+ my head reels in the beautiful mess.
sorry, my horoscope said something about me not being at a loss for words.
sex mob, will bernard, scott amendola | 7.5 | gamh : jazz all over the map night. sex mob is a mix of preservation hall, soul, funk + damn near indie rock. are they the next lounge lizards? i don't know, but they're definitely fishing with john. will bernard has played with many + he's got a purty guitar. scott amendola played at my friend's wedding. guts loves you, shillie.
teenage fanclub | 7.20+21 | slim's : scottish indie popsters. they laid the groundwork for the sound you hear from the verve + the foo fighters. of course that's not a new sound in its ownright...
alejandro escovedo | 7.21 | BotH : one of my favorite singer songwriters from austin. played in the nuns back in sf's punk days (the real ones back in the 70s i mean). then rank+file then led one of the most powerful guitar armies i ever saw, (the) true believers. then he put out a few introspective folky sounding albums. now in concert you're never sure what persona he'll take on. he can turn on a dime from motor city nose hair singing punk to orchestral bliss to soulful country. his voice is a drone. his voice is five hearts breaking.
'the sky's a fire just waiting to die + his heart's as empty as a dead man's eye. she held his hand, looked him in the eye + said, believe, believe + everything will be fine.'
glenn tilbrook | 7.24 | slim's : not sure if this is the lennon or the mccartney from squeeze. o.k. actually i do know. their writing process is actually more jagger/richards (tilbrook being the lyricist) but the songs were more beatles (prior to bob dylan's ripping their pop stance to shreds). this is billed as an acoustic show promoting his solo album, so who knows if he'll play any squeeze hits. probably will.
'the stain on my notebook says nothing to me.'
spoon | 7.25 | gamh : i will be front + center at this band. saw them at bimbo's a few months back for the first time in years. i was expecting to hear their first album which is heavily 'surfer rosa' pixies. they played only one or two songs from that album, so i only knew half of what they played + the new stuff blew me away. costello, pixies, kinks, just a brilliant pop/punk writer. do not miss this band. they blew superchunk off the stage. from austin + i'm homesick.
'don't say a word, the last one's still stinging. back of my mind, i hear that phone ringing. + there is no way back from this. everything hits at once.'
robert walter's 20th congress | 7.27+28 | gamh : walter played keys at a show i went to recently. he was the only one in the lineup i hadn't heard of. now i know. he held his ground with charlie hunter, fred wesley + mike clark. never heard his band, but it should prove to be solid. 2% jazz. 98% funky stuff.
dismemberment plan | 7.29 | BotH : talk about all over the map, these guys can go from rage against the machine to xtc to primus to super furry animals, sometimes in one song.
area:one fest | 7.31 | shoreline : moby, new order, outkast, the roots, the orb, paul oakenfold, timo maas, rinocerose. all i can say is there better be a lot of sunblock on sale. the fans of most of these guys i doubt rarely see the sun.
the gossip | 8.1 | gamh : i saw this band open for sleater-kinney. a trio, if i remember correctly. the lead singer was probably 20. wearing fishnet hose, a skirt to make ally mcbeall blush + dern near falling out of her top. 5 feet tall. 200 pounds. so here's this buxome woman endlessly bouncing around on stage. at first it was fellini in its absurdity. then it was uplifting, fun + downright beautiful to see a woman proud of her girth with no care as to how she eeked out of her clothes. the music was 3 chords + nice turns of phrases.
everclear | 8.1 | warfield : i can't make up my mind on these guys. one minute i think they're great, the next i think they're horrendous. i wish they would stabilize. never seen them live.
cowboy junkies | 8.4 | warfield : at least they turned a lot of people on to townes van zandt before he died. again i have mixed feelings for this band. that first album is pretty good, though.
stevie nicks | 8.14+15 | outdoor thingies : stand back. one of my favorite lines in 'sid and nancy' is when nancy sees herself in a storefront display...
jim carroll | 8.15 | gamh : the basketball diaries author. considered to be the punk poet laureate, but i think patti smith or lou reed could take him.
erykah badu | 8.17 | chronicle pavilion : i've embarassed myself enough salivating over this woman. bald is sexy too.
previously mentioned:
pink martini | 6.25+27 | gamh
radiohead | 6.27 | shoreline
ex w/ black heart procession | 6.27 @ BotH | 6.28 @ GAMH
mr t experience | 6.29 | slim's
michelle shocked | 6.29 | fillmore
kool keith | 6.30 | maritime
the derailers | 6.30 | slim's
red house painters | 7.1 | GAMH
bebel gilberto | 7.5+6 | bimbo's
ani difranco | 7.6 | greek theater
trilok gurtu | 7.06 | justice league
shuggie otis | 7.7 | fillmore
peter himmelman | 7.8 | gamh
air | 7.9+10 | warfield
mike doughty | 7.11 | gamh
nina simone | 7.11 | paramount
quasi | 7.11 | BotH
trey anastasio | 7.13 | greek theatre
the white stripes | 7.14@bimbo's 7.15@gamh
sade | 7.17+18 | those damn outdoor theaters
shawn colvin | 7.21 | fillmore
jerry jeff walker | 7.22 | GAMH
echo + the bunnymen | 7.22 | fillmore
lucinda williams | 7.26+27 | warfield
warren zevon | 7.26 | fillmore
jill scott | 7.27 | greek theatre
jonathan richman | 7.28 | BotH
mark eitzel | 7.30 | gamh
roxy music | 8.5 | chronicle pavilion
dwight yoakum | 8.22+23 | fillmore
madonna | 9.5 | arena in oakland
smokey robinson | 9.15 | chronicle pavilion
widespread panic | 10.12-13 | greek theatre
open your mouth + let the butterflies out
isaac hayes | 6.22 | paramount oakland : sorry i'm so late on this one. i just saw it today. this is a tribute show to gordon parks, the man behind the shaft movie (he's also got an exhibit of his photography at the oakland museum). ya damn skippy. shut yo mouth.
trilok gurtu | 7.06 | justice league : gurtu is an indian jazz percussionist who fuses indian ragas with african + american jazz. this show should be filled with mesmerizing talent.
quasi | 7.11 | BotH : sam coomes + janet weiss. sam was in heatmiser with elliott smith. janet's the drummer for sleater-kinney. together they sound a bit like elliott smith fueled by a cacophony of grinding punk + almost cheesy synths. it works. well.
echo + the bunnymen | 7.22 | fillmore : go ahead. take your best shot. shoogah keessessss...
warren zevon | 7.26 | fillmore : sorry i'm saving my breath for the next one.
jonathan richman | 7.28 | BotH : (give paris one more chance) about ten months ago, at a time when i really needed it, a good friend introduced me to the poetry of hafez, an old sufist poet from persia. so we went to the bookstore + i picked up a collection. he told me during our walk outof the store that hafez's poetry is often used in persia for guidance. you would open the book + whatever poem you land on has a message that you need to hear. so i did, + was stunned. the poem, though wide sweeping in scope (not like grandma's refrigerator poetry, mind you), was filled with incredible detail and things that seemed incredibly personal to me. i have yet to put that book on a shelf. so several months ago i go see jonathan at the make out room. now i've been a fan for a long time, seen him several. every time i see him, he plays at least four new songs that are incredible. i kind of got the feeling that if modern america had anyone similar to hafez, this guy is it. you will always smile at a jonathan richman show. he is life affirming. but the reason he's so much fun is not because he only writes about flippant good time stuff. though he does do that, but he also searches deep in the core for painful things + renders them in a way that you realize that there is beauty there. besides you can tell he is having a ball with it. last time i saw him i was 15 feet from him. several new songs that floored me. one in particular in which he stared straight at me smiling through the whole song. exactly the song i needed to hear. he hasn't recorded it.
if you don't know of him + are curious as to what he sounds like, he was the minstrel in 'something about mary.' he has such a thick boston accent that there are times when he almost needs subtitles. he plays a hollow body gibson + often takes it off (which means there is no music playing) so he can dance around onstage. ...with no music playing.
dwight yoakum | 8.22+23 | fillmore : mainstream country friggin' sucks. how this guy made it in there i don't know.
previously mentioned:
lloyd cole | 6.21 | slim's
ron sexsmith | 6.22 | gamh
supersuckers w/m.i.r.v. | 6.22+23 | slim's
me'shell ndegÈocello | 6.23+24 | justice league
guided by voices | 6.24 | fillmore
pink martini | 6.25+27 | gamh
radiohead | 6.27 | shoreline
ex w/ black heart procession | 6.27 @ BotH | 6.28 @ GAMH
mr t experience | 6.29 | slim's
michelle shocked | 6.29 | fillmore
kool keith | 6.30 | maritime
the derailers | 6.30 | slim's
red house painters | 7.1 | GAMH
bebel gilberto | 7.5+6 | bimbo's
ani difranco | 7.6 | greek theater
shuggie otis | 7.7 | fillmore
peter himmelman | 7.8 | gamh
air | 7.9+10 | warfield
mike doughty | 7.11 | gamh
nina simone | 7.11 | paramount
trey anastasio | 7.13 | greek theatre
the white stripes | 7.14@bimbo's 7.15@gamh
sade | 7.17+18 | those damn outdoor theaters
shawn colvin | 7.21 | fillmore
jerry jeff walker | 7.22 | GAMH
lucinda williams | 7.26 | warfield
jill scott | 7.27 | greek theatre
mark eitzel | 7.30 | gamh
roxy music | 8.5 | chronicle pavilion
madonna | 9.5 | arena in oakland
smokey robinson | 9.15 | chronicle pavilion
widespread panic | 10.12-13 | greek theatre
dave alvin w/peter case | 6.8 | slim's : i've mentioned peter before. one of my favorites. dave alvin (blasters, x) is firmly entrenched in roots rock.
billy joe shaver | 6.15 | BotH : this guy is a country music legend. up there with willie, waylon + merle. very honest singer songwriter with a maimed finger. "i've been to georgia on a fast train, honey. i wasn't born no yesterday. i got a good christian raising + an eight grade education, i see no reason for y'all to be treating me this way."
supersuckers w/m.i.r.v. | 6.22+23 | slim's : loud + blazing show.
pink martini | 6.25+27 | gamh : jazz, samba, cabaret, swing from ...oregon. how hip are you?
the derailers | 6.30 | slim's : these guys were just beginning to rip up the austin scene when i left. straight ahead honky tonk bakersfield style swing in the tradition of buck owens.
peter himmelman | 7.8 | gamh : i haven't seen him in a while, but he's a talented pop songwriter. do not request 'freebird'. he will play it in its entirety.
mike doughty | 7.11 | gamh : the soul coughing guy. step aside + let the man go through. let the man go through.
trey anastasio | 7.13 | greek theatre - berk : i'm not even gonna attempt to describe this phish guy, for fear that one of you is a really big fan. bring a gas mask or a lot of febreeze.
the white stripes | 7.14@bimbo's 7.15@gamh : mentioned before. one guy, one girl. drums + guitar. poppy mod.
lucinda williams | 7.26 | warfield : my wall-eyed baby. when i worked at the cactus, lucinda once walked up to me + said, "you have an adorable smile." i smiled for about a month after that. oh yeah, her music... blues based country. great lyrics + a great voice. "if only for a minute or two, i wanna know what it feels like to be without you. i wanna feel the touch of my own skin, against the sun, against the wind."
jill scott | 7.27 | greek theatre -berk : jill scott started out with the roots. great soul hip-hop artist. honest songs. not quite, but damn near close to erykah + lauryn.
previously mentioned shows:
tortoise | 06.05+06 | fillmore
howe gelb | 6.6 | gamh
rickie lee jones | 6.7 | bimbo's
del mccoury band | 6.12 | GAMH
spain | 6.13 | BotH
blake babies | 06.15 | gamh
michael franti + spearhead | 6.15 | fillmore
built to spill | 6.16-19 | slim's
ron sexsmith | 6.22 | gamh
guided by voices | 6.24 | fillmore
radiohead | 6.27 | shoreline
ex w/ black heart procession | 6.27 @ BotH | 6.28 @ GAMH
mr t experience | 6.29 | slim's
michelle shocked | 6.29 | fillmore
kool keith | 6.30 | maritime
red house painters | 7.1 | GAMH
bebel gilberto | 7.5+6 | bimbo's
ani difranco | 7.6 | greek theater
air | 7.9+10 | warfield
nina simone | 7.11 | paramount
sade | 7.17+18 | those damn outdoor theaters
jerry jeff walker | 7.22 | GAMH
mark eitzel | 7.30 | gamh
roxy music | 8.5 | chronicle pavilion
madonna | 9.5 | arena in oakland
smokey robinson | 9.15 | chronicle pavilion
widespread panic | 10.12-13 | greek theatre
