cereal's blog

October...it just might be my favorite month. Sure, December's got its shiny, ribbon-filled holidays; March holds the promise of warmer, greener weather; July boasts fireworks and lazy days spent at the beach. But October, man - that's where it's at. The heat begins to lessen, fall tours beef up the live music schedule, and Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans ensures that I get my festival fix. Plus, the month's biggest holiday allows you to dress like a bowl of cereal (or whatever) without coming off creepy AND you're not required to make uncomfortable small talk with extended family members. It's official: October, I love you.

My favorite month has been even sweeter since I started attending the Free Press Houston's Westheimer Block Party a few years ago. The fall edition of the event typically takes place in October, and I've come to rely upon it as a guaranteed good time. As always, this edition of the Block Party - scheduled for Saturday, October 11 - features a bevy of outstanding local talent and is sure to make for a great (free!) day of (free!!) music.

Read more about the Westheimer Block Party and view the stage guide and map after the jump

This Friday, October 10, two of our favorite Houston-based bands are teaming up for what promises to be a great night of music at the Continental Club. Swampy bluegrass gypsy punks Sideshow Tramps will be headlining the show and are slated to begin playing at 11pm. Whenever the Tramps play, fun is never far away - their shows always morph into full-on revival-style dance fests, and you're guaranteed to have a great time.

La Porte-bred indie-folk virtuosos Buxton will get things moving starting at 10. This talented young band has been receiving rave reviews since releasing their excellent full-length debut, A Family Light, earlier this year. Responses to their live shows have been no less positive, and they seem to improve even more each time we see them. Tickets are only $10, so strap on your dancing shoes and spend Friday evening gettin' down at the Continental Club.

See the show poster and watch videos of each band after the jump

On Thursday, September 25, the night before we left for ACL, Eggs and I stopped in at Warehouse Live in Houston to absorb blues band Back Door Slam.

Read a recap of the night and view videos and photos after the jump

Ra Ra Riot stopped in at Cactus Music & Record Ranch in Houston, TX for an in-store performance on Saturday, October 4, and Cereal dropped by to give the Syracuse, NY-based sextet a listen. The energetic short set they delivered was an appetizing taste of what was to come later that evening at Rudyard's Pub.

Check out photos and a video from Ra Ra Riot's in-store performance after the jump

There have been all sorts of rumors over the past few months (hell, years) conjecturing about the potential reunion of jam darlings Phish. It seems that Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Page McConnell and Jon Fishman have reached a point where they are ready to slip back into their roles as kings of live improvisation and face-melting. The band announced on its website that three shows in Hampton, VA are scheduled for March 6, 7 and 8, 2009.

A limited number of tickets are available through the band's online ticketing system; the ticketing request period will end on Wednesday, October 8.

Tickets go on sale to the public on Saturday, October 18th at 10am EST and may be purchased online via TicketMaster or by phone at 757.671.8100, 757.872.8100 or 804.262.8100.

More tour dates are expected to be announced in early 2009.

There are already rumblings about an appearance at Bonnaroo...this seems unlikely (at least to me), but other rumors speculate that they'll be booking the festival site for a 2 or 3 night run, which is a bit more plausible.

Feel free to bounce around the room now.

Eggs and I attended the New Monsoon show that took place at Warehouse Live on September 20, where we heard of an acoustic set three members of the band planned to play the next night. The non-publicized event took place at Club Dub Dub (formerly the Jellyphish Lounge), one of our absolute favorite venues in Houston. We've caught a few acoustic shows there that have blown us away, so we were excited to learn that we'd get to experience another performance in this unique setting so soon.

Read more about the night and watch videos after the jump

The last day of a festival is always a little bittersweet, and this held true for us as we greeted Saturday, September 13, 2008 at the Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival. Performers included The Shotgun Brothers Band, Cornmeal, Ben Miller Band, Green Mountain Grass, Big Smith, Dirtfoot, Hot Buttered Rum, My-Tea Kind, and Perpetual Groove.

Read the full Mulberry Mountain Saturday review after the jump

Thursday, September 11 was the first day of the 2008 Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival, and BOT's very first experience with the event. Starting at 1pm, music filled the festival grounds located near Ozark, Arkansas. Performers included Charliehorse, Elephant Revival Concept, Green Mountain Grass, Hackensaw Boys, Mountain of Venus, and New Monsoon.

Read the full Mulberry Mountain Thursday review after the jump

Just wanted to log a quick update about our post-Ike status - Eggs and I still don't have Internet access at home, which kind of makes running a website difficult. I've been doing what I can from my day job, but I can't exactly sit around blogging all day without feeling super sketchy. We've managed to post our photo and video reviews from the Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival, and our written reviews of each day will hopefully be up in the next couple of days.

The 12am - 6am curfew in Houston has been extended "until further notice," which blows big time as far as shows (and our sanity) are concerned. Thankfully, our friends at Warehouse Live relieved some of our stir craziness this past weekend by hosting New Monsoon and Green Mountain Grass on Saturday. We were even fortunate enough to attend an acoustic show featuring Bo Carper, Jeff Miller and Phil Ferlino of New Monsoon the following night at one of our favorite Houston venues, Club Dub Dub. We'll try to get our reviews, photos, and videos from those shows up as quickly as possible after we've finished our Mulberry coverage.

This weekend will find Eggs and myself fleeing the disaster zone to find some much-needed musical relief at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. We're not attending as members of the press this time around (phew! It's been almost a year since I've been able to say that about a festival), so we're looking forward to relaxing, catching several bands we've never seen before, and making some new friends. We're still planning on posting coverage, it'll just be scaled back.

Thanks for bearing with us through these difficult times - we hope to be back up and running normally very soon!

Rumors have been flying over the past few days about a purported secret Band of Horses Austin City Limits Music Festival aftershow. Sixth Street venue The Parish Room officially announced the show yesterday, so it's not exactly a secret anymore. And it's also not exactly a secret that we are ecstatic about this unexpected development - The Parish Room is a pretty small space, so this is sure to be an intimate/incredible experience. Fuck yeah!

Anyway, tickets went on sale at 10am today; they're $18 in advance, and $21 at the door. I wouldn't bank on getting them at the door, though - this show is guaranteed to sell out. Get 'em online here.

Opening for Band of Horses will be fellow ACL performers James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards. A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide access to affordable healthcare for Austin’s low-income, uninsured working musicians.

UPDATE: Looks like tickets have already sold out online. Not sure yet if any tickets have been reserved for sale at the door - will update if we receive any more information.