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Monday, June 2, 2008
Chris Brown to play the Erwin Center
Just got word that my boy Chris Breezie (Rihanna’s extravagant not-boyfriend) will be playing the Erwin Center on July 2. I’ve been a big fan ever since the then 17-year-old’s “Gimme That” (a groove that made me blush) burned up the charts back in the summer of 2006.
Tickets are $54.50 and $59.50 and they go on sale Saturday, June 7th at all Texas Box Office outlets. I think I might have to brave the hordes of screaming 13-year-old girls who will surely show for this one to check it out.
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Let’s talk about ACL - join our live chat at 2 p.m. Tuesday
The day-by-day schedule for the Austin City Limits Music Festival will be out Tuesday morning. We’ll give you a few hours to digest and dissect, before our live chat with music writer Joe Gross at 2 p.m.
You can comment on the lineup, the schedule and pretty much all things ACL in our comments section below. Log on at 2 p.m. to join the live discussion.
This year’s festival is Sept. 26-28 at Zilker Park.
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Weekend review: Joe Cocker and Steve Miller at the Backyard
In my book of favorite venues, the Backyard ranks up there for booking interesting acts, good sound and sight lines, and an ability to catch breezes that make most hot nights pleasant despite the surrounding acres of asphalt. On Sunday evening it also poked the recession in the eye with a true bargain.
Joe Cocker and Steve Miller Band gave fans four hours of music that went down as easily as a summertime smoothie. The former opened for the latter but the two played as equals and came close to dividing the time.
Cocker had the bigger band, more powerful voices and got as many standing ovations as the ‘70s hits king with his interpretations of Beatles and soul tunes. Miller brought his guitar, a new singer, special guests and did I mention his hits? “Swingtown, “Abracadabra” and “Serenade” started the countdown amid too much chatter about a new album in the can and the addition of soulster Sonny Charles (Checkmates) to flavor the vocals.
Early on, Miller took an inexplicable swing at his stage front fans. “It looks like Hollywood out there - hair products, movie stars. What happened to Austin? It used to be a funky little town. Hey, go sit down.” OK, check off insults on Miller’s set list. What avoided an otherwise perfunctory run-through of his admittedly gold-deserving oldies were two guitarists who have no trouble keeping Austin cool. Jimmy Vaughan and Eric Johnson flanked Miller mid-set and jammed on “Pretty Thing” (prescient with Bo Diddley’s death the next day), “Stormy Monday,” “Crossroads” and Vaughan’s “Boom Boppa Boom.” These two genuine stylists — one greasy, one atmospheric — made Miller, despite his blues guitar competence, look like a staid TV newscaster holding down the middle chair.
Then it was back to Miller’s 1974-1978 heyday, ably replicating the pop sounds of “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Take the Money and Run” and “Rock ‘N Me” and keeping the audience dancing.
In contrast, Cocker’s opening seemed more of the moment. Out with a strong new album, “Hymn For My Soul,” Cocker took his booming voice and soulful yells ever higher as two backup singers weighed in with sweeter sounds from the side. Although he planted himself center stage, Cocker worked his jerky hands and did standing jumps to the delight of the crowd at the end of nearly every song.
It was a slow, purposeful boil from “You Are So Beautiful” (yes, it was everything we hoped for) and “Come Together” (yes, we need such right now) to “With a Little Help from My Friends” (yes, helped along by a half-dozen anthemic yells from Cocker). Under a black flag flying over the stage at half staff to mark the final season of the amphitheater in the oaks at its current location, old songs got new life from this Brit barn burner. The Backyard is moving out in style.
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Dizzee Rascal digs Austin
British grime king Dizzee Rascal is playing only seven cities on his summer North American tour and Austin is one of them. The Dizz flexes at Emo’s July 21. Other cities on the itinerary inlude Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Toronto and Denver.
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Bo Diddley 1928 - 2008: Who put the rock in rock n’ roll?
Bo Diddley 1928-2008
Not a lot of people can claim to have (well, sort of) invented something that sounded primal, but then, Bo Diddley wasn’t most people. He died June 2 at his home in Archer, Fla. He was 79.
What Diddley popularized but did not quite invent, of course, is the Bo Diddley beat, that “Whumpa-whumpa-whump; A-whump-whump” pulse that animated not just his music (check out the flawless “Bo Diddley Chess Box” for early greatness) but the music of thousands of others.
If rockers went to Chuck Berry if they wanted a riff or went to Little Richard when they wanted some attitude, they went to Bo when they wanted to sound not quite of this Earth. That beat wasn’t as easy to tie directly to the blues as other early rockers. It sounded vaguely tribal, kind of African and just kind of….weird.
It seemed to be several things at once - a mutant version of the “Hambone” beat that dated back to slavery days, a take on a rumba, but stripped down and pounded with force and purpose. A crucial part of the beat, of course, was amazing maraca player Jerome Green, whose shaking added a rhythm to Diddley’s songs that seemed to drive them even harder.
And that beat went everywhere, to Buddy Holly for “Not Fade Away” (and a crateful of covers of that song) to the Strangeloves’ (and the Bow Wow Wow’s) “I Want Candy” to U2’s “Desire,” just to name a few that everyone knows.
And Diddley covers were legion, from the Rolling Stones’ “Mona” and the New York Dolls’ “Pills” to seemingly infinite versions of “Who Do You Love?” (The Doors, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Tom Rush, Santana, Townes Van Zant, etc.) to about a billion takes on the very funny “I’m A Man” (the Yardbirds, the Who, John Lennon, MC5).
And even those who didn’t directly lift it had their lives changed by it. Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker worshiped Diddley, and simplified the Diddley beat in order to put her own unique stamp on the VU records.
But enough about his drums.
It’s impossible to imagine oddly-shaped guitars or guitars covered in fur without Diddley’s signature square axes. And his guitar tone was legendary, a shimmering, reverbed, tremeloed thing that influenced the early Rolling Stones as much as Berry and Muddy Waters. Diddley’s chunk-style playing swung as hard as his beat, with as much force as James Brown’s horn sections, swampy as a delta midnight.
Here’s a nice piece on the Originator from 2005.
They only made one of this guy.
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UT Press to publish No Depression as a semiannual journal
As devout punky-tonk (man, I love typing that) fans know, the alt-country bible No Depression ceased publication as a bimonthly with its May-June issue, “No Depression #75.”
Starting in October, University of Texas Press will publish No Depression as a semiannual journal. The first issue will be numbered #76 in keeping with the magazine’s previous numbering. The journal will be magazine-sized and 144 pages.
North Dakota co-founders and editors Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock will continue to oversee the publication.
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Pachanga review: Maneja Beto
“Indie en Espanol” is what Maneja Beto calls itself on its MySpace page and why not? There are guitars, there are synths, the band owns the means of production — sounds pretty indie to me. And then there are the lyrics in Spanish. Perfect!
Kicking around since ’02, Maneja Beto mixes the harmonies of Mexican folk music with the driving 4/4 of U.S. rock, New Wavey synths with occasional polyrhythms, distortion with dance grooves.
They could have used a little more shade, however. “Can anyone move the trees about 20 feet forward,” keyboardist Bobby Garza joked in the middle of the band’s set. No can do, man; he looked like he was going to boil alive at Waterloo Park, even though it was well after 6 p.m. His synths, however, which can sound a little light on your stereo, took on a powerful, music-of-the-spheres quality reminiscent of Joy Division or New Order.
In fact, most of the set felt squarely in another tradition entirely — Austin psychedelic rock. Nelso Valente’s guitar seemed equally capable of noodly solos as indie lilt, as deft at delivering space music as the rhythmic strum crucial to making the dance elements swing and pulse on songs such as “Apertura” and “Campanera.” It’s thrilling stuff, equally for the head and feet, a goal pysch-rock often misses by a mile.
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Pachanga review: Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible
Let’s face it: Grupo Fantasma probably should have headlined the debut Pachanga fest. Not that Nortec Collective’s new project “Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible — Tijuana Sound Machine” wasn’t a good get, or at least probably looked like it on paper. The problem can down to the beat.
In contrast to Nortec, Grupo’s grooves were complex, multilayer and vibrantly alive. Even with accordion (man, that player must have been hot in those leather pants), trumpet and clarinet, the electronic beds provided by laptop-fiddling Bostich (Ramon Amezcua) and Fussible (Pepe Mogt) felt far too stiff. These guys gave the crowd seemingly low-key, four-on-the-floor beats with traditional Mexican flourishes on top after everyone had just grooved to a band that sometimes backs up Prince. (The crowd for Nortec was noticeably smaller than the crowd for Grupo.)
An hourlong set usually feels too short for DJs who really know how to work a crowd and build a mood, but these guys insisted on songs rather than a continuous mix; the silences between tracks rang louder than the music. Even the animations seemed a little stiff. Oops. We’ll chalk this one up to first-year jitters.
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End of an Ear top 10 for the week ending May 31
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, “Lie Down in the Light” (Drag City)
Nortec Collective “Tijuana Sound Machine ” (Nacional Records)
The Lines, “Memory Span” (Acute) reissue
No Age, “Nouns” (Sub Pop)
Portishead, “Third” (Island)
Vetiver, “Thing Of The Past” (Gnomonsong)
Last Shadow Puppets, “Age of the Understatement” (Domino)
Microphones, “The Glow Pt 2” 2CD reissue (K Records)
The National, “A Skin, A Night + The Virginia EP” CD/DVD (Beggars)
Deepchord, “Vantage Isle Sessions” (Echospace UK)
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Pachanga review: Girl in a Coma
To see Girl in a Coma on Saturday afternoon at Pachanga was to forget the band’s seemingly outta-nowhere origin (San Antonio school girls to Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records to opening for Morrissey, though it did takes years of wood-shedding) and focus on their increasingly strong songcraft.
It didn’t hurt that their indie rock was such a sharp contrast to the rest of the afternoon that it sounded fresh by default. But to their credit, singer/guitarist Nina and drummer Phanie Diaz (sisters) along with bassist Jenn Alva showed everyone that the band hadn’t completely blow its wad on its 2007 debut “Both Before I Die”; some of those songs were six years old when finally released.
So it was both thrilling and a relief to hear Alva introduce a mess of new songs that seemed tighter and tougher than the ones everyone who has seen them more than once already knows. Nina Diaz’s voice moved from melodrama to emotionally exasperated, while the band’s rhythms seemed almost circular at times. Can’t wait to hear the new album, due in 2009.
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ACL single-day tix on sale Tuesday
The Austin City Limits Music Festival schedule grid, for Sept. 26-28, will be available online Tuesday morning. Single day tickets will go on sale at the same time for $80. Three-day passes are still available for $170, which includes service charges.
There have been additions to the lineup, including Old ’97s, Blues Traveler, Adele, Rodney Crowell, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, Dan Dyer, the Black & White Years, Mugison, and the M’s. C3 Presents is also hosting Les Freres Guisse from Dakar, Senegal. The group is sponsored by a Senegalese non-profit which prepares African youth to become global citizens.
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Pachanga review: Grupo Fantasma
Bands usually need to be judicious about throwing new material into a live set, lest fans grow restive waiting to hear something familiar. But the material from Grupo Fantasma’s forthcoming “Sonidos Gold” is so strong, with such infectious melodies, sizzling arrangements and irresistible grooves, that the crowd Saturday at Pachanga Fest danced and swayed enthusiastically to unreleased songs such as “Rebotar,” “El Sabio Soy Yo” and “Levantame” as though they were old favorites from a greatest-hits anthology. (The album is due out June 17, although copies were available at the show.)
Grupo Fantasma even had the audience singing along with “Gimme Some,” which pretty much channels the zeitgeist in its chorus: “I ain’t got no money — gimme some!” The number achieved the tricky feat of sounding very like vintage Santana without seeming remotely derivative. The 11-piece Austin ensemble has such an organic, eclectic approach that it never sounds retro, even when it’s drawing on heavy influences that include salsa giants the Fania All-Stars (whose legendary pianist and arranger, Larry Harlow, guests on the new record) and Prince, who has become a mentor.
Funk mingles easily with salsa, cumbia and other Latin rhythms in Grupo Fantasma’s music because the arrangements are so full — the band often sounds more like an orchestra — yet so lean. All the members are listening intently to everything that’s going on, and nobody lays down anything extraneous or rote. There were plenty of memorable solos Saturday. Matthew “Sweet Lou” Holmes played some particularly tasty congas on “Naci de La (Rumba y Guaguanco),” Joshua Levy had an especially fine baritone sax turn on “Gimme Some,” and Gilbert Elorreaga launched “Levantame” with his soaring trumpet. But no matter how much attention one player was drawing, nobody was running on autopilot in the background. There are plenty of players with chops, but not many who work together as well as the members of Grupo Fantasma.
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Pachanga review: Boca Abajo
Austin’s Boca Abajo had the same challenge as other bands with midafternoon sets at Pachanga Fest — playing for fans who were plunked down on blankets or chairs in the shade a good, long way from the stage. Even the two women wearing matching Boca Abajo T-shirts were hanging well back. Nevertheless, the group kept its energy level high in an exceptionally solid set of indie rock with dollops of power pop, blues-rock, metal, punk and reggae.
Drummer Roland Ramirez, percussionist Lionel Salinas and bassist Conrad Salinas formed a very tight, dynamic rhythm section, and lead guitarist Joe Ramirez and singer-guitarist Patrick Salinas had a strong rhythmic approach as well. (They’re all family members, but don’t ask us just how they’re related.) Joe Ramirez was both versatile and fluid, thrashing away at his guitar one minute and playing graceful arpeggios with classical elan the next.
Patrick Salinas has a strong, clear, flexible voice that he deployed with a refreshing absence of melodrama. His percussive yet liquid phrasing made Spanish sound like the natural language of rock ‘n’ roll. Lionel Salinas, who was delightfully animated throughout, sang fine harmonies as well.
Boca Abajo’s memorable tunes included the punk-pop-reggae fusion “Reggae n ‘G’ ” and twangy, hyper “Necesito Salvacion.” They’ve only released one album to date, but already have a mature sound.
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Pachanga review: Charanga Cakewalk
A hot, cloudless afternoon wasn’t the best setting for Charanga Cakewalk, who played Saturday at the first Pachanga Latino Musical Festival in Waterloo Park. Not only did the band have to play for an empty expanse of scorched grass, because fans were cowering in the limited shade available under a tree way back behind the soundboard, the group’s sound also has a late-night mystery that got a little washed out in the harsh sunshine.
Charanga Cakewalk started as a recording project by Michael Ramos, a producer and superb musician who has toured and recorded with the likes of the BoDeans, John Mellencamp and Patty Griffin. On the two album he’s released so far as Charanga Cakewalk, Ramos concocts a heady, internationalist brew of cumbia, son, tejano, other Latin/world styles and electronica, although that last element was not much in evidence Saturday. In the studio and with the band, he frequently conjures a film noir atmosphere. That’s not the easiest thing to pull off in the middle of Waterloo Park, but pretty songs, compelling rhythms and interesting arrangements made up for the somewhat unnatural habitat.
Charanga Cakewalk’s drummer, percussionist and bassist kept the rhythms percolating, and Ramos’ accordion — or trumpet, or keyboards, or melodica — had a strong foil in Jacob Owen’s guitar. Owen played some moody slide to underline the sweet, otherworldly melancholy of “Belleza,” and was just as adept at little reggae squiggles or bluesier statements. The group woke the audience out of its torpor with an instrumental polka, and although Ramos isn’t a natural frontman, his laid-back rap on “Dirty Cumbia” was appealing. He said the song was from a forthcoming album. With its murky verse and the contrasting lightness of the chorus, which featured high vocal harmonies, it certainly bodes well for another fascinating release.
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Review: Return to Forever at the Paramount
Halfway into set one, Return To Forever timekeeper Lenny White declared: “We’ve waited 25 years for this!” Representing everyone else, a fan yelled: “So have we!” Precious few bands could look forward to a sold-out world tour after being dormant for so long, let alone an instrumental jazz rock outfit. After rehearsing a few days at in the Paramount Theatre, the quartet — keyboardist, founder and primary composer Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke, guitarist Al Di Meola, and drummer White — christened their reunion tour with two nights at Austin’s grand 1915 hall.
Miles Davis’ 1969 “In A Silent Way” (featuring Fender Rhodes scholar Corea) painted the backdrop as the four mandarins met a vigorous standing ovation. Opener “Hymn of the 7th Galaxy” came out swinging, but follower “Vulcan Worlds” melted any queries concerning chops or relevance. When the “Sorceress” raised her head, aural alchemy reached the boiling point. Some ticketholders were as old as RTF’s hiatus, but most were a tad younger than the Grammy-winners’ average age of 59. Ladies were not as scarce as at a Rush show, but Y chromosomes populated the venue, with fervent out-of-towners making the pilgrimage. Whistles and whoops of appreciation erupted after: Clarke’s electric bass solo referenced John Coltrane’s masterwork “A Love Supreme,” Lenny White — part Roy Haynes, part Dennis Chambers — snapped out another thunderous groove, and when Corea’s keys and Di Meola’s strings traded harmonic sixty-forth notes.
The baroque space funk of “Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant” closed set two, with encores rounding out two and half hours. One could argue that RTF’s break fueled some of the evening’s success — giving fans a chance to yearn, and the rest time to get hip to the vanguard sounds. Or perhaps it was because Return To Forever is one of the few teams who are both cerebral and funky.
Set 1
Hymn of the 7th Galaxy
Vulcan Worlds
(Senor Mouse)
Sorceress
Song to the Pharaoh Kings
Set 2
Guitar Solo Intro
No Mystery
Piano Solo Intro
The Romantic Warrior
Bass Solo
Drum Solo
Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant
Encores
Beyond the Seventh Galaxy
Dayride
Medieval Overture
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