if you got some magic

last friday we went down to visalia to see rademacher & the dodos at howie and sons pizza. i decided to shoot a little video of rad rad rad. enjoy the salad bar shot.



btw, i thought both rademacher and the dodos were fabulous. however, the sound guy sucked crap. really, there was feedback on almost every rademacher song, you couldn't hear the keyboards at all. and, it didn't get any better during the dodos. they didn't have as many feedback issues, but they were still there.

ted leo & the pharmacists in visalia!

continuing his impressive work bringing acts to visalia, aaron gomes hits us with another i think i'm going to have to go to.

Tuesday, August 25
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
@ The Cellar Door
(101 W. Main St., Visalia )
$10 (21+) 9:30pm
tickets: www.ticketweb.com

frank black in visalia

i had a really great time in visalia last night. black francis, aka frank black was amazing. so many good songs. and radioactive cauliflower was hella cool as well. anyway, this isn't an in depth review or anything, just a brief holy crap that was fun. and woody shook frank black's hand as he was leaving the stage.

here's two photo's of frank black's gear.



i took this second photo because i wanted to get in the wine glass. apparently, black francis drinks wine during his set. different sort of rocker.

show review - rademacher & these united states

let me start out by saying that i'm only review two of the three bands that were actually on the bill. i missed the headliner because i was getting a little tired and didn't want to fall asleep on the drive back from visalia.



this was the first show i've seen at the cellar door, and i like the venue. it's a nice, wide open space, although the stage/dance floor sort of dominates it. if you're not up on the floor, you're looking up @ the bands, which isn't a problem unless it's packed and that area is full and you're not on it.

rademacher opened the show, and malcolm said that the 9:30 time slot was the earliest he'd ever played at the cellar door. ah, the joys of opening. i thought rademacher started their set very well. the first few songs had me enthralled enough that i tweeted "rademacher sounding nice at the cellar door right now." and i meant it, the sound was real nice, the band was playing with good energy. i was really starting to believe a theory i had about rademacher playing stellar shows outside of fresno. and then malcolm flubbed the lyrics to "if u got some magic." and rademacher's set sort of had an ebb and flow of goodness after that. some songs sounded nice and had me loving it, others dragged. i have really enjoyed the addition of jonathan hadden, and i think he is getting more comfortable in the band and is adding to the rademacher sound. the last show i saw, at tokyo garden, really rocked and i think jonathan was a big part of that. tonight, he seemed a litle lacking, and his solo on their newer song lacked. but, i really like that song and want to keep hearing it. one last thing, malcolm on the keyboard: i don't mind it, but it seems to distract him from singing & playing bass. maybe put the keyboard right in front so it doesn't have to be a big transition between playing it and singing. or maybe get a keyboard player?

these united states - i dug these guys, but don't have quite as much input for them because i haven't heard them as much as rademacher. these guys hail from washington, dc and kentucky, although i'm not exactly sure how that works. but, they have a sort of alt-country sound that definitely feels more kentucky than dc. the music had a lot of layers, but that should be expected when you have 3 guitars, a bass and drums. and, one of the guitar players worked a lap slide for quite a bit of the show, which was a nice sound. from the band side, the only issue i had was that the lead singer seemed to mumble his lyrics quite a bit, as well as some of the between song banter and it was a bit difficult to understand. on the cellar door side, there was a lot of feedback during this set, and i know the sound guy was working his hardest to eliminate the squeal but it persisted long enough to be a bit of a distraction to the set.

overall, i enjoyed the show, even if i didn't stay for the main act. the cellar door is a pretty cool spot. i continue to enjoy rademacher's music and hope they continue to work on their sound. and, i'm going to have to look on emusic and itunes for these united states - shoulda bought an album from them last night.

obits @ the cellar door

i like shows. i like music. and, i like trying to listen and find new music. the other day i was poking around emusic and based on some recommendation stumbled upon a band called the obits. i hadn't heard of them, even though i actually have a song from them on my ipod (it was on the emusic selected & collected sampler that rademacher was on). they have a 7" out now, as they're working towards a full length.



today in my email i saw that the obits would be playing in visalia on thursday night. pretty cool show if you're in that area or up for a drive. here's the info from sound n vision:

Thursday, May 21, 2009
OBITS (SUB POP Records)
THE LIGHTS
The Suicides
$5, 21+, 9:30pm
The Cellar Door
101 W. Main St., Visalia CA

Brooklyn-based Obits is making some of the best straight ahead rock n' roll music these days.

Their sharply interwoven guitar lines, muscular rhythms, and garage-influenced punk meets rockabilly sound is a reminder of just how powerful good ol' rock music can be in the hands of the right band.

Band leader Rick Froberg has fronted influential indie bands Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes. Now with Obit's new Sub Pop release "I Blame You", Froberg has created his most accessible and catchy album to date.

Check out their song "Two-Headed Coin" while imagining them live. You'll channel enough sonic grit, attitude, and energy to make their mid-week performance worth staying up late to attend.

Seattle's The Lights play the middles spot, while a mix of Visalia indie veterans known as The Suicides will start the show!

modest mouse in visalia

hey, modest mouse is playing monday night in visalia. anyone need a ticket. i have an extra.

crime doesn't pay

especially when you're stealing hats.

seriously, these guys were stealing hats from a sports store in visalia. hats? i hope you got a whole rack of yankees caps (i figure this is the crap hat people would steal). and how many hats can five guys steal? i'm guessing at least four.

the thing is, they crashed their getaway car and were all caught. brilliant. i wonder if they stole ginormous hats and it covered their eyes?

lock up your valuables

where do you keep your important possessions?

do you a safe? file cabinet? safety deposit box?

how about a shed?

what's that, you keep your valuables in a shed? that's brilliant. how often do you go to the shed? oh, not very often. not since last june. hmmm, you may want to check on that.


yes, that's right, some guy kept $5k of gold coins, over a dozen vehicle pink slips, and a $15k cashier's check in a metal shed in visalia. the items disappeared between last june and monday. so, sometime in the last 4 months. that will help nail down when it happened. the guy (gaylord lucas) that reported the theft is from temecula, which is nowhere near visalia. only about 6 hours away.

hey gaylord, maybe next time you want to put that stuff in a safety deposit box.