Tuesday, June 26, 2001

breath held, my heart expands

+ 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