The Subways - March 29, 2006 Richards On Richards

I will go on record as saying that although it's still March, The Subways were the best show I'll see this year.
The Subways




I love the album Young For Eternity. It mixes up Ramones like Punk/Pop like Holiday with subtle emotional pop gems like With You. They've also got the whole youthful rockstar thing down to an art and it seemed genuine to me. It was one of those shows where you see someone just on the cusp of greatness. They were having a great time and were so happy to be there. They closed the show with the Oasis epic lik Rock and Roll Queen (of course) that saw Billy Lunn jump from the drum kit, climb the railings to the upper level of Richards, climb
over the bar, and finally end with a stage dive.
Charlotte Copper


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Vancouver

City and Colour - March 26, 2006 Mesa Luna

Save Your Scissors is such an amazing song that it wasn't hard to believe how big a deal Dallas Green has become.
Dallas Green

What's amazing to me is that he's also part of Alexisonfire which is like the polar opposite of City and Colour. It was just him and a guitar, and lots of adoring fans.

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SXSW - Sunday March 19, 2006

SXSW is actually officially over on Saturday, but the unofficial end is when Alejandro Escovedo plays his show at the Continental Club of South Congress.

We got there in time for Gordie Johnson's set with his new band Grady
Grady

Grady at The Continental2
After 10 years with Big Sugar, he moved to Austin and formed Grady, a chance to keep it simple and keep it loud.

It's true I'm not a big Big Sugar fan, but Grady was nothing but bad noise. It was so loud I put paper in my ears.

Charlie Sexton and Nick Tremulis were next doing a couple of songs
Charlie Sexton

Charlie Sexton at the Continental
Finally what everyone had come for. After an introduction which made reference to Alejandro's recent illness, he took to the stage with his band which included 2 cellists and a violinist.
Alejandro Escovedo

Alejandro Escovedo at the Continental

Alejandro Escovedo at the Continental
After an amazing hour plus set he returned to the stage with a number of special guests including everyone who had played that night, plus Garland Jeffries

Alejandro Escovedo at the Continental
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SXSW - Saturday March 18, 2006

After an amazing dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (no joke. Don't judge me!!) we headed out to Numo's to catch Moneen. It was very dark and photo ops were not really an option, but I did capture this moment of Chris Hughes. Dreads are fun.
Moneen

I wanted to go see Small Sins (formerly Ladies and Gentlemen) but the line up to the Parish was enormous. We went to see a few songs of a few acts before deciding that maybe the could badge our way in to the Parish.
Small Sins

I'd never seen them before despite the fact that I loved the CD and they'd been through Vancouver about a half dozen time in the past year.


Saturday was clearly the busiest night as we also had trouble getting into Emo's Annex for the Pink Mountaintops.
Pink Mountaintops

I had heard one song and loved it but was surprized to see them in the flesh. They sound a lot like Kings Of Leon, but better and look like they'll be a jam band but aren't. They were a revelation. Of course I found out later they are a real buzz band, and I see things about them everywhere now, but I'm really happy I got to see them here.

Last stop was Antone's for Robert Pollard.
Robert Pollard

Former leader of the legendary Guided By Voices, he's obviously still got lots of rabid fans because the place was packed.
Before the show even started I was worried as the Norwegian guy in front of me was flinging his arms around like a mad man.

He took to the stage with about a tray of a dozen, what looked liked, double shots of something and of course a copius amount of beer was already on the stage. His drinking is as legendary as his music which is saying a lot. When Barb saw him in Vancouver he'd apparently downed 2 dozen beer BEFORE he got on stage.

Of course he was amazing. A great way to end the official SXSW events..

Stay tuned for more on the Sunday night at the Continental Club with the legendary Alejandro Escobar, Charlie Sexton, more...
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