fredfest day 1
we got there late 'cos we had a birthday party to attend, and chumped out in the middle of scott copeland's set 'cos i had a sinus headache and so missed honchie and goodwin (sigh), but from what we saw 'n' heard, patio-meister lee allen and wreck room wizard o' sound andre edmonson dug deep and came up with maybe the best fredfest yet.
before we got there, fonky fred's got drenched with a brief downpour (of course it did; it's mayfest weekend), but rather 'n initiating a woodstock-style rain chant, the electric mountain rotten apple gang boys just unplugged and invited the folks up under the tarp that was keeping the stage area dry and thus held the crowd. "it was okay," e.m.r.a.g. gtrist mark deffebach quipped later, "but adam [kobetich] has to learn to _yell_!"
by the time we arrived, confusatron had finished an abbreviated set and recent fort worth weekly profile subjects sleeplab were up next with their chill, stylish bossa vibe (epitomized by eternally fedora'd, cigar-chomping congero / painter jesse sierra hernandez) but minus vocalist crystal casey. afterward, gtrist fern palomo expressed concerns that he'd been too loud, but i reassured him that was a near-impossibility, what with their mainly acoustic (except for james norris' rhodes) instrumentation and wizard o' sound andre behind the knobs.
sally majestic followed, working through some mic problems to provide the crowd with a jolt of electricity (aurally, at least) 'n' high-spirited energy. bassist-vocalist p.j. fry had promised "a completely different, family-friendly show" than they'd play later that night at the wreck (booked when fredfest was still iffy following february's devastating fire there), but barefooted frontguy scott griffin still included jam-night fave "bobo" in the setlist alongside crowd-pleasers like the cure's "just like heaven." the sally boys just initiated a bi-weekly acoustic residency at the torch; next one's on may 18th (same night as stoogeaphilia's black dog stand, grrr arrrghhh).
then came the one i'd been waiting for, the debut performance of barber mack, a groovin' new outfit dedicated to the toons 'n' spirit of jamaican jazz gtrist ernest ranglin. the band's a brainchild of ex-kulcha far i bassman john shook and includes confusatron's _other_ skates brother, andrew, on gtr alongside shook's kulcha bandmate / musical twin ron geida, and ubiquitous drummer josh clark. on just three rehearsals, their blend of elements was already intriguing, ron's treated sound bumping up against andrew's clean tone, shook switching at will between bouncy groove and jaw-dropping fretless solo goodness, and josh doing a nice job of simulating head-spinning dub f/x with just his stripped down kit 'n' riddimic imagination. (josh's dad, gtrist jerry clark, was in attendance -- whom i can partially thank for my decision to start playing in bands again about nine yrs ago, after i got tired of getting thrown offstage at the keys lounge thursday jam where jerry was house gtrist.) the ranglin toons they played were unfamiliar to me, and shook sez they also have some 'riginals in the works, but it was a nice surprise hearing familiar standards like wayne shorter's "footprints" and trane's "mr. p.c." rendered in jamaican-inflected style. their next show will be may 11th at the black dog, opening for caffeine chemistry, josh's band with the skates bros.
more fredfest later; right now, i gotta go wish my granddtr a happy b-day (amazing how many ppl i know were born may 5-6-7). be there later on, tho, for darrin kobetich, jasper stone, me-thinks and gideons.
before we got there, fonky fred's got drenched with a brief downpour (of course it did; it's mayfest weekend), but rather 'n initiating a woodstock-style rain chant, the electric mountain rotten apple gang boys just unplugged and invited the folks up under the tarp that was keeping the stage area dry and thus held the crowd. "it was okay," e.m.r.a.g. gtrist mark deffebach quipped later, "but adam [kobetich] has to learn to _yell_!"
by the time we arrived, confusatron had finished an abbreviated set and recent fort worth weekly profile subjects sleeplab were up next with their chill, stylish bossa vibe (epitomized by eternally fedora'd, cigar-chomping congero / painter jesse sierra hernandez) but minus vocalist crystal casey. afterward, gtrist fern palomo expressed concerns that he'd been too loud, but i reassured him that was a near-impossibility, what with their mainly acoustic (except for james norris' rhodes) instrumentation and wizard o' sound andre behind the knobs.
sally majestic followed, working through some mic problems to provide the crowd with a jolt of electricity (aurally, at least) 'n' high-spirited energy. bassist-vocalist p.j. fry had promised "a completely different, family-friendly show" than they'd play later that night at the wreck (booked when fredfest was still iffy following february's devastating fire there), but barefooted frontguy scott griffin still included jam-night fave "bobo" in the setlist alongside crowd-pleasers like the cure's "just like heaven." the sally boys just initiated a bi-weekly acoustic residency at the torch; next one's on may 18th (same night as stoogeaphilia's black dog stand, grrr arrrghhh).
then came the one i'd been waiting for, the debut performance of barber mack, a groovin' new outfit dedicated to the toons 'n' spirit of jamaican jazz gtrist ernest ranglin. the band's a brainchild of ex-kulcha far i bassman john shook and includes confusatron's _other_ skates brother, andrew, on gtr alongside shook's kulcha bandmate / musical twin ron geida, and ubiquitous drummer josh clark. on just three rehearsals, their blend of elements was already intriguing, ron's treated sound bumping up against andrew's clean tone, shook switching at will between bouncy groove and jaw-dropping fretless solo goodness, and josh doing a nice job of simulating head-spinning dub f/x with just his stripped down kit 'n' riddimic imagination. (josh's dad, gtrist jerry clark, was in attendance -- whom i can partially thank for my decision to start playing in bands again about nine yrs ago, after i got tired of getting thrown offstage at the keys lounge thursday jam where jerry was house gtrist.) the ranglin toons they played were unfamiliar to me, and shook sez they also have some 'riginals in the works, but it was a nice surprise hearing familiar standards like wayne shorter's "footprints" and trane's "mr. p.c." rendered in jamaican-inflected style. their next show will be may 11th at the black dog, opening for caffeine chemistry, josh's band with the skates bros.
more fredfest later; right now, i gotta go wish my granddtr a happy b-day (amazing how many ppl i know were born may 5-6-7). be there later on, tho, for darrin kobetich, jasper stone, me-thinks and gideons.
posted by stashdauber at 7:38 AM
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