HPMAftermath: 9 Bands, 7 Bars, 1 Wristband, A Ton of People, & 1 Very Sore Foot

Yeah, I got out there a bit late — I didn’t make it to this year’s Houston Press Music Awards Showcase downtown ’til 6PM or so, which meant I missed 2 hrs’ worth of cool-ass bands. Perils of domesticated life, unfortunately; it gets hard to force myself to hop in the car & abandon the wife & midget, even for a few hours. But after cramming down some leftovers for dinner, I finally jumped in the car & went, parked beneath Bayou Place, and emerged into the summer-evening heat to see as many bands on the schedule as I could. Some I missed (The Wild Moccasins, Miss Leslie, Two Star Symphony, Flyish Fish Sailors…sigh), but the ones I did see were just about uniformly awesome. H-town reaffirms my faith in its homegrown music, once again.

Rather than blather about the thing as a whole, btw, I thought this time out I’d try my best to remember the mental notes I was making during each performance I caught (turns out I didn’t have Blogger Mobile set up like I thought I had, or I would’ve done more than mentally make notes; argh…). Oh, and I tried to take pics, but it got to be progressively more & more of a pain, so I eventually gave up. Gotta ditch this camera & get a new one, dammit. The whole set of pics is here, those who care…

The Scattered PAGES @ The Flying Saucer:

• First place I came to, so what the heck; I always like the PAGES (or is it just “Pages,” now? no freakin’ clue).
• Damn, the crowd for these guys is a lot more receptive than the last time I saw ’em play, over at Venue.
• The music definitely fits the vibe of the place, too.
• Down side? Not everybody’s there for the band — seems like half the room’s there to drink fancy-shmancy beers & socialize.
• Can’t get a view of the band that doesn’t involve a big column or standing real close to somebody’s girlfriend; time to move on.

Pale @ Venue:

• Man, I haven’t seen these guys in forever — seriously, the last time I saw ’em, I was still in a band & they were like Ultramagg’s proto-emo/indie-rock pals.
• They’ve evolved, for sure; now they’re more like a cross between Radiohead & The Killers.
• Makes sense, really — Calvin’s voice always sounded ill-suited to the whole emo thing, to me — this fits a lot better.
• Mmmm, smoke machine.
• Why aren’t these guys played on The Buzz by now? They blow most craptastic Buzz Bands out of the water, they’re still alive and/or releasing music (gotta love how “Your New Music” includes music by a dead guy named Kurt and a good dozen bands that don’t exist anymore), and they’re relatively accessible.
• Crowd seems to like it; bouncers aren’t into it, but the folks watching are.
• Hrm. Where the fuck is Jowell? He said he was going to try to get here about now…
• Why can’t I check my email in here? Are the walls lined w/lead or something?
• Is that Hank from Southern Backtones filming everything?
• Wait a second…I think I know the crew 2 tables over from the Hash House Harriers. Weird.
• Last song, heading outside to figure out what next; got a text msg from Jowell telling me I’m on my own. Ah, damn.
• The Tontons are next, so back in I go.
• David C. Sighting #1.

The Tontons @ Venue:

• Holy fucking shit. I should just go home now; nothing will top this.
• (Okay, so that turned out to almost be true.)
• Ramon Sighting #1.
• Asli is amazing, like Nina Simone fronting The Experience.
• Love how she’s sultry & playful, all at once.
• Never seen so many guys w/cameras taking pictures of the same woman at the same time.
• The band seems honestly humbled by the reaction they’re getting.
• Hey, a Jay Lee Sighting!
• Raw and awesome; the bass makes my chest vibrate, & I love it.
• Band’s almost done — time to try to catch part of Black Math Experiment.
• God damn, BME’s a long ways off; The Real Sammies is all the way past Notsuoh.
• Nice chat w/Rosa on the way up — she’s going for Wiggins, so I might, too.
• Ramon Sighting #2.
• Whoops…passers-by inform that Wiggins’re done. On to Sammies.

Black Math Experiment @ The Real Sammies:

• Fuck, my feet hurt. Ingrown toenail surgery sucks ass.
• Damn, missed most of the show.
• For a reunion of a now-defunct band, they seem totally into it.
• Heck, why’d they quit?
• That Jef With One F, he’s something else.
• Final song reminds me (favorably, somehow) of musical theatre, like a Rent outtake.
• Ah, for a toilet-paper gun/leafblower that actually works…
• (Apparently the key is better-quality toilet paper, as half the crowd informs Jef after. How do they know this? I’m afraid to ask.)
• Undaunted, Jef uses leafblower on tables & people’s clothes. Sometimes you improvise, yo.
• Lady from the Press looks like she’s ready for BME to get done.
• Nice to actually meet Jef in person; damn nice guy.
• And weirdly, he looks almost exactly how I’d pictured him, which hasn’t ever happened before.
• Quit bugging Jef so he can load out, time to hike down to Notsuoh.
• According to people walking ahead of me, BME didn’t play “You Can’t Kill David Arquette,” for some reason.
• Run into Justin & Larry Prkl8r (aka “my sometime accountant”) @ Notsuoh while waiting for Hearts of Animals.
• Oh yeah, Buxton & Spain Colored Orange’re right now, too…can I do all three?
• Larry heads off to talk to Jim Pirtle, so I tag along w/Justin to Buxton.
• Sounds like Twotenanny was good, if hot/packed; Sharks and Sailors as The Police == good.

Buxton @ Butterfly High:

• Never been here before; odd little bar.
• Wow, these guys are good live.
• And they sound different from A Family Light, too; louder & more countryish.
• Actually, reminds me of Lucero or Springsteen more than anything folky.
• Normally it really bugs the shit out of me when the singer explains the song before they play it, but here I somehow don’t mind.
• Ah, and there’s the Björk cover from last night @ Twotenanny. Justin says it’s better here, but it may be that the sounds better.
• I really hope these guys record something new soon…
• Halfway through, so time to head over to Spain Colored Orange.

Spain Colored Orange(?) @ Havana Latin Grill and Bar:

• Um. What?
• Who the fuck is this? Did SCO & Espantapajaros get switched?
• Lot of people here to see Spain Colored Orange, but I honestly can’t tell if it is them.
• If so, Gilbert looks like the love child of Santana & Tommy Chong these days.
• Whoa — I haven’t seen this band in a decade, since The Oven was still around. [NEXT-AM UPDATE FROM JUSTIN: It turns out that was, in fact Spaincoloredorange and the bearded guy was Gilbert. It seems they have changed.]
• Lots of funky horns, R&B rhythms, and keys.
• Why don’t they require that bands have a big poster behind ’em w/their name? Wouldn’t that be good publicity for the bands?
• Eh. Not doing much for me.
• Justin stays to see who the band actually is; I bail and try to catch Hearts of Animals.
• Ah, crap. HoA’s backing band (I think?) Young Mammals just passed w/their gear.
• Yep, the set’s over. Sorry, Ms. Mlee!

Sharks and Sailors @ Notsuoh:

• Hey, at least I’m here early for S&S.
• Need…soda…
• Wow, I’ve got a whole bench to myself. Lean back & close my eyes for a sec.
• Ramon Sighting #3.
• Hey, now I’ve got ADR from Skyline sitting next to me. Trippy…
• Stand up on bench to see the band, ’til I feel all vulnerable & exposed and sit back down.
• These folks still rule; “Fix Your Radar” rips the roof off. Like old-school Jawbox come back to life.
• David C. Sighting #2.
• Ramon & David C. are taking a picture of S&S’s drummer at the exact same time, barely three feet apart. This cracks me up, proving I need sleep.
• Damn, partway done — better go next door to see Bring Back The Guns.

Bring Back The Guns @ Dean’s:

• Dear God is it hot in here. I can’t breathe.
• Good old Matt…
• Sure hope that fratguy in front of him doesn’t do anything stupid while Matt’s all wrapped in that plastic banner.
• David C. Sighting #3.
• Ramon Sighting #4.
• Damn, the sound sucks. What the hell? Why’s it sound like BBTG are playing through toy speakers?
• I can’t do this; I’ve got to get out.
• Heading south to catch Young Mammals.

Young Mammals @ Butterfly High:

• Oh, wow. Tie w/the Tontons for best fucking performance of the night.
• I’ve never seen a crowd at the HPMAs react to a band the way these folks are digging Young Mammals.
• They’re so damn driving, it’s awesome.
• The drummer (Iram, I think?) truly is the engine of the band. Damn shame he’s moving away…
• I think Clay’s trying to get people onstage w/the band.
• Holy cow — they just transformed the whole place into an indie-rock dance par-tay.
• Nice to see smiling faces all ’round; these people know they’re witnessing something special.
• Only seen the band live once before, but this blows that performance out of the water. Incredible.
• Ramon Sighting #5. How does he move so damn fast?
• After, they’re all genuinely nice guys, friendly & humble & all.
• Clay’s kind enough to take me down the street to his car to give me a CD.
• Part of this wants this to continue all through the night, but another part of me says “hell, no.”
• Time to hike back to Bayou Place & the car.
• On home…

I hurt. Damn, I feel old. Nighty-night, all.