It was a sad day for Texas music on March 13, 2005. That’s when people from as far away as Europe crowded into a sold-out Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton to bid farewell to the State’s reigning ‘best bar band’. That final show was short on covers and long on remembrances, for the band and the audience alike.
They resurrected a “Barrel Chested” era documentary film to kick off the night, standing quietly onstage while the film rolled on a screen set up near the entrance. Then they played for a little over two hours. While the album of the night seemed to be their second release, “Barrel Chested”, they managed to cover their entire career, but went sparingly on their last and most over-produced record, “Slippage”.
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The Gourd’s “Blood Of The Ram” (Eleven Thirty Records) is another hook-filled, genre mixing full-length album of highly listenable, if abstract nods to country, Cajun, folk, R & B and plain old rock and roll.
And, of course, they employ every instrument in their repertoire.
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The Granada Theater in Dallas celebrated its one year anniversary Friday, August 19, with a near capacity show featuring The Gourds, The Bottlerockets, and The Drams. The Granada’s been around a whole lot longer than one year; but a year ago it was launched as a strictly live music venue.
They did a great job of refurbishing the place, leaving the murals and ornate, carved wood molding intact, and installing a state-of-the-art sound system. The Granada now boasts the best sound system of any venue in Dallas. And if you don’t mind parking two blocks away on the street or shelling out 10 bucks for the close-in lot, which was free a year ago, then you really can’t beat it.
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Is this the same Charles Thompson who fronted The Pixies and howled: “I wanna grow up to be / be a debaser”? Maybe. Although the name has changed, we’re definitely seeing a different side of the old Black Francis here.
“Honeycomb,” Frank Black’s latest solo effort, was recorded in Nashville with a bunch of veteran studio musicians and released on Back Porch Records in July of this year. Don’t go expecting the wails of the Pixies though. This one is a sentimental, mystical kind of disc – more laid back and still a little twisted.
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They resurrected a “Barrel Chested” era documentary film to kick off the night, standing quietly onstage while the film rolled on a screen set up near the entrance. Then they played for a little over two hours. While the album of the night seemed to be their second release, “Barrel Chested”, they managed to cover their entire career, but went sparingly on their last and most over-produced record, “Slippage”.
