camper, I have to say that I wasn't impressed and I don't think I need to see them again. Yawn...Now I get to drive home...
Jan 8 - Dengue Fever at the Independent SF - I went with a co-worker. We stopped at Extreme Pizza in the Filmore to retest the walnut + pizza combo. It's a winner...next time I will try it with sauce. We headed over to the Independent and took forever to find a parking spot. We finally got in and the place was packed. The show had sold out. The opener was "Diegos Umbrella". Definitely a party band. Skilled musicians. Got everybody moving. There was a guy playing guitar who was obviously not the "band leader", but he stood out with an amazing voice. He's going to go places, even if it's not in this vehicle...Dengue Fever came on. We grabbed that same spot by the sound board. This time, I was right up against the stage. Zach (the guitar player) was arm's length away. They were awesome. I had the best time. Such a great show...
Jan 21 - California Guitar Trio at Don Quixote's in Felton - Yay! a local show...Tony Levin (King Crimson) was supposed to support, but he had a family emergency the night before and took a flight home. I've seen CGTrio a few times and I was hoping to catch them with Levin. Without him, it was a bit of a repeat of previous shows. I was over on the right side again, leaning on the stage. Don Quixote's doesn't have a backstage, so I was standing in the equivalent area, so the band was all around me tuning before they went on. They are accomplished musicians and it was a good show. During intermission I was accosted by a strange old lady who was trying to tell me that cell phones are deadly. She had a manila folder full of literature she was trying to push on me...During the second half, CGTrio played a cover of Pink Floyd's "Echoes". It's all instrumental, but they lyrics talk about the lonely albatross, so I thought of you DM...
Jan 22 - Ninja Academy at the Hemlock in SF - Another road trip. I'd never been there before. The stage area at the Hemlock is tiny. There was an opener. It was a guitar player/drummer duo. It was their last show as the drummer was leaving the band after 5 years. It was sort of punk/metal noise. Lyrics were angry chinese-american themed: "Fuck your ancient chinese secret. I will not do your laundry" etc.. Really tedious. I slogged through that. Then Ninja Academy came on. They played a great, but short set. There were two guys standing in front of me watching the bass player and were constantly blown away by his talent. They kept looking to each other and nodding in admiration. It was like guitar players watching Eddie van Halen for the first time. My friend Mark showed up at the end of their set and we left as soon as they finished so we could get some drinking done. Luckily I didn't have to drive back that night...
Jan 23 - Maids of Honor CD releas party at the Blank Club in SJ - This is John Barrett's current band. My whirlwind of concerts was starting to get to me. I was a little burned out, but when to this anyway. I got to see some old friends from the SJ music underground days including Mike Roman, the singer/guitarist/writer from my first band Number 9. I hadn't seen him in about 25 years, but it was like no time had passed. Very cool... There were a couple of opening bands, but I wasn't paying attention. I was socializing with friends. When the Maids came on, I was pretty tired. I watched about half of their set. I wasn't impressed. They seem to have a lot of rock cliches down and the crowd ate it up, but I felt like I wasn't part of the clique. On paper, they have a lot of talent: Greg Camp from Smash Mouth, Kelley and Lex from the Frontier Wives, and John. Lots of experience, but I didn't connect with it. I took off. I'll give them another chance. I hear that their song "Black and Blue" that they recorded for the Santa Cruz Derby Girls is going to be in an upcoming episode of Chuck.
Jan 24 - That1Guy at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz - Again, supporting local shows. I saw him last year at Moe's. This was almost the same show. I think being a one-man band and playing with pre-recorded tracks limits your ability to improvise, or re-tweak your show. Still, he's fun to watch. This year he added green lasers to the act.
Feb 7 - Matt the Electrician at some coffeeshop in Seaside - A friend turned me on to Matt. She went to high school with him in Pebble Beach, although now he hails from Austin. I saw him last year at the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz and I was impressed by his support guitarist Scrappy J Newcomb. It was a bit of a drive, but at least it was in the other direction. This was a hole in the wall venue and it took me a while to find. There was room for about 40 people and we had uncomfortable wooden folding chairs to sit on. There was a young tiny woman (kinda Linda Hunt-ish) who opened. The coffeeshop seemed like the perfect venue for her. Really passionate performance. She only did a few songs. Then Danny Malone from Austin performed. Another singer/guitar player. He lost his harmonica holder on the tour (this was the last day of their tour before they went back home to Austin), so he had this woman ("Pony") hold his harmonica durning half of his show. Here's a clip that sums up his performance: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://vimeo.com/6394053">http://vimeo.com/6394053</a><!-- m -->. Matt and Scrappy came on next. Good show, but they were definitely punchy. Also they were having some technical difficulties with the mics. One of the memorable songs was "Cubic Peas". Written as a response to an audience challenge. I can't remember all the lyrics, but something about bacon growing on bacon trees and drinking a glass of bacon...If Matt ever comes around, I'd recommend seeing him.
Feb 14 - Rickie Lee Jones at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz - Joey Maramba (bass player for Ninja Academy) is on tour with her right now. This was their second date of the tour. I'm trying to get NA to play some shows in Santa Cruz and I asked Joey to call me when he was in town so I could hook him up with all the contacts I have. He got me on the guest list, so I saw half her show (I was late cause I had to come over the hill from SJ). It was a weird show. It was just her, Joey on bass, and a drummer. They didn't seem practiced, but I found out later that Southwest Airlines lost their equipment that day and everything they had was rented. It was kind of like being at a rehearsal. She would call our directions to the drummer during the song. She would pick songs at random throwing off the band. Someone shouted out "Don't Fear the Reaper" and she started playing that, but she didn't know the lyrics. She hit her stride a few times and that was great, but it was a little uncomfortable at other times. The crowd was a lot older and I noticed not one person was holding up their cell phone taking pictures. I was glad I didn't pay to see her. The tix were over $30. After, I hooked up with the bass player and the drummer. We went out for beer. I hooked Joey up with the folks at the Crepe Place. I ended up hanging out with them until about 3am. I was glad Monday was a holiday...
Feb 18 - Chris Velan at Moe's Alley - I'd just seen Chris in Nov, and I debated going, but I decided to support local shows and went. He put on another amazing performance, this time to a large crowd. The headliner was ALO. I'd never heard of them, but they have a big following apparently. They seemed to appreciate Chris which was nice. Long break between acts which seems weird as their stuff was already setup on the stage and Chris doesn't hardly have any equipment to move out of the way. They came on and did a fun show. Another great party band. The guitarist is pretty amazing. He plays an acoustic, but he gets tremendous sound out of it. They seem like they'd play the festival circuit. They ended after about an hour. I headed out and saw Chris out front, so I said hi and chatted for a bit. I also met this guy Bill who owns Moe's Alley. It was cool talking. Then Chris said he had to go as he was joining them for the second set, so I went back in and watched that. Just as good as the first. He only played one song with them: "Boogie on Reggae Woman". Lots of fun...
That brings me up to date. Support live music!
upz: :prayer: :rock:
--tg
Nov 27 - Chris Velan - I saw that Kenny Schick was playing at a local Santa Cruz venue. I went to SJSU w/Kenny. He was in Dot 3 and we were part of the SJ underground music scene in the late '80s. I always want to support musicians coming to Santa Cruz cause I am getting sick of driving 1.5 hours to SF to see a show and then driving 1.5 hours back home. I got there (Cypress Lounge) and it was nearly empty. The people at the bar weren't there to see the show. Kenny and his wife Sabine are a guitar playing duo, akin to Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings. They opened and played some covers and some originals. They were ok. It seemed like they were still getting used to playing together...a little rough in patches, but definitely shows promise. Then there were these two guys from New York. Can't really describe them...not bad, but forgettable. Then this small bearded guy comes on. He's got this huge pile of effect on the floor. He starts banging out some loops and plays on top of it. At this point, I think there are 6 people in the bar outside of the other performers. This guy is amazing. Great songs/lyrics. Versatile...blew me away. Check him out if you get a chance.
Dec 10 - Sun Volt at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz - I've heard these guys on RadioParadise.com a few times. Country-tinged rock a la Wilco. The singer has a good sounding voice. I was going to go with a co-worker, but he didn't show. I wasn't familiar with any of the tunes, but I really enjoyed the show. Especially the pedal steel player, he was great!
Dec 28 - CvB & Cracker at the Independent SF - I didn't get to go to the Camper/Cracker Campout in October because I was busy with work. I've never seen Cracker and I'd been listening to a lot of old Camper at the time, so I was excited for this show. Ashwan Batish (Sitar player) was also on the bill and I figured he'd open. I went out to dinner with a friend, then had to run across town, find parking, then catch the show. When I got there, Camper had already started and I missed a couple of songs, but it was still fun. I found this great place to park over by the sound board on the right side of the stage. I could see really well and just hang out. Ashwan and son were the filler act. Yawn... Then Cracker came out. They played a bunch from their new release as well as some old stuff that I didn't recognize and a few that I did. For as succesful as Cracker is compared to Camper, I have to say that I wasn't impressed and I don't think I need to see them again. Yawn...Now I get to drive home...
Jan 8 - Dengue Fever at the Independent SF - I went with a co-worker. We stopped at Extreme Pizza in the Filmore to retest the walnut + pizza combo. It's a winner...next time I will try it with sauce. We headed over to the Independent and took forever to find a parking spot. We finally got in and the place was packed. The show had sold out. The opener was "Diegos Umbrella". Definitely a party band. Skilled musicians. Got everybody moving. There was a guy playing guitar who was obviously not the "band leader", but he stood out with an amazing voice. He's going to go places, even if it's not in this vehicle...Dengue Fever came on. We grabbed that same spot by the sound board. This time, I was right up against the stage. Zach (the guitar player) was arm's length away. They were awesome. I had the best time. Such a great show...
Jan 21 - California Guitar Trio at Don Quixote's in Felton - Yay! a local show...Tony Levin (King Crimson) was supposed to support, but he had a family emergency the night before and took a flight home. I've seen CGTrio a few times and I was hoping to catch them with Levin. Without him, it was a bit of a repeat of previous shows. I was over on the right side again, leaning on the stage. Don Quixote's doesn't have a backstage, so I was standing in the equivalent area, so the band was all around me tuning before they went on. They are accomplished musicians and it was a good show. During intermission I was accosted by a strange old lady who was trying to tell me that cell phones are deadly. She had a manila folder full of literature she was trying to push on me...During the second half, CGTrio played a cover of Pink Floyd's "Echoes". It's all instrumental, but they lyrics talk about the lonely albatross, so I thought of you DM...
Jan 22 - Ninja Academy at the Hemlock in SF - Another road trip. I'd never been there before. The stage area at the Hemlock is tiny. There was an opener. It was a guitar player/drummer duo. It was their last show as the drummer was leaving the band after 5 years. It was sort of punk/metal noise. Lyrics were angry chinese-american themed: "Fuck your ancient chinese secret. I will not do your laundry" etc.. Really tedious. I slogged through that. Then Ninja Academy came on. They played a great, but short set. There were two guys standing in front of me watching the bass player and were constantly blown away by his talent. They kept looking to each other and nodding in admiration. It was like guitar players watching Eddie van Halen for the first time. My friend Mark showed up at the end of their set and we left as soon as they finished so we could get some drinking done. Luckily I didn't have to drive back that night...
Jan 23 - Maids of Honor CD releas party at the Blank Club in SJ - This is John Barrett's current band. My whirlwind of concerts was starting to get to me. I was a little burned out, but when to this anyway. I got to see some old friends from the SJ music underground days including Mike Roman, the singer/guitarist/writer from my first band Number 9. I hadn't seen him in about 25 years, but it was like no time had passed. Very cool... There were a couple of opening bands, but I wasn't paying attention. I was socializing with friends. When the Maids came on, I was pretty tired. I watched about half of their set. I wasn't impressed. They seem to have a lot of rock cliches down and the crowd ate it up, but I felt like I wasn't part of the clique. On paper, they have a lot of talent: Greg Camp from Smash Mouth, Kelley and Lex from the Frontier Wives, and John. Lots of experience, but I didn't connect with it. I took off. I'll give them another chance. I hear that their song "Black and Blue" that they recorded for the Santa Cruz Derby Girls is going to be in an upcoming episode of Chuck.
Jan 24 - That1Guy at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz - Again, supporting local shows. I saw him last year at Moe's. This was almost the same show. I think being a one-man band and playing with pre-recorded tracks limits your ability to improvise, or re-tweak your show. Still, he's fun to watch. This year he added green lasers to the act.
Feb 7 - Matt the Electrician at some coffeeshop in Seaside - A friend turned me on to Matt. She went to high school with him in Pebble Beach, although now he hails from Austin. I saw him last year at the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz and I was impressed by his support guitarist Scrappy J Newcomb. It was a bit of a drive, but at least it was in the other direction. This was a hole in the wall venue and it took me a while to find. There was room for about 40 people and we had uncomfortable wooden folding chairs to sit on. There was a young tiny woman (kinda Linda Hunt-ish) who opened. The coffeeshop seemed like the perfect venue for her. Really passionate performance. She only did a few songs. Then Danny Malone from Austin performed. Another singer/guitar player. He lost his harmonica holder on the tour (this was the last day of their tour before they went back home to Austin), so he had this woman ("Pony") hold his harmonica durning half of his show. Here's a clip that sums up his performance: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://vimeo.com/6394053">http://vimeo.com/6394053</a><!-- m -->. Matt and Scrappy came on next. Good show, but they were definitely punchy. Also they were having some technical difficulties with the mics. One of the memorable songs was "Cubic Peas". Written as a response to an audience challenge. I can't remember all the lyrics, but something about bacon growing on bacon trees and drinking a glass of bacon...If Matt ever comes around, I'd recommend seeing him.
Feb 14 - Rickie Lee Jones at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz - Joey Maramba (bass player for Ninja Academy) is on tour with her right now. This was their second date of the tour. I'm trying to get NA to play some shows in Santa Cruz and I asked Joey to call me when he was in town so I could hook him up with all the contacts I have. He got me on the guest list, so I saw half her show (I was late cause I had to come over the hill from SJ). It was a weird show. It was just her, Joey on bass, and a drummer. They didn't seem practiced, but I found out later that Southwest Airlines lost their equipment that day and everything they had was rented. It was kind of like being at a rehearsal. She would call our directions to the drummer during the song. She would pick songs at random throwing off the band. Someone shouted out "Don't Fear the Reaper" and she started playing that, but she didn't know the lyrics. She hit her stride a few times and that was great, but it was a little uncomfortable at other times. The crowd was a lot older and I noticed not one person was holding up their cell phone taking pictures. I was glad I didn't pay to see her. The tix were over $30. After, I hooked up with the bass player and the drummer. We went out for beer. I hooked Joey up with the folks at the Crepe Place. I ended up hanging out with them until about 3am. I was glad Monday was a holiday...
Feb 18 - Chris Velan at Moe's Alley - I'd just seen Chris in Nov, and I debated going, but I decided to support local shows and went. He put on another amazing performance, this time to a large crowd. The headliner was ALO. I'd never heard of them, but they have a big following apparently. They seemed to appreciate Chris which was nice. Long break between acts which seems weird as their stuff was already setup on the stage and Chris doesn't hardly have any equipment to move out of the way. They came on and did a fun show. Another great party band. The guitarist is pretty amazing. He plays an acoustic, but he gets tremendous sound out of it. They seem like they'd play the festival circuit. They ended after about an hour. I headed out and saw Chris out front, so I said hi and chatted for a bit. I also met this guy Bill who owns Moe's Alley. It was cool talking. Then Chris said he had to go as he was joining them for the second set, so I went back in and watched that. Just as good as the first. He only played one song with them: "Boogie on Reggae Woman". Lots of fun...
That brings me up to date. Support live music!
upz: :prayer: :rock: --tg
