MR. FURIOUS RECORDS at HOWIE'S BACK YARD, 16 JULY 05

More of a storytelling than a review, here’s a few snapshots of the sets last night from MFR bands at the BL/ROCK PARTY.

echoes / My set was kicked-up acoustic versions of songs from nickel, the upcoming Be A Ska Rat, and some other projects that aren’t albums yet (“Market Stress”, “We Are 1nes”). Closed with the “My Time” Blacklight Sunshine cover. It feels good to have all fast songs to choose from, and I really like playing sans mics/PA/all that stuff – just voice and guitar, raw.

Shacker / Cory and I did the duo thing on a few songs from The Dimly Lit Room. We didn’t practice, and it didn’t matter; I play Cory’s songs all the time, even just hanging out at home by myself, so we probably sounded like auditory gold dipped in LL Cool J’s private chocolate supply.

12:00 Fence / Like Shacker (short a bassist – Jake in this case), Justin and Jeremy brought the rock. The Fence’s songs range over some broad territory, from melodic hardcore to strummy pop, with some punk edges from time to time.

GILMO / Scott and Allen’s free jazz manages to bring together their considerable technical chops with a non-verbal lyricism that makes their music colorful, beautiful, expressive, and highly entertaining. Their set was my favorite listen of the night, and I don’t think I’m alone in that.

Beach-Puppy / Though I’ve worked a ton with Cory and with BP, I’d never seen him perform before. It was something different, and I loved it. He improvises changes in the lyrics, which is very cool if you know the words from Creepy Eepy (MFR listeners will get a taste of that in a week or two, when an alternate version of “There’s Something To Be Said” is posted to the Furious Instance.

“Sally Ride” / Last night Cory and I announced that we’ve finished editing uncle Charlie’s tapes from his old band, and we played a couple Sally Ride songs. It consistently surprises me that they work acoustic, but somehow they seem to (at least to us… the reaction among the gathered was minimal).

howie&scott / Covered by the Nebraska night and barely backlit in red and blue, we played a couple hits (“Major & Minor”), broke our own hearts (“Stop Walking”), and closed, as promised, with a finale worth the wait; the live acoustic version of “Was I In Bon Jovi For A Second?”

Now I’m drinking leftover Lemon-Lime and thinking about getting back behind the drums for the afternoon. We’ll have to do it again sometime. See you… -h