A familiar feature as I strolled into the room; Frosted windows, chandileiers, red velvet walls, exotically dressed staff waiters behind the full bar and the band loading in their equiptment. I arrived early so that I could pick up a few tickets to the sold out show that I knew nothing about. However, I trusted Bubs opinion and with an incentive like “They sound like a more Indy version of The Slip” there was no reason for me not to like this show; I was interested, I was in.

When I got to The Crepe Place at about 5:30pm, it was rather empty. On Tuesdays this venue, which is really the front of a resturant offers up Absinthe as it’s new fad as it’s take on a forbidden lure; So the place smelled like black licorice. I was fresh off work and decided not to go home to change into my dancing clothes or grab another jacket, or even socks, and it was getting cold. The more important priority here was getting tickets. I requested 3 tickets and was immediately denied. “What? Really” A band I’ve never heard of that I want to see is sold out. Well, where there is a will, there is a way. After a half hour, I apparently asked the right person and he sold me the tickets I needed. I called the amigos and then proceeded to sit at the bar for dinner and a drink. Slowly but steadily, people started to arrive. Bubs and Nate showed up shortly to join me. Bubs was wearing burgendy blouse and Nate sported a fancy new Fedora and they were both ready to rock. We were there to see the band called ‘ The Akron Family’. A goup of 4 guys who liked to play interesting music. That’s all I knew. And as far as the rest of the fans of this band, I was curious, I didn’t know what to expect and that’s always exciting.

More people were arriving, the band was setting out their merch. With the door wide open I was getting a bit cold so I walked out to my car to see what warmth I could find. I was stoked to find a pair of socks cuz I was wearing open toe sandals. Well, I came back into the bar and realized that to my mistake, I only had 1 sock. I stated my confusion to my friends and was overheard by a a guy in the band who then approached me and said that he had one single straggler sock in the van that he could give me in excange for a clean pair of underwear. This was strange. I probably backed up a few steps but then entertained the conversation. I said i’d look to see if I have a pair in my car and if I did, I would make the exchange. We shook hands on the deal and both went to our cars. When I came back, I had found no underwear but did find my other sock and a necktie that I offered up to him instead. It was a cool tie, from Bacchus a while ago and I was going to give it to Trevor but it’s destiny came here. Laughing, the bassist then took the tie and then took the stage.

Now on to the show. The band started things off with a harmonizing sound of drunk hound dogs and then they tightened it up and synchronized spot on. Their harmonies were together though in dueling keys, it was a soothing dichotomy and they sounded good. The style of their music went from slow and steady beats that immediately trailed into hard ripping guitar strumming like they were playing for the sole purpose of trying to tear their guitar strings off quickly. The bass was sic. He held it together with thick grooves the whole night that layered above the confusion that the rest were trying to accomplish. This was their sound.

They sounded like what The Young Dubliners (Irish Band) would sound like if they lived in America; Loud and rhythmic like clapping. The venue was packed, people were partying and it seemed like the band had an idea of how they wanted the show to go, kinda like a rollercoaster. They started things off slow but bouncy to start and then went off full punk style where the whole place was jumping and almost hitting their heads on the cieling. (Noted: the cutie in the beanie that actually hit his head) At one point in the show as the place was going off, I definately thought to myself that this was the craziest show i’ve been to in a while, but not like dance party crazy but like where the hell am I crazy. Hahaha, I just have to laugh here at this point. It was a unique night of music for me, mixed my usual repitiore up a bit. It was a beer spilling, absinthe scented, hip angry indy kind of night. And you know it was still a good show when you want to leave with the album…but never play it for your mother.

Up next: BTS rocks my favorite coastal venue in La Honda on Friday.

Filed under: General by phoreal

Busy weekend and there’s a new band in town.

To commemorate the coming of summer we threw an impromptu beach party Saturday day and I’ll just cut to the chase and tell ya that I got smashed at third base and tried to tag my friend but instead got tagged in the face during an epic game of wiffle ball bat sooooooooooo…. I hit the ball and was on the run, havin’ fun in the sun, the cops came but I had the perfect distraction son; Haha, a group picture to include them and confuse them, Nate had in his cup orange juice and then some, and when they asked him he said only orange juice ho-hum.

Next thing ya know, a lot of time had passed, we had raged a full day and had to pack our glass. We were a lil bit schwilly and about twenty strong, someone passed the word about another party and said come along. Right up the street and not to far away, our friends band was playing a block party for some elite posse. We were drunk and kinda sandy but we knew we’d fit right in, we brought our party, brought our booze, everything was a win-win. 

The band that played the party is a band I must address, I’ve been seeing them a lot lately, they’re called Byron Space Circus. See, this is a great 4 piece band that has been playing around town a lot, I heard about them through good friends and the scene centered around them is hot! They play house parties that go all night, the kind of parties that you meet people you’ve never met before but they notice you the next day in the grocery store, and they say “Hi Beth” and i’m like who are you?  And they’re all like, we met at “That Party” well, after that happened for like a week straight with many different folks, I realized that that was actually a really cool party and now I keep seeing thise people and so what i’m sayin’ is that this new band is putting together a pretty fine crew, where not only are my friends into them but they have started to grow on me too. They play acoustic and electric and they play originals and at the block party this weekend they covered a Beastie Boys instrumental which was a unique touch to smack a smile on our mugs and also ironically funny since last time I saw the Beastie Boys was the first time I ever got a black eye in the mosh pit. The band also set out a suitcase of instruments so others can play along with them and that always turns things up to 11 and gets the party rockin free form and funkdified. I like this new band, it’s always great to have a local band that brings together times like these. I will always remember Euphonic Tonic was the first band I met when I moved here and we had an awesome, awesome run. Speaking of Euphonic Tonic, Steve (the bassist) just came to visit here last week. He and his wife did a roadtrip from Seattle and stopped in The Cruz to say ‘What up’ and now they want to relocate here again. If Steve moved back here, the music scene here would explode to the best degree. ET was my first stint at Management and they put out a fantastic CD, they moved in with me, and did a European tour. Aw yeah, 1998-2001. Good times!

Anyways, later that night, It was a friends Birthday party and they wanted to go see a Regaee show at Moe’s and as much as I dispised going to a Regaee show I said I’d go for just a bit only for the party. Well, I tried with all my might and the show sucked so bad. I went up to Nate and said that it was painful to listen to so I left. Argh, I just really don’t like reagee. I really don’t like repeative music, I just don’t like the same damn beat and the same damn words, I just really don’t like Reagee. End of story. So I left everyone and went to another friends house then met back up for the after party. Always where I suppose to be and smart enough to know where I don’t want to be.

So, tonight Bubs and I are going to see The Akron Family at The Crepe Place (they are kinda like The Slip but more Indy and from NYC). After, I’m going to download the Boombox podcast from Dgold’s radio show from last week. I spoke to Russ this weekend and he thinks i’m going to be on the boat in NYC. Funny but sadly…not yet my friend. Not just yet.

Filed under: General by phoreal

Last nights show was hilarious and it was great to see Moe’s Alley packed on a Thusday night. The band who played was ” Naomi and The Courteous Rudeboys” and they rocked the place! It was a fun get-down evening in Santa Cruz and everyone was pretty much ready to get the weekend started early. So the opener of all people was a fantastic new act i’d yet to see “Nathen Dennan” who is Brett Dennan’s little brother (who I saw last weekend in GG Park) so that was interesting, and he was really really good. He put on a great show with just him on keys and a drummer. With meaningful lyrics and a melodic more rockin-than-smooth-jazz-jam, he put on a great show. Chatted with him afterwards too and he’s is a really hip and friendly lad.

When the opening act is suprisingly good, that’s always a good thing. Bonus.

So then The Rudeboys hit the stage with their dub style ensemble and things start moving again in the club. Naomi graces the stage in short tight blue dress and thigh highs with an indian headress and began to croon the audience. First set was some of the classic originals and a couple new songs in the classic style of Naomi. Second set started to swing in the funky direction and by that time, Nate had shown up and the front row was grooving like we just figured the last math equation on the test.

So then of course it came that time in the set for them to play my song. Whenever they play it, it really is the funkiest song of the night (and Naomi says it’s everyone’s fav) and I just love dancing to it. It’s actually an interesting dichotomy to have a song written about you and to dance to it in an appreciative yet humble manner, meanwhile rocking the fuck out cuz it’s a kick ass song. I was up front when Naomi nodded to me to come up on stage and do the dance with them.  See, they made up a dance to go along with the song. I declined the first two nods but then said “f’it, let’s do this”. Having never learned the dance, she turns to me as if to show me the moves and I tried for the first move and then just went into my own moves and busted out, dropping to the ground and up then giving the band props and then mimicking Naomi a little by pulling out some new muscle beach dance moves instead of karate ones. We danced the rest of the song up there on stage and it was a blast! I think that was my first time on stage at Moe’s Alley…even though i’ve dreamt about it a thousand times. Yeah.

For those who don’t know the song, it’s a real funky number and you can listen to it here: www.myspace.com/naomiandthecourteousrudeboys It should be the most played song and it rhymes with Spaghetti.

So, now it’s Friday and besides getting tickets to Vegas, there’s not much else going on tonight so Bubs and I are going to hit the town accordingly and ride with the night like the stars. Oh, and I just bought a kite yesterday! It looks like a dragon. I can’t wait til it gets here. Have a great weekend!

Filed under: General by phoreal

My favorite day ever, 4/22. Always an amazing day. And what a great day to get things going. It’s been a week now, and a fun filled one at that, since I launched the site. The week gave me time to gather ideas and having spent most of the week seeing live music, i’ve obtained a lot of inspiration. I have realized too though that by the nature of multitasking, the inspiration I gain is useful to me if I take the time to step aside to document which is about as productive as a pen and a paper are next to my bed in my dreams. Technically, I truly enjoy dancing through the moment rather than document it but there comes a time when I need that reflection for the purpose and intent to encourage the act of writing more, making the freestyle stick around a while… must write things down. Write things down!

I’m going to try this out. Like a journalistic perspective.

Spent the Green Apple Festival week accordingly. A week from today, went to see a band i’ve heard about and had wanted to check out for a minute, Toubab Krewe, an eclectic afro-funkdified hip-hip world beat band with interesting instruments. The show was bumpin’.

A couple nights later Friday, I went and saw another band that i’d yet to check out but this time I was lured by the special guest. Jon Fishman was set to play drums with Yonder Mountain String Band at The Warfield. It ultimately proved to be a super fun show but my take on the show initially without a drummer would give difference to my opinion.

Over the weekend, came a myriad of other musical options and in these times one must choose wisely, and I think it all went according to plan. Even if I didn’t make it up for Lotus at my favorite venue GAMH, the time was spent well on the home turf proving that 10 free tickets to the beach boardwalk and a case of beer are just as fun as driving a couple hours by yourself, but with the intention of making it to the city the following morning, all was right with the universe. Sunday 4/20 in Golden Gate Park for the Green Apple Festival was the best place to be. Showed up later but still caught lots of suprise guest musicians like Tommy Lee, Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, Jon Fishman, Joan Baez, Michael Kang, Yonder, and Brett Dennen. With the festival ending early in the evening we were extreamly excited as we headed over the bridge to the Oakland Arena to see one of my greatest inspirational hip-hop artists Jay-Z, with the amazing Mary J. Blige to open the show. It was an incredible show, everyone bouncin’ and singin’ and straight heart felt feelin it! Needless to saw, I was creating beats in my head the whole way home and wrote non-stop for a couple hours, some good sh*t as the rhymes ran deep. An overall entertaining week, making the situation a little lighter for missing Tea Leaf Green in New York the same weekend.

Filed under: General by phoreal

Welcome to the long awaited PHOREALRECORDS.COM!!!!

This site will contain some forthcoming music info and other adventures in the Phoreal Records entertainment division.

I, along with you, am in this fun and exciting ride of the musical realm and together we rock it like we do.

Much more to come. I am very excited for the first additions to follow shortly. Stay tuned!

-Mgmt

Filed under: General by phoreal

Welcome to Phoreal Records.

Filed under: General by admin