In case you missed it--and judging by the crowd jimmied into the newly reopened Trees, not many did--The Toadies celebrated the release of Hell Below/Stars Above on March 20 and 21. (The expiration date on jokes has officially passed.) Not sure what went down at the second shindig, but on Tuesday night, after the band finished its set--heavy on HB/SA material, obviously, with a handful of older tunes thrown in--the fans who stuck around were treated to another set of Toadies songs, this time performed by a number of local bands. The highlights: Legendary Crystal Chandelier's low-key "Pressed Against the Sky," Chomsky's Scooby Doo version of "Plane Crash" (with plenty of zoinks thrown in), "Tyler," as performed by members of Red Animal War and [DARYL], as well as mini-sets by the pAper chAse and Baboon, among others.
You may have a chance to hear some of them again: Douglas Martin of Rio Grande Mud, which is a kick-ass, all-Texas-all-the-time Internet radio station located at www.riograndemud.com, was trying to see if anyone was recording the show so he could add the cover songs into rotation. (Don't count on it, though.) The Toadies eventually took the stage again at the end of the night for a few covers of their own (The Pixies' "Where is My Mind" and The Reverend Horton Heat's "400 Bucks"), as well as "Tornado," featuring bassist Lisa Umbarger's pop on vocals. A good time was had by all. Except, of course, the people who didn't show...
It's harder to organize an anti-Fry Street Fair festival than you might imagine. Or, actually, it's probably not. Whatever the case, the organizers for F$$$ The Fair, and just guess what those dollar signs stand for, have run into a bit of trouble with their attempts to start a free, all-ages get-together on April 21--the same day as Fry Street--to protest what they believe to be high ticket prices and exclusionary booking practices. F$$$ The Fair's first location, The Shack, has now decided not to allow the show to happen on the premises.
A new location has been secured, though Alex Karchevsky, a member of Clutch Cargo and one of the FTF organizers, isn't ready to disclose it just yet. "We are keeping it under our hats for just a little while longer in order to keep the Delta Lodge from trying anymore dirty tricks," Karchevsky says via e-mail. He alleges that the Delta Lodge, which puts together FSF every year, had something to do with The Shack's decision. (We never heard back from the folks at the Lodge.) "Personally, I find it amusing that the Delta Lodge is so threatened by us putting on a free, all-ages show so much that they have to resort to dirty tricks to try to shut us down. All we want to do is put on a free Kick Ass Rock Show." No telling what will happen as the date nears, but it should be an interesting weekend in Denton...
Speaking of which, there will be a Mulberry Street Fair this year as well, and you knew it was only a matter of time before the original anti-Fry Street fest got involved. According to one of the organizers, Samantha Moss, the infamous Yellow House in Denton--just around the corner from Fry Street--will host a full schedule of Denton bands on April 21, and yes, it will be free. Other than that, don't expect much news until just before it happens "due to busy school schedules and a finely tuned ability to wait until the last minute." Wouldn't have it any other way...
Just like Red Animal War, whose appearance on a Deep Elm Records compilation turned into a great new full-length for the label (Breaking in an Angel--get it!), Slowride's inclusion on Deep Elm's Emo Diaries series has blossomed into a forthcoming album on the North Carolina-based label. Both bands will play together on March 31 at Bar of Soap before Slowride heads out for an April tour. Following that, Slowride is off to the studio to record the long-player in question. No surprise that a label named Deep Elm would strike up a relationship with a couple of bands from Deep Ellum. OK, that probably went without saying. We can't help ourselves. We're weak...
Glen Reynolds and Mark Hughes will pull double duty on March 30 when Weener and Bluh--their tribute bands to, uh, Weezer and Blur, respectively--both perform at Trees. (Macavity opens, and as far as we can tell, it's not a tribute act to anyone.) Reynolds says the band may attempt to learn the Christmas song Weezer released (duh!) late last year (titled, we believe, "The Christmas Song"), but since the band hasn't played in a while, and since he and Hughes also have to remember a full set of Blur songs, we wouldn't bet on it. You never know, however. We do know that [DARYL]'s Dave Wilson will be sitting in with Weener on keyboards for the night. No word, though, on whether anyone in Weener plans to grow a bad cop mustache for the occasion, since that's the look various members of Weezer have been sporting in recent weeks. We hope not...
From what we've heard, when the Psychedelic Furs' reunion tour hits Dallas and Deep Ellum Live on April 2, drummer-for-hire Earl Harvin will be manning the tubs. So while Richard Butler and company might not have the sense to leave their history well enough alone, at least they know who to call when a new drummer is in order. And no, we're not talking 'bout the Ghostbusters...
Here's one that's making the rounds: When Lift to Experience heads out on its upcoming European tour, the band will be opening up for Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, a.k.a. Stephen Malkmus, his bassist-girlfriend and the poor bastard who has to schlep from town to town with the two. Not sure about this one, though it's a bit more reasonable than the other band LTE has been rumored to be opening for: Radiohead. At this point, the only thing that would surprise us is if Jesus Christ dropped by The Shack to jam with Mugzu. Actually, that wouldn't be too surprising. We hear he wails, by the way...
To the gentleman who inquired recently why we've never seen or heard anything that Sonya Jevette, Chattervox, Tarrytown, The Touch, Annagrey, Tiffany Shea, 3 Shot West, Gropius, Courtney Fairchild, Kristy Kruger, Blackwood Avenue or Naked Singularity have done, or why we're not at the open-mic nights, diva showcases, comedy clubs-cum-metal dives or kicking it with bands that rise "like a phoenix out of the ashes of uncertainty," we'll answer that with a multiple-choice question. We were ________. [choose one: a) paying silent tribute to ZZ Top via facial hair and long, soulful air-guitar solos, b) finally getting to the bottom of that whole "lone gunman" thing, c) slowly but surely assembling a crack strike team (code name: Attack Force Z, after the Mel Gibson vehicle of the same name) to eliminate Fred Durst, d) training Mark Cuban to play small forward for the Mavs (he's got a decent jumper, but he can't go left) or e) rocking and/or rolling.] Re: your request for more coverage, we'll get right on it. Just as soon as Cuban learns to take it to the hole with authority. After all, $2 billion may buy you pretty much anything in the world, but an inside game is priceless...
Bad news for tinnitus, in some cases: The New Year plays the Gypsy Tea Room on March 30 with Austin's fantastic Knife in the Water; Centro-matic and Pleasant Grove are at Curtain Club on March 29; Pony League, featuring erstwhile Radish drummer John Kent, opens for Cursive on March 31 at the Galaxy Club. And, oh yeah, vote in the 2001 Dallas Observer Music Awards, either online at www.dallasobserver.com or on the ballot in this week's music section. Do it. Now.
