Jan 31
DaraJazz
an unnamed banjo player opened (Carousel Lounge…) – a shabby fellow totally entranced with himself – actually played several rootsy instruments, was really excited to see Bee vs. Moth because described as ska, post-punk, jazz, etc. but after being two hours late they were definitely more jazz than the two former, I didn’t stay for the majority of the show so may be an unfair judgment, they were a hopped up Miles Davis, very freeform, assume they’re good musicians, need to see again
Jan 31
DaraCountry, Folk, Gypsy, Jazz, Singer/Songwriter, Surf Rock
this is not who played (Carousel Lounge!), was a lone middle-aged cowboy with a posse of three young girls and more of a moody rock aura than country, struck me as a singer/songwriter whose songs you know are good if only he had a band backing him and somebody who could sing except that he could sing, he had an unimposing scruffy whining voice, especially liked him because he incorporated so many sounds: jazz, country, swing, rock, gypsy, surf, his rebel songs were kind of embarrassing because I just didn’t buy it
Jan 16
DaraAmbient, Prog Rock, Psychedelic
pleasant surprise because have had their CD courtesy of BestGirlfriend’s ExHusband for years and have always liked it, reminiscent of my personal gods: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, found their live show captivating though may have just been suiting my mood, baseball-hatted man crouched over his pedal steel and glancing at a laptop (the source of the undertone of wind and drone I guess) convinced me of the versatility of the pedal steel by making it whine and wail in ways very counter to last band, accompanied by a drummer who managed to make his slow slightly off-kilter tempo look intense, basically a more ambient version of the proggy psych-metal that I really enjoy, I spent the set daydreaming about the darkness that must inhabit these two men, they’re probably frat boys.
Jan 16
DaraJazz
three Hawaiian-shirted guys and one obnoxious self-obsessed gypsy girl, big tatted upright bass for a tatted man, pedal steel (theme of the night), mini guitar for the gypsy girl, steel-plated guitar, jangly Hawaiian jazz swing, pretttty basic but I guess that’s the point, did one super fast song that was impressive, in the end the gypsy girl had a nice voice to complement the male vocalist, kept making me think of those old movies…
Jan 12
DaraPunk
Heather Rae’s lover Shannon was playing bass – odd to see him out of his cowboy hat and in punk mode, the lead singer was a crowd motivator and maneuvered some kind of red-sea-divide of the crowd though with no purpose that I could see, joyous and young, even some half-hearted crowd diving
Jan 12
DaraPunk, Rockabilly
Irish punk mixed with Texas rockabilly, distinctive because had a banjo and a fiddle, the fiddler was the only bandmember with a mohawk and we joked that his unmanly instrument drove him to it, good band
Jan 12
DaraPunk
straightforward punk rock band, singer had incongruent shades on, mostly cringing at the young crowd – actually not as bad as it normally is
Jan 09
DaraGarage Rock, Southern Rock
this really disturbing lead singer, not an ounce of pretension, wearing a white v-neck sweater with trim on the neck and cut-off sleeves with a vest, sizeable nose, seemed an excellent guitar player, couldn’t quite put my finger on music genre, quality but not really interesting, little swampy maybe?
Jan 09
DaraArt Rock
tribal drums, some groove, but all energy concentrated on taking the pop out through stop-start punkish vocals or straight screaming, so I dub it art rock, verging on good
Jan 09
DaraModern Rock, New Wave
11PM band: was supposed to be Tia Carrera but was this horrid geek band, two on guitar, one screecher on keyboards and the worst: a silly jouncy girl singing (just as the lame girl ruined WT Special), they were like those bands with exclamation points in their name, harder than you expect but then all childish and punctuated with little yells
Jan 09
DaraHard Rock, Prog Rock
10PM band: kid on drums and a kid on guitar, boring version of Tia Carrera, stupid spoken word loops that were too rapesque to be part of their show, they weren’t bad – they just weren’t Tia
Jan 09
DaraDelta Blues, Punk
there is absolutely no record of this band, played two jumpy blues songs with the morphed voice to make him sound old and black so basically a total Scott H. Biram rip-off though he does have a whole band to back him, I think he’s the guy who used to have a tidy little Mohawk and a cute girlfriend whom he was an ass too, the third song was of course rockabilly and then I left
Jan 05
DaraCountry, Rock and Roll, Southern Rock, Texas Blues
didn’t want to go, didn’t want to go, typically a venue for country/blues for the 40-something set and 45 minutes out of Austin, DrummingNeighbor did research for me and said that he’s got a great voice (truck commercial style) but that his songs are constructed on the country standard (not so great), he was good, too much of the Stevie Ray Vaughn Texas blues but sometimes would noodle in very pleasing southern rock manner, everything was gravelly (voice, guitar) and high quality
Jan 04
DaraHard Rock, Heavy Metal
pretty exciting, hard rock, darling little moustachioed long haired guitarist straight out of the 70s rock scene, metal with brains
Jan 04
DaraGarage Rock
also a big Austin name, straightforward traditional garage rock, a good band
Jan 04
DaraCountry, Folk
one of the more recognizable names on the set tonight but they were horrid, one song was too much, mealy-mouthed country rock, maybe it was the lead singer that annoyed me in his teddy bear beardedness and casual-conscious hippie-folk wear – for example on their MySpace page each band member is referred to as “Brother so and so” and “Sister so and so”
Jan 04
DaraBlues, Funk
a testament to the diversity and quality that my favorite venue was offering for free week, chaos ensued from this point on but it was a string of be-horned guys doing funk-blues, possibly in a line and stepping in unison as if it were 1965
Jan 04
DaraAmbient, Hard Rock, Indie Rock, Psychedelic
fantastic, melodic droners in the tradition of Morphine and Beta Band with an undercurrent of Black Sabbath riffs and Tia Carrera depth, describe themselves as psychedelic – shoegazer – garage, sexy chick bassist, deceptively small-boy lead vocalist had powerful voice, maybe Brian Jonestown Massacre too
Jan 04
DaraPunk
nice range of punk from old school to contemporary pop punk, unexpected intensity from three otherwise unassuming boys
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