XL Reviews

Los Lonely Boys, Ray Davies, American Repertory Ensemble, Lora Reynolds Gallery, 'Making It Alone'

Los Lonely Boys look for redemption at Stubb's

Monday, July 24, 2006

Rock music

LOS LONELY BOYS BETTER THAN YOU REMEMBER

Henry, Ringo and JoJo Garza knew they were lucky to be onstage at Stubb's on Saturday night — lucky because JoJo Garza had been sprung from jail only hours earlier; he'd been arrested that morning at the Omni Austin Hotel on charges of domestic assault and marijuana possession (a misunderstanding, the band's publicist says). But lucky also because the men, aka Los Lonely Boys, still are living their dream after a dramatic ride to the top on the strength of their self-titled debut album. Though the band's just-released follow-up, "Sacred," hasn't yet set fire to the charts, it's certainly reinvigorated the Garzas' playing. The material they delivered to an adoring, sold-out crowd is as solid, refreshing and soulful as anything on "Los Lonely Boys."

Of course, it wasn't luck that turned the band into such a tight unit. But unlike previous outings, the Garzas provided irrefutable evidence that they've finally grown up musically. Henry Garza's amazingly fluid guitar work sounds less derivative now; there wasn't one moment where the ghosts of Stevie Ray Vaughan or Jimi Hendrix seemed to hover too closely, and the Carlos Santana reference was a cover, not a conversion (inserted into a wildly rocking "Senorita"). BoDeans keyboardist/accordionist Michael Ramos added further depth to the funky "Oye Mamacita" and "Texican Style," sweetened "Roses" and totally kicked out "Man to Beat," aided by Henry Garza's wicked harmonica blowing. The only weak moment in the two-hour set occurred when patriarch Ringo Garza Sr. came out to sing "Outlaws" and another tune. But as Henry Garza teased the audience with the opening notes of the impossibly catchy "Heaven," he easily regained their attention.

The evening wound up with a three-song encore featuring the Texas ("Texican") Horns: the new single "Diamonds," "My Way" and a scorching cover of "Superstition" that gave JoJo Garza a chance to sing lead — and show off some nasty bass-playing on that huge six-stringer of his. On that killer finale, Los Lonely Boys lived up to all its potential, and more. Whether the sophomore album sells or not, there's no slump going on with these guys. They're getting even better with age. Now if only they could stay out of trouble. —-Lynne Margolis

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Rock music

KINKS' DAVIES DELIVERS

There were two types of Kinks fans at Ray Davies' Paramount Theatre show Saturday: those who left disappointed that he didn't play "Waterloo Sunset" or "Lola," and those who were too busy pinching themselves all the way through rarer nuggets such as "A Long Way from Home" to care or even notice. Pity (God save?) the former lot, because unlike the majority of true Kinkophiles in the house, they'll just never realize how lucky they were to be there. And God bless Davies for living up to his "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" boast at the start of the evening, playing to the whims of his own fancy rather than the "play-the-hits" rule of concerts by living rock legends. Not that he skipped all the hits, mind you: Davies' tight, four-piece band ripped through several early '60s rave-ups such as "All Day and All of the Night" and "Till the End of the Day." But it was the aforementioned "A Long Way from Home" (dedicated to his brother and fellow Kink Dave Davies), a pair of gems from 1971's "Muswell Hillbillies" ("20th Century Man," "Oklahoma U.S.A.") and the generous sampling of Davies' long-overdue debut solo album, "Other People's Lives," that really carried the 19-song set. Sure, the ultra-professional backing band lacked the organic, ramshackle charm of the Kinks at its unhinged best, and "Over My Head" — a standout on the new record and the best song in current rotation on KGSR — came off a bit awkwardly (here's hoping the band nailed it better at Monday's "Austin City Limits" taping). But "Run Away from Time" came off as punchy as "You Really Got Me," and "The Tourist" was packed with enough dynamic panache for an entire mid-'70s Kinks concept record. And Davies, still rock's premier raconteur at 62, was in top vocal and physical form, a rakish charmer full of jumpy energy that belied his age and the mugger's bullet he took to the leg two years ago. "I might look like a tramp," he teased with a mischievous grin during the final encore's "Low Budget," "but don't write me off!"

— Richard Skanse

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Classical music and dance

FAIR START FOR NEW ENSEMBLE

Because you're not likely to figure it out from the group's name, I'll divulge that the American Repertory Ensemble is based in Austin and combines music and dance. Yes, most dancing is done to music. The difference here is that David Justin, artistic director of dance, and Rob Deemer, artistic director of music, intend for the dance and music to be equally important. Their official first program had many good moments, but the fancy aesthetics will take more work.

Saturday's program at the University of Texas' McCullough Theatre was wide-ranging. Two of the seven works had music by Deemer, plus his arrangement for a third; three of the dances were choreographed by Justin. We had George Balanchine's "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux," using classic costumes, classic choreography and classic music. Deemer's arrangement of the movements from "Swan Lake" for piano and string quartet sounded thin, with numerous out-of-tune octaves in the strings. Once they got comfortable, Misa Kuranaga and Gabor Kapin's dancing was ritzy.

The one brand-new piece, with music and dance developed together, was "Epitaph." Deemer's music for string trio sets a spoken prose text by Luc Sante that imagines various anonymous dead people explaining how they died and what happened afterward. The dark whimsy of the text was mirrored in how Justin used Deemer — reading the text — as part of the choreography. Deemer's reading got a bit forced, but his music and the text were of a piece; the choreography was obscure.

Justin's "Just a Regular Joe" to five Joe Cocker recordings, featuring John Welker and Christine Winkler as an alluring pair with the company of nine dancers, moved effortlessly from naturalistic mime through jazz dance to classic ballet. Also entertaining was "Group Therapy," choreographed by Harrison McEldowney, with four easily recognized types of couples and numerous comic moments.

— David Mead

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Visual art

EXHIBIT FUN, FUNNY, DISTINCTIVE

Lora Reynolds Gallery has been open only a little more than a year, but already it's developed its own very distinctive voice. And the current "Summer Group Show" shouts with that individual voice loud and clear.

Don't expect regional favorites here. Reynolds rounds up her eclectic stable of artists from throughout the country and around the world. Do expect a sort of sophisticated absurdity, quirky humor and lots of refreshing celebrations of form, line and color. And the intimate scale of the gallery requires that the work on exhibit follow suit — a welcome change from the sprawling installations that seem to brag that bigness is their only aesthetic point.

Conrad Bakker quite possibly could crack up anybody. He takes the most quotidian, mass-produced objects — Post-It notes, a plastic trash can, toy trucks — and hand carves them, to scale, out of single pieces of wood, painting them in colors true to their original. At the exhibit opening, people mistook his trash can for the real thing and filled it with empty plastic wine cups (the artist didn't mind). His matchbook-sized Hummer sits perched in a gallery window on a long rod. Bending and squinting, you can stake a view of the little mega-car so that it looks as if it were parked across the street from the gallery. It's hysterical.

Like Bakker, Francesca Gabbiani delighted with a solo show earlier this year. Now, she sends three new works to tempt us. If they weren't so beguiling, her obsessively crafted tableaux made of intricately cut paper would be scary and fetishistic, particularly since she draws from scenes of B horror movies.

Benjamin Butler and Karen Breneman — both new additions to Reynolds' gallery of artists — hint at what we can look forward to this fall when both painters have solo shows. Though each has a distinct brushstroke and style, both offer new twists on the abstract landscape that are colorful, deft and potent with psychological weight. Nature never looked so captivating.

("Summer Group Show" continues noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays through Aug. 17. Lora Reynolds Gallery, 300 West Ave. Free. 215-4965.)

— Jeanne Claire van Ryzin

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Visual art

FEW HIGHLIGHTS AT UT SHOW

Is "Making it Alone" simply another ubiquitous summer group exhibition? Not exactly. It is the first in a two-part series of shows produced by the University of Texas Art and Art History Department. These shows are intended in part, to pair graduate students from both areas, thereby fostering collaboration.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot to hang onto, especially curatorially and to some degree artistically. The curator's statement says the show is "concerned with the processes of 'making it.' " Some might call this aim slippery. Others might find the focus ungraspable altogether.

In the variety of media and presentation, a few things stood out. Robert Boland's "Toilet" is a hypnotic 11-minute video centering on a solitary male character cleaning a toilet repeatedly. The central figure works methodically, even monotonously, forcing the viewer to concentrate on the tedium of the work itself, as well as the nuances of how he performs his work. The story culminates in his flushing his head in the bowl.

Comparably fresh are the paintings of Sarah Frantz. Her "Sheep 1" is irreverent and reverent simultaneously. Frantz's sheep is seen with the midsection exposed, making the animal seem vulnerable yet enticingly cuddly. Her painting style is somewhat loose, but tight enough to indicate densely tufted fleece, each coil individuated, almost sculptural in appearance. Like the cleaner in "Toilet," "Sheep 1" is separated from his flock. Are they "making it alone"? I'm not so sure.

("Making it Alone" continues noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Creative Research Laboratory, 2832 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Free. 322-2099)

— Erin Keever