goodwin, sunday drive

the goodwin show at the moon last night was a reminder of why chris maunder's room is my fave place to hear bands outside our beloved wreck room. while it might lack the wreck's neighborhood-bar vibe and colorful cast of characters, the moon's little do-it-yourself p.a. serves bands better than the sound systems at lotsa "venues" (proof positive, as if any more were needed, that a band should be able to sound good with just vocals mic'ed), the crowd is almost always attentive and enthusiastic, and maunder himself is the perfect host.

it's always a gas to hear goodwin play a couple of sets, because that's the only time i get to hear infrequently-played faves from the debut c.d. like "february 3rd" and "to the people." by now, though, the highlights of their live set are as-yet-unreleased gems like "write for you" and "new" and "revelation of revolution." (work on the second cd, momentarily knocked off track by work schedules and live commitments, will resume next month. says gtrist/songwriter/evil dictator gomez, "we're gonna treat this record like it's our last.") the dreaded "telekenesis vs. indifference," with its daunting tempo changes that usually leave audiences scratching their heads, got a decent response from the moon crowd. (to my ears, it's the closest thing to a bindle song in goodwin's repertoire. but i can't help wondering how much it'd take to bribe them to play "state of girl?") they even broke out their covers (the always reliable "just like heaven" and the sometimes shakey "jet") to good effect.

for the smaller stage, gomez brought out his peavey classic 50 from muffinhead days, and unveiled a new toy: a gibson explorer. (or was it a clone? i couldn't read the headstock.) sticky d was playing his new ludwig vistalites, which we'd seen him play with pablo and the hemphill 7 the night before (it's a damien stewart weekend!). said sticky, "if only some tejano band sees me playing these, i'll have another gig!" he's been holding down the drum chair at the wreck room's wednesday night lee allen/carl pack invitational jam, and he says the ideas he's developed in that environment are spilling into both of his working bands -- a good thing. while the whole band performed exceptionally well at the little moon, the riddim boys in particular were on fire. sure, mistakes were made (particularly after a fan bought the boys jager shots), but that's part of the fun of playing live, and goodwin's reached a level of consistency where even on an off night, they can still out-rock 95% of the bands on the metromess boards.

being the shitty scene supporters we are, we missed most of sunday drive's set enjoying a cold beverage with paul boll in the early summer swelter outside fuzzy's, but any band with four-part harmonies (and four lead singers -- shades of the yayhoos, or the band, whose "the weight" they covered) is all righty right with me. have to see 'em do their whole thang some other time.