Wishbone Ash - Live Dates

I expounded upon my "guilty pleasure" of digging this band before, but this live album is what really got me into the group, and I believe that this is the tour that I saw them in a small-ish place in Indiana. Fabulous players and singers, though, frankly, not much of a visual act. Still, man, could they play guitar!

Argus must have been the album that they were touring on for this live record, as many of that record's songs appear here, including the opener, "The King Will Come", which shows off their strengths right away - terrific vocal and guitar harmonies, lots of dynamic work and great playing all around! No, not raw rock'n'roll like I normally dig, but cool pop-metal. Love the catchy chorus of "Warrior", despite the fairly silly lyrics (as were all-too-common at the time), and "Throw Down the Sword" is what would later be called a power-ballad, with some quiet verses and a big, dramatic solo and choruses.

"Roll and Roll Widow" is an earlier song from Wishbone Four (that the audience appreciated) that shows off some nice, melodic slide work with cool echo effect in the solo section and "Ballad of the Beacon" essentially sounds like a British folk song set to electric guitars. I actually like their poppier version of Jimmy Reed's "Baby What You Want Me To Do", with its slide work and twin lead guitars, though it is a far cry from Reed's original. The groups musicianship and tightness are on display in "Pilgrim", where they actually pull off a live "fade out" from the melodic intro into the main structure of the song, which is an instrumental riffer, augmented by some harmony vocals singing "ahhs" - basically, a structured jam.

Definitely my favorite song by WA is "Blowin' Free", though I would be hard-pressed to describe why. Supremely catchy melody, nice guitar work, cool riff, and a breakdown which moves into a rockin' solo section, giving another excuse to show off their dynamics. "Jailbait" is one of their more upbeat numbers - still pretty clean but more rock'n'roll than harmonically pretty, with lots of room for the guitars to stretch out - with their patented twin leads as well as each guitar getting their own time - and a good set closer.

They come back with two more, "Lady Whiskey", another more traditional riff-rocker, though with a number of changes and a bit of their melodic twin leads. The closer is "Phoenix", a bit mellower, but more dramatic, with some lead flourishes giving it some intensity and finishing with a huge jam section.

Again, this is not something for pure punk'n'rollers, but if you dig melodic hard rock with some inspired guitar playing, this is fun stuff.

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (ZOSO)

Since I'm in the Zep section, lemme go over this one, as well. This may have been the first album of theirs

that I owned, simply due to the ubiquitousness of "Stairway to Heaven", which I admit to liking as much as the next stoner/metal kid in the 70's. I don't think that this is currently my top Zep record, but still it is pretty solid, overall.

This opens with one of their best riff-rockers, "Black Dog" (so named due to one walking by at the right moment, apparently), which actually got some AM airplay in the Chicago area. This is another wacky Page-ism that shouldn't work (I spent many an hour stumbling over this while trying to play it - don't think I ever conquered it) but does and is a bit of a monster as it does - again, Bonham's bashing certainly contributes to the success! A Zep-ified take on 50's rock'n'roll follows in the aptly titled "Rock and Roll" - another heavy piece of furious mania. Yes, a little corny lyrically, but still pretty ferocious!

The first acoustic number of this album is "The Battle of Evermore" featuring mandolin and the beautiful voice of Sandy Denny from Fairport Convention. The two vocals work together well, intertwining and weaving in and out and sometimes harmonizing, giving a terrific effect to the tune, which wouldn't be nearly as interesting if Plant had been on his own. I don't think that there is anyone on the planet who hasn't heard "Stairway to Heaven", but if you step away from it long enough you can learn to appreciate it again. It is a truly interestingly crafted number with its builds in intensity and instrumentation. Again, they show how they can create a classic that shouldn't be - how many songs this popular have no chorus whatsoever?

"Misty Mountain Hop" is another oddity - electric piano driven, with truly unusual harmonies and, again, no real chorus. Just slightly less weird is "Four Sticks" with a heavy, simple riff, pounding, jungle drums (what else?) and a bit more catchy, though still no true chorus, in a traditional sense. But the return to acoustic in "Going to California" brings us back to a more "standard" type of songwriting - a pretty, hippie-esque folk tune with some interesting changes. Speaking of changes, they radically re-worked Memphis Minnie's "When the Levee Breaks", though they still should have given her some credit! Regardless, love the harmonica here and, of course, Bonham is a monster and really makes the tune.

Yes, it's a classic - the first four albums are - but I don't know that it's the best of the bunch. Still, worth having if you dig hard blues-rock.

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

In my pre-punk adolescence, and before I discovered the pre-punk Detroit high-energy bands, the late 60's/early 70's hard rock/heavy metal bands gave me the closest approximation of raw power to cure my pubescent blues. I assume that I first heard Led Zeppelin via the first big single, "Whole Lotta Love", but not sure when I really started delving into the albums. Having been brought up as a folkie, I did appreciate their acoustic side, as well, so this album has always appealed to me and remains one of my favorite of theirs.

The Valkerie shriek opening "Immigrant Song" was nothing short of a berserker cry coming out of the usual AM Radio drek (and this was kept short enough to be a single without meat-handed editing), and this simple, driving tune brought many to Zeppelin's shores. Being a fan of Marvel's Thor comic book, I appreciated the lyrical content, as well! But, the acoustics come out right afterwards in "Friends", with Page playing with unusual tunings, somewhat off-beat rhythms (sorta reminiscent of what would be done in "Kashmir" later) and even a string section (though I think this may have been done with Jones' mellotron). "Celebration Day" is a bit of a high-speed blues, complete with slide work, that morphs into a pop chorus, as they create more of their own sound based on the blues, rather than simply ripping off the old guard.

Speaking of which, "Since I've Been Loving You" was given some new arrangement in their hands, but it really was an Otis Rush tune. Nonetheless, they give an emotional reading to these minor-key blues and Bonham really lays down a heavy backbeat and gives some truly effective accents to the proceedings. Of course, Page lets loose with  a blazing flurry of notes so fast and furious that they are sometimes hard to follow, but are still well composed. LZ were also masters at turning weird, off-time riffs into head-banging bashers, as they do with "Out on the Tiles" - this shouldn't make any sense, but somehow it does - I suspect again that Bonham has a lot to do with this - and, of course, it is also tempered with its catchy chorus.

One of my favorite things that these cats ever did is their arrangement of the traditional tune, "Gallows Pole", with it's mandolin and banjo in addition to the acoustic guitar. This was adapted by many early folk, country and bluegrass artists in the States, but Zep reverts it a bit to its old country (British) roots, but adds a modern touch with Bonham's entrance punching the tune into high gear. They do create a truly pretty folk song with "Tangerine", though again add drums and electric guitars to the sonic mix. This continues in "That's the Way" - again, primarily an acoustic guitar/mandolin folk track but with some electrics adding to the soundscape.

"Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" (named after a locale in northern England, as I recall, where they were writing songs for this album) is a cool, little acoustic country/blues bouncer which moves directly into "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper", an acoustic slide blues taken from a number of older songs but given an interesting twist by these boys.

This is considered Zep's "acoustic album" and I guess that is a reasonably fair assessment despite the few heavy tunes - even though all of their records have their share of wooden music. I dig the many sides of the band that are shown here - good stuff!

Of course, today's youngsters can't fully realize the tactile and sensory experience of playing with the vinyl album cover with the moving wheel exposing different images beneath. Ah for the days when record covers were works of art!

recommended gigs

Thursday August 29 - the Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock

Saturday August 31 - the return of Atomic Cossack - Beauty Bar
Saturday August 31 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down Saloon

Wednesday September 4 - Delta Bombers/Lucky Cheats at the Griffin

Friday Sept 6 - Tiger Sex at the Double Down

Saturday Sept 7 - Thee Swank Bastard - the Dillinger

Wednesday September 11 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down
Wednesday September 11 - The Psyatics at Triple B with Calabrese

Friday Sept 13 - Thee Swank Bastards - Huntridge Tavern

Saturday Sept 14 - the Psyatics and Double Down w/Machine Gun Kellys and Agent 86

Thursday September 19 - Crazy Chief at Vamp'd w/Jackyl and Dirty Paradise

Friday Sept 20 - Bogtrotters Union/Mass Distractors - Artifice

Saturday Sept 21 - The Swamp Gospel 2nd Anniversary show at the Motor City Cafe with special guests Crazy Chief and the Mapes!

Wednesday Sept 25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday September 27 - the debut of Prophet Greene's Soul Machine - the Dive Bar with Hopeless Jack and Handsome Devil along with Wade Crawford and Country Trash

Thursday Oct 3 - Thee Swank Bastards - Wolf Theater

Friday Oct 4 - The Psyatics with Rev. Horton Heat at LV Country Saloon

Wednesday Oct 9 - Tiger Sex at the Griffin

Thursday Oct 10 - Bogtrotters Union/Pietasters - Hard Rock

Friday Oct 11 - The Rosalyns - Dive Bar

Friday Oct 18 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday October 19 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine at the Motor City

Wednesday Oct 30 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Saturday Nov 23 - the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg

The mastermind of vocalist/guitarist Andrew Stockdale, Wolfmother has gone through (and apparently is still going through) multiple line-up changes - Stockdale being the only static member - but has still managed to garner huge success with his hard rock sound. Yes, this is certainly influenced by classic heavy metal/hard rock, but there are lots of more modern traits evident, as well, not the least of which is Andrew's uncanny vocal resemblance to Jack White. The guitar tones have a more modern production quality, as well, including some effect that White uses on his guitar - I actually thought this was one of his off-shoot projects when I first heard the band.

This 2009 sophomore release continues with the sound that gave them success on their 2005 eponymous debut - yes, plenty of classic rock sounds (I'm hearing some Led Zeppelin-ish production techniques, especially) but also newer punk and metal thrown into the mix. Skip if you don't dig metal, but a pretty interesting new take on the genre, if ya do.

Monster Magnet - Spine of God

The first full-length release from the Dave Wyndorf (ex-Shrapnel) and the stoner boys in Monster Magnet was this cult classic for Caroline Records in 1991. Having previously issued cassettes, singles and a seminal EP for Glitterhouse Records in Germany, this album cemented their status as the premier drug-addled hard rockers of the time.

With their punk backgrounds mixing with late sixties heavy rock (Grand Funk, Blue Cheer, etc.) and lyrics mostly dedicated to getting high - "Pill Shovel", "Medicine", "Nod Scene", et al - these cats created a sound that was a rawer version of what was becoming "grunge" at the time. This was heavy as hell, but powered by a monster (so to speak) rhythm section (Joe Calandra on bass and Jon Klelman on drums) and John McBain's wild, Leigh Stevens-esque guitar work, and, as leader Wyndorf loved to say, they did their best to emulate a bad acid trip. He would sing, shriek, whisper, moan, shout and leave subliminal messages for your brain throughout while guitars would wah-wah, echo, feedback and create wild slabs of sound. Lots of dynamics used for effect, as well, with quiet, tremoloed guitars (with sound scapes in the background) suddenly exploding into massive noise. Massive bonus points for being cool enough to cover Grand Funk Railroad ("Sin's a Good Man's Brother) in 1991, as well.

No, you don't have to be stoned to appreciate MM - you just have to be able to appreciate noisy, heavy, hard rock melding with punk and plenty of trippy imagery. I was never much of a druggy, but love this stuff! I dig their later, slicker sound, as well, but this is dirty, back-alley, drug'n'roll.

Duane Allman - An Anthology

I know that many think that the Allman Brothers are simply boring, classic-southern-rock, but in their early days with Duane, they created some kick-ass southern-blues music and Duane was a superb player. This anthology shows off his studio work before the Brothers hit big.

This two record (and now 2-CD) set, opens with pre-Allman Brothers band, Hourglass, with Duane taking lead vocals as well as guitar for an inspired "B.B.King Medley", showing that he studied hard with the masters. He also managed to sit in with some giants, such as Wilson Pickett with "Hey Jude" (supposedly, this was Duane's idea - since he couldn't read music, this was a song that he knew and the other studio musicians - mostly black - didn't!), in which he does such a spectacular job that he came to the attention of none other than Eric Clapton - thereby leading him into the Derek and the Dominos sessions later.

Clarence Carter's "The Road of Love" is a drivin' piece of groovy funk'n'roll where Duane displays his slide prowess and amazing tone. "Goin' Down Slow" was a solo demo of Duane's, where he fashions a slow blues not unlike some later Allman Brother tunes. Some more fantastic slide playing highlights Aretha Franklin's version of "The Weight", though the guitar on King Curtis' "Games People Play" is a lot less prominent (understandably, as it is Kurtis' show). John Hammond's "Shake For Me" is an upbeat, groove-alicious dance tune with tasteful bottleneck throughout - kind of cool how so much of Duane's session work made use of his slide talents - apparently, he made a name for himself in this realm early on.

The slow, sultry, organ-dominated blues of Boz Scaggs' "Loan Me a Dime" is one of the top numbers of this set - just fantastic through-and-through, from Boz's emotional vocals, to the understated backing, to the cool horn section, to the dynamics and the fine guitar playing. The ending "jam" builds in intensity with keys, horn and guitars all taking solos in a fantastic head-shakin', rock'n'rollin' journey that disappoints when it fades away. Thankfully, you can catch your breath with the equally great, but somewhat less intense, acoustic version of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" by Johnny Jenkins with Duane continuing to impress with his Coricidin bottle.

Delaney, Bonnie & Friends' "Livin' on the Open Road" is one of my favorite numbers of theirs - good, high-energy rock'n'roll - and Johnny Jenkins' returns with "Down Along the Cove", which rocks a little less frantically, but in a similar vein. I'm not familiar with the group Cowboy, but their acoustic, country-ish "Please Be With Me" sounds a lot like some of the mellower Allman tracks, and lets Duane show that he is equally comfortable with acoustic as well as electric. "Mean Old World" is Duane dueting with Eric Clapton on acoustics, which moves into their most famous collaboration, "Layla", with Duane contributing the iconic opening lick, along with his moving slide work.

From there on, we get several Allman Brother cuts - "Statesboro Blues", "Don't Keep Me Wonderin'", "Stand Back", "Dreams" and "Little Martha". Truthfully, while this stuff is still good, I prefer the session work, just for its variety and great tunes. All-in-all, a terrific package showing the talents of one of the best electric slide players to grace our planet.

The Circus Kids - Double Down Saloon Saturday August 24, 2013

During a break in the monsoon season storms, the Swamp Gospel made it out to the Double Down for our back-to-school revival. Fittingly, joining us on the bill were a duo of youngsters called the Circus Kids, who turned out to be three rings of fun!

Being a guitar/drums duo, there are natural comparisons to the White Stripes, but these Kids have a sound of their own - less blues-oriented, a bit psychedelic at times (their "Chinese New Year" on the CD they were giving away has plenty of echoed guitar lines) and drummer Elise X. can really play! (Sorry Meg - you were never much of a musician.) Pawl E. sings (and he does sound a bit like Jack White vocally) and plays a Telecaster decorated with circus-y dots and a big Joker sticker while wearing a light-up, over-sized, clownish bow-tie and occasionally donning comically over-sized glasses with a clown nose! These pieces of silly theater are not really needed as they are energetic onstage, have real songs and are damn good musicians. They keep the songs interesting with enough changes and dynamics and riffs and manage to put out a big sound for just two people.

Those in the O.C./So.Cal. are should do yourself a favor and check these two out. They had a solid and growing fan base, as evidenced by the number of people they got to come out to Vegas with them!

(Once again, no good pix from me, so I stole the above from their Facebook page!)

recommended gigs

Saturday August 24 - The Swamp Gospel at the Double Down Saloon

Sunday August 25 - Crazy Chief acoustic at the Commonwealth

Thursday August 29 - the Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock

Saturday August 31 - the return of Atomic Cossack - Beauty Bar
Saturday August 31 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down Saloon

Wednesday September 4 - Delta Bombers/Lucky Cheats at the Griffin

Friday Sept 6 - Tiger Sex at the Double Down

Sunday, September 8 - The Psyatics at Triple B with Calabrese

Wednesday September 11 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down

Friday Sept 13 - Thee Swank Bastards - Huntridge Tavern

Thursday September 19 - Crazy Chief at Vamp'd w/Jackyl & Dirty Paradise

Friday Sept 20 - Bogtrotters Union/Mass Distractors - Artifice

Saturday Sept 21 - The Swamp Gospel 2nd Anniversary show at the Motor City Cafe with special guests Crazy Chief and the Mapes!

Friday September 27 - the debut of Prophet Greene's Soul Machine - the Dive Bar with Hopeless Jack and Handsome Devil along with Wade Crawford and Country Trash

Friday Oct 4 - The Psyatics with Rev. Horton Heat at LV Country Saloon

Thursday Oct 10 - Bogtrotters Union/Pietasters - Hard Rock

Friday Oct 11 - The Rosalyns - Dive Bar

Saturday October 19 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine at the Motor City

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Saturday Nov 23 - The Swamp Gospel with the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

The (International) Noise Conspiracy - A New Morning, Changing Weather

T(I)NC was a wild Swedish garage/punk band that prided itself on its extremely left wing (communist) politics and wanted to become a cross between "Elvis Presley and Che Guevara". They also managed to write extremely catchy, extremely rockin' songs that combined the best of r'n'r and politics in a way that few ever could.

Showing a perfect fusion of garage and punk'n'roll (mining territory that groups like the Miracle Workers had previously explored), the Conspiracy damn near explodes right from the start with drummer Ludwig Dahlberg beating the skins like his life depended on it on "A Northwest Passage" which blends into "Up For Sale" which uses a Blondie riff (though I'll be damned if I can remember what song it is from), but I guess in communism, songs are everyone's, right?!

"Bigger Cages, Longer Chains" is an a-rhythmic, herky-jerky, kinda James Chance-y, horn driven soul garage-rocker that leads into "Breakout 2001", a sax-y noise fest that becomes a true stomper. Another short rocker, "A Body Treatise" precedes the somewhat eerie, organ-dominated "Born Into This" that turns into a poundin' piano workout, reminding me a bit of some of the wild piano in Alladin Sane.

"New Empire Blues" is high energy garage, similar to an updated Pretty Things, with call and answer chorus and a somewhat Stoogesian sax break and a good use of dynamics. The huge chorus of "Capitalism Stole My Virginity" with its swelling organ, gang vocals, simple and effective guitar riffs and caveman drums mix so many different influences that it's hard to pick everything out, which ends up creating their own, personal sound.

Beautiful, squealing feedback and gigantic power chords dominate "Last Century Promise" and they steal "You Really Got Me" for the intro to "Dead Language of Love" before turning it inside out, adding off-time drums and then just freakin' exploding in a glorious blast of noise'n'roll. There is a brief respite with a quiet interlude before ending with the title cut, which I take to be a high-energy declaration of hopeful political change.

This is absolutely a terrific garage'n'roll album, that just happens to be heavily political - though you can kinda ignore that if it offends your sensibilities and just rock out. I'm sorry that I never got a chance to see these damn commies!

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly

I know that it is nearly impossible for anyone to not know at least the hits from this majestic soundtrack, but what the hell - I just pulled this out and it is good enough to rant about.

Right from the opening cut, "Little Child Runnin' Wild", you get classic Curtis - incredible, horn-driven 70's soul with great grooves and topical lyrics that reference the story line of the movie. This moves into the first one of the many hits from this soundtrack, the percussion-led "Pusherman", with its fabulous wah-wah-ed guitar and almost rapping lyrics that continue to tell the tale of Superfly. A fairly minor character in the movie gets an amazing tune with "Freddie's Dead", string-laden with a simple, infectious riff and more cool conga drums.

After this trio of greatness we finally get some basic movie background music - not that these are bad cuts - far from it, just not among the hits - "Junkie Chase", "Give Me Your Love" (especially good horn section here), "Eddie You Should Know Better", "Nothing on Me", "Think" - some simply instrumental work, some truly cool songs.

The record ends with the iconic title cut which continues with the fantastic formula working throughout this album - amazing horns, super percussion, wah-wah guitar licks and cool melody and lyrics. The CD release includes single mixes of this number as well as "Freddie's Dead".

This is pretty much the epitome of 70's soul - everyone should have this in their collection!

I Put a Spell on You - The Okeh Story

The Okeh Records was a terrific and prolific label that was responsible for some of the best and most rockin' r'n'b to come out of the 1950's. As the title reveals, Screamin' Jay Hawkins had his biggest hit while on this label, but there were many other greats, from big Maybelle to Brook benton to Dave "Baby" Cortez and even Frankie Valli (though he recorded under the name Frankie Tyler for the out-of-control "I Go Ape"). Okeh was a contemporary of Chess (indeed, Okeh actually started first!) and mined a lot of the same type of talent.

Many of the artists on Okeh received their greatest hits on other labels, but there is a lot of fantastic music here and plenty of chart success. I remember Little Joe and the Thrillers "Peanuts" from my childhood, though I don't remember the killer guitar solo! Big Maybelle's fantastic original "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" is even more sexualized than Jerry Lee Lewis' monster hit - which probably explains why Maybelle didn't get the chart topper. Dave "Baby" Cortez's "You Given Me Heebie Jeebies" may not have risen to the top like his instrumental "Happy Organ", but this is a cool, Little Richard inspired rocker and his "Honey Baby" is a fine blues rocker!

Tons of fun cuts here - "I've Got That Feeling" by LaVerne Ray & the Raytones, Paul Gayten's "Cow Cow Blues" (the instrumental basis for Dr. John's "Do the Mess Around"), a couple more Screamin' Jay gems, such as "Person to Person", "You Made Me Love You" and "Frenzy" and Big Maybelle's terrific "The Other Night", "One Monkey Don't Stop the Show" and "I've Got a Feelin'". Some cool, early doo-woppish r'n'r like Chuck Willis' "Ring Ding Doo" and The Skee Brothers' "That's All She Wrote", but also some truly wimpy cuts, like Brook Benton's "The Kentuckian Song" and "Bring Me Love" or the goofy "If You Care" by Frankie Tyler (Valli).

Nice surprises for me included Doc Bagby's sax-driven blues number "Sylvia's Callin'", Lois Lee's sassy "I've Got It Bad For You Baby", Hurricane Harry doing "Last Meal" that I know from Jimmy Rogers' version, the Dolls' Shangra-La's-esque "Please Come Home", the swinging "You Care" by Jolly Boy Shepard (reminiscent of "Youngblood", though a bit darker sounding), the Five Scamps "Red Hot" is a hot, jumpin', sax workout, and Marvin Gaye even makes an appearance - albeit as a backing singer - for the Marquees "Wyatt Earp".

This is a fun, 2-CD set of 50's r'n'r, r'n'b, doo-wop, soul and blues - well worth owning!

recommended gigs

Thursday August 15 - Tiger Sex - Triple B

Friday Aug 16 - The All-Togethers at the Dillinger
Fridat August 16 - Crazy Chief at Triple B w/Lola Black and Under the Drone

Saturday August 17 - The All-Togethers at Gold Spike

Tuesday August 20 - The All Togethers at Boomers

Saturday August 24 - The Swamp Gospel at the Double Down Saloon

Sunday August 25 - Crazy Chief acoustic at the Commonwealth

Thursday August 29 - the Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock

Saturday August 31 - the return of Atomic Cossack - Beauty Bar
Saturday August 31 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down Saloon

Wednesday September 4 - Delta Bombers/Lucky Cheats at the Griffin

Friday Sept 6 - Tiger Sex at the Double Down

Sunday, September 8 - The Psyatics at Triple B with Calabrese

Wednesday September 11 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down

Friday Sept 13 - Thee Swank Bastards - Huntridge Tavern

Thursday September 19 - Crazy Chief at Vamp'd w/Jackyl & Dirty Paradise

Friday Sept 20 - Bogtrotters Union/Mass Distractors - Artifice

Saturday Sept 21 - The Swamp Gospel 2nd Anniversary show at the Motor City Cafe with special guests Crazy Chief and the Mapes!

Friday September 27 - the debut of Prophet Greene's Soul Machine - the Dive Bar with Hopeless Jack and Handsome Devil along with Wade Crawford and Country Trash

Tues Oct 1 - The Voodoo Organist at the Dive Bar

Friday Oct 4 - The Psyatics with Rev. Horton Heat at LV Country Saloon

Wednesday Oct 9 - Tiger Sex at the Griffin

Thursday Oct 10 - Bogtrotters Union/Pietasters - Hard Rock

Friday Oct 11 - The Rosalyns - Dive Bar

Saturday October 19 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine at the Motor City

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Saturday Nov 23 - The Swamp Gospel with the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

RIP Allen Lanier

Allen was the incredibly talented keyboardist/guitarist for Blue Oyster Cult. Usually overshadowed by the also supremely talented Buck Dharma, Allen was a superb guitarist and keyboardist and was responsible for much of the BOC sound, as well as for bringing in Patti Smith's lyrics to the band while the two were dating.

I was lucky enough to see them on the Agents of Fortune tour and them were fantastic, and saw them here in Vegas about 2003/2004 and they were still pretty amazing, though a few years back Allen was no longer in the band (due to his prolonged fight with lung disease) and singer Eric Bloom barely sang, so they were pretty disappointing.

Another terrible loss to rock'n'roll.

Story here.

Rev. Dan Smith - Unfinished Business

I do not know much about the good Reverend, other than what the brief liner notes tell me - he was born in 1911, died in 1994, sang and played harmonica, was passionate about the Gospel and these tracks were recorded shortly before his death. The recordings sound modern - in that the sound itself is crisp and clear - but Rev. Smith sounds timeless. He was ill during these sessions, but he still sounds vital, with his voice reminiscent of Gary Davis, and his harmonica playing is superb, reminding me of Sonny Terry.

The songs themselves are a mix of gospel, blues and bluegrass, with the Reverend's vocals and (acoustic) harmonica leading and dominating. But the background instrumentalists add quite a bit, with Michael Hakanson-Stacy's mandolin, guitar, dobro, lap steel and vocals (as well as liner notes) along with nice background vocals (Leslie Smith and Rusty Annis predominately) and other guitars and keyboards.

I wish I could find some of this man's earlier work, though this is all that I see that is currently available. In the meantime, this is some beautiful music that combines some of my favorites styles.

Supersnazz - Superstupid

Blasting out like a garage-y-er Ramones, with buzzsaw guitars, driving drums, solid bass, and group vocals, Supersnazz were among the first all-female Japanese punk bands to come up on American radar and they knocked everyone for a loop who heard them! Catchy, fun songs sung by cute Japanese girls - how could they go wrong?! This record was even produced by Kurt Bloch and put out by Sub Pop!

Yes, there are plenty of Ramones steals (check out "Sometimes"), but they change things up and don't try to simply copy them. They do cool covers like Linke Wray's "Comanche", "Leaving Here", "Papa Oom Mow Mow" and others, and add bits like harmonica in "Playing My Guitar", as well as cool, simple guitar riffs, such as the one in "Hardcore". They also have truly catchy melodies, even if you can't always understand what they're saying!

Again, these girls (and they were girls at the time) brought fun back to punk rock, which was the idea in the first place, wasn't it?!

Supersnazz - I Wanna Be Your Love

Supersnazz was a super-cute, all-female Japanese punk rock/garage band from the early 90's who had the

good taste to name themselves after a Flamin' Groovies record. Coming along at about the same time as groups such as Teengenerate, they mined some of the same territory but had the added plus of being Japanese girls!

But, regardless of the novelty, they were a fun, hard-rockin' band that blasted through 60's garage covers as well as punky/poppy tunes of their own, such as the title cut here, full of wild energy and lots of vocals/screaming/cheering/etc. The other songs on this CD-EP include two Sonics covers - "Boss Hoss" and "The Witch", performed with maximum fuzz, their minimalistic take on the Groovies' "Teenage Head" and a crazed "Papa Oom Mow Mow".

Don't buy unless you're willing to rock out with a huge smile on your face! These chicks were a pure rockin' good time!

Silverhead - Silverhead and 16 and Savaged

Michael Des Barres may be best known for his marriage to groupie extraordinaire and ex-GTO Pamela, but his initial claim to fame was this heavy metal/pop/glam band, Silverhead. This group also featured Nigel Harrison, later with Blondie and Chequered Past (with Michael), along with Rod Davies on drums, Pete Thompson on keys, and guitarists Stevie Forest and Robbie Blunt. These are their two official releases before fizzling out due to lack of sales. They have since become an iconic band, probably as much due to the fantastic 16 and Savaged cover as to their music, though they did created some fine pop metal.

The self-titled debut premiers with a basic boogie-rock with pop overtones in "Long Legged Lisa", which also shows off the slide guitar which was a trademark, giving the band a bit of a different sound from most hard rock/glam bands at the time. "Underneath the Light" is a catchy, sing-a-long (complete with "doo-doo's"!) and probably the closest they come to the pop-metal that was normally considered glam rock before it moves into pure hard rock with plenty of great guitar work for the ending. Fine stuff!

"Ace Supreme" doesn't quite cut it with me for some reason, though the group is doing their best to cook it out. The ballad "Johnny" has musical references to old English folk songs, which gives it a nice flavor and a good change of pace which continues somewhat with "In Your Eyes", though I'm being reminded of other 70's power-ballads here, even if I can't place my finger on anything specifically. "Rolling With My Baby" is another fun boogie-rocker with a chant-along chorus and some added horns, which somehow work, even while sounding a bit out of place.

Yet another ballad, this one laden with backing vocals and keys, "Wounded Heart" is actually some pretty good songwriting and the band gets creative in their playing and dynamics, especially the rhythm section. Back to the boogie for the mid-tempo "Sold Me Down the River", again with horns and a groovy beat, before rockin' it up again in "Rock and Roll Band" - no, not exactly deep lyrics, but this is a good, melodic, rock'n'roll tune with a break-down bridge and another dynamic bass-and-drum break before going all out for the ending!

Opening the second album, "Hello New York" is a pretty damn fine r'n'r anthem, telling a tale of almost

burning down a hotel during their touring debauchery, which is followed by the filthy "More Than Your Mouth Can Hold". This is a cool pop tune, despite the lyrical content, and has some neat slide guitar work. A slow, bluesy rock ballad, "Only You" moves into a boogie-rocker, "Bright Light", with more fine slide work and a high-speed rave-up ending.

"Heavy Hammer" is a syncopated riff-rocker with dual riffin' guitars which is followed by the frantic "Cartoon Princess", with slide and wah-wah guitars intertwined and colliding, power chords and much mania! Heavy, heavy chords dominate "Rock Out Claudette Rock Out", sounding almost like Humble Pie or someone like that - a bit darker and metal-y compared to the rest of the numbers. I'm sure that these cats were accused of jumping on bandwagons, hence the somewhat defensive "This Ain't a Parody", which is written as a love song, but I'm sure there was a bigger picture. Closing with the title cut, this is a bit schizophrenic, with rockin' verses and quiet, ballad-y choruses. Doesn't quite make the tour-de-force that I assume they were going for here.

All-in-all, good, but not great glam/pop/metal worth having if you fine it discounted. Sorry - not high praise, but, while I dig the records and pull them out fairly regularly, they just miss the mark.

The Red Devils - King King

The Red Devils was an early 90's LA-based white-boy rockin' blues band, made up of cats from the LA punk scene, including brothers Dave Lee Bartel and Johnny Ray Bartel on guitar & bass (both had played in innumerable bands previously, including a different band with the same name - this band was previously called the Blue Shadows - yes, very confusing), Lester Butler on vocals & harp, Paul Size on lead guitar and, from the Blasters, Bill Bateman on drums and Gene Taylor on piano. This CD was recorded for Def American by Rick Rubin live at the King King Club in Hollywood - one of their mainstay gigs.

Opening with the harp-driven groover, "Automatic", they set the pace right away - swinging, r'n'r blues with everyone right in the pocket and everyone playing together as a band. Butler has a cool, gravely voice and is a heckua harp-player and the rest of the cats lock in behind him. Their own "Goin' to the Church" is a stomper that must've gotten the cats and kittens out of their seats and boppin'! Willie Dixon's "She's Dangerous" is a "Hootchie Kootchie Man" re-write but is a cool, smouldering blues. They give a great reading of "I Wish You Would" then slow it down for Sonny Boy Williamson's "Cross Your Heart".

Singer Butler added some lyrics to a Willie Dixon number and came up with "Tail Dragger" which lets Size cut loose with some great licks in this powerhouse soul/blues. They seem to be channeling Creedence Clearwater for "Devil Woman" - never a bad thing! - with its swampy, voodoo rhythm and Fogerty guitar tones. Butler's "No Fightin'" is a nice mid-tempo smoker that lets both Butler and Size bust out some riffs before pulling out a Howlin' Wolf tune that I hadn't heard before, "Mr. Highway Man" - a rockin' number. Funnily, they combine the music for "Scratch My Back" with the lyrics for "I'm Ready" then they really stretch out for a slow, slow take on Little Walter's "Quarter to Twelve" before rockin' out with the closer, Junior Wells' "Cut That Out".

These cats ended up gigging/jamming/recording with everyone from the Black Crowes to Mick Jagger! If you dig Blasters-inspired blues, this is one to get!

Alan Lomax – The Man Who Recorded the World by John Szwed

Alan Lomax’s work recording American songs and culture for the Library of Congress is legendary and this book introduces you to his life and background, as well as his work. His father, John Lomax, was the man initially responsible for field recordings around the country and when Alan joined him, despite their political differences, they found common ground. The men traveled the country, seeking out traditional songs in prisons (where they met, befriended and, per some, helped to parole Lead Belly), plantations and homes. Both men were prone to illness and each traveled separately as well as together and carried on as best they could when stricken.

Alan expanded on his father’s work and made an expedition to Haiti – one of the first scholarly explorations of the country – and upon returning to the States, began working at the Library of Congress, transcribing songs and fielding requests. He helped to discover, promote and record Woody Guthrie, among others, and worked with folk giants such as Pete Seeger. Feeling the need to expand, he went to Europe and recorded throughout the continent. He spent eight years there, compiling albums from different regions and became a radio personality in England, where he championed skiffle and early rock’n’roll (understanding its relation to black American music).

Returning to America, he remained under FBI surveillance for years as a suspected communist, but he managed to avoid being blacklisted and worked for and with the government for most of his life. While living and working in NYC, even Dylan is drawn into Lomax's circle, since his lover, Suze Rotolo, had a brother that was Alan's assistant. Dylan met and heard many of his greatest influences right in Alan's apartment.

Lomax went far beyond simply collecting folk songs to creating theories on "song families" related to geography and other factors - theories that were too scientific for musicologists and too folky for the academics - and did research on body language, speech styling, linguistics and more in relation to music - an approach that no one had used previously and has yet to be fully realized. One of my favorite quotes from the book refers to his work with "signal redundancy" - gestures and facial expressions that are cultural and learned: "Speech using the amount of redundancy found in music can only be found in that of children, the mad, or lovers".

Another fascinating aspect is something that I had never considered due to my age: before recording techniques became common, songs were only able to be shared by means of transcriptions, usually based on Western methods. Thus, intricacies in the songs were lost and, of course, anything that fell outside of Western musical styles (such as the use of different scales) could not be accurately transcribed. He tried to get people to think outside of these tradition methods but had little success.

Alan’s personal, romantic and medical lives are all intertwined with his work and the stories flesh out a brilliant and flawed human who helped to change the course of musical history in our world. He passed away before he was able to finish much of his work – he always had multiple new projects that he was entertaining – so hopefully others will pick up where he left off. A very enjoyable read about a multi faceted man who continued to try to expand the way we thought about music and culture throughout his entire life.

The Quitters, the Psyatics, Burning Monk - The Dive Bar 8-10-13

I hadn't seen the Psyatics for a while, so was looking forward to this gig at one of my new favorite (no pun intended) spots in town.

Local punk rock act the Quitters opened the night and seeing as there were only three bands, they started at the Double Down opening time of 11:00 instead of the scheduled 10:00, but that wasn't unreasonable. Unfortunately for me, they just weren't my cup of tea - fairly generic punk rock, though I dug the fact that all four of them (2 guitar, bass & drums) sang, which added a refreshing dimension, and the drummer was quite good.

The Psyatics came up next and anyone who has ever read this blog knows that they are one of my fave local bands and I try to catch them whenever I can. The guys are all great musicians, they have terrific, original songs and are damn nice cats, too! They play Vegas fairly regularly and are starting to travel a bit, so make sure you see them if you have a chance and buy their extremely reasonably priced - and terrific - CD!

Touring band Burning Monk were a thrash metal band - again, not a genre that I care for at all, so they didn't do much for me, although they were good musicians and the bassist and guitarist alternated singing, giving it some interest. They were so loud that they set off a car alarm in the parking lot, which should count for something!

A slow night at a great local bar, even though there wasn't much going on in Vegas that night.

(Sorry, my camera was taking crap pix for some reason).

The Sweet Live in Denmark 1976

I have a Sweet live show on vinyl somewhere, and I'm not sure what show it is from, but this is a different one, though certainly from about the same time period. In the brief liner notes for this CD, Steve Priest says that this was taken from a cassette given to him and forgotten about for decades. Here the Sweet are at their height, having put out Give 'em a Wink and Desolation Boulevard and hitting big with "Ballroom Blitz" (the opener here). While they were initially promoted as a teen-pop band, by this time they had evolved into a prima-hard-rock outfit - albeit one that had amazing harmonies!

The sound here is actually pretty darn good, especially considering it was recorded on a 70's cassette tape. The vocals and guitars are front and center (though I don't find that to be a bad thing) but you can certainly here the excellent rhythm section, as well. The harmonies sometimes go a little awry, and sometimes they just don't even try for the more ambitious ones, but they are still pretty spot-on, generally. Guitarist Andy Scott shows off with some pyrotechnics throughout, proving that he became a premier heavy metal player by this time.

While they had some fairly risque lyrics on record, they get even more bawdy here, with lives like "if we don't fuck you then someone else will" being a stand-out right off the bat. Brian Connolly proves how much "Blockbuster" was stolen from "I'm a Man" with his harp solo therein, Steve Priest gets to take lead vocals in "Restless" and Mick Tucker gets a drum solo in their interpretation of "Man With the Golden Arm" (also, apparently, proving their use of backing tracks), showing that everyone in the band gets equal time (and I'm sure that each of these pretty boys were someone's favorite!).

Most of the set is from the aforementioned two albums, great tracks like "Yesterday's Rain", "AC/DC", "Cockroach", "Action" and "Fox on the Run", but somewhat lesser knowns like "The Six Teens", "Turn It Down" and "Set Me Free".

Very rockin' from start to finish! Of course, most live sets are not a good starting place for any novice, and this one has it's share of blemishes, but for fans, this should be a no-brainer! Amazon has it at an extremely reasonable price, as well!

(Oddly, the cover art here is different than the CD that I have that I just got within the last week, and whose artwork had been displayed at Amazon. Maybe a new pressing already?)

J. Geils Band - Hotline

Don't let the terrible cover artwork deter you (though the vinyl album pulled out so that the "receiver" was pulled up from the "phone"), this is another fabulous bit of 70's whammer-jammer magic from J. and the Bad Boys from Boston!

Mr. J. blasts out of the gate with a rockin' guitar riff for the hard'n'heavy "Love-itis" - this is the guys doing pure rock'n'roll. Sure, you can hear the blues roots, but they ain't as obvious as at other times. Everyone shines here, as usual, and the "it's got me man, it's got me, it's really, really got me" was another fun crowd chant-a-long. Stephen Jo Bladd sets a rollickin' pace with a wacky drum lick in "Easy Way Out", another uptempo rocker, with more heavy guitar-work from Geils and more cool call-and-response vocals. Seth Justman's keys lead the quieter semi-ballad "Think It Over" and his Hammond B3 solo is fabulous!

Being ever-so-democratic, Magic Dick takes front-and-center for the jumpin' r'n'b of "Be Careful" - the band at their best - high-energy blues'n'roll! Of course, everyone else gets some licks as well, from Justman's piano-poundin' to Geils wild guitar - all superb - this is true party music! "Jealous Love" is a bit of rockin' pop with J. providing a neat slide solo and Wolf givin' it his all. Dramatic, sorrowful organ opens "Mean Love" but it quickly bursts into another groovy dance number with very cool intertwined riffs from everyone - man, these cats could play and truly worked together as a band! Intricate without being pompous, and they experimented with their sound a bit more on this record, like the wild, noise-ridden (in a terrific way) harp solo and Geils sounding like he's playing a Strat (certainly unusual for him - he's normally a Gibson man) through some crazy effects.

They return to their soulful-bluesy roots in "Orange Driver", showing that they never lost sight of where they came from. J. lets loose like he's been waiting to do this for the entire record - terrific all around! "Believe in Me" is almost Motown-ish in its soulfulness (but is still uniquely J.Geils Band) and is another relentless dance number. Wolf introduces "Fancy Footwork" with "hey everybody, it's dance time!" and it sure is. I get a Jackson 5 vibe from this one, but maybe that's just me. Regardless, another fun one!

I've said it a million times - any and all 60's and 70's J. Geils Band is fantastic and this is no exception - get it for a good time - there's no way you can be in a bad mood while listening to this!

Tom Waits - Foreign Affairs

This is another one of my favorite Waits' albums that I was surprised to discover I had never written about before. I think I must have composed entries in my mind that never got around to writing!

Still in his "Beat" phase, this record also has a lot of film noir influences - from the opening piano instrumental ballad of "Cinny's Waltz" right through the closing title song. Lots of string arrangements, but tastefully done to truly accent the songs and not just thrown on as after-thoughts - the mournful horn really adds a lot, as well. Continuing with piano and horn/cool jazz/lounge numbers is "Muriel", another low-key ballad with more terrific, atmospheric sax playing that is followed by a duet with Bette Midler (then just starting her career) in "I Never Talk to Strangers". This is some truly superior songwriting - a great singing conversation with superior, clever lines that truly captures the emotions of two lonely souls hanging out in a Hollywood dive bar.

I always thought that Waits was perfect background music while reading Kerouac, and he confirms it with his homage in "Medley: Jack & Neal/California, Here I Come", where he recreates the feel of On the Road in music. He takes the melody from a children's lullaby for "A Sight For Sore Eyes", which is good, though a bit inconsequential, but "Porter's Field" is the major centerpiece of the album in my eyes - truly a film noir set to music. Powerfully scored orchestration, lots of dynamics, fantastic sax, and dramatic lyrics - really an amazing piece.

Stripping it back down to just piano for "Burma-Shave" (is anyone else old enough to remember this roadside advertising campaign?), he uses this title as a mythical place, rather than a commodity, that the protagonist is striving for. Funnily enough, he follows this with "Barber Shop", a be-bop-ish tune with swingin' stand-up bass and stripper-esque drumming - you can practically hear the beatniks snapping their fingers to this one! He closes with the title track, another nice piano/strings ballad.

The trilogy of Small Change, Foreign Affairs and Blue Valentine are my absolute faves from Waits (though Heart Attack and Vine is right up there, as well) and while each is certainly done in his beat/jazzbo persona, they all have their unique differences, this one being predominately Tom and his piano. A great record!

recommended gigs

Friday August 9 - Bogrotters Union - McMullen's Irish Pub
Friday August 9 - The All-Togethers at the Gold Spike

Saturday August 10 - The Psyatics at the Dive Bar
Saturday August 10 - The All-Togethers at Artifice

Tuesday August 13 - Delta Bombers with the Goddam Gallows - LV Country Saloon

Wednesday August 14 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down

Thursday August 15 - Tiger Sex - Triple B

Friday Aug 16 - The All-Togethers at the Dillinger
Fridat August 16 - Crazy Chief at Triple B w/Lola Black and Under the Drone

Saturday August 17 - The All-Togethers at Gold Spike
Saturday August 17 - Tiger Sex - Bar 702

Tuesday August 20 - The All Togethers at Boomers

Saturday August 24 - The Swamp Gospel at the Double Down Saloon

Sunday August 25 - Crazy Chief acoustic at the Commonwealth

Saturday August 31 - the return of Atomic Cossack - Beauty Bar
Saturday August 31 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down Saloon

Wednesday September 4 - Delta Bombers at the Griffin

Friday Sept 6 - Tiger Sex at the Double Down

Sunday, September 8 - The Psyatics at Triple B with Calabrese

Wednesday September 11 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down

Thursday September 19 - Crazy Chief at Vamp'd w/Jackyl & Dirty Paradise

Friday Sept 20 - Bogtrotters Union/Mass Distractors - Artifice

Saturday Sept 21 - The Swamp Gospel 2nd Anniversary show at the Motor City Cafe with special guests Crazy Chief and the Mapes!

Friday September 27 - the debut of Prophet Greene's Soul Machine - the Dive Bar with Hopeless Jack and Handsome Devil along with Wade Crawford and Country Trash

Friday Oct 4 - The Psyatics with Rev. Horton Heat at LV Country Saloon

Thursday Oct 10 - Bogtrotters Union/Pietasters - Hard Rock

Friday Oct 11 - The Rosalyns - Dive Bar

Saturday October 19 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine at the Motor City

Saturday Nov 23 - The Swamp Gospel with the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

Fuzz Solow/The Black Jetts/Bob Log III - The Dive Bar 7-31-13

I had to work extraordinarily late this night so I was bummed to have missed the fantastic Fuzz Solow, and got to the Dive Bar in time to catch the last few songs of the hard'n'heavy Black Jetts. Loud as hell but with a surprisingly good balance - you could make out Beth's keyboard parts around the twin stun guitars of Gabe and Roy and the throbbing rhythm section of Davis's bass and Larry's drums - and vocal sound (John Kirby does a heckuva job), these cats and kitten blasted through a few numbers and closed with Roy posturing and rockin' out with his hand-held theremin! Great band, great show!

I had never seen or heard Bob Log III before, though I have heard about him for ages and was glad to finally have a chance to see him. This one-man-band plays an old acoustic-electric guitar through a small Voxx amp while wearing a skin-tight glitter jumpsuit with a motorcycle helmet that has an old-fashioned phone headset (with cord!) attached to the face-plate as a microphone! A wild look, to be sure! He plays bass drum with his right foot, has a pedal for a cymbal on his left foot and utilizes two drum machines for extra rhythms and noises! His guitar style is basically a frantic, claw hammer picking, often used in conjunction with a slide - a mangled Delta blues mixed with punk rock.

Throughout the show he rants'n'raves at the audience, takes trips through the crowd and outside the club, has young women sit on each knee as he plays guitar and drums and flails away at a wacky electric banjo. The crowd was with him right from the start and were still right there when I had to leave at about 2:00am!  One helluva performer and it is pretty amazing what he can do with such a stripped down set-up. Go see him if ya can - as well as the Jetts & Fuzz!

recommended gigs

Thursday August 1 - Beau Hodges Band - Commonwealth
Thursday August 1 - Tiger Sex at the Beauty Bar w/Dirty Hooks, Solid Suns, Runaway Lives
Thursday August 1 - The All Togethers - the Orleans

Friday August 2 - The All-Togethers at Whiskey Dicks
Friday August 2 - Bogtrotter's Union - Hennessey's Tavern

Saturday August 3 - The Swamp Gospel Surprise Revival at the Huntridge Tavern
Saturday August 3 - Tiger Sex at the Beauty Bar with Soft White Sixties

Sunday August 4 - Thee Swank Bastards + the Astaires - Dive Bar
Sunday August 4 - The All-Togethers at the Commonwealth

Friday August 9 - Bogrotters Union - McMullen's Irish Pub
Friday August 9 - The All-Togethers at the Gold Spike

Saturday August 10 - The Psyatics at the Dive Bar
Saturday August 10 - The All-Togethers at Artifice

Tuesday August 13 - Delta Bombers with the Goddam Gallows - LV Country Saloon

Wednesday August 14 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down

Thursday August 15 - Tiger Sex - Triple B

Friday Aug 16 - The All-Togethers at the Dillinger

Saturday August 17 - The All-Togethers at Money Plays
Saturday August 17 - Tiger Sex - Bar 702

Saturday August 24 - The Swamp Gospel at the Double Down Saloon

Saturday August 31 - the return of Atomic Cossack - Beauty Bar
Saturday August 31 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down Saloon

Wednesday September 4 - Delta Bombers at the Griffin

Sunday, September 8 - The Psyatics at Triple B with Calabrese

Wednesday September 11 - Thee Swank Bastards - Double Down

Friday Sept 20 - Bogtrotters Union/Mass Distractors - Artifice

Saturday Sept 21 - The Swamp Gospel 2nd Anniversary show at the Motor City Cafe with special guests Crazy Chief and the Mapes!

Friday September 27 - Thee Swank Bastards - Onyx Theater

Friday Oct 4 - The Psyatics with Rev. Horton Heat at LV Country Saloon

Thursday Oct 10 - Bogtrotters Union/Pietasters - Hard Rock

Friday Oct 11 - The Rosalyns - Dive Bar

Saturday Nov 23 - The Swamp Gospel with the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!