Rather than write two separate posts, since these are both over a week old I'm just gonna throw 'em together and see what happens. They won't be too long, though.

So on April 10th was a latin-funk band called Grupo Fantasma. I had just discovered them a day or so before and my friend was able to get us in for free (first time I've been on "the list"). They played at this little venue on the mainstreet in our little downtown. If you've seen one small town Texas downtown, you've seen them all. This one's fairly nice though because they recent put some money in it to make it look nice and clean. To get to The Stafford, though, you pretty much have to know about it. You literally just see an open door with no sign or anything above it and go in. It's not bad once you get in the inside, half a bar, half a floor, and 10% stage. My group got there about 30 minutes early and it was fairly empty. Filled up quite quickly, however.

Let me just say that this was some of the most fun I've ever had at a show. This bad kicks some serious butt by making you get off of it and dance. They've got about ten members: three horns, two guitars, a bassist, drummer, congo player, and two singer/percussionists. They can all play as well (both guitars can shred! and the congo guy is lights out), and they are incredibly tight. Not sure how long they've been around but they've got a couple years under their belt for sure. Their sound has some latin (cue the percussion), some funk (cue the horns), and little bits of things thrown in here and there. They played for 2 solid hours and had the place going the entire time. Like I said, I had a blast. If these guys are coming near you you should definitely go.

The next day me and a friend headed down to Rice in Houston to see his hero Ted Leo. I knew very little about him other than his name and a couple songs I had heard hear and there. The show was free, though, as he was playing at no charge in order to help out the student radio station down there. We parked down by the football stadium and walked across half the campus. Surprisingly a lot of it struck me as rather plain. The quad where the stage was set up had some nice buildings around it, though. This was literally just a stage in the middle of some grass. It was a very organic experience if you will. They had a bunch of local people playing for most of the day. The only one we saw was the last before Ted, an experimental electronic group that didn't quite fit in. They would have been right at home in a small club with flashing lights. The 200 something indie kids weren't as excepting.

All was well, however, when Ted & his Pharmacists set up their gear, sound checked, and started the gig. We were pretty much dead center in front of him, second row. I tell you what, this guy has a ton of energy. He plays his axe pretty fast and doesn't miss a beat as he wanders all over the stage. My friends (a couple people were already in Houston and met up with us) and I were surrounded by a bunch of kids who had apparently done some drugs. One of them wandered on stage towards the end of the set and just kind of stood there, then got off, then got back on and did a failed stage dive. Ted just kept playing his upbeat punkish-indie. It was pretty cool watching a band with just the open air and trees behind them, and I quite enjoyed the show considering I knew none of his songs. My friend got to meet his hero after the show and we were able to snag him a pick from the stage.