Despite my lack of posts I've been keeping busy here in Austin. Here's a quick round up of shows I've been to this month.
Members of The Sword simultaneously combust in what's being called the greatest encore ever. May they rest in peace. The Sword is an Austin band that's huge in the metal scene (so I'm told). I caught the second night of their two sold out shows at
The Mohawk. I've never been to a legit metal show. My expectations were based purely on scenes from Spinal Tap. Fortunately, there weren't any midgets dancing around a little Stonehenge. However, it was loud, rocking, with a killer light show. All the ingredients for a good metal show, right? Most impressive thing about the show? It wasn't a total sausagefest. There a good number of ladies rocking out to The Sword. Who knew?
Jumbo Slice forces a cheesy smile. Next up was a taping of
Elvis Costello at
Austin City Limits. I've said it before and I'll say it agin: Nothing beats a taping of Austin City Limits. Sure, Elvis was playing bluegrass instead of punk rock and new wave but it was still fantastic. He has such great stage presence I'd watch him read the phonebook. Or play smooth jazz. Okay, maybe not but you get the point. Elvis is a legend.
Through the years Costello has dabbled in a variety of musical genres and he's quite at home playing bluegrass. Of course it helps when your backing band consists of world-class bluegrass musicians. These guys have more skills than your disc golf game (that's right, I'm talking to you hippie). For old times sake here's Elvis' infamous performance of "Radio, Radio" on Saturday Night Live:
For those unaware of the back story, Elvis was instructed by Columbia Records to play "Less Than Zero". Instead he played "Radio, Radio" which protests against the corporate interests of music studios and radio companies. You know, the whole stick it to "The Man" thing. By switching things up he pissed off the music executives and NBC. For years afterward he was unable to get on American TV.
Fruits Bats prove they aren't as lame as their name suggests. The Fruit Bats, lead by Eric D. Johnson, played at
Waterloo Records on Thursday afternoon. They ditched the stage and played busker-style on the floor. The stripped down performance had me very impressed. I had chalked The Fruit Bats up as a middle of the road soft-rock band (i.e. boring) but I was wrong. The songs were catchy, fun, and every bit as good as Johnson's other band,
The Shins. I'm officially now a Fruit Bats fan.
Matt Shiv asks, "Who's this jack-sniffer taking my picture? Finally, the big WOXY-comes-to-Austin Party was this weekend. I spent time boring
Matt Shiv, WOXY Music Director, with my favorite things about Austin and my theories about the evils of pants. The party featured free BBQ and excellent music. A nice start for what's sure to be a very successful move for
WOXY.