10.14.07
For those of you who are about to rock
Hi guys! I’m fresh back from Philadelphia which I loved so much I think y’all should move it to the top of your lists of places to visit. In line with our jet setting lifestyles, Mimi is now in LA, leaving Daisy and I to prove we can have fun without her. Left to our own devices we did the only thing we could do that would 100% guarantee fun, we went to a Cory Branan show. [Cory Branan: A guaranteed Good Time—Daisy]
I’ll admit, we just went to see Cory. I knew there were other bands on the bill, I’d read their names in the show listings, thought about looking them up, just never quite got to it. Yes, I’m copping to not doing my homework before a show. Some days I’m just lazy. So anyway, Daisy and I put on cute shoes, grabbed our handbags and our gentlemanly chaperone, Chris Milam, and headed on down to Ye Olde 3 Crow Bar to see some music. We ran into Cory B. as soon as we came in, he assured us that he loved both the bands and that we’d have a great time. Since we love Cory, we took his word for it, but maybe with a grain of salt. Imagine my surprise when I fell in love with the first band during the first song.
I don’t really know where to start, so it’ll be with the keyboard player before all else. The first song kicked up, the band launched into it and the keyboard player rocked so hard his glasses flew off his face less than a minute into the set. If that doesn’t set you up for a good show, I don’t know what does.
The band was the (newly re-named) Magpies (formerly The Whiskeyhounds). These boys are that perfect mash of rock, folk and that bit of twang I love so much. The influences/sounds likes listed on their MySpace page are fairly close to what I’d say: You can hear a Bruce Springsteen and Rolling Stones influence under the rock and roll parts, infused heavily with Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and a strong heartbreak of twang that pulls it towards country. Roger Hoover fronts the band, singing, playing guitar and generally instantly becoming my new singer/songwriter boyfriend (sorry, Cory, but I think you understand). His song writing is tight, smart and exceptionally excellent. The drummer and bassist—I’m going to take a guess, based on what I could find online and say they were Dave McKean and Adam Simms respectively—kept a steady beat that made this a band you could dance too (though you’d never know by the stiff response from the East Nashville hipster crowd, but those people never look like they are having fun). Justin Gorski rounded out the band on keyboards and accordion. His playing was great, his showmanship was spastic and raw and totally worth going to see the band for. Because this is the internet, I can try and share a little of the magic with you:
Although that doesn’t really do those boys justice. If you can, check them out yourself, current tour dates are:
Oct 14, 2007 HiTone Memphis, TN
Oct 15, 2007 Lakewood Bar Dallas, TX
Oct 16, 2007 Club 115 Austin, TX
Oct 17, 2007 Momo’s Austin, TX
Oct 18, 2007 Belle Isle Oklahoma City, OK
Oct 19, 2007 Whitewater Tavern Little Rock, AR
Oct 20, 2007 Hendrix College Conway, AR
It’s been barely twelve hours and I’m already ready to see them again. I’m considering driving down to Memphis to catch them tonight. Hell they’d be almost worth the Texas drive. [If October weren't booked solid for us, I think the likelihood of us following these guys around for a few weeks would be high.—Daisy] I promise you’ll be hearing more about them in future posts here, because I love to share about my shiny new obsessions.
Cory Branan came on second. He was a little scratchy voiced and wild-haired (it was kind of oddly Kenny Rogers-ish, which even Cory acknowledged was looking a little funky). He played a fast set, keeping with rock theme of the evening, breaking one of his strings right up front and borrowing Roger’s guitar. It wasn’t the best Cory show I’ve seen, it wasn’t the worst, but it was fun and that’s pretty much all I ask for from Cory. Daisy’s goal for the evening was to see him play “Summertime” again, which he did, [YAY!—Daisy] so I’ll give you that:
It’s hard for me to imagine, but I know there’s folks reading this site who haven’t yet seen Cory live. He’s out and about again, this time giving my homies out west a chance to check him out:
Oct 14, 2007 Hi Tone w/ Guests Memphis, TN
Oct 19, 2007 Coffee House Concert Series Memphis, TN
Nov 8, 2007 Trilogy Wine Bar Boulder, CO
Nov 9, 2007 Three Kings Denver, CO
Nov 10, 2007 Triple Nickel Colorado Springs, CO
Nov 11, 2007 Lucky Joe’s Ft. Collins, CO
Nov 16, 2007 Tractor Tavern w/ Tim Seely Seattle, WA
Nov 18, 2007 Aladdin Theater w/ Alejandro Escovedo Portland, OR
Seattle people, I love each and everyone one of you, but if you miss this show, you might be dead to me. [Indeed. There's no reason for y'all in Seattle not to see this show. It's on a Friday, even, so I'm betting you don't have to work the next day.—Daisy]
After Cory, J. Roddy Walston & the Business out of Baltimore, MD came up. Let me say, they promised to rock our faces off, and I for one left with my face sufficiently rocked off in a way it hasn’t been years. [Mine, too, was quite rocked off.—Daisy] It was the hard rocking rock and roll from days gone by, with a hint of punk under the 70s influenced head banging rock. I’ll admit, this isn’t music I’d listen to at home, though I think you ought to give them a chance (hit up a couple songs at their MySpace page). I would, however, go see them live again. And again. And again. The bass player was a spectacle not to be missed, ever. I’m not sure words will do him justice, but I’ll try: He came on stage in heavy boots, loose jeans, a black tank top, Buddy Holly glasses, an impressive handlebar mustache and long, lovely curly hair. His bass was slung so low I wasn’t sure how he’d be able to reach it. The first song kicked up and holy fucking hair metal, Batman, but I haven’t seen head banging like that in years. [It actually reminded me of the time I went to see KISS Army, which is a story for another time.—Daisy] His chiropractic bills must be insane. I wonder if he has a constant concussion? How is it even possible to play and instrument while thrashing like that? Hot damn, that’s rock and roll. I tried to capture some video of it, but alas I clearly still don’t know how to use my new cell phone. Luckily our pall, Caseymagic, from Last Chance Diner, caught it a while back:
That actually doesn’t do justice to the fantastical parade of posing and head banging that I saw last night, but you at least get a feel for it. You should go get your own face rocked off. I mean, everyone needs to do that some times (even Mimi, though she’d probably try to tell you otherwise). You can check out J. Roddy and the boys yourself:
Oct 14, 2007 Hi-Tone (w/ Cory Branan) Memphis, TN
Oct 23, 2007 Iota (w/ Junior League) Arlington, VA
Oct 25, 2007 Baby Grand Wilmington, DE
Nov 29, 2007 Slim’s Downtown Raleigh, NC
Nov 30, 2007 Star Bar Atlanta, GA
Dec 1, 2007 TBA Athens, GA
The J. Roddy boys also have a sort of a tour journal blog thing going on on their website with pictures and all and I am enjoying almost as much as I enjoyed their show.
Daisy and I? We had a good night out, even if it was a long one in shoes that were perhaps cuter than they were practical. [When will we learn?—Daisy] I’d do all over again a million times.
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