green mountain grass

Houston is still dealing with the problems that Hurricane Ike left behind, including restoring power to a good chunk of the city. While we are slowly putting everything back together, so is Houston's music community. Most of Houston's venues now have power pumping into them again, but several shows were canceled or postponed before everything returned to an operational level. We had originally planned to see Redman, Steven Kellogg & the Sixers, and the Silver Jews all last week, but due to the lack of power - and the strict curfew in place - they all ended up moving on to the next city. New Monsoon, as we reported a few weeks ago, were set to record their Houston gig at Warehouse Live on Saturday, and with the help of the venue's staff, they ended up pulling off the show. It started and ended earlier than usual (we arrived at 8:30 and New Monsoon was well into their first set. We ended up missing openers Green Mountain Grass), but it still went on. The highlight of the show included a stirring version "Alaska" which has quickly become one of BOT's favorites. Green Mountain Grass ended up playing an impromptu acoustic jam in the middle of the ballroom floor during New Monsoon's set break, so all wasn't lost after missing their supporting set. Lighting duties were covered by Matt "Jonezy" Jones, who did a brilliant job working the different colors with the mood and pace of the music.

Feel free to browse a selection of images from the night's events after the jump

While Houston is not known for its music scene, it does have several small, relatively-unknown musical retreats that always facilitate a good time. One of the spots that has helped us survive here over the past several years is the Last Concert Cafe. You always know what to expect when you walk in the door. The cramped entryway, which also serves as the restaurant's seating area and bar, leads you to a colorful outside dining patio. While it is one of Houston's most respected live music venues, it also serves up some damn good enchiladas (or guaco's if you're Cereal). After passing by the old hippie that you'll always find peddling his wares, you end up in an outdoor, sand-filled area surrounded by picnic tables and bookended by a large hand-crafted stage (which seems to get larger every time I visit).

What led us to LCC this time was Austin newgrass group Green Mountain Grass. We'd heard tons of great things about this quartet leading up to the show, and were looking forward to seeing what they had to offer.

Read more about the show after the jump

Upcoming shows in the Houston area:

Thu Apr 3
Possessed by Paul James at the Continental Club
Show starts at 10; Tickets are $10.

Fri Apr 4
Xiu Xiu and Thao Nguyen with The Get Down Stay Down at the Orange Show
Show starts at 8; tickets are $10.

Grady at the Continental Club
Show starts at 11; tickets are probably $10.

Ferry Corsten at Rich's
Tickets are $20.

Sat Apr 5
Green Mountain Grass at Club Dub Dub
CD release party.
Show starts at 8; tickets are $10.

Uh Huh Her at Walter's On Washington
Show starts at 9; Tickets are $10.

Blaggards and the Zydepunks at the Continental Club
Show starts at 9; tickets are $10.

Sun Apr 6
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone with Clue to Kalo and Hearts of Animals at The Mink/Backroom
Show starts at 9; tickets are probably $5 or $10.

Road trip: Dallas
Catch Perpetual Groove and Moving Matter at the Granada Theater(show 8, tickets $15) on Friday. Then choose between Okkervil River at the Granada (show 9, tickets $12), Ferry Corsten at the Lizard Lounge (tickets $20), or RJD2 at the Palladium Loft (show 8:30, tickets $14) on Saturday.

Upcoming shows in the Houston area:

Thu Feb 28
Paris Falls at Boondocks
Join Houston-based rockers Paris Falls for their CD release party! With support from Jason Puffer and/or the Psychedelic Sex Panther.
Show starts at 9; tickets are $5.

Fri Feb 29
Citizen Cope at Warehouse Live
Clarence Greenwood and friends set up shop at Warehouse, delivering their musical potpourri of blues, folk, reggae, R&B, and rock sounds.
Show starts at 8; tickets are $25.

Plump and Moving Matter at Dan Electro's
Houston-based funk/jam band Plump return to Dan Electro's with a show that's sure to get your feet moving.
Show starts at 9:30; tickets are $10.

Grupo Fantasma and Ryan Scroggins & the Trenchtown Texans at the Engine Room
Grupo Fantasma, an 11-piece Latin funk orchestra from Austin, have Prince's stamp of approval - they've backed him several times. What more do we need to say?
Ryan Scroggins & the Trenchtown Texans will also be performing in-store at Sig's Lagoon at 6pm.
Show starts at 9; the price of the tickets is apparently a surprise.

The Western Civilization with Papermoons and Another Run at Walter's On Washington
Head to Walter's on Friday to support three local indie acts!
Show starts at 9; tickets are $7 21+/$10 under 21.

Too $hort at the Meridian
Pimpin' Incorporated.
Doors at 8; tickets are $22 today, $30 tomorrow.

List continues after the jump