OUT!!!! Just in time for SPARKcon...

I'll tell you. Jail is not fun. Not the least bit. Next time, I'll make sure I have friends with money - who can buy me a good lawyer.

This rock I've been living under put a damper on my concert reviews.

I've been in a coma?

My family finally found me in the mental hospital. It took them a while to convince the doctors i really am OK...if I take my medication.

I...I...yeah, I drink too much and got lazy. I have a problem with following through with things.


I've been to a lot of fantabulous shows here in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. Too many to name.

Hey! GUESS WHAT?! SPARKcon is kicking off Thursday, September 17th...thru Sunday, September 20th. While I would love to attend every musical endeavor of this lovely weekend, i can't. I'm only one person (Ithink).

Here's my plan:

THURSDAY:
Slims - Knockout Roses and Revolutionary Sweethearts
Tir Na Nog - Local Beer/Local Band - Aminal, the Jackets, Starmount and Bright Young Things

I've seen 5 of these 6 bands before and trust me - you're in for a treat. Knockout Roses is the newest formation. They'll all look familiar to you. You'll recognize Dan, Lawson and Nick from Nathan Asher & the Infantry and Jane and Stefan from Overproof. I caught this firey group at the Berkeley for their debut show. Richard Bacchus and the Luckiest Girls opened for them. It was tit-alating.
I caught Aminal at the Local 506 many moons ago. I dig em. They have their own style, which these days, is kind of fading away. Like I said, I dig em.

FRIDAY:
Main Stage on Fayetteville St - Blue Marble Beat and Shawn Deena
Pour House - Old Ceremony

I think the first thing I'm going to do after leaving the corporate time clock at 5pm is head over to the Morning Times for an iced latte and walk down Fayetteville St. to the stage to check out what I can of Blue Marble Beat and Shawn Deena. I caught Shawn at the Pour House months back and I was inpressed. I just listened to his recordings on his Myspace, and I do have to say, they do the man no justice. He's better live - even with the sweat glistening on his head.

SATURDAY:
Slims - Richard Bacchus and the Luckiest Girls, Rat Jackson and The Infamous Sugar
Dear God. Save me now. I already can see this being a kick ass rock show. Ricky Bacchus & TLG always make me swoon. Rat Jackson with their naughty little lyrics always makes me cream in my panties and The Infamous Sugar - well, he's a shit-talking badass. Check em. Plan on skipping church and sleeping in Sunday morning.

SUNDAY: (yeah, it's not over yet, baby)
Slims - Death to Details and Left Outlet
Will it be crazy, over the top? Or plain jane. You never know with Left Outlet. I do dig the new tunes they've been cranking out lately. Who cares about work Monday morning. Call in sick.


So that's it for right now. I promise I won't be a stranger...for tooooooooo terribly long.

XoXo

Raleigh Undercover IS UNDERWAY!!!!!!

Last night was amazing! Seriously, the energy was unreal and the crowd ate every second of it.

Embarrassing Fruits - Pavement
Bright Young Things - Oasis
The Whalewatchers - INXS
Left Outlet - Queen
Valient Thorr - Funkadelic

Chris Tamplin gets a thumbs up for this event. AWESOME show!!!

Nothing is more of a bore...

than a band that just stands on stage. Do something besides stand with your feet glued to one spot. Look like you are at least having fun please. K?! Thanks!

On the subject of just live shows, here are a couple other things I've noticed that I don't appreciate:

3 bands on the line-up...that's awesome! Grab a couple beers...rock out in the crowd...When the first band is done...swap out the gear (come on, 15 minutes or less)...second band hits the stage...and the first band is out the door...WTF?! Why not at least catch the band you are playing with and support them? I just think this shows poor musicianship. Thoughts?

Is it really all about getting paid? Whatever happened to "for the love of music?"

Seriously...I'd like some input here...especially if you are in a band....

The Huguenots, Static Minds, the magic babies - 12.5.2008

Slims....Friday night...complete and utter honesty in this post.

The Huguenots started the night out. They hail from Chapel Hill and this was my first time seeing them. Honestly, I was not impressed. Their crowd booked it out the door when they were finished playing. Must have had a tea party at Top o' the Hill to attend to...understandable. I'm stereotyping when I say this...they had Chapel Hill written all over them...looked it...and smelled it. I don't normally like to say I'll never see them again but too poppy for me. Everything sounded the same. It was nice to see the instruments changing hands a couple times between the bass player and the 2 guitarists...but, not my type of jams.

Static Minds next on the list. Yay!!! First show for them. Of course, these guys are not new to the scene, but this band was awesome. Pieced together from the Suburban Sweethearts, minus Joe Yerry, plus Andy Kerr, these guys totally rocked. I liked the Sweethearts, but this is definitely a great project. I will definitely be keeping up with them! and you should too...

The last band of the evening: the magic babies. This was my second time seeing them. I caught them a couple weeks ago at Tir na Nog, and, again, not impressed. Here's my thoughts on them - and yes, I actually took notes while they were playing. First off - I think they sound like whining girls playing "safe" rock. The drummer definitely is an energetic player - the others in the band - not so much. When I saw them at Tir na Nog, I told my friends that I was with this "So, if the Scooby Doo Gang made a band....this would totally be them." A friend of mine made a reference to Squeeze. I halfway agree - but, I kind of like Squeeze. Anyways, I was bored at both shows. Maybe I'm being brutal, but at least it's honesty.

Two good things from the night - Static Minds and Chris Serino behind the bar.

Check these babies out...

Not a review - but, a selection of shows that you should try to fit in your schedule.

12/11 - The Luckiest Girls @ Slim's (Raleigh)
12/12 - Pink Flag, Ex-Monkeys & Cantwell, Gomez and Jordan @ Pizza Palace (Durham)
12/13 - Dry Heathens, Pink Flag @ Alivia's (Durham)
12/13 - Princess and the Criminals @ Slims (Raleigh)
12/13 - The Pneurotics @ The Pinhook (Durham)
12/14 - The Luckiest Girls, Birds of Avalon @ Lincoln Theater (Raleigh)
12/15 - The Future Kings of Nowhere @ Cat's Cradle (Carrboro)
12/17 - Pink Flag, Secada @ Marvell Event Center (Durham)
12/18 - Left Outlet, Dirty Little Heaters @ The Pour House (Raleigh)
12/20 - The Virgo 9 @ Nightlight (Chapel Hill)
12/20 - Patty Hurst Shifter @ Slims (Raleigh)
12/26 - American Aquarium @ Tir na Nog (Raleigh)
12/31 - Red Collar, Hammer No More the Fingers, Kerbloki @ Local 506 (Chapel Hill)
1/2 - Western Civ @ The Cave (Chapel Hill)
1/8 - Ex-Monkeys @ The Pour House (Raleigh)
1/8 - Pink Flag @ The Pinhook (Durham)
1/16 - Pink Flag *Women's Caucus Rape Crisis Benefit* @ Arts Center (Chapel Hill)
1/23 - The T's @ Slims (Raleigh)
1/29 - Hammer No More the Fingers @ Tir na Nog (Raleigh)
2/13 - The Virgo 9 @ Armadillo Grill (Durham)
2/17 - A Rooster for the Masses @ The Cave (Chapel Hill)
2/21 - A Rooster for the Masses @ The Pinhook (Durham)
3/7 - The Virgo 9, Dirty Little Heaters @ The Pinhook (Durham)

Rat Jackson, A Rooster for the Masses - 11.15.2008

HELL YES!

I've seen Rat Jackson multiple times and I love them. If you are their friend on Myspace, I hope you read their bulletins. Insane. Lots of dick jokes, references about your mom and sister - hilarity. These guys support the local scene too. I've seen the members out at shows in the area and I love seeing musicians support each other! Makes my heart melt and makes me want to stick my dick in 'em. How about that?! Their set was great. Energetic boys. I picked up their CD a couple months back and I like it. Beer and Rat Jackson Good Times band go hand in hand. I definitely suggest checking them out in the new year. I will definitely remind you.

A Rooster for the Masses - I was new to them this month. I definitely have heard of them before but never made it to any of their shows. Let's just say, I made it to all their shows this week. 3 total. Pour House, Troika and then The Cave...I just gave myself away, now didn't I? Shhhhh....please! I picked up their new album - Broken Era - at Troika and it's still in my cd changer. Catchy tunes, sweet riffs, and energetic rock. I dig it! The Cave was a little small for their sound, but I still enjoyed the show. Their Pour House show was fantastical, which was their Raleigh CD release show. Their next scheduled show in the area is February 17th at The Cave. Mark it on your calendar. Better yet, I'll remind you as it gets closer.



I love being introduced to new rock in the area. I'll catch other shows of any genre too, but lean more to the rockNroll side of life.

A Tinn Djinn & Left Outlet - 10.30.2008

I expected a good time, but experienced a great time. Another fantastic WKNC 88.1 Local Beer/Local Band show at the lovely Tir na Nog. This was my first time being ascquainted with A Tinn Djinn on the stage and I must say I was impressed. A few friends have told me I needed to see them and I loved what I saw. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing those boys again. But on to the main act.


Left Outlet with the Rocky Horror Picture Show theme. I adore them. I'm probably giving my "under cover author-ness" away with this one but, Left Outlet is definitely my favorite local band here in Raleigh. I haven't missed a show of theirs in months and unless I'm on my death bed I will not miss a show, but then again, what better way to die then to be lulled to death by beautiful people and their art. The one thing I enjoy about Left Outlet is they don't sound like Raleigh...Left Outlet has their own sound and they do what they please. The set list was an array of new songs. I had a set list, but my dumb, drunk ass left it on the bar with pieces of a drum. From memory though, the only older songs played were Prudence, The Artist and Call Me the Moon. If you've never been to a Left Outlet show, you must...A Fine Line is my new favorite song. The reason - just watch Tim sing it. I heard them play this song earlier in the week and I actually was moved by it. I don't know the lyrics, I don't know the meaning behind this song but I was wowed...this song feels and breathes. I can't think of the words to even begin to describe the sensation I felt watching Tim and the rest of the boys during this song. Wow... While rummaging through Youtube, I ran across this video from someone who apparently likes to shoot ass footage. Left Outlet - Tir Na Nog

If you've never seen Left Outlet, you need to. Mark my words.

If you've seen Left Outlet and it's been a while, give it another try. There's a newness here. If you aren't impressed, let me know. Next show - December 18th, 2008 - The Pour House Music Hall. Be there.


I will try to not be a slacker when posting my thoughts about shows. I promise.

Happy Turkey Day to all!