No FunFunFun for me

No I didn't go to the FunX3 Fest this year but I wanted to. I just didn't want to spend oodles of money on this festival (if I had it, I would've though!) because I spent oodles for ACL. No worries though, I am going to cover what those FFF festers didn't see that weekend.

Friday night, Nov 6th, I was able to catch Colourmusic at the Scoot Inn. Man, was this a ridiculously packed show and boy was it a good one. I was happy to have heard some new Colourmusic I had not heard. They really know how to put on a show and did it oh so well that I am forever hooked on these guys. They have a 7" out called, Yes!, but I was unable to snag one at the Combo Plate party. It was the official pre-party for FFF. Although they guys did not play FFF, I heard they played last year though, I was happy to have caught them up close and personal. These guys come straight out of Stillwater, Oklahoma.  Like the other best bands I truly admire - Other Lives , Evangelicals , Fatback Circus, are from the same good ole state, Oklahoma as Colourmusic so it was a given that I was not going to miss this show.

I also got to catch Neiliyo which is a huge hit act around the Austin music scene nowadays. I remember seeing him at his start and he is still rocking patios, parties, and girls panties to date! He too played at FFF and even saw a guy dressed up as Neiliyo for Halloween this year at Speakeasy's! Ha. Good stuff! You gotta catch Neiliyo at his next gig or few. He'll make you dance til you bleed/sweat. No seriously - his energy will make you bleed. Neiliyo will be opening up for Mickey Avalon on Nov 13th at Emos. Check out one of his gigs here.

Same night I saw Fatback Circus play at The Belmont off of west 6th streetish. It was a good night for the boys. A huge crowd danced and made this party worthy enough to be an Official Unofficial Pre-Party for the November month. (Screw FFF pre-parties!) These guys are always exceptional live and I am not going to go into too much detail about FBC again (I feel like I am always giving them the exposure they gracefully deserve) but I just want to say that when the cover Led Zepplin (which is very rare) they make me wonder why in the hell aren't these guys playing FunFunFun Fest or even ACL?! Geez, someone pick these guys up, PLEASE!

There was so many free shows the FFFF weekend that it was hard to be in several places at once! I wanted to catch the Local Music is Sexy show at the Mohawk on Friday but since Colourmusic was a priority and Fatback Circus as well, I ran out of time. I missed Girl in a Coma, Recover, Consider the Source, and a bunch of other local bands that came through the weekend.

Sunday, November 8th, I ended up at the Hole in the Wall to catch Conquistador, Inc. The crowd from FFFF filtered their way to the Drag to enjoy the delightful sounds of Conquistador, Inc. I must say, this was a great show and a great way to end my weekend. These guys always make me laugh with their lyrics, merchandise pushing, and witty comments before and after each song in their set.
After Conquistador, Inc I got to catch half of set of Machine that includes Chase Gorman & Jonathan Christ. The name, Machine, captures their sound. One gentleman divides his time playing on the keyboard and hitting up sound machines and playback machines. The other guy is strictly machine. They got 2 tables covered in beat box machines and boy was I having a good time. Every person at Hole in the Wall count not resist bobbing their heads to the sounds and mix Machines was playing. You gotta check them out.Their myspace does not have any dates of when they play next but be sure to check them out when they update it. There is even a cool documentary that was made about their music and their recording. Think Aphex Twin meets Cut Chemist & a little bit of Jurassic 5. You gotta listen.

Last night, Tuesday, I attended the Hori Smoku screening about Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins, considered as the grandfather of modern tattooing. It was an excellent documentary done by Erich Weiss (who attended the screening and did an excellent Q&A about the film and the cast) that features interviews, commentary, photographs, and more from Ed Hardy, Mike Malone, and Zeke Owen. Of course, Mr Collins' poetry was featured throughout the movie from letters and correspondence done between Ed Hardy and Norman Collins. It was fascinating. Afterwards the official afetrparty took place at The Jackalope on 6th street with free drinks/rum all night long. It was great! I was a happy attendee!
I got to catch Woven Bones in all of their rawness of musical instrumentation. They definitely had a Stooges feel to them as I watched them underneath Sailor Jerry posters and to a crowd that kept boozing it up on the free rum. I had never seen these men and boy was I happy to be able to hear a raw rock-n-roll band after watching the Hori Smoku movie. Woven Bones was complimentary with the raw, authentic, and subdued theme from the movie. I read they are heading out on a West Coast tour beginning December so check here if you want to see if they are coming to a West Coast town near you.

Next shows up to catch next this week:
Bestview at The Parlor (North Loop) on Wed. 11/11
Fatback Circus at Club 1011 in San Antonio, Tx Thurs 11/12
Fatback Circus at Club Deville in Austin, Tx Fri 11/13
Screening of Blue Movie w/(((sunset))) performing at the Independent Studios Fri 11/13
Muchos Backflips, Opposite Day at the Scoot Inn Fri 11/13
Til We're Blue or Destroy (in-store) at End of an Ear Sat 11/14 6pm
Sideshow Tragedy at the Ghost Room Sat 11/14 9pm
El Perro Del Mar (in-store) at End of an Ear Sun 11/15 3pm

Let me know where you be going!

Conquistador Inc & Virgin Whores @Head Hunters 09/24

Last night, despite how crappy I was feeling, I braved my body aches and soreness to go catch Conquistador Inc at Head Hunters. I have seen these guys about 3 times now and every time I find myself cracking up during their set while listening to their songs because of their originality and find my hips a'hoppin to their beats.

Songs like "Put Your Mouth On It" and "Lisa Nowak" are defintiely some crowd favorites. "Lisa Nowak" is one of my favorites from the band that is written after the female astronaut that drove from Houston to Orlando with latex gloves, a black wig, ammunition, a hooded tan trench coat, a hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, in Depends.
"Minor Rectal Bleeding" is another great song that has great bass lines and fun keyboard melodies and an audience participatory section that brushes up and tests your spelling abilities of the words minor rectal bleeding. (I nailed it every time, suckas!).

A.G (guitar/VOX), Frank (keyboard/VOX), Dave (bass/VOX), and Dylan (drums) all do us a favor in providing dance-y good ole rock and roll on any night at any venue about the subjects the band claims they only write what they know.

Conquistador Inc can be found on Facebook and at the dates below.

You've got to check them out and listen carefully when you are at their show. You are guaranteed to have a dancing good time and smirk every time they spell out M-I-N-O-R-R-E-C-T-A-L-B-L-E-E-D-I-N-G. 

They are worth a catch and are definitely being picked up at some really cool gigs around Austin.

Here are their next gig dates:
Tonight - Sept 25th @ Scoot Inn 9pm

Oct 8th @ Carousel Lounge

Nov 8th @ Hole in the Wall

Nov 20th @ Beauty Bar

Before Conquistador Inc, I got to catch the last few songs from the band straight out of Minneapolis, Minn - The Virgin Whores, who according to me, is total unfiltered punk. These guys had a small but healthy dancing crowd at Head Hunters. I was amazed at their ability to take one word, "Wasted", and use that one word throughout the whole song! It was a great song and made me feel like I should be drinking shots up on stage along with the singer, Johnny Soxxx.

At one point while I was chatting outside with the guys from Conquistador Inc, Soxxx came running out of Head Hunters with his wireless mic and sang to a street full of people on Red River while spitting 5 feet away. When you have a wireless mic, leopard skin tight pants, chains around your belt, and 10x bigger than me with a black banana w/spikes, and in a band called Virgin Whores - well, I respect you and applaud you for wearing those pants & singing to the Austin Red River crowd - you are brave, Mr. Soxxx.

Check these guys out if you get a chance and they are coming to a town near you. I bet you will dig them and want to get "Wasted" over and over again with these guys.I had fun popping my cherry with The Virgin Whores, even if I was outside looking in.