Elephantgun

I saw Elephantgun at the unfortunate Treasure Coast Music Festival in Vero Beach, Florida, but they are a Melbourne, Florida ensemble.  Don't get me wrong.  Seeing Elephantgun was very fortunate.  Hearing them even more so.  They were playing on the North stage where people passed by from the entrance, pavilion or venders and while few stayed I think mostly for fear of impending weather or wishing to be elsewhere, it was amazing to see everyone stop and stare and listen.  These guys are truly fantastic!  While the flamboyant playing of bassist David Pastorius is often the attention grabber (follow the link to hear, but he really is a marvel to watch), Tom Van Dyke is no slouch on the drums nor does guitarist/vocalist Trevor Prince fail to enthrall.  Trevor is a powerful and intricate guitarist which is a striking contrast to his irreverent humor and casual presence as the groups frontman.  His vocal style is a gravelly alternative texture with a quick, concise hip-hop/rap style.  Don't be misled, though, this is definitely a solid rock trio.  They are contemporary but tip their hats in homage to some classic covers like CCR and Fleetwood Mac also.  The style is not similar I think, but I could not help but compare three such phenomenal musicians with Emerson, Lake and Palmer.  Just my age, I suppose, but to say I was impressed was an understatement.  I highly recommend, seeing, hearing and know this band as well as you are able.

A Prairie Home Companion

Friday night.  A Prairie Home Companion and AT40.  I've been listening to the former off and on since'78, not quite the beginning.  It's changed a lot since then.  Haven't we all?  I don't even remember how I came to listen.  I lived in a city in New England and the folk music and old fashioned format was quite different from the rock I heard on the radio and even my tiny record collection.  I wanted to escape the disco music all around me too.  I was even younger when I listened to American Top 40 with Casey Kaycem back then.  WRKO-AM with Dale Dorman.  Haha, those were the days when I recorded songs from the speaker on my transistor radio to the built-in mic on my portable cassette deck.  I'd know when to start it because if I heard a song I liked, I'd just look at the clock.  They'd play it again at the exact same time the next day.  Each day wasn't exactly like the next, not like it was all taped.  But they followed a pretty strict playlist and it seemed to work just about anytime I tried it.  Now I listen to archives on the computer (run through my stereo-not a 5-1 home theater.  Maybe next time I buy)  I finally had to get rid of my NIKKO PRO amp and preamp I had bought in the early eighties.  They were demo units.  I played the shit out of them before I bought them from Tech Hi-Fi (Remember them?).  I told the salesman, "I want something to last.  I want something I can take a hammer to."  He said, "Try this."  I was still happy twenty years after they had spent a night playing while underwater (basement apartment in my parents' house).  Anyway, I'm still here.  PHC and AT40 have changed, but their still here too.

Invasion of the Tree Frogs

I got to hear my Tree Frogs today!  No.  No croaking nor distasteful discharge involved.  The Tree Frogs are a duet, "resident baby-boomers" they call themselves, playing 1960's and 70's memories for the afternoon tourists at Captain Hiram's Sandbar here in Sebastian, Florida.  They say they have been doing so for five years now.  THAT'S a long set!  Their time together is very evident.  Their harmonies are very tight and lush perhaps most noticeable on some Everly Brothers and Beatles' tunes.  The fact that they did well-executed covers of "Love Me Do" and "And I Love Her"  made me suspect but when they did "Something" and announced it as a Harrison song that seemed to confirm that they are Beatles' fans (Hey!  Frank Sinatra didn't realize that when he covered it.)  Jonathan Edwards' "Sunshine" seems a current favorite of theirs and I'm certainly in favor of that, but my high point this afternoon was a creative cover of Tommy James' "Crimson and Clover".  This was a very pleasant afternoon.

Mojo Medicine Band at Riverview Park in Sebastian, Florida, April 15, 2011

Well, I wasn't very certain I would be attending because of the rain we had in the afternoon, the threatening look of the sky and my lack of enthusiasm for this band based on samples and information garnered from their (?) MySpace page.  I put the question mark there because I had to go back and check right now.  Yup.  That's them...and the description is accurate "blues/jam band/rock", though I found the link to their website ineffectual except that I learned of a Mojo Medisin Band from Philly.  That is a three piece and I saw a five piece.  Besides the pictures match the former band.  Anyway the band on MySpace didn't sound bad, but not especially energetic and a bit modern country oriented, a genre for which I am unenthusiastic.  I wasn't especially keen to see them.  The band I'm glad I risked the weather for was a pleasant surprise.  This venue is a free, early (5:30-8pm) outdoor, mainly retiree crowd cut at least, in half by the threat of foul weather, so the band's enthusiasm (especially the vocalist/front man) was very impressive.  The music was classic rock, which is more to my taste.  Well-known yet obscure covers seemed a forté.  By that I mean well-known songs which I did not expect to see live, such as the Beatles' "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?", The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" and the rousing finale,  Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love".  The lead vocalist was amazing.  The bass player and drummer may not have been adventurous, but MAN were they solid and proficient and air-tight.  I would have like more on the keys but he played well and was paying close attention to sheet music so I suspect there was a story there.  The guitarist was not at the top of his game, but is still very good, enthusiastic, powerful and fast.  I thought it was a great show especially for such a laid-back venue on a dreary, off season afternoon, so I just have to recommend these folks.