Mohawk Place - Saturday March 25, 2006
Thursday, 30. March 2006, 22:30:49
Flatbed, Red & Roxy, Semi-Tough, I Can Lick Any Son Of A Bitch In The House, and Two Cow Garage
Another fun filled night at The Hawk. This is one bar/music club you can always go to and find something going on. It seems like any night of the week there is entertainment. Even if there wasn't, you could spend hours just looking at the posters and autographed press-kit pics of hudreds of bands that have played there before. Almost every band or musician that passes through town on the way from New York to Cleveland, or Toronto to Nashville, stops eventually and plays at the Hawk.
But the best part is the small bands, new bands, that play before anyone has heard of them. Many a Buffalo music fan can say "I heard so-and-so play at the Mohawk before they were big."
And the owner suports the local musicians. Many of the acts are local and even the bartenders are musicians. The upstairs space is often used for practice by bands too.
That's what brought me there this past week. Local band Flatbed had invited me to do a podcast of thier show there and their friends Red & Roxy were palying a set between their sets and volunteered as well. Two bands at one setting makes my job easier, so how could I miss it.
I had seen Flatbed play a couple months earlier at Merlins and loved their style. I'm not going to get into it here because you can just go to my podcast page and hear it all. They had played the same night I interviewed Dee Adams. Sure enough, two of Dee's band were there to see Flatbed play.
I got a feed out of the sound board thanks to John Weber, who incidentally, plays with Son Of Memphis with "Red" of Red & Roxy. I've seen him playing at the Mohawk before as well, out on the sidewalk in the summer with The Smoking Jackets, and at Merlins with Dan Harper. Typical Buffalo music scene - everyone knows each other!
Red & Roxy were new to me. They were good, an acoustic duo, with a third member, Gentle Tom, backing them up on percussion. He played bongos, djembe, conga and even bodhran to provide a low-key, yet satisfying percussion accompianment. I'm looking forward to listening more to the recordings of them. While I did watch and listen while they played, I also had to run out to the car for fresh batteries for the camera so I could take some photos. So I missed part of their set. I also spent some time further back in the bar, talking with Derick from Flatbed. It was good to chat with him and get to know him a bit before the interview.
I fall in love with Joelle Labert, Flatbeds singer, every time I see her. Her singing and stage presence is just so cool and sexy in a wholesome, kind of hippy-chick sort of way. Of course, I'm a child of the 60's so that's pretty cool with me. I wish I knew a girl like her back then... I hope, if Flatbed ever makes it big, some producer or manager won't try to change her and "Glam her up" because it would ruin her appeal. With her long, curly hair and wholesome look and her sultry voice that sometimes reminds me of Janis Joplin, it all works. We don't need another diva in the music world. Joelle is unique just the way she is.
So the Flatbed podcast is in the works and Red & Roxy will follow in a week or so. I stuck around and caught the late shows too. The opening act was Buffalo's own Semi Tough. I hadn't heard them before, although I have heard of them. They were pretty good and I enjoyed them. They played a really short set, saying something about not having played in a while and it being a live practice. I hope they are getting back out and playing. Their web site said something about a new CD, so maybe they will be.
The second act, with the weird name, icanlickanysonofabitchinthehouse, came out and took the stage by storm. They were loud, vulgar, and highly energetic. I liked them! They had a very boisterous cheering section in front of the stage. It turned out to be mostly members of the last band, Two Cow Garage. The two bands have been touring together for a couple months and have grown close. It sounds like it's been one big party for them.
Ican...house had a harmonica player, something that surprised me a bit, but it fit their alt-country billing. More like punk-country, if you ask me. But he was really good and played up a storm. Their main singer and guitar player, was a big guy with long hair that got in his face a lot of the time. He reminds me of someone that I can't quite place. Maybe a WWE wrestler, or something. Their songs were pretty interesting. Many of them had a political or social point to make, and usually drove it home without any sign of restraint, usually using a generous assortment of expletives. If I sound prudish, or offended, I'm not. I actually enjoyed it, even though it's not how I would express myself, for them it works. One song, Fred Phelps, was a "tribute" to the disbarred Baptist minister who has declared that "Gos Hates Fags" and "God Hates America." It also mentioned Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn and Dubya Bush. Of course, "tribute" is sarcasm. Any band that ridicules that type of bigotry in the name of religion, gets my vote of approval.
Their bass player, a skinny kid with a Beatles mop haircut and looking like he could barely lift the bass, looked uncannily like Fairpport Convention's Dave Swarbick. Of course, he'd have to go back in time about 30 years for that to be real.
Occasionally, one of the members of Two Car Garage would come up on stage and play or sing with them.
Then Two Cow Garage played and the roles were reversed, with members of I Can Lick... taking spots in the front row and jumping on stage to sing along. Two Cow and I Can... ' s music were a pretty good fit together. Fast, hard-rocking, music with expletive-filled lyrics. A good dose of social indignation fuels their music and in these days, that's a good thing.
The one guitar player had duct tape on his guitar with the quote "This machine kills alt-country" on it. Apparently, there is some dissent with that label! Another comment was made about the name of their next CD possibly being "Control-Alt-Country-Delete."
The bands finished the set with all members of both bands and even one or two from Semi Tough, on stage for the finale. Yes, even two drummers playing in sync. It was quite a finish.
I look at the schedule for the Mohawk Place pretty regularly and often, I don't recognize the bands I see. I have seen some excellent acts play there in the past, 10,000 Maniacs and Link Wray for instance. And the names in the photos on the walls are legendary. I've also seen some I had never heard of at the time. But they are always good and I've never had a bad time there. Sometimes the acts are unknown because they are so far ahead of the curve no one has heard of them. Other times, they are just regional acts from other areas touring through. But the genius booking at the Hawk somehow finds them! If you ever want to go out to see a live band and can't find one playing, roll the dice and drop by Mohawk Place. Whatever night it is, you'll find something good and unusual.
Another fun filled night at The Hawk. This is one bar/music club you can always go to and find something going on. It seems like any night of the week there is entertainment. Even if there wasn't, you could spend hours just looking at the posters and autographed press-kit pics of hudreds of bands that have played there before. Almost every band or musician that passes through town on the way from New York to Cleveland, or Toronto to Nashville, stops eventually and plays at the Hawk.
But the best part is the small bands, new bands, that play before anyone has heard of them. Many a Buffalo music fan can say "I heard so-and-so play at the Mohawk before they were big."
And the owner suports the local musicians. Many of the acts are local and even the bartenders are musicians. The upstairs space is often used for practice by bands too.
That's what brought me there this past week. Local band Flatbed had invited me to do a podcast of thier show there and their friends Red & Roxy were palying a set between their sets and volunteered as well. Two bands at one setting makes my job easier, so how could I miss it.
I had seen Flatbed play a couple months earlier at Merlins and loved their style. I'm not going to get into it here because you can just go to my podcast page and hear it all. They had played the same night I interviewed Dee Adams. Sure enough, two of Dee's band were there to see Flatbed play.
I got a feed out of the sound board thanks to John Weber, who incidentally, plays with Son Of Memphis with "Red" of Red & Roxy. I've seen him playing at the Mohawk before as well, out on the sidewalk in the summer with The Smoking Jackets, and at Merlins with Dan Harper. Typical Buffalo music scene - everyone knows each other!
Red & Roxy were new to me. They were good, an acoustic duo, with a third member, Gentle Tom, backing them up on percussion. He played bongos, djembe, conga and even bodhran to provide a low-key, yet satisfying percussion accompianment. I'm looking forward to listening more to the recordings of them. While I did watch and listen while they played, I also had to run out to the car for fresh batteries for the camera so I could take some photos. So I missed part of their set. I also spent some time further back in the bar, talking with Derick from Flatbed. It was good to chat with him and get to know him a bit before the interview.
I fall in love with Joelle Labert, Flatbeds singer, every time I see her. Her singing and stage presence is just so cool and sexy in a wholesome, kind of hippy-chick sort of way. Of course, I'm a child of the 60's so that's pretty cool with me. I wish I knew a girl like her back then... I hope, if Flatbed ever makes it big, some producer or manager won't try to change her and "Glam her up" because it would ruin her appeal. With her long, curly hair and wholesome look and her sultry voice that sometimes reminds me of Janis Joplin, it all works. We don't need another diva in the music world. Joelle is unique just the way she is.
So the Flatbed podcast is in the works and Red & Roxy will follow in a week or so. I stuck around and caught the late shows too. The opening act was Buffalo's own Semi Tough. I hadn't heard them before, although I have heard of them. They were pretty good and I enjoyed them. They played a really short set, saying something about not having played in a while and it being a live practice. I hope they are getting back out and playing. Their web site said something about a new CD, so maybe they will be.
The second act, with the weird name, icanlickanysonofabitchinthehouse, came out and took the stage by storm. They were loud, vulgar, and highly energetic. I liked them! They had a very boisterous cheering section in front of the stage. It turned out to be mostly members of the last band, Two Cow Garage. The two bands have been touring together for a couple months and have grown close. It sounds like it's been one big party for them.
Ican...house had a harmonica player, something that surprised me a bit, but it fit their alt-country billing. More like punk-country, if you ask me. But he was really good and played up a storm. Their main singer and guitar player, was a big guy with long hair that got in his face a lot of the time. He reminds me of someone that I can't quite place. Maybe a WWE wrestler, or something. Their songs were pretty interesting. Many of them had a political or social point to make, and usually drove it home without any sign of restraint, usually using a generous assortment of expletives. If I sound prudish, or offended, I'm not. I actually enjoyed it, even though it's not how I would express myself, for them it works. One song, Fred Phelps, was a "tribute" to the disbarred Baptist minister who has declared that "Gos Hates Fags" and "God Hates America." It also mentioned Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn and Dubya Bush. Of course, "tribute" is sarcasm. Any band that ridicules that type of bigotry in the name of religion, gets my vote of approval.
Their bass player, a skinny kid with a Beatles mop haircut and looking like he could barely lift the bass, looked uncannily like Fairpport Convention's Dave Swarbick. Of course, he'd have to go back in time about 30 years for that to be real.
Occasionally, one of the members of Two Car Garage would come up on stage and play or sing with them.
Then Two Cow Garage played and the roles were reversed, with members of I Can Lick... taking spots in the front row and jumping on stage to sing along. Two Cow and I Can... ' s music were a pretty good fit together. Fast, hard-rocking, music with expletive-filled lyrics. A good dose of social indignation fuels their music and in these days, that's a good thing.
The one guitar player had duct tape on his guitar with the quote "This machine kills alt-country" on it. Apparently, there is some dissent with that label! Another comment was made about the name of their next CD possibly being "Control-Alt-Country-Delete."
The bands finished the set with all members of both bands and even one or two from Semi Tough, on stage for the finale. Yes, even two drummers playing in sync. It was quite a finish.
I look at the schedule for the Mohawk Place pretty regularly and often, I don't recognize the bands I see. I have seen some excellent acts play there in the past, 10,000 Maniacs and Link Wray for instance. And the names in the photos on the walls are legendary. I've also seen some I had never heard of at the time. But they are always good and I've never had a bad time there. Sometimes the acts are unknown because they are so far ahead of the curve no one has heard of them. Other times, they are just regional acts from other areas touring through. But the genius booking at the Hawk somehow finds them! If you ever want to go out to see a live band and can't find one playing, roll the dice and drop by Mohawk Place. Whatever night it is, you'll find something good and unusual.
WIDGETIZE