Virgin Mobile Free Fest 2011

Sep 12, 2011 by Eggs

This past weekend, my Angry Badger and I took a trip to Baltimore to check out this years edition of the Virgin Mobile Free Fest. After a late night of drinking on Friday night, we woke up as early as we were physically capable of, headed to the bus station to catch the silver line to Columbia, and the famed outdoor venue Merriweather Post Pavilion. Arriving just in time for the first acts of the day, we made our way into the lush, wooded venue with our new Fan E-Packs loaded to the gills with a new t-shirt, poster, 24 oz cup and more. We also walked into one of the best days ever.

Read all about the day and check out some more terrible iPhone pictures after the jump.

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The Tontons & Ancient Cat Society @ Warehouse Live

Aug 15, 2011 by Eggs

This past Thursday, Houston indie-pop quartet The Tontons kicked off their east coast and mid-west tour with a rousing show in the Studio of Warehouse Live. Playing a mix of songs that will be featured on the soon-to-be-released EP Golden, as well as a handful of their older cuts, The Tontons had no problem entertaining the nice sized crowd that made it out for the event which included friends and fans and the one-and-only Bun-B. The show was one of the better I’ve seen from the group, and assuredly put a little pep in the step of the youngsters before they hit the road for the next few weeks.

Also performing that night were openers Sun Hotel and Ancient Cat Society. I didn’t really catch much of Sun Hotel as I favored socializing with friends old and new, but the brief moments I did happen to see sounded pretty decent. I did, however, get a chance to see ACS. Made up of the singing half of local heroes Buxton, the trio expanded to a quartet with the help of Houston’s go-to auxiliary musician Geoffrey Muller who sat in on stand-up bass and helped to fill out ACS’s folky sound. While I’ll always be partial to Buxton because they rule, ACS is the perfect outlet for singers Sergio Trevino, Haley Barnes and Austin Sepulvado to perform their quieter, more melodic material that wouldn’t work as well in a full band format. Although it was shorter than recent shows of theirs I’ve been to, it was a nice little treat, and the perfect way to start a great night of music and camaraderie.

I took a bunch of pictures of the show, check them out after the jump.

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Free Press Summerfest 2011: Saturday In Photos

Jun 16, 2011 by Eggs

The 2011 edition of Free Press Summerfest has come and gone, leaving only memories, ringing ears and the remaining particles of dirt under our fingernails that just wont seem to disappear. Houston came together for a hotter-than-hell two day party featuring a slew of both national and local acts on 8 stages throughout Eleanor Tinsley Park right under the shadow of the city’s skyline.

Saturday hosted a main stage that featured headliners Ween, as well as quite the diverse mix of acts in Beirut, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Big Boi, Bun B and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. On the other 7 stages, both local and regional acts brought the heat (literally) with standout sets from the gamut of them.

Check out loads of pictures from Saturday, June 4th at the 2011 Free Press Summerfest after the jump!

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Primus @ Verizon Wireless Theater

Jun 2, 2011 by Eggs

Way back at Bonnaroo in 2004, 7 years ago (ya, I know that was a while ago), I waited in the mud for a late night set from Primus that seemed like it would never happen. Because of a huge rain delay, their midnight set didn’t get started until about 2:30, and I ended up missing all of it. After waiting about an hour, I headed back towards my camp just in time to hear the opening notes of their set. I was pissed, and in need of some Les Claypool, but didn’t get my fill that night. Move forward four years and I finally caught Primus live, at Rothbury when my mind was well beyond coherent and I didn’t register their set like I usually do with most bands. Finally three years after that, and I had Primus in front of me in all of their glory in Houston – Les Claypool slapping the bass like he should with Larry LaLonde nailing the simple guitar parts and Jay Lane effortlessly working through the drums. Their music is not the easiest to digest, but being a fan it was nice to hear their versions of early 90′s Primus songs in the live format. Claypool has moved on from the goofy background he’s familiar with and enhanced the act of instrumentation in every group he’s been apart of, specifically Primus. While it has always been a treat to hear Claypool push the boundaries of the bass guitar, I’ve never seen him nearly as comfortable as I did that night at Verizon Wireless Theater – ripping through the songs he grew up playing. Even though I didn’t stay for the whole performance, I still came to realize that I’ll never see a better bass player than Claypool, let alone a better band instrumentally from the 90′s. An hour of music proved to me that the music of the 90′s was more than relevant. That’s a huge statement.

Check out a bunch of pictures from the show and the full setlist after the jump.

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