I Heard That You've Been Laying My Old Lady

Yup. It's Rusty Wier, and that was the first song he played. More or less. Not that I'd ever heard of Rusty Wier before tonight, but he's going on the sidebar. Seriously, folks, this is what live music is all about.

As I said, I'd never heard of Rusty Wier, but I was looking to see what bands were playing tonight, and when I checked Antone's website, I saw his name,and it said: "Texas Music Legend, Storyteller and Songwriter to perform live! Tickets available at the door. 18+ welcome." Him being a Texas music legend and all, I had to go. And I'm glad I did.

As far as I can tell, his only song that's made any money is "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance," although it seems that he might have made his money on covers by Bonnie Raitt and others. But nevermind. He did it very well himself. With his band.

Anyway, he played a lot of songs that I'd never heard before, and I enjoyed every minute of it, even though I was there all by myself. A sort of Texas Country, Bluesy, Folksy, Funky, Southern Rocky melange; sometimes more of this, sometimes more of that. Whatever it was, it worked. The man knows how to work an audience.

The only songs he played that I recognized were the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" and Marshall Tuckers' "Can't You See." "That Lovin' Feelin'" he played straight. Sort of. He said it was the last song played at his high school prom (which was a story all its own), and although he played it straight, there were certain gestures that made the whole thing hilarious. At least to those who were watching. A substantial portion of the crowd was dancing.

After that, he played a few more songs that I'd never heard and ended with "Can't You See." It seems that back in the day, Mr. Wier used to open for the Marshall Tucker Band, and they'd let him play with the band when they closed with "Can't You See." And he played it very well indeed. With a bit of Allman Brothers thrown in the middle. All in all, an excellent show. I'll be sure to see him next time he's in town.

But the thing about Antone's is that the bands typically finish by about 12:30, which is hardly time to go home. So I swung by The Vortex to see who was playing there. They typically have a late crowd, but not tonight. The sign said "Closed for Art Studio Benefit." So I went to the Art Studio. Now, I was aware that the Art Studio had "band night" now and then, but I was under the impression that the bands they had generally sort of sucked. I don't know where I got that impression, never having been to band night before, but it certainly wasn't the case when I actually showed up. The band was Buffalo Blonde, and they didn't suck at all. Not even a little. In fact, during the short time I saw them, they were quite good. They'll be at The Vortex August 13. Check 'em out.

It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled....

What do you do if you're a lawyer who's made more money than you could ever spend but you find something's missing in life? Grab that old quitar that's been gathering dust in the corner and form a band, of course. And become a concert promoter so you can do stuff like open for ZZ Top. The band is Image 6, and they're not bad. Sort of a Seattle grunge sound. And they played at Antone's this evening. They played mostly originals, but their rendition of A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran" was the real standout. Much better than the hairdresser version.

And then there's Led Zepland. A Led Zeppelin tribute band, if you hadn't guessed. As you may recall from my RockFest review, I'm not really a big Led Zeppelin fan. I really want to like them, but for some reason I just can't seem to pull it off. And that goes for Led Zepland as well. The band is very good, but their singer wasn't consistently convincing as Robert Plant. And what is Led Zeppelin without Plant's vocals?

Cheesy Monkeys

I saw the Fondue Monks at Antone's the other night.

I should probably leave it at that, but I won't.

And I should probably say that they're a very good band. And I will. They are.

But I was in a strange mood that night, and the main things I noticed about them is that they did The Doors very well and that their singer seemed to have an unusual fascination with his own buttocks.

Now go back and read that again, but in a Forrest Gump voice and you'll get the idea. Or not.