Okay, before I write about Johnathan Rice a quick announcement.

I'm adding word verification for comments on the blog. I remember the good old days before spammers figured out how to create fake Blogger accounts. Now, every day I get at least 5 comments that are nothing more than advertisements for online gaming crap. I've spent several hours now just deleting this dreg and yet every day there's more. The frustration has mounted and I've given up. The spammers seem to be especially drawn to the Magnet show from SXSW 2005, I have no idea why though Im sure it relates to some sort of highly searched term that they are targeting.

ARGH. Can you tell im frustrated? If anyone knows how to get rid of these leaches, please let me know and I'll turn comments back on. In the interim, feel free to drop me notes via email. Are we going to introduce some sort of capital punishment for spammers?

Now that I've gotten that off my shoulders onto something that actually brings joy into my life. Music.

So.. back to SXSW. I still have a bunch of shows from the 2008 SXSW festival that I need to get up. I've been working my way through them, mastering, cutting up, MP3ing, tagging - and through that I'm getting to revisit each one of these shows, and its reminding me how good they were!

Johnathan Rice played a couple of shows at SXSW, he opened up for REM at their show at Stubbs BBQ, then opened the Nylon Guess Lounge party the next day. It was an extremely cool psuedo-venue, with Nylon Guess setting up on the top floor of a downtown apartment complex.

Technically it was above the parking garage, where the resident pool was located. Fantastic views of the downtown Austin sky line, free drinks, free Guess jeans and sunglasses, all sorts of VIPs wandering through and lounging coaches everywhere. If you can't tell we had a great time, and wandered away with hundreds of dollars of free goodies courtesy of the sponsors.

Oh, and Johnathan Rice was awesome. I'd been been a big fan since I got his first EP, Extended Player 24-26 which basic served as a sampler for his first full length, Trouble Is Real. I'd waited patiently to see him live - and got to finally see him open for Ben Gibbard last May. Of course, the SXSW was much more intimate, in fact it was the first time I'd ever seen an artist while lounging on a couch, pool-side. (I love SXSW.)

Johnathan's set consisted of tracks from his second record, Further North - a much more Americana record which is a complete departure from his earlier more acoustic "old soul" singer songwriter styles. Of course, who enjoys bands who put out the same record over and over again? Though initially surprising, Further North grew on me after several listens, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rocking live versions. I just wish the show had been longer!

Photo Credit: Ryan Russell

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Change In The Weather
Further North
The Ballad Of King Coyote
We're All Stuck Out In The Desert

Labels: austin, live mp3s, major, nylon guess, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Quick jaunt back to the beginning of the year.

Sara Bareilles came to Dallas to (ONLY) play an in-store at Good Records, to promote her record, and support independent records stores. Both excellent reasons to play the best record store in town.

It was a fairly entertaining show - completely packed (hadn't seen the likes of that since Kevin Barnes!) with tonnes of kids jammed into the front row swooning over Sara. I'm fairly certain that the week she played this show was the week that she was the number one download on iTunes and all over VH1 and the radio for Love Song. Since I never listen to the radio I didn't actually know that til I got to the show. The good news is that I check out the Good Records website every week for upcoming shows and check out all the artists MySpace pages, so I know when to show up for something great.

Sara played a great little show - just her and an electric piano playing highlights from her record, Little Voice. Fairly soulful stuff intermixed with stories about what inspired each song. I was surprised at the origin of Love Song - who knew that demands from her record label could lead to semi-angry confessions that turn into number one singles?

She's on tour with Counting Crows and Maroon 5 for a chunk of their summer tour, then moving onto a headlining tour of Europe.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Bottle It Up
Intro to...
Love Song
Intro to...
Gravity
Fairytale
Outro

Tour Dates:
Thu 07/31/08 Wantagh, NY Nikon At Jones Beach Theater
Fri 08/01/08 Wantagh, NY Nikon At Jones Beach Theater
Sat 08/02/08 Mansfield, MA Comcast Center
Tue 08/05/08 Hershey, PA The Star Pavilion
Thu 08/07/08 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Fri 08/08/08 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel
Sat 08/09/08 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
Tue 08/12/08 Saratoga Springs, NY Performing Arts Center
Wed 08/13/08 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center For The Arts
Fri 08/15/08 Hartford, CT New England Dodge Music Center
Sat 08/16/08 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion At Stone Ridge
Mon 08/18/08 Darien Center, NY Performing Arts Center
Tue 08/19/08 Toronto, ON The Molson Amphitheatre
Thu 08/21/08 Burgettstown, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion
Fri 08/22/08 Tinley Park, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Sat 08/23/08 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
Sat 09/20/08 Cologne, GER Luxor
Mon 09/22/08 Hamburg, GER Mandarin Kasino
Tue 09/23/08 Berlin, GER Frannz
Fri 09/26/08 Paris, FRA La Maroquinerie
Sun 09/28/08 London, UK Scala
Sat 10/11/08 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Mon 11/10/08 Milan, ITA Magazzini Generali
Tue 11/11/08 Munich, GER 59 to 1
Wed 11/12/08 Vienna, AS Birdland
Fri 11/14/08 Zurich, SWI Kaufleuten
Sun 11/16/08 Amsterdam, NET Melkweg
Fri 11/21/08 Manchester, UK Academy 3
Mon 11/24/08 Dublin, IRE Academy

Labels: dallas, good records, live mp3s, major, soundboard mp3s, tour dates

I started this blog a couple of years ago, and one of my early posts was on the "secret" Counting Crows show in 2003 at the Shim Sham club in New Orleans.

I only posted a couple of the tracks from the show - I think I was just daunted at having to link to 50 different tracks (it was a long, long show), and every now and then when I see the original post I think about how I should put up the rest of the show.

Well here it is! Between 1999 and 2003 Adam Duritz and other members of Counting Crows played a secret show at the Shim Sham Club in New Orleans each May - corresponding with one of the two Jazz Fest weekends.

Always amazing concerts, Adam and Co would slowly but surely get very, very drunk over the course of the shows, playing covers, each one with different friends contributing in some way.

Here's the last Counting Crows Shim Sham show. Enjoy.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Club Music
Intro Music
Immys Intro (Its My Birthday)
Dark Globe - Syd Barrett (Placebo)
Night Moves - Bob Seger
Adams Intro (Welcome to the 5th...)
Borderline - Madonna
Catapult - Counting Crows
Band Talk (Its Getting Hot in Here)
Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
Band Talk (Tuning for Goodnight...)
Goodnight Elisabeth False Start - Counting Crows
Goodnight Elisabeth - Counting Crows
New Frontier - Counting Crows
Band Talk (Welcome You Once Again)
Night Flight - Led Zeppelin
Band Talk (Officially Drunk)
Give You Up - David Gibbs
Dave Gibbs Talk (...Fuckin Beautiful)
Ghost - David Gibbs
Band Talk (that Bitch)
Barely Out of Tuesday - Counting Crows
Band Talk (No Video)
Better Things - The Kinks
Band Talk (Concerned About My Friends)
Friend of the Devil - Grateful Dead
Band Talk (End of an Era)
Goodnight L.A - Counting Crows
A Long December - Counting Crows
Band Talk (I Am So Fucked Up)
Here Comes your Man - Pixies (Beastie Boys)
Band Talk (Cocaine Intro)
Cocaine Cannot Kill My Pain - Steve Earle
Band Talk (Musical Interlude)
Pale Blue Eyes - Velvet Underground
These Days - Jackson Browne
Band Talk (Ok. We're Getting There)
Fearless Heart - Steve Earle
Band Talk (Quiet)
Good Time - Counting Crows
Band Talk (Woman. God Damnit)
Crazy for You - Madonna
Amie - Pure Prairie League
Band Talk (Articulating My Words)
Rain King - Counting Crows
Happy Birthdays - Crowd
Oh Susanna - Stephen Foster
Blues Run the Game - Jackson C Frank
Sullivan Street - Counting Crows
Club Music

Whoa.

Labels: concerts, live mp3s, major, new orleans, shim sham club, soundboard mp3s

I seem to be getting sick. Flu-ish sick. Coughs. Pains. Massive headache. General blah blah blah feeling. I'm trying to figure out how I got sick. I think it was Maria Taylor's fault. We went to see her Saturday night in Denton and after talking to her for a few minutes she told me she had the flu. Lovely. Still she put on an amazing set. I think it was probably worth getting sick to see her play.

Anyway - it's been a long and hectic week. Shows pretty much every day for the last 6 - and we've ended up with some spectacular recordings. For those (few) of you who don't read Gorilla Vs Bear - check out this post on Grizzly Bear. It was a team effort at Good Records last week, with yours truly on soundboard audio and various other Dallas bloggers manning the video cameras. Chris will be playing the entire set on his Sirius radio show tomorrow night after which you will be able to download the whole thing here. Stay tuned.

Also managed to tape the Grizzly Bear electric from Club DaDa later that night - along with fun sets from Peter and the Wolf and the Papercuts. Also taped Matt Wertz, Maria Taylor and the Lemurs over the last few days. Probably the highlight of the week was seeing Eric Clapton from 4th row - but sorry kids, he doesn't allow taping.

But back, er on, to the current post. Blue October - Houston's home town rock stars. Had the pleasure of getting to see them play at their latest record release party, in support of Foiled. They played at Soundwaves record store - which is actually a pretty large store - and it was PACKED - must have been at least 300 people there. Even though the guys played an acoustic set, it was still one of the most straight-forward rock sets I've seen in a long time.

If you've never heard tham and like your rock, pretty, then check out 18th Floor Balcony. If you prefer radio-friendly sing alongs go with Hate Me. Enjoy!

Live MP3s:
Intro
Into The Ocean
Hate Me
Schizophrenia
Overweight
18th Floor Balcony
Outro

Labels: concerts, houston, live mp3s, major, soundboard mp3s, soundwaves

As SXSW 2007 gets closer my excitement continues to mount. I've been (slowly) listening to the first batch of 700 or so MP3s that were released via bittorrent (get here) and I've managed to make my way up to Artists beginning with the letter E. Here's the goodness I've discovered so far -

Ana Laan
Ana Egge
Anais Mitchell
Andrew Winton Duo
Art in Manila
Astrid Swan
au revoir simone
beangrowers
bedroom walls
bermuda triangle
bishop allen
black moth
bonde do role
buddy
call me poupee
Carly Binding
Carmen Rodgers & Geno Young
Ceci Bastida
Chris Lee
colour revolt
Creature
Dan Mangan
dana falconberry
Danielia Cotton
David Karsten Daniels
dawn kinnard
Daylights For The Birds
Death Ships
Dionysos
doujah raze
drew smith and his band
Dujeous

Highlights include... everyone above - seriously though check out Au Revoir Simone, Ana Laan, Daylights for the Birds and Dana Falconberry. Im hoping to actually listen to everyone this year - I think last year I made it to the P's or something.

But getting back to Ghosts of SXSW Past - I got to see Toby Lightman for the 2nd time at SXSW 2004.. The name of the venue totally escapes me right now. I had seen her about 5 months before this show opening up for Howie Day in Houston. That show (which you can download here) was a stripped-down acoustic venture, while SXSW saw Toby (and her label) pulling out the full band and fairly-faithfully recreating the sound of her first record, Little Things.

Great show - full of energy, big drums and fat bass lines. Toby was at peak performance - soulful, sultry and sublime. And for you R&B fans, Toby belts out a fantastic acoustic version of Mary Blige's Real Love to wrap up the show.

Live MP3s:
Intro
Intro 2
Time For A Change
Coming Back In
The River
Front Row
Is This Right
Devils And Angels
Real Love

Labels: audience mp3s, austin, concerts, major, soundboard mp3s, sxsw

Occasionally major record companies make decisions that just leave you scratching your head.

Like Warner Bros recently parting ways with the beautiful and amazingly talented Esthero. Hailing from Ontario, Canada both of Esthero's records have been many-layered masterpieces which stitch together styles and genres that range the entire musical spectrum.

Even more amazing is that when her first record - Breath From Another - came out, Esthero was just 17 years old. Both the majesty of her voice, and the depth of her lyrics indicated a much older artist.

So, sith a sigh of frustration (or maybe thats with a glimmer of hope?) I decided that today would be Esthero day - and that together we would toast to the hope that Esthero soon finds another label, puts out another amazing record and (for the love of God) actually tours the US.

I've never actually gotten to see Esthero play live - so today's audio selection comes to you via a promo DVD I found in the CD section of a local Half Price Books. (Have I mentioned my love for the Clearance section at Half Price Books?) I've never seen these tracks before online so this may be the first time they've ever been available on the interweb.

Taken from Esthero's peformance at Bimbo's in San Francisco back in 2005 - you have to check out her amazing rendition of Thelonius Monk's 'Round Midnight.

Oh, and check out her MySpace for some studio tracks.

Live MP3s:
'Round Midnight
Half A World Away

And here's a YouTube clip of the Lonliest Monk himself performing 'Round Midnight


And maybe just one more yummy photo of Esthero - if you'd like more Esthero photos - check here.

Labels: bimbos, concerts, major, san francisco, soundboard mp3s

Quick post tonight! A few weeks back I posted on Matt Wertz and made some comparisons to John Mayer. That post lead me to pull out some of my older Mayer shows and listen to them again. I know I said I'd post the University of Norman show - but that show is over 20 songs and I'd need to 1) find it 2) rip it 3) tag it. I will definitely get around to it, but not tonight (you can blame Prison Break if you like!)

Instead - you get this short but beautiful soundboard in-store performance from Houston's famous (and now closed) Cactus Music & Video store. I saw and taped some of the best acoustic performances I've ever seen at that venue.

To give credit where credit is due - I didn't actually tape this one - one of my buddies in Houston did, but I still feel like its one of "my" shows since I got him permission to tape. ;)

Live MP3s:
Intro
3x5
Why Georgia
Your Body is a Wonderland
No Such Thing

Labels: cactus music/video, concerts, houston, live mp3s, major, soundboard mp3s