I am nothing, if not a rabid Dr Dog fan. Ever since seeing them at Lollapalooza a few years back I have made a point of seeing them every time they come around, so I was crushed when the Tampa Bay Area wasn’t part of the tour announcement following the release of their last album, Shame, Shame. In fact, I summed up my review of that album with the following, “This one goes on my personal essential listening list, and if these guys come anywhere near you, don’t walk, run to the show…and tell them to get their asses back to Tampa.” That said, you can only imagine my glee when I got the announcement that they were doing a second leg of the tour and they would be playing The State Theater on Record Store Day.

Opening for Dr Dog was a band out of Asheville, NC called Floating Action. I had never heard them before, but I liked them pretty much instantly. The first thing their sound evoked for me of was Band of Horses and maybe a little Fleet Foxes, mainly because of their harmonies and twanginess. Looked into the band post-show, it turns out that their last album, Desert Etiquette, was actually produced by Band of Horses’ bassist, Bill Reynolds. I will definitely be picking this up. Seeming not to notice that they weren’t in the mountains any more, lead singer Seth Kauffman was wearing both a stocking cap and a blazer in the 80+ degree heat. I was already pretty darn warm in my t-shirt and shorts, but by the fourth song I, along with much of the the almost capacity crowd, was dancing and clapping (and sweating) along. Highest praise of all may be that members of Dr Dog kept coming out from beside the stage to watch the performance.

As I settled closer to the stage in preparation for the main act, a friend of mine asked about what she was going to see when Dr Dog took to the stage, if it was going to just be a couple guys. If you’ve seen this band before, you know why I couldn’t help but smile at this. Dr Dog has 5 members, 6 on this tour, and they filled the whole stage even before they start dancing. You can tell these guys genuinely love what they do. They transform a simple concert into an all out experience, playing every single song as if it was the last song of the final encore. This also happened to be the last show of the tour, but you’d think it was the first with all the energy they still somehow had. Even the more low key songs are played to the fullest, like when Frank McElroy’s rhythm guitar set the mood for an achingly slow and heavy rendition of “Someday” and when they put on a sweat-drenched rendition of “The Beach” that fucking killed me. I am, in fact, dead now.

I had the chance to chat with the newest band member, drummer Teach (Eric Slick), after the show and he made my night even greater when he said they’re already ready to work on their next album, which is apparently going to be produced by Dangermouse (Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz). I can’t wait to hear what a more edgy Dr Dog sounds like and, even more exciting, I can’t wait for the next tour.

Check out more pix from the show by the Drunk Camera Guy

Ra Ra Riot has been on my radar since their eponymous 2007 EP but I honestly never expected them to come to Tampa. When the show was announced, I was surprised that not only were they coming to my town, but the show would be in the cozy confines of the Crowbar. Would Tampa show up for this must see show on a weeknight? In the rain? Yes and yes, even the double whammy of a wet weeknight didn’t stop the show from selling out and the place from being filled wall to wall.

The full six member band was quite an impressive sight on the intimate stage, especially because two of them were playing stringed instruments, a cello and a violin. Some bands have a violinist step in for one or two songs, but not RRR. These are full time band members playing their instruments on nearly every song, and cellist Alexandra Lawn even had her debut as a lead vocalist on the last release, The Orchard. In fact, “You And I Know” may have been my favorite song in an overall brilliant performance from the band, and I’d be surprised and disappointed if I didn’t get to hear more from her on future releases. They played every single song I wanted to hear from their back catalog, mixed in with a lot of the newer stuff. I have to admit that I hadn’t given the last album a lot of playing time, but I’m definitely planning to give The Orchard more attention now.

Opening the show was local band The Sleepy Vikings, self-described “loud country shoegaze”, followed by The Luyas, a Canadian band that brought out such artillery as the French horn and hand bells. It was a bit too quirky for me, but I may download a song or two to check them out.

Check out some more shots from the show here

Ninebullets.net has devoted plenty of coverage to the music of Michael Dean Damron‘s music over the years. Longtime readers will know him both as the front man of incendiary hard rock band I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House, and also for his more contemplative solo albums.

Mike D’s home base is Portland, and so as a Seattle-area resident, I’ve been lucky to have had many opportunities to see him perform. I’ve seen him and his band winning over new audiences when opening for bigger name acts, and I’ve seen him playing more intimate venues full of his established fans. On stage, or talking in person, there is one invariant – whether headlining or opening and whether the crowd is big or small – putting his all into the performance is what he cares about.

His next solo album, “Plea from a Ghost” is due out this month, and he has started off his cross country tour in support of it with a few pacific northwest dates. In Seattle, he played a Saturday night house show (along with fellow Suburban Home Records artist Lizzie Huffman) at a private home that had a great performance space. When we saw his tour schedule, a friend (and ICLASOBITH fan) of mine and I decided to invite him to play a Sunday afternoon set at my buddy’s house out in the ‘burbs the next day.

We were pleased when he accepted without hesitation, and we started inviting people. We ended up with a very diverse set of guests of all ages, including some of our friends who had seen him play before, but also including plenty of people with no idea what to expect. When the show started, MDD joked that he was nervous because he was used to shows with drunker audiences and fights. Amusingly (if you’re familiar with his stage banter), he promised not to curse because there was a baby present, bouncing to the music on his Mom’s knee (I was impressed that he kept his promise until it was baby-nap-time). It turned out that there was no need for nervousness – he won the audience over quickly, and the applause grew louder throughout the set. He played a mixture of new songs from his forthcoming album, older material, and some covers (including a great cover of Two Cow Garage‘s “Swingset Assassin“). When he played the crowd-pleasing “Westboro Baptist Church” towards the end, he told us that he had decided that this was the last time he was ever going to play it. However, by that time the batteries on my camcorder had run out, so I don’t have any legally binding proof of this should he change his mind.

Here’s the good part: At the end of this party, besides leaving with some fine musical memories, I also left with some video of Mike D performing a couple of songs. While watching these should give you a little taste of the cozy garage where we had so much enjoyment this past weekend (and without you having to experience our typical crappy March weather), watching video on the computer is a poor substitute for a live performance. I urge you to get out and see the real thing when he plays your area.

Michael Dean Damron – Graveyard Song

Michael Dean Damron – Keep me in your heart

I’ve been hard on the Drive-By Truckers the past few years here on ninebullets, I know. Truth is, I’ve been even harder on them in my own mind, so when they posted Florida tour dates that made it to Tampa for only the second time since Isbell left the band, my excitement was about that of an eight year old with Brussels sprouts on his dinner plate. Ultimately, I decided I was gonna miss the show here in Tampa in favor of attending a local band’s show and figured that would be that. But, as fate would have it, the band’s publicist reached out to me the day of the Tampa show and next thing I knew the wife and I were gonna be driving to Orlando the next night for the DBT show at the House of Blues.

Now, it bears mentioning that I still wasn’t bouncing-off-the-walls excited to go to the show, I had just agreed to go see it. The wife and I had also agreed that if it sucked we were leaving immediately. The last two times I’d seen the Truckers (once with Isbell and once without), the band seemed less than interested in the show, bordering on distracted. I wasn’t the only one who noticed, either. I chalked it up to fatigue, band tensions or a product of getting bigger and playing bigger venues, but ultimately it didn’t matter. The only thing that did matter was that they disappointed me, so a few years and a couple of albums that fell below the band’s high water mark pass later, and I find myself walking into the House of Blues to see what the band is like these days. To put it bluntly, I was not expecting to be blown away, amazed or rocked. I only hoped to be entertained.

I was entertained. I was rocked. And, hell, I was blown away.

The band was as good as I’ve seen them in years. Patterson’s smile was back. Cooley looked like he wanted to be there. As a whole, it was like the band had their moxie back and the setlist seemed to suggest the same thing. The first ½ of the show was dominated by tracks from Southern Rock Opera and spiced with choice selections from Patterson & Cooley’s contributions from Decoration Day and The Dirty South. The latter ½ of the show saw the pace mellow a little, as the band began introducing songs from the upcoming Go-Go Boots to the crowd, but it never let up enough to bore you as Cooley managed to squeeze “Birthday Boy” and “Ghost To Most” in there, with Patterson dropping “Tornadoes” into the last portion of the show. In the end, my only complaint about the show would have to have been the crowd. Orlando shows usually make me jealous of the Orlando scene, but the House of Blues crowd was lethargic to the point of being a deterrent to a good time (luckily Mr. Jimmy Beam kept the good times on tap).

So if the band is hitting your neck of the woods in the coming months, go check them out. They seem to be enjoying the road again and are putting on a great rock show right now.

Drive-By Truckers – Zip City (live)
Drive-By Truckers – Marry Me (live)
Drive-By Truckers – A Ghost To Most (live)

Songs taken from Live From Austin, Texas

To those of you that are lucky enough to live and be apart of the wonderful Denver music scene, you know that when you see what appears to be the Rocky Horror Picture Show of Americana walking down East Colfax, you know that its that time of year once again, for Slim Cessna Auto Club to invade the new year’s eve holiday. This year, we were blessed when it was announced that Drag the River would be playing support, which totally blew my mind about this show. I have seen Drag to many times to count, but have never seen the much talked about live show that Slim Cessna’s Auto Club is known to put on.

The show itself drew the packed crowd at the Bluebird theatre that Slim Cessna always draws for these shows, despite the eight inches of snow that we received that day. Upon arrival, we ran into Jon Snodgrass from Drag who broke the news to use that J.J. Nobody and Steve Bauer (bass and drums respectively) just could not make it from the springs due to the weather, so Jon and Chad Price held down the fort. This was disappointing since Jon told us that Drag has been practicing a bunch of new songs and were stoked to play them. After that bummer of a surprise, that was much more of a pleasant surprise. The first support band, A. Tom Collins was a new name to me and to everybody I talked to around the stage. They were an eclectic mix of piano and songwriting with a dash of horns. It was quite a refreshing sound and definitely surprised myself with how much I really got into them, and their live show is definitely worth catching. I later found out from some of the Suburban Home crew that the lead singer is the former lead singer of the sorely missed Machine Gun Blues that were gathering steam in the Denver scene before their demise.

After A. Tom Collins, Jon and Chad from Drag the River came out as a duo to the unfortunate weather circumstances and played a wonderfully well rounded set, about an hour long. It was quite obvious that much of the Slim crowd was totally new to Drag and it was a good introduction to them. Along with some of the staples of a DTR live show, including “Medicine” and “Mr. Crews”, many of the songs from “Demons” made an appearance, and eventually turned into a crowd request with the Slim crowd obviously enjoying their first, and hopefully not their last dose of Drag the River.

After Drag played their set, Slim Cessna came out for the tenth anniversary of their New Year’s shows at the Bluebird theatre. And they held their version of Alt-Country church that their live shows our famous for. Both Manly and Slim Cessna himself spent a good portion of the set in the audience, who was hanging on every word the two of them had to say. After about 90 minutes, the Slim Cessna revival continued for about another half hour with a long encore that had the sold out crowds of the Bluebird near combustion. Despite the snow that everybody, including the bands, had to deal with, A. Tom Collins, Drag The River and Slim Cessna Auto Club helped everybody ring in the New Year a day early, and its never to early to start drinking for the New Year. And on a real quick note, I just want to thank Autopsy IV for the opportunity to write this article, and thanks for reading.

Drag The River – History with History
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Children of the Lord

I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard a single song from The Goddamn Gallows outside of last Friday’s show at The Local here in St. Pete. I’d probably never have heard of them if it weren’t for the fact that Jayke Orvis joined them (something confirmed by the internets but he wasn’t at the show), and I definitely wouldn’t have gone out to see them that night had they not been opening for the evil muthafucker from Tennessee, Joe Buck.

So there I sat at a table in the back of the venue as they set up and performed a sound check. The people I was sitting with were talking about walking down to another bar until Buck came on and I was contemplating joining them once it was confirmed that Jayke had not been seen. Finally, it was decided we’d wait and see what they were like but it was agreed upon that “they had better be rad as hell or we’re out”.

The band started playing without so much as a “hello”, just a moment’s silence after soundchecking and then BLAM, the entire band lurched forward and it was fucking on. I don’t think anyone at my table of smug lasted 30 seconds before they were up and walking towards the stage. Over the course of about an hour I watched these guys put everything they had into a show that was comprised of more spit than a Shackshakers show, plenty of theatrics, members swapping instruments, blistering rock and roll, and the occasional drummer moving parts of his kit into the crowd for a portion of the song. Above all of that, though, we watched a band honestly enjoy themselves for an hour or so, and for that I thank them.

If they’re coming through your neck of the woods, go enjoy the fuck out of them. If you’re already a fan, what cd should I start with?

The Goddamn Gallows – Born 2 Lie
The Goddamn Gallows – Everybody Dies

I caught Tornado Rider at Tropical Heatwave last year under the advise of many a friend. They’d tried to describe what the band was like but much like I am about to here, they fell woefully short. It’s not their fault. Trying to describe their live show is a lot like trying to describe a Legendary Shackshakers live show. You can put the spectacle in words, but the experience is beyond description. Visually, Tornado Rider is a three-piece featuring drums, bass and an electric cello being played by some fellows in fantasyish costumes. Sonically, they’re pure punk (think A.R.E. Weapons) music with pure fantasy lyrics that would be the perfect opener for The Protomen.

Heading to the show I wasn’t sure how many people would be at the show and I was less sure if Tornado Rider would be able to play with the same amount of energy I saw them play with at Tropical Heatwave. I was pleasantly surprise with the answer to both.

The bar was pretty full when I arrived and either the entire bar was there to see Tornado Rider or they immediately bought in to what the kids were selling cause nobody left when the music started and most wandered up towards the stage. The band not only managed to match the energy of Tropical Heatwave but it seemed like the up close and personal nature of a bar environment fueled them on even more. The band was more interactive than they’d been last time while the singer/electric cellist spent a good amount of time noodling electric cello solos on the floor in the middle of the crowd.

I can not recommend seeing these guys emphatically enough. They’re 100% pure fun who make me believe that the underground music scene is alive and well and even features a few re-purposed instruments.

To get an idea of what I am talking about, watch this video:

The show was just Jeremy and Mike trading acoustic songs which was just the sort of thing I needed. Mind you I didn’t know I needed it until Jeremy texted me a couple of hours before the show. Now you may remember my posts (album review and live show) on Jeremy from a while back and he didn’t disappoint. The boy is a ham on stage and obviously loves what he is doing. He played a few songs off his upcoming album and they proved everything I have said about him in the past. He is an amazing songwriter and his talents are only growing. I highly recommend dropping by his site, if you haven’t already, and availing yourself of his first two albums, which he offers for free. And I am not just saying that because he wouldn’t let me buy my own beer at the show!

Mike Kelly is a new face here on 9B and one I hope I get to write a lot more about. He has lived all over the US and is now one of Texas’ own. His songwriting is different from Jeremy’s but the differences made the show that much better. Mike writes about everything and I mean everything. From barroom ditties about the joys of all girls becoming pretty at 1:30 to songs about nearly dying written during his recent recovery from open heart surgery to love songs that only those of us who could drink for living, if it paid, will really understand. This kid runs the gambit and does it with style. My internet connection at home is, on a scale of one to ten for uploading, classified as SUCK so the videos I have of him belting out his tunes will have to wait until I can get them uploaded but suffice it to say this kid is the real deal. I will be reviewing his latest release very soon but I will give you a little preview here…

In closing this show, in a honky tonk only Texas could create, was a just what this cowboy needed to get through a couple of week of hell at work. I can’t thank these boys enough for inviting me out and, shockingly, putting me on their tab. These guys love their fans as much as they love playing their music and in the country music scene that’s something you don’t see that much anymore. I did talk Jeremy into recording a 9B exclusive after the show. Mike was going to but time ran short and the venue was playing their canned music pretty loud so we agreed I’d get an exclusive from him next time he was in town. I hope you enjoy!



Jeremy Steding’s official site (Both his album are available for free here)
Mike Kelly’s official site

The Yeasayer show was the first of many for me in the month of Rocktober, and the first show I’d been to at the State Theater since I saw the Breeders open for Green Day, which was a long ass time ago. As anyone who read my Yeasayer post a couple weeks ago knows, I’ve been pretty damned excited about this show for a long time and it was finally here, their first ever show in Florida.

The first band up was Washed Out, which is technically not so much a band as it is a guy named Ernest Greene accompanied by touring musicians. I’m not really big on chillwave, but it was enjoyable, if not a bit sleepy. I basically drank my way through the first act, watching from the balcony as the crowd below gently swayed. After Washed Out finished their set, we were treated to some tunes by a duo of local DJ’s, The Soft Rock Renegades, and then it was time for the main act.

When Yeasayer took to the stage, the mostly laid back crowd was so excited they stepped up their swaying from level 3 to level 5. They started out slow, but three songs into their set they played “Rome”, one of my favorite tracks from the newest release, Odd Blood, and everyone seemed to come out of their trances. Chris Keating sang it like he meant it, almost yelling into the microphone, as if he was really trying to convince us of what he was saying, and we crowd chanted along with him. Anand Wilder had his own standout performance with an achingly slow and perfectly sung rendition of “Grizelda”, a song about Colombian drug lord Grizelda Blanco. Also, I had mentioned in my review of Odd Blood that I thought “Mondegreen” would be amazing, and it really, really was.

For the encore, the band played two songs. First was a version of “The Children” that was even creepier than the album version, which is saying something. The last song was “2080”, from their first release, All Hour Cymbals, and the whole place went nutso for it. Not only was it a brilliant show, but I was very impressed with the State Theater and I don’t know why it took me so long to come back. The staff was friendly and accommodating and the drinks were cold and strong. I definitely see myself coming back for another show. You can check out some pictures from the show here and read my review of Odd Blood here.

I wasn’t going to cover this show because Two Cow Garage is playing tonight in Florida and I know AIV will be writing up his own review but after seeing them for my first time I realized that there can’t be too many reviews on any given site so this is my take. Let me start by simply saying OH MY GOD! These boys can rock! Without any competition at all this show came in second to only to Slobberbone for the best show I have seen in years. Loud, fast, and frankly fucking punk rock is the easiest way to describe what I witnessed on Friday night.

I got there early and got to meet Micah and Shane (finally) and hang out for a couple of hours prior to them taking the stage. Their piano player had to fly home the night before due to the death of a friend but that didn’t detract from the energy of the evening. I would say I got to meet Cody for the first time but it turns out I met him almost five years ago in Tempe, AZ at the Cory Branan, Koufax, Limbeck and The Honorary Title. I was hanging with Cory after his set and taking pictures of some weird Limbeck fan chick who had curled up in an empty merchandise box and Cody, who was with Koufax at the time, was sitting right there bullshitting with us. Some nights it seems the scene doesn’t get larger it just gets more crowded. So we hung out and talked about life, family, drinking, and so much more. We drank, drank and drank some more. And yes I went on and on like a fan boy and I am not ashamed! Shane confirmed there is some work on a solo effort from him but nothing like a release date or even a label just yet and while it’s not on the radar yet I am pretty stoked that it’s coming eventually. I also talked to the boys about a little idea I had to help promote the new album here on 9B and they approved so keep watching I hope to be able to post more on that next week. Did I mention we drank a little bit? There was whiskey to be had and we had it…

Then Two Cow Garage took the stage and the world came apart at the seams. Micah and Shane are nothing less that rock stars extraordinaire and Cody had a shit eating grin on his face the entire set. From the opening riff to the closing refrain they never stopped. It was song into song into song into song without even a break to catch a breath. Flinging sweat on to the audience from their antics on stage and screaming out every song I am completely amazed that either Micah or Shane could even talk after the show. I was exhausted from screaming along and dancing and they do it every night! They even broke out some older tracks like 135 at the audience’s request which I should mention had to be screamed over the strumming between songs because like I already said they never stopped playing or moving!

This is one of the first shows I have ever walked away from with regrets. I don’t regret leaving the still frame camera and video camera at home and just enjoying the show. I don’t regret screaming along so loud I could barely talk for two days. I don’t regret hanging out until after three in the morning. I don’t regret my ears ringing well in to Sunday. I do regret leaving SXSW early and missing them last year! I couldn’t have seen them locally because I only found out about them four years ago and they haven’t played here in five years. But I can sorely regret not having seen them when I had the chance. If you ever have the chance to catch them live and you don’t then you really must not have a clue. Their albums are amazing but their live show takes their music to another level. Get off your ass and see them. They are good enough that the next time they come through Texas I may well take a couple of days off work and do the Dallas, Austin, Houston circuit just to see them that many more times.

I just want to wrap this up by saying, again, OH MY FUCKING GOD!

Two Cow Garage’s official site
Two Cow Garage on Suburban Home Records
Two Cow Garage on Wikipedia

AUTOPSY IV SAYS: I tend not to review shows that I put on so there will be little more than “ditto above” said about the Tampa show unless someone who was there wants to review is. I’ll say, people came, beers were drank and hearing was damaged. Good. Fucking. Times.