THE WALK, STRIDE OR STROLL ( TAKE YOUR PICK) OUT OF A PRESS SCREENING IS CHAT CITY. EVERYONE USUALLY WANTS YOU TO KNOW THEIR EDUCATED THOUGHTS AND TO GET A GRASP OF YOURS. I LOVE IT AND I HATE IT. I AM AKIN TO PONTIFICATE AND AM DRAWN TO SUCH THINGS, BUT MOST TIMES AFTER JUST SEEING A FILM, I NEED TO LET IT SINK IN BEFORE I KNOW HOW I FEEL. I USUALLY KEEP SILENT AND HIDE BEHIND MY PARTNER IN CRIME AS SHE TELLS THE PRESS SCREENER GUY SOMETHING WITTY. LAST WEEK AFTER THE MILK SCREENING NO-ONE SAID A WORD. WE ALL (IT WAS A FULL HOUSE) EXITED IN SILENCE. HOPE AND OUTRAGE WERE RINGING IN MY EARS.
A GREAT FILM. A SHOE-IN FOR MANY OSCARS.  GUS VAN SANT AND SEAN PENN ARE DESERVING OF RECOGNITION. Read the rest of this entry »

Daisy: Last time I saw Street Dogs, you were opening for Tiger Army.

Mike McColgan: At Emo’s.

DR: I think it was here at Red 7.

MM: Was it Red? We’ve been on a lot of tours, so forgive me. It becomes like a blur sometimes. That was an excellent tour. And truth be told, when we play in Texas, Austin always goes off whether we’re playing Red 7 or Emo’s. It’s always been good to us, whether we’re doing tour support or headlining. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, yesterday was fraught with all kinds of technical difficulties for me, so I was unable to post anything, including video. Today is looking up (I’m actually online!!), so I will be doing all I can to get some video up. I know that some of you are looking for the Air Sex video…I know you….

Day 2:

It was good to see the festival starting to gain full strength yesterday. Folks finally able to get out for the weekend to kick back and really submerge themselves in some good, old fashioned fantasy, surrealism, gore, violence.

Earlier in the day, many people had some specific films they were looking forward to seeing: The Substitute, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Surveillance and The Wreck. And from the follow-up that I got from those folks, they were all they could have ever wanted and more. Didn’t get a chance to see them, but luckily I will have a second chance during the second half of the festival. Read the rest of this entry »

Chazz Palminteri came to Austin to tell the tale first captured in the 1993 film of the same name. A Bronx Tale also starred Robert De Niro, and remains on many “best films of all time”. To compare it fairly to a stage version in which Chazz Palminteri plays every role would be futile. That doesn’t mean your brain won’t try. In order to appreciate this night of theater, I would urge you to try not to. On its own, A Bronx Tale the play is a strong theatrical accomplishment for the actor whose life it is based on. An opportunity to showcase his acting chops with no less than 15 characters and overall, he pulls it off. His strongest character is Sonny, who he played in the film, and he inhabits him like a second skin. It helps, no doubt, that Sonny has the most colorful and complex profile and the best lines-both comic and profound. Read the rest of this entry »

Kara Grainger’s new CD release “Grand and Green River” flows with soulful melodies and energetic arrangements. Her songwriting skills and musicianship are apparent throughout reminding me of Bonnie Raitt She is playing the Saxon Pub as her CD release party in Austin. Show is 11pm, Friday August 22nd, $10.

Jet wrote:
Press Release - I like Pot, I like it a Lot! Heard throughout South Austin last night - Jet Baker Stoner Love Songs CD Release Party / Benefit for NORML - Announcing a DVD will be created to benefit NORML

Ruta Maya International Headquarters was apparently the place to be if you were anywhere near Austin Texas on August 4th 2008. Cars, trucks, scooters and bikes owned Jet Baker fans and NORML supporters filled the parking lots and side streets around Penn Field. The residents of the new “fancy like” condos adjacent to Ruta Maya were welcomed with the sounds of “Who Who Who, Who got the Marijuana” as Jet Baker launched into his 1 hour and 10 minute set.

After everyone danced their butts off to the set by Burro Magic and The Blood Diamond, Jet Baker welcomed Josh Shimberg, President of Texas NORML to the stage. Josh updated the crowd on how NORML is influencing changes in marijuana laws right here in our community. He know how to get a crow fired up. Josh was interrupted often by ‘hell yeahs’, “right ons”, and spontaneous Texas style hootin n hollerin in support of NORML. After a few more Jet Baker songs including Britney for President, Jet introduced Matt Finkel, Pro Cannabis Libertarian Candidate for the 10th Congressional District in Texas (right here in Austin). Matt introduced himself and spoke on his candidacy and his pro-marijuana position. Read the rest of this entry »

Tom Waits makes me want to do bad things…But I’m innocent when I dream.

The Pied Piper of broken hearts, unthinkable misdeeds, and everything in between, leading us to the edge of the cliff, letting us decide for ourselves whether or not we wish to jump. Tom Waits, the poet. Tom Waits, the mad man. Tom Waits, the prickly devil perched on my left shoulder singing through a megaphone into my ear. That voice. That Goddamn voice.

Theatrical. Magical. Menacing.

Tom Waits makes me want to do bad things. But I’m innocent when I dream.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hot, would be the word for Antone’s Tuesday night as Austin’s own Reckless Kelly took the stage to support their new release, “Bullet Proof”. The AC couldn’t even come close to keeping up. A packed house of beautiful ladies drinking Reckless Razzes and few Lone Star country boys all were alive and well. Reckless Kelly put on a great show filled with a good mix of material including, to my surprise, the Beatles “Helter Skelter”. I had come into the show expecting a country rock show, but Reckless Kelly falls more on the side of rock with a country influence complete with fiddle and slide guitar. Glad i got a chance to see them before they hit the road. Next time their back in town check them out.

Review by: OSO

Attempting to describe the adventurous spirit of the Golden Arm Trio has always been an interesting game of adjective hunting. The group that takes its name from the 1955 Frank Sinatra flick (where ol’ blue eyes portrayed a junkie) never loses its sense of adventure and willingness to experiment. The word ‘group’ is also used quite loosely as in actuality the Golden Arm Trio is the brain child of Austin based musician/composer Graham Reynolds, with a revolving door of musicians. The word “Trio” is not to be taken literally either while thinking about seeing a performance, as was evident yet again at Emo’s this month.

Read the rest of this entry »

St. David’s Church, 3.15.08. I have found religion.

SXSW is synonymous with sensory overload. 5 days, 10 bands minimum a day, it becomes hard to tell one from the other. The venues aren’t helping either. The smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke left over from the days when it was still legal, blur the doors that separate The Dizzy Rooster from The Dirty Dog. That, coupled with the same skinny black jeans and rocker tees you swore you just saw on the four guys moaning into mics next door, and you could be in any of the shot bars on Sixth Street. And if it was in fact any other week in Austin, most of the industry types here to check out these bands probably wouldn’t dare to be seen in them. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Darlings,

I have a wild week planned as a lot of good music is coming our way.

So you think you’re cool? See how you rate tonight, Tuesday Jan 15, as Gallows takes over Emo’s. Frontman Frank Carter was voted “coolest man in rock n roll” by New Music Express, the top music mag in the UK. He even beat out Keith Richards. Now, I might be cool, but I am not as cool as Keith. Check out Gallows pure punk sound at http://www.myspace.com/gallows .

Thursday brings The Frontier Brothers to Emo’s. I am eager to see if they can sound as good live as they do on their EP, Solar Power Struggle! which is getting quite a good buzz. Check them out for yourself at http://www.myspace.com/thefrontierbrothers .

Next Tuesday, January 22 at the Beauty Bar (can you hear the echo on my voice?) our hometown boys Brownout will kick off their tour in support of their upcoming Freestyle Records release, Homenaje. I hear all of you out there saying, “I already have a copy!” Now it’s being released internationally, which means see them now my dear before we have to share them with the rest of the world. Check out our interview with them at http://austindaze.com/?p=307 and groove to them online at http://www.myspace.com/brownoutmusic .

I hope to see all of you lovelies at these shows. Until then, cha-cha!

SXSW Film Festival-2K7: Tiptoeing Through The Tulips
by: Dony Wynn

Every time of the year when the SXSW Film Festival rolls around I find myself getting itchy, extra geezy, in fact. Just think, a solid week in which escape into the ether of another’s celluloid spin becomes my reality; a glorious, welcome respite from the rigors of the daily grind; a golden opportunity to giggle, titter, squirm, shout, cry, shudder and tremble before big-screen images and THX sounds which, in turn, burn themselves permanently into the recessed fissures of your medulla oblongata. Yeah, like that. …Itchy, I tell you, dear reader, plumb itchy.. Read the rest of this entry »

My friend Russ had asked me to find something interesting to do for his birthday, and after checking my e-mail, I found out that Therapy? from Dublin, Ireland was headlining the North By Northeast Festival in Toronto. With a few phone calls and e-mails, we were on the press list, as Therapy? was actually the first band I interviewed as a young journalist: I had discovered the band at 12, but was never old enough to see them in clubs. For my 21^st birthday, I interviewed Therapy? at the Eureka Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio, and they’re then cello player Graham said something that literally clicked my entire journalism career into place: “if we’re really you’re favorite band since you were 12, and you can sit and interview us like normal people, then couldn’t you just as easily interview the president?”

To say the least, Therapy? has always held a special place in my heart. So as soon as we were given the green light, and I mean this was only a couple days notice, we packed up the car for the drive from Baltimore, taking a “short cut” through the Pennsylvania mountains by following a thin red line on a map – not my idea – that put us a few hours behind schedule. Friday morning, we pull into the Niagara Falls around 7 a.m., making a quick drive-by, as it was $12 just to park the car and we did not have time.

We were able to find a nice $2.99 breakfast special to power us up. The Canadian bacon they passed off as ham left something to be desired. Still, it was decent, even if the falls water left our brakes not working well.

When the brakes were dry and our bellies full, we zoomed upwards. Somebody had told us about coffee shops in Hamilton, but we never found our way to them, the closest we would be able to find was a rasta club in Toronto that wanted to charge a cover to let us come in and smoke weed. Not having enough to roll one with, we passed that opportunity as well.

The Holiday Inn on King Street was the heartbeat of the festival. Checking in, we were cast aside by one young fellow in partial drag, but that allowed us to bond with some of the worker girls who tuned us into events. The one girl tried to convince me to sit in on the interview with Peaches, touting that she tours with NIN, but though I loved the title to her hit song, I didn’t really think that the rest of the music held up to the expected title of it.

Besides, we had stuff to do, like sleep, so we checked into the Best Western a few blocks away, called for a wake-up call and never received it. This was a little more than annoying, because we missed the Feminist Porn Awards, which I really wanted to check out, and it also made us miss the interview that everyone forgot to mention to me was scheduled for six p.m.. Around ten, we mosey over to El Macamabo, only to find I forgot my camera battery, so we show back up closer to eleven where I ran into Andy.

The lead singer of Therapy? had remembered me from the previous interview, and suggested that we meet up after the show, so we settled in. Only one song I did not know, one that was not released here in the States, dancing around brought me back to the teenager mentality, as it did others. There was a whole group of us singing every song, dancing around happy.

I was a tad upset to not see Graham, after his great observation to me, but Therapy? was a three-piece to begin with, and even though Fife was not on drums, Neil made an awesome addition to the band, a perfectly great fit. The thing I’ve always liked about Therapy? was that they’re always trying something new, some new little tweak, going through all the range of music. Emotions are reflected, weaving a patchwork of life with funny faces and a mouthful of spit and beer showering all over the stage, power packed vision.

After the music, while listening to a local band that was fairly decent, we met up with Andy and manager Richard, discussing times to meet up for the interview that should have already happened, agreeing on the Holiday Inn on King, squeezing in talk time before the interview with Rob Halford. Andy has a wonderful sense of timing, even if I don’t, and the next morning, he caught us in the lobby, inviting us across the street for a round of Corona. I typed with Russ asked some questions, all of us laughing hysterically, but we kept an eye on the time, as none of us could bear to miss Rob Halford.

Wrapping up the interview with the unicorn and yogurt questions, we trailed across the street to watch the interview, sitting in the back of the room like misfits, drinking beer, yet sitting with rapt attention when the chat began; Kids In The Hall’s Dave Foley snuck in to stand directly behind us. Rob saw him trying to sneak in, calling attention to him, and as the interviewer brought us gay issues, Rob suggested that everyone should try being gay for a day, something I would later do in his honor for gay pride. While I tried to transcribe everything on the laptop, Russ snuck around like a cat trying to snap a few pictures, and the Therapy? guys drank attentively.

My constant typing wound up catching the attention of Marcus, lead singer of a local band and owner of his own database company, who would later guide us around the city a bit as we looked for the films showing later. Of course, our waiting to all get pictures with Rob Halford made us miss the movie about CBGB’s in the late 70s, we were able to catch “About A Son.” This movie made band Nirvana live up to its meaning of transcending death.

“About A Son” was the only film we caught as part of the festival, but it was eerily enough, for it was the voice of Kurt Cobain, recorded during his interviews for the biography “Come As You Are,” hearing a friendly ghost. Visualizations along with his own voice showed not family album style stuff, but pictures of his home towns in the current day, sunsets and scenery. Though there was great photography, colors matching the tones of what he was talking about, it was designed to let people focus on his own words.

From his fall into heroin to his living with a girl who’d care for him, he gives his own opinions on his life from beyond the grave, true Nirvana. Courtney took charge of making things happen for him, not letting him be pushed around or simply being complacent with life, truly his life partner. Hearing his observations on fame and friends was truly heart wrenching.

With a bite of food from Little Italy topping off our Vietnamese breakfast, I felt sluggish leaving the theatre, almost like I couldn’t leave. Russ convinced me otherwise by pointing at the time, so a quick change of pace led us debating on which acts to see, and while I really wanted to check out Lesbians on Ecstasy, just to see if they lived up to their name, we opted to see Tara Sloane, the former lead singer of Joy Drop, an old time favorite. By the time we hoofed through the gay district, we only caught the last three songs, but we did get to see her belt out “American Dream Girl” and a cover.

During the last song or so, I noticed that J from Dinosaur Jr. was standing next to me, and we said brief hellos, as I’d also seen him when I was first checking into the event for press and at the Therapy? show, so I gave him a book and wanted to ask about the equipment that was stolen last year, but I waited and asked his press agent, not wanting to bring up heart ache, only to find out that nothing has been recovered from the robbery. Hopefully my book will put a bit of a smile on his face when he reads it. Books were also handed out to Rob Halford, the Therapy? guys, Tara’s guitar player, and the bass player from the other headliner Urge Overkill.

Was I the only one who did not realize that Urge Overkill sang that song, “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon,” giving me flashbacks to Juliette Lewis, her dancing around in that one movie: you know what I mean, right? If you don’t, too bad, just rent all of her movies until you find that scene. Trust me, with titles like “Natural Born Killers” and “Kalifornia” – a movie that does have a Therapy? song in it – under her belt, you’ll be entertained.

Okay, so after Urge Overkill, we had to pack up, and I guess we missed most of the 450 bands at the 40 clubs, but I had fun, even if I missed the dog show, because we did see hookers in action and talked to the bums. Hitting up the beer store and picking up a few Cuban cigars on the way out, we did make another drive-by past Niagara Falls, seeing all the tourist attractions in full bloom while following out the royal highway 420 to home. Toronto might not be as corporately recognized as Austin’s SXSW, but if you want to find some off-the-wall stuff in a laid back atmosphere, being around bands you never heard of from across the globe, then this is where it’s at, just as much, if not more, going on to keep you more than amused.