Vintage Trouble and Govt. Mule at Stubbs

Vintage Trouble

I can't completely recall how Vintage Trouble first appeared on my radar. It may have been when they were featured on the iTunes store.

I do remember buying their album, giving it multiple listens, and noting that they were playing ACL Festival this year. Their retro, blues rock sound, reminded me of Storyville, and I enjoyed their music enough to also sign up for their mailng list.

Although I deliberately opted out of ACL for the second year thus missing both of their appearances, I discovered through their mailing list that would be returning to Austin one month later, opening for Govt. Mule. I was aware of the headliners, and liked some of their music, but honestly this was one of those cases, where I bought a ticket to see the opening band.

Lineup

The band originally hails from Hollywood, CA, and the lineup is as follows:

• Ty Taylor - Vocals
  
• Nalle Colt - Guitar
  
• Rick Barrio Dill - Bass
  
• Richard Danielson - Drums
  

They played a single set about an hour in length, and really knocked it out of the park. The lead singer is very energetic and dynamic showman, and has the vocal chops to deliver the sound in a live context. I ran into a former coworker (and fellow keyboard player), Todd Frenzel and his wife. Like me, they had come specifically to see VT, so there is a bit of a buzz about them.

Not being intimate with their music yet, I didn't capture a setlist, but did recognize songs from their debut album, The Bomb Shelter Sessions.

Govt. Mule

The headliners was Govt. Mule, a southern rock, jam band formed as a side project, by two members of the Allman Brothers Band, Warren Haynes, and Allen Woody (now deceased). Normally, I don't enjoy jam bands, but the Mule doesn't fit the typical prototype for the genre.

Lineup

The current lineup of Govt. Mule is as follows:

• Warren Haynes - Vocals and Guitar
  
• Matt Abts - Drums
  
• Danny Louis - Keyboards and Trombone
  
• Jorgen Carlsson - Bass
  

Special Guest

In addition to the members above, there were two special guests who joined the band on stage. Hook Herrera joined the Mule on stage during their set, as well as during the encore, and played Blues Harp. In addition, Nalle Colt, Vintage Trouble's guitarist also joined the Mule on stage for the encore.

Setlist

The Mule posts their setlists on their website, so you can find it here.

I estimate that that Mule played for close to two hours, with the show ending just before midnight. They are very tight, and everything was well done. If I had one criticism, it was that Warren Haynes is nowhere near the showman that Ty Taylor is. All in all, it was a great night of music on crisp, Fall night, in Austin.

The Grandmothers of Invention at Stubbs

Second Time Around

Fourteen months have passed since I last saw the Grandmothers of Invention. When I saw this show announced, I knew I had to go. After meeting the band last time, I feel like the members of the band are old friends.

The lineup

The membership of the Grandmothers has changed. The most noticeable departure being Tom Fowler, who is now playing with another Zappa Tribute band, the Band from Utopia. The current lineup consists of:

• Napoleon Murphy Brock - Lead Vocals, Tenor Sax, and Flute. An original Mother
• Don Preston - Keyboards. The other original Mother
• Chris Garcia - Drums and backup vocals
• Max Kutner - Electric Guitar
• Dave Johnson - Bass

Set-list

The band played two sets that were approximately 70 minutes in length. Unfortunately, I did not keep track of the set-list. The 2013 tour was being billed as the One Size Fits All tour, and they did in fact play every song from that album. The highlights for me were the Sofa No. 1 and No. 2, and San Ber'dino for the encore.

I do now that they also played selections like Village of the Sun from Roxy and Elsewhere, and Burnt Weenie Sandwich.

Prior to the show, Napoleon circled through the crowd, shaking the hand of anyone and thanking them for coming. My respect for this great artist grew exponentially. As always, his vocals and playing were amazing. In fact, the entire band was tighter than a whale's asshole.

Even though there was no VIP access this time, I got to speak to the drummer, Chris Garcia, between the sets. I was happy that he remembered me, from the previous show.

All in all, it was fantastic night of music.

Devo and Blondie at Stubbs

Devo

I bought these tickets a while ago, even though I wasn't thrilled about the venue, Stubbs BBQ. I'm always up for seeing the Spudboys from Akron, they are one of my favorite bands and I've seen them many times over the past 35 years.

For this show, Devo were the openers. I'm not sure if they are switching off with Blondie or not. The lineup is still the Mothersbaugh and Casale brothers, and Jeff Friedl on drums. Unfortunately, with a split bill like this, their set list was shorter than normal.

The only other comment I have, is that the doors opened at 6:30PM, and Devo started fairly early.

Blondie

So, during my punk rock days in high school (the late '70's if you must) I bought a copy of Parallel Lines, when it was first released. While I had always enjoyed the album, I had never seen the band live, nor listened to any subsequent releases.

Debbie Harry is now 67 years of age, is in better shape than some 30 years old I have seen. Her backing band included:

• Chris Stein - original member and current guitartist
• Clem Burke - original member and current drummer
• Leigh Fox - bass
• Matt Katz-Bohen - keys
• Tommy Kesseler - guitar

I enjoyed the second set, which you can find listed here. Although I took several pictures with the iPhone, none of them were clear.

I had a great time, but I was surprised at the fact that I was leaving the venue at 10:30. Well within the noise ordinance limits.

The Grandmothers of Invention

I'm not sure how I found out about this show, since it wasn't well advertised. None the less, I was not about to pass up an opportunity to see 3 members of the Mothers of Invention, perform Frank Zappa's music.

Meet and Greet

When I purchased this ticket, I noticed that a VIP ticket was only $20.00 more, so I bought one. Showing up an hour early, I was immediately escorted to the dressing rooms, and backstage area, to meet the musicians:

• Napoleon Murphy Brock (with the Mothers from 1974 - 1984) vocals, tenor saxophone, and flute
  
• Tom Fowler (with the Mothers from 1973 - 1978) bass
  
• Christopher Garcia - drums, percussion, marimba, and vocals
  
• Miroslav Tadic - electric guitar
  
• Don Preston (with the Mothers from 1966 - 1974) on piano, keyboard synthesizers, electronics, magic, and vocals!
  

What a fantastic time, it was an absolute pleasure to be able to speak with Don, Tom, and Napoleon about their tenure in Frank's band, and most importantly get their audition stories, particularly after having the same conversation with Adrian Belew several months prior.

Since I happened to have a King Crimson - Discipline T-shirt on, I immediately struck up a conversation with Chris Garcia the drummer, who just happened to be a huge Bill Bruford fan. Wow, it seemed like we had almost identical tastes in music, and it was a rare pleasure to talk to people who shared one of your passions.

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The Show

The show started a bit late to a light crowd, on the indoor stage. I was actually trying to recall the last show I had seen inside, other than some Gospel Brunches. It has been well over a decade.

I estimate that the Grandmothers played for about 90 minutes, and covered the most of the material on the Roxy and Elsewhere album. If I remember correctly, the Roxy album was also featured prominently during the first ZPZ tour, with Napoleon. So, perhaps there was a bit of a statement being made, with this particular song selection. In addition to the Roxy material, they also played Peaches en Regalia, and one of my favorites during their encore, the Sofa.

I was truly blown away by this band, although I was not surprised, knowing their history. I should also add that Napoleon had the funniest comment of the night, in response to the persistent requests from the audiences for certain songs. He held up a zip-lock bag containing a 10 Finnish Mark note. And said, that requests would be happily taken from anyone present able to pay in this currency. (He also mentioned that this had backfired on them, during a stop of a European tour).

Here are few picture of these terrific musicians, on stage:

Robert Plant - Band of Joy at Stubbs

Line to get in

Although none of my friends seemed interested, I couldn't pass up seeing Robert Plant, after the great show he put on at ACL, two years ago.

As expected, people were lined up around the corner to get into Stubbs. The line went all of the way to the 35 frontage road.

Bettye Lavette

I situated myself in the pit, over towards the left side of the stage, about 10 rows back. The opener was Soul and R&B singer extraordinaire, Bettye Lavette. She was touring in support of her latest album, Interpretations: British Rock Songbook, where she performs covers of Classic, British Rock songs by Elton John, the Who, and Pink Floyd, just to name a few.

I was a little tentative about this act, after the lukewarm review she had gotten from the boys over at Sound Opinions. Any reservations I might have had, because of the shortcomings identified in their review were put to rest, as soon as she began singing. She is a very powerful performer, and is difficult to ignore.

I estimate that she started playing around 7:15 and played about 45 minutes. I will probably keep an eye for her in the future, since I would enjoy seeing Bettye headline.

Robert Plant and Band of Joy

The main event started sometime around 8:30, and I estimate it lasted about 2 hours. Since the Band of Joy album has not been released, I was a little unsure what to expect. I did anticipate that T Bone Burnett might be involved with this project, since he was involved with Robert's project with Alison Krauss.

Those suspicions were further raised when I noticed that Austin's very own, Patty Griffin, was touring and singing with Robert. Not very surprising actually, after seeing her also join Elvis Costello in a similar capacity, in another T Bone project. She is one of the usual suspects, as they say.

Although I was unable to find a setlist, this one from a Houston show two nights prior is a close enough approximation. This show went by way too fast, and it most definitely appealed to my tastes.

I am particularly fond of music that sits at the nexus of Country, Blues, and Rockabilly, and is sometimes tagged with the moniker, Roots Rock. Whoever put this band together, did an excellent job. They were fucking excellent, and I could easily go see this show on two consecutive nights, and not get bored.

The band members were:

• Buddy Miller - Acoustic and Electric Guitars
• Darrell Scott - Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Pedal Steel, Banjo
• Byron House - Electric and Upright Bass
• Marco Giovino - Drums
• Patty Griffin - Vocals

In closing, here's a few shots from the show:

Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa at Stubbs

I saw Zappa Plays Zappa again after at Stubbs last night. Previously, I had seen ZPZ two times. Unlike those previous shows, I was a little tentative about this one. If I am to believe the rumors, all is not well in the ZPZ camp. There's squabbling with other Zappa Tribute Bands, special guests going AWOL, and musicians leaving the "core" band.

For this particular tour, there are no Alumni/Special Guests, the primary keyboard player, Aaron Arntz is gone, and there's a new lead singer, Ben Thomas. Ben was a very accomplished vocalist, but didn't have the extra umph and stage presence of a Napoleon Murphy Brock or Ray White.

The show started somewhere around 8PM, with Apostrophe and lasted approximately 2 hours, maybe 2 hours and 15 minute. Dweezil mentioned after the first song that there would be an Austin guitarist joining the band on stage, but didn't identify him at that time. I found the remainder of the show to be well done, but lackluster when compared to the two previous shows I had seen. There was some effort to play new material not covered on previous ZPZ tours, however they obviously avoided some songs.

Later, the special guest ended up being Eric Johnson. Once again, I listened to Eric's somewhat shaky blues improvisational skills. Now I like Eric just as much as the next fan, but jamming is not one of his strengths. This show confirmed what I had witnessed at a Robben Ford show a couple years back. Eric had the same problem then, although it was more obvious because David Grissom was also on stage. Fortunately, Dweezil helped keep this potential train wreck on the rails.

My remaining comments about the show: Sheila Gonzalez plays some absolutely awesome Saxophone (and Keys) during the show, and Billy Hulting on Vibes/Percussion, and Joe Travers were also impressive. This was however, the weakest of the 3 shows that I have seen. Then again, it's hard to top having Ray White, as lead singer.

Les Claypool (with Tim Fite opening) at Stubbs

Tim Fite

This is the third time I've seen Tim Fite and side-kick, Dr. Leisure, perform. Since he evokes memories of Andy Kaufman, I really enjoy his act. It took about 15 minutes for him to win the crowd over with his zaniness. (A little longer than the other times that I've seen him).

If you've never seen him and get the chance, do it!

Les Claypool

I was tentative about going to this show, because in the past I have found some of Claypool's music to be repetitive and annoying. His band looked interesting enough with 4 players on sax, marimba/vibraphone/percussion, drums, and bass. Unfortunately, my worst fears were realized, and were combined with bad lighting, bad sound (the sax player may as well have not been there), and inaudible vocals.

I estimate that he played about 2 hours, but I found myself wanting to leave halfway through the show. A large part of my irritation was Claypool's sound selection. I don't think I will be going to another Claypool show for a good long time.