MOG - annie's Posts

Slim Cessna's Auto Club

annie — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:23:30 GMT

Denver's Slim Cessna's Auto Club is heading out on tour, including a CMJ appearance at the Fanatic Publicity Showcase on Saturday October 20th.

Www.slimcessnasautoclub.com Www.myspace.com/slimcessnasautoclub

Engaging, riveting, sad, and humorous; demanding the audience to participate both live and while listening to their albums. They have been branded with every musical description possible. This seems fitting, as SCAC describes their music as American. Is that not what America is and has been, a mixture of every one and thing resulting in something new? And after a decade of working and living as SCAC they have created their own genre. The instruments are drums, upright bass, pedal steel, banjos, piano, guitar, vocals,and stories. They have recorded critically acclaimed albums, (Village Voice, Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle) on Jello Biafras Alternative Tentacles label. Spin Magazine and No Depression have described them as, the best live band in America. Two of the most charismatic frontmen (Westword) and four accomplished musicians who also perform in Wovenhand, Delta 72 and 16 Horsepower.

Thu 9/13/07 Aggie Theater Fort Collins CO Fri 9/14/07 Marquis Theater Denver CO Sat 9/15/07 Tour De Fat-New Belium Brewing Co Durango CO Wed 10/10/07 Record Bar Kansas City MO Thu 10/11/07 Triple Rock MinneapolisMN Fri 10/12/07 The Note Chicago IL Sat 10/13/07 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland OH Sun 10/14/07 31st Street Pub PittsburghPA Mon 10/15/07 Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia PA Tue 10/16/07 DC 9 Washington DC Wed 10/17/07 B&G Lounge Windsor CT Thu 10/18/07 Middle East Upstairs Cambridge MA Fri 10/19/07 Jake’s Providence RI Sat 10/20/07 CMJ @ Annex New York NY Sat 12/29/07 Aggie Theater Fort Collins CO Sun 12/30/07 Bluebird Theater Denver CO Mon 12/31/07 Bluebird Theater Denver CO

The Dodos tour supporting Jennifer Gentle, then Akron/Family

annie — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:16:46 GMT

The Dodos (Meric Long) head out for a US loop supporting Jennifer Gentle (Sub Pop) on August 8th then head up and down the west coast supporting Akron/Family (Young God).
Www.mericlong.com Www.myspace.com/mericlong
"Long's psych-folk-pop compositions are smart and tight and melodic and his hammer-handed, fleet-fingered acoustic attack always meets Kroeger's thumps halfway, awkward toe to toe, chin to chin, heat to intensity. And his voice is great. Warm and wobbly and familiar like a brother's or a best friend's. Except (or maybe mostly?) when he's yelling like an asylum escapee- anguished, near-inarticulate, tonsil-baring scream-sobs..." Shake Your Fist
Tour dates: 8.08.07 The Uptown/Oakland, CA w/Jennifer Gentle 8.09.07 Delta of Venus/Davis, CA w/Jennifer Gentle 8.10.07 12 Galaxies/San Francisco, CA w/Kelley Stoltz, Jennifer Gentle 8.11.07 The Cellar Door/Visalia, CA w/Jennifer Gentle 8.12.07 Alex's/Long Beach, CA w/Jennifer Gentle 8.13.07 Baldy's/Upland, CA w/ Jennifer Gentle 8.14.07 6th St. Warehouse/Los Angeles, CA w/Jennifer Gentle 8.17.07 Emos/Austin, TX w/Jennifer Gentle 8.18.07 Proletariat/Houston, TX w/Jennifer Gentle 8.19.07 Circle Bar/New Orleans w/Jennifer Gentle 8.21.07 Bottletree/Birmingham, AL w/ Jennifer Gentle 8.22.07 The Earl/Atlanta, GA w/ Jennifer Gentle 8.23.07 Harvest Records/Asheville, NC w/Jennifer Gentle 8.24.07 Local 506/Chapel Hill, NC w/Jennifer Gentle 8.25.07 Tea Bazaar/Charlottesville, VA w/Jennifer Gentle 8.26.07 DC Nine/Washington DC w/Jennifer Gentle 8.28.07 Vacuum Warehouse/Philadelphia, PA w/Jennifer Gentle- Soft People 8.29.07 Mercury Lounge/New York w/Jennifer Gentle 8.30.07 Luna Lounge/Brooklyn, NY w/Jennifer Gentle 8.31.07 Cafe 9/New Haven, CT w/Jennifer Gentle 9.01.07 Space Gallery/Portland, ME w/Jennifer Gentle 9.02.07 Middle East/Boston, MA w/Jennifer Gentle 9.03.07 As220/Providence, RI w/Jennifer Gentle 9.04.07 Beachland Ballroom/Cleveland, OH w/Jennifer Gentle 9.05.07 Bear's Place/Bloomington, IN w/Jennifer Gentle 9.06.07 Lager House/Detroit w/Jennifer Gentle 9.07.07 Empty Bottle/Chicago, IL w/Jennifer Gentle 9.08.07 Daytrotter Session and Show/Rock Island, Il w/ Jennifer Gentle 9.10.07 Record Bar/Kansas City, MO w/Jennifer Gentle 9.11.07 Hi Dive/Denver, CO w/ Jennifer Gentle 9.12.07 Urban Lounge/Salt Lake City w/Jennifer Gentle 10.10.07 Stanford University/Palo Alto- w/Akron Family 10.11.07 The Independent/San Francisco, CA w/ Akron Family 10.12.07 Troubadour/Los Angeles, CA w/Akron Family 10.13.07 Fernwood/Big Sur, CA w/Akron Family 10.14.07 Crepe Place/Santa Cruz w/ Akron Family 10.18.07 Richards on Richards/Vancouver BC w/Akron Family 10.19.07 Crocodile Cafe/Seattle, WA w/Akron Family 10.20.07 Doug Fir/Portland, OR w/Akron Family

Photo credit Elizabeth Weinberg

Townes Van Zandt Tribute Jan 5 @ 12 Galaxies, San Francisco

annie — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:40:25 GMT

Friday January 5th, 2007- Townes Van Zandt Tribute

We will celebrate the life and songs of arguably the best songwriter in the world, certainly one that affected countless modern performers as his songs have been covered by many, including Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Cowboy Junkies, Richard Buckner, Merle Haggard, Emily Lou Harris, Lyle Lovett and countless others.

Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997)

Townes Van Zandt Tribute (10 year anniversay of his New years day death) 2nd year of this tribute

@ 12 Galaxies 2565 Mission St @ 22nd Www.12galaxies.com

8:00 pm 8$

2 TVZ songs and two originals from each from the following performers:

Court and Spark Etienne De Rocher 4 Year Bender (duo) Alela Diane Jeffrey Luck Lucas Tom Heyman Mike Therieau Bob Frank and John Murry

Best of 2006

annie — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:57:00 GMT

And Now That I am in your Shadow- Damien Jurado Disciples of California- Skygreen Leopards Everything All the Time- Band of Horses Beware of the Maniacs- Dodo Bird Passover- The Black Angels Mosaic- Woven Hand Avatar- Comets on Fire Meek Warrior- Akron/Family To Find Me Gone- Vetiver Futuresex- Justin Timberlake (my guilty pleasure)

I saw an assload (?) of great shows this year, we live in the greatest music city in the world. San Francisco has assloads () of talented local bands, who go out and support each other as well as many and great music (as opposed to genre) fans that will go out any night of the week to see local shows as well as touring bands. Touring bands love this city, we have assloads (?) of great venues to go out to to see them. How lucky are we? I say big, big lucky. I love you, you love me, we're a happy family. I'm dork, but Molly puts the ewwww in loser. Go ahead and ask her.

I need a nap. Obviously, right?

For those about to rock...

annie — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:57:45 GMT

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/11/13/international/i042446S43.DTL

Mixing it up...

annie — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 22:21:28 GMT

San Francisco's Matt Bauer moved to Brooklyn this past year and it's an understatement to say that he is missed. Two to three years prior, Matt Bauer began playing at the Rite Spot, along with Last of The Blacksmiths, El Capitan, Dame Satan, This Union Standard, Jeffrey Luck Lucas, Judith and Holofernes and Madera Road all who seemed to find very unique bonds and friendships, at times covering each others songs and sitting in with one another. All these bands have great recordings (all highly recommended here) with some great songs. These bands are from varied genre’s that find themselves on different corners of the “indie” bracket yet somehow end up fitting very nicely together. I didn't often get to see these bands play at other venues but it seems to me that some of the depth of these bands friendships came about from playing together at the Rite Spot.

Matt Bauer wrote late August requesting a Rite Spot date on his fall tour and I jumped at the chance to have him back in. He threw out the idea of a night where a handful of these bands got together, covered each others songs and paid tribute to one another’s music. I had no idea it was going to be the incredibly special and cool a night it was.

High Lights-- Matt Bauer playing Judith and Holofernes (one of the Bay Area's underated bands with 3 INCREDIBLE recordings) 'When the Body Stops Breathing", El Capitan covering This Union Standard's 'Luna Pier", Last of the Blacksmiths covering Matt Bauers 'Western States' and Matt Bauer with Nathan Wanta (Last of the Blacksmiths) singing 'Fly Robin' (a Matt Bauer song) with accompanying piano and fiddle. Every song covered and performed was amazing, but these were personal highlights for me.

www.myspace.com/mattbauer www.myspace.com/lastoftheblacksmiths www.myspace.com/elcapitan www.myspace.com/damesatan www.myspace.com/thisunionstandard www.myspace.com/fadocore www.myspace.com/jeffreylucklucas www.myspace.com/maderaroad

It might have helped a little that I know these bands recordings pretty well having seen the 3 (Matt Bauer, Last of the Blacksmiths, El Capitan) bands that participated this time more than a couple times live-- but I think even the audience that didn't know the music well were equally blown away. You could have heard a pin drop, I wish someone had recorded this night. It reminded me why and how much I love the Rite Spot and why I keep hanging in there. Nights like this are magic and they definitely hold their weight to the argument of the Rite Spot as the best listening room award from the SF Weekly this year.

Hardly Strictly...

annie — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:08:10 GMT

Wow. What an idiot I am for not attending this years past... I'm kicking myself now. My excuse? Sounds like too many people and too hectic-- though line-ups have been amazing. I had no idea what I was missing...

Saturday I attended with my parents who drove up from Santa Cruz. I packed a picnic lunch that included some delicious baked fried chicken with a cornflake crust, crunchy green beans, deviled eggs (horseradish style) and some home made chocolate chip/macadamia nut cookies. We brought a blanket, some chairs, some wine and beer and set up camp early at the Porch stage to watch Jeffrey Luck Lucas' set. The sound was amazing and it was a great outdoor show. If you know Jeffrey Luck Lucas' music, you know it's not exactly sunny, beautiful day in the park music--more of the smoky, dark bar style, but it worked. I was really proud of them as they pulled it off and sounded superb. David Phillips' pedal steel was smokin'(g).

A band called Annie and the Vets followed closely behind and they were pretty great. My mom and step-dad were excited to see them; they were hilarious and entertaining with an all anti-war/anti-Bush set. Annie and the Vets are part of a group called Veterans for Peace and Warren Hellman is apparently a fan. He came over especially to introduce the group and encouraged the crowd to flip off the "million dollar pigeons" (unfortunately it was fleet weekend and the fucking Blue Angels were zooming around the city in lame defiance of San Francisco's anti-war stance) if and when they flew over. I think it came naturally to most in attendance on any of the days. Warren really seemed like a nice guy, down to earth, appreciative of the performers, the crowd and the event in general. The Danny Barnes collective followed, but it was a little too "rock" for the “P's” so we decided to move around. We packed up our stuff and trucked it up to the car so we could be more mobile and cruised around the festival.

We walked over to the Rooster Stage and caught a bit of the singer's in the round. It was pretty packed out, so we couldn't get near but the sound was still amazing. I was really impressed with the sound all over; outdoor sound is never easy. We grabbed a spot on the hill to listen but I realized immediately that we were very near a whole lot of poison oak. I'm pretty allergic to it; the last bout sent me to the hospital so needless to say I was pretty distracted. I saw four young girls about 9 years old climbing on a dead tree that was covered with it, I suggested that they not do that for obvious reasons. I think they thought I was bumming their fun, but when they realized that I wasn't, and when I suggested that they should go wash up immediately they ran off hopefully to do just that. I decided that I needed to leave "poison oak gulch” so we headed over to the Banjo stage and Earl Scruggs. Holy shit. Wow. They had about a 9-piece band behind them and the arranging was gorgeous. I don’t know much about Earl Scruggs but I felt fortunate to witness this performance.

We walked back up the hill, up to the Porch Stage to check out the Jon Langford, with Sally Tims and Rico Bell set and grabbed a spot on the grass. The Porch stage was very intimate and the performance was incredible. The dynamic between everyone in this band was pretty light and fun as well as funny. Sally's voice kills me, always and Jon is always hilarious.

We headed out as Billy Bragg played on the Rooster stage. It was an amazing day and the weather was astounding. I had such a great day and though I didn't have plans to attend Sunday-- I quickly formulated a plan to get back there the next day. SATURDAY WAS INCREDIBLE.

I got home, made a few calls and made some plans for Sunday. I weighed whether (and weather) or not to go to the party at Slims for performers and guests or attend Sunday at the park. I knew I couldn't do both so I opted for some more picnic preparations and an early start for Sunday. I had missed Kenya's birthday earlier in the week so I put together some red velvet cupcakes that kicked asses, if I might say so myself. I had some left over chicken, threw together some crab rangoon, orange wedges, apples and cheese and packed it up. Molly made some procuitto/goat cheese treats and had some honeycomb, cheese, almonds, and other deliciousness. That's picnic # two for us and it seems we can do it pretty well together. Neither of us fucks around when it comes to wine, snacks, seats and music-- rapidly becoming my favorite way to see music. I must be getting old.

I arrived a few songs into Four Year Bender’s set at 11:30- Ryan writes some incredible songs and has such a great band behind him. Such nice people- I'm a big fan of they and Ryan plays solo fairly regularly at the Rite Spot-- what a great talent! I'm not sure who followed, but behind whoever that was-- Iris Dement! I've been waiting to see her for a very long time, so I was happy. Such an interesting voice and they rolled out a baby grand-- much of her set was piano and voice and it was beautiful. Alejandro Escovedo's amazing band, which included strings completely slayed... big, round, full, loud, rock-- his voice... It's such a masculine energy, I've seen he/his band a number of times and every time I see/hear I think that it's the best show I've seen from him/they. Anyone who hasn't seen Alejandro, I highly recommend that you do. The Coward Brothers followed, Elvis Costello with T-bone Burnett and Emily Lou Harris sat in on a song. Fucking awesome.

It was starting to get to be that time- the time when I have to start thinking about opening the bar (unfortunately) when Richard Thompson came on, we only heard a few songs-- amazing he could sound that full as a solo performer.

I never made it to two of the stages either day and I don't believe I missed anything-- 5 stages in separate little gulches-- minimal sound bleed which to me was hard to believe. Amazing line up, great friendly and helpful staff, beautiful weather-both days- clean port a johns, well behaved dogs and children and super chill attendees. Nothing hectic about this festival, only people sharing and caring and listening and smiling and enjoying.

HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS is amazing. I can't believe the staff from Slims/GAMH put this together and this sort of free festival is available and possible. Thanks Warren Hellman, you are an amazing human being to fund this on your own. San Francisco is lucky to have you as well as this beautiful park setting. I consider myself lucky.

Let's get some shoes...

annie — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:05:08 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYnn51C3X_w

I'm sure someone has posted this but I'm still laughing and wouldn't want YOU to miss this one...

(time) wasted away on blogeritaville...

annie — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:42:24 GMT

Since I've come to neglect the other blog, Les Miserablog... I'll try to be more productive over here.

Hi, I found you all here. So, hello.