spot reunion, goodwin, velvet love box
'twas a night of nights at the li'l wreck room: the reunion, a decade (more or less) after their original swan song ("with lone star trio," reggie rueffer recalled, "and i sure miss them") of the band spot, whose saga could serve as a cautionary tale for any young musos who would cast their bread out on the waters of "the biz." there are those who think that, had their aborted deal with interscope (in the wake of their original label, memphis-based ardent's sad demise) not gone south, they coulda been _contenders_ (instead of playing country music for lucre and performing reggie's arty rawk toons to tee-tiny audiences as the hochimen like they've been doing the past few yrs).
the irving-born 'n' bred rueffer brothers -- bassist-vocalist reggie and gtrist-vocalist chad -- had previously played together (with drummer davis bickston, also behind the skins this night) in mildred, a brainy, classical-influenced outfit whose alb whippersnapper was an early-'90s touchstone for lotsa area musos. with spot, as chad joked onstage, they played "angry young man music" that struck a chord with lotsa listeners, and surprise, surprise: those fans came out in force to soak up spot's mojo one mo' time (not to mention the powerful vibe o' the wreck room, which seems to have become more of a signifier since owner brian forella announced the j'int's days are numbered a few weeks back). indeed, the place was jammed asses-to-elbows by the time spot took the stage, and _stayed_ that way throughout the band's set, which reduced somewhat the rueffer boyzzz' inclination, developed over years of underattended gigs, to take the piss out of themselves non-stop in a performance situation.
listening to chad rueffer rasp the words to "l'america" and then watching him fall about the stage with wild abandon, wringing chords and wrenching solos from his telecaster, or seeing the contortions his 'n' reggie's faces went through while assaulting their defenseless mics to sing harmonies, or hearing the crowd sing along to every word of "moon, june, spoon" ("the hit," played early and then again at the end of the set 'cos the crowd demanded it), "horse's head," absalom," and "60-40," one couldn't help but think, "yeah, boy, that's right -- that's the way you did it when you _believed_ in what you're doing." a triumphant return from a band that deserved a whole lot better than what they got 10 yrs ago. "we gotta get these guys back together," wreck room wizard o' sound andre edmonson enthused in the show's aftermath. i (and the fans who were fighting over cassette -- !!! -- copies of spot's album that drummer bickston tossed to the crowd at one point) would be inclined to agree. kudos to frank logan, the rueffers' friend and number one fan, for engineering this reunion. not bad for only two rehearsals, fellas. it _is_ just like falling off a bicycle, after all.
before spot, goodwin -- who have a new single, "grace," a teaser for their gonna-be-out-this-spring-i-swear sophomore ceedee -- played a tight set that showcased material from the aforementioned as-yet-unreleased disc (which apparently is gonna be called reconstruction). drummer damien stewart sported short hair and his referee's shirt; bassist matt hembree didn't shed any clothing (as he sometimes does with stoogeaphilia), although he did have dollar bills stuck in the headstock of his p-bass (and a female audience member stuck one in his, um, pocket at one point); gtrist-songwriter-evil genius daniel gomez looked fit 'n' trim and took no more than the usual number of liberties with the setlist; and frontman tony diaz shook his hair down in his eyes while he sang and kept the spiel flowing non-stop between songs. visually, goodwin's always been the perfect mix of iconic flash and humor -- like someone said about one of the other bands, "their cleverness doesn't work against them." their music leaps and soars and has never sounded more powerful than it did this night; here's hoping they were able to capture that electrifying energy on the cd. they played the new stuff -- "write for you," "revelation of revolution," and "heart and mouth" in particular threatened to remove the roof from the wreck -- and then encored with "airport" 'cos the crowd would accept no less.
velvet love box opened, providing potent reminders of why they're the preferred acoustic cover band among those who know. their big sound is always a revelation. brandon bumpas' percussion rig sounds like one of those trap sets that look like architectural marvels, replete with every tom and cymbal imaginable; neil schnell's bass is both propulsive and melodic; and scott cloud's acoustic-with-loads-of-f/x never ceases to amaze. and their vocal blend is like buttah. they responded to requests for daddys soul donut toons with "that'll be on april 21st," the date when _that_ band will return from the mists of history to open for their buds in woodeye (speaking of beloved bands that are regrouping for the wreck room's victory lap). only question that remains in my mind: will daddys soul donut gtrist jim kisselberg use nick girgenti's fender concert?
okay, that's it for me. did i do ok, cox?
the irving-born 'n' bred rueffer brothers -- bassist-vocalist reggie and gtrist-vocalist chad -- had previously played together (with drummer davis bickston, also behind the skins this night) in mildred, a brainy, classical-influenced outfit whose alb whippersnapper was an early-'90s touchstone for lotsa area musos. with spot, as chad joked onstage, they played "angry young man music" that struck a chord with lotsa listeners, and surprise, surprise: those fans came out in force to soak up spot's mojo one mo' time (not to mention the powerful vibe o' the wreck room, which seems to have become more of a signifier since owner brian forella announced the j'int's days are numbered a few weeks back). indeed, the place was jammed asses-to-elbows by the time spot took the stage, and _stayed_ that way throughout the band's set, which reduced somewhat the rueffer boyzzz' inclination, developed over years of underattended gigs, to take the piss out of themselves non-stop in a performance situation.
listening to chad rueffer rasp the words to "l'america" and then watching him fall about the stage with wild abandon, wringing chords and wrenching solos from his telecaster, or seeing the contortions his 'n' reggie's faces went through while assaulting their defenseless mics to sing harmonies, or hearing the crowd sing along to every word of "moon, june, spoon" ("the hit," played early and then again at the end of the set 'cos the crowd demanded it), "horse's head," absalom," and "60-40," one couldn't help but think, "yeah, boy, that's right -- that's the way you did it when you _believed_ in what you're doing." a triumphant return from a band that deserved a whole lot better than what they got 10 yrs ago. "we gotta get these guys back together," wreck room wizard o' sound andre edmonson enthused in the show's aftermath. i (and the fans who were fighting over cassette -- !!! -- copies of spot's album that drummer bickston tossed to the crowd at one point) would be inclined to agree. kudos to frank logan, the rueffers' friend and number one fan, for engineering this reunion. not bad for only two rehearsals, fellas. it _is_ just like falling off a bicycle, after all.
before spot, goodwin -- who have a new single, "grace," a teaser for their gonna-be-out-this-spring-i-swear sophomore ceedee -- played a tight set that showcased material from the aforementioned as-yet-unreleased disc (which apparently is gonna be called reconstruction). drummer damien stewart sported short hair and his referee's shirt; bassist matt hembree didn't shed any clothing (as he sometimes does with stoogeaphilia), although he did have dollar bills stuck in the headstock of his p-bass (and a female audience member stuck one in his, um, pocket at one point); gtrist-songwriter-evil genius daniel gomez looked fit 'n' trim and took no more than the usual number of liberties with the setlist; and frontman tony diaz shook his hair down in his eyes while he sang and kept the spiel flowing non-stop between songs. visually, goodwin's always been the perfect mix of iconic flash and humor -- like someone said about one of the other bands, "their cleverness doesn't work against them." their music leaps and soars and has never sounded more powerful than it did this night; here's hoping they were able to capture that electrifying energy on the cd. they played the new stuff -- "write for you," "revelation of revolution," and "heart and mouth" in particular threatened to remove the roof from the wreck -- and then encored with "airport" 'cos the crowd would accept no less.
velvet love box opened, providing potent reminders of why they're the preferred acoustic cover band among those who know. their big sound is always a revelation. brandon bumpas' percussion rig sounds like one of those trap sets that look like architectural marvels, replete with every tom and cymbal imaginable; neil schnell's bass is both propulsive and melodic; and scott cloud's acoustic-with-loads-of-f/x never ceases to amaze. and their vocal blend is like buttah. they responded to requests for daddys soul donut toons with "that'll be on april 21st," the date when _that_ band will return from the mists of history to open for their buds in woodeye (speaking of beloved bands that are regrouping for the wreck room's victory lap). only question that remains in my mind: will daddys soul donut gtrist jim kisselberg use nick girgenti's fender concert?
okay, that's it for me. did i do ok, cox?
posted by stashdauber at 5:05 AM
3 Comments:
Scott Cloud .... Wow Haha! I played with Scott for about a year in a cover band called Osiris out of Watauga just after my time in Boss Tweed. Checked the pictures on the VLB site ... yeah that's him.
Good guitar player. We both knew Steve Howe's "The Clap" and Page's "Bron 'Y'Aur" early on. We were about 19 at the time.
Scott also showed me Howe's "Mood for a day" of which all I remember
now is the opening.
Funny....
Man, I remember Osiris from Watauga.
I was the the prior Spot reunion show at Dada a month or so ago, and I gotta say: Fort Worth knows how to party! pooh on Dallas that night: the few people that _did_ show up didn't even seem to appreciate what they were seeing.
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