Shay’s Blog

Alicia and I went to go see Jello Biafra at The Granada on Wednesday.  For those who have not heard of him, he is a spoken word artist and the lead singer of The Dead Kennedy’s.  He is a member of The Green Party and very against both the republicans and democrats.  He started very funny and very thought provoking.  He challenges US both foreign and domestic policy.  I enjoy listening to thought provoking topics even if I do not completely buy into the opinion.  He generated some very interesting opinions on the Military Commission Act and the United States actions before and after Iraqi invasion. (more…)

Gaelic Storm is a very good band. This was my second time seeing them. I saw them for the first time last December. They were scheduled to play at Gypsy Tea Room in the ballroom, but when we got there was a sign saying that they were playing in the tearoom which is on the other side of the block from the ballroom. I was confused about the actual start time. The tickets listed the doors opening at 9. (more…)

Alicia and I went to see Covenant in San Antonio at The White Rabbit on St Mary’s street.  This was my first time to see Covenant and to go The White Rabbit.  The club has been around a long time.  Covenant is an EBM (Electronic Body Music) band out of Sweden.
(more…)

I should prefix this review with some qualifications.  I love Cowboy Mouth’s live shows.  Their albums unfortunately do not capture the energy of their live shows.  The energy level is simply amazing.  I read somewhere that on a bad night Cowboy Mouth will blow the roof off and on a good night they will save your soul.  You can always count on feeling a lot better after the show when you got there.
(more…)

Alicia and I went to go see Second Thought Theater’s production of The Glory Of Living.  The description of the play looked very disturbing which the play definitely delivered on.  The play was split into two distinct parts which directly corresponded with the two acts.  The first act starts out with the two main characters (Lisa and Clint) meeting each other.  Clint with a friend of his comes to Lisa’s Mom’s house.  The purpose of the visit is for Clint’s friends to use Lisa’s Mom’s services as a prostitute.  They are only separated from Lisa and Clint by a sheet strung across the room.  While this act is going on, Clint is wooing Lisa.  She is only 15, and Clint is a bad-boy which excites her.  During Clint’s friend’s encounter, Lisa’s Mom makes a noise that could be construed as either excitement or pain.  Clint immediately asks Lisa if he is hurting her.  She quickly replies that no she is faking excitement.  Is concerned about her, or is he excited about that she might be in pain?  Lisa leaves with Clint. (more…)

Alicia and I went to go see Cary Pierce performing at Bend Studio.  For those who are unfamiliar with Bend, it is a yoga studio in Dallas that also hosts live music.  It is a nice intimate venue.  Just a word of warning, be prepared to lose your shoes upon entrance.  It is a BYOB place which is nice to be able to bring the exact beer you want to drink.  Most places do not carry my favorite, Maredsous 8.  Anyway, the show started about 20 minutes after the listed start time.  The venue is general admission so you have to get there before the show starts.  Cary started off playing some songs and then solicited requests from the audience.  I enjoyed the show.  Cary has got a great voice and plays the guitar very well.  About halfway to two thirds through the show, he brings up Patrick Ryan Clark formerly of Surviving August and Jon Abel.  Patrick starts talking about how he could not deal with being on a major record label, and he reached a saturation point in his career which caused him to cry out mercy.  The trio then started to play this song that mirrored his saying.  At this point, the show seemed to take a religious turn.  A little while later, Patrick sang another song.  I could not help thinking about Demetri Martin song on the Daily Show called “I’ve Got 6000 Friends”.  It was kind of strange association, but it made me laugh a lot during the show.

On Friday Alicia and I went to the premier of Fat Pig at McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC). This is play is written by Neil LaBute who is also a screenwriter & movie director. Check out In The Company of Men and Your Friends And Neighbors for some very good movies he has done. The play is set around an office in a large metropolitan city in the US. There are four main characters actually there are only four characters in the play. The plot revolves around four characters. Three of them work for the same company. The main character (Tom) is a former techie now some sort of manager since he has his own office which is the setting for some of the play’s more interesting scenes. (more…)

Alicia and I went to see Muse last night. It was the second show in three days at Nextstage for us. We went to see Massive Attack on Sunday night. Here’s my review on that show. As I have said before I like the venue, but hate the parking fees (12 bucks) and very high drink prices. Anyway back to the subject at the hand. The Muse crowd was younger than I thought it was going to be. There were a lot of older high schoolers and college-age kids. I have one of their albums, Absolution. Muse has a total of five albums. (more…)