Upcoming Shows

10/01 - The Belleville Outfit @ The Continental Club
10/02 - Craig Kinsey @ The Big Top
10/03 - James McMurtry/Dustin Welch @ Continental Club
10/03 - Ryan Bingham @ Warehouse Live
10/03 - Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers @ Blanco's
10/03 - Carolyn Wonderland @ McGonigel's Mucky Duck
10/04 - John Gorka @ the Mucky Duck
10/04 - The Gougers @ Dosey Doe Coffee House
10/04 - Opie Hendrix @ Last Concert Cafe
10/04 - Ziegenbock Music Festival @ Sam Houston Race Park
10/05 - Wine & Alchemy @ the Mucky Duck
10/07 - Fred Eaglesmith @ the Mucky Duck
10/09 - Bob Schneider @ the Mucky Duck
10/10 - Hayes Carll @ Conroe Catfish Festival (full lineup here)
10/10 - Jubal Lee Young @ Cactus Music
10/10 - Fred Eaglesmith @ Dosey Doe
10/10 - Sideshow Tramps @ Continental Club
10/10 - Laurie Anderson @ Cullen Theater
10/11 - John Evans @ the Mucky Duck
10/11 - Westheimer Block Party
10/11 - John Hammond, Jr. @ Anderson Fair
10/14 - Ryan Adams & the Cardinals @ Verizon Theater
10/16 - Charlie Louvin @ the Mucky Duck
10/17 - Greg Trooper @ the Mucky Duck
10/17 - Abi Tapia/Betty Soo @ Anderson Fair
10/17 - Rev. Horton Heat/Asleep at the Wheel @ House of Blues
10/17 - Cory Morrow @ Big Texas (Spring)
10/17 - Dana Cooper @ Main Street Crossing (Tomball)
10/18 - Two High String Band @ Anderson Fair
10/19 - Hamilton Loomis @ the Mucky Duck
10/20 - The Tontons @ Boondock's
10/23 - Ray LaMontagne @ Verizon Theater
10/23 - Butthole Surfers @ Meridian
10/24 - Ben Folds @ Warehouse Live
10/24 - Jesse Dayton/Brennen Leigh @ the Mucky Duck
10/24 - The Hudsons @ Anderson Fair
10/25 - Guy Forsyth @ the Mucky Duck
10/25 - Sean Reefer @ Continental Club
10/25 - Clay Farmer @ Dosey Doe
10/25 - L.L. Cooper @ Last Concert Cafe
10/28 - Chris Knight @ the Mucky Duck
10/29 - Chris Knight @ the Mucky Duck
10/30 - Los Lonely Boys/Alejandro Escovedo @ House of Blues
10/30 - Max Stalling @ the Mucky Duck
10/31 - Willie Nelson @ House of Blues
10/31 - Houston Marchman @ Anderson Fair
10/31 - Clandestine @ the Mucky Duck

Shows

I haven't been to as many concerts lately thanks to Hurricane Ike and its aftermath. I had tickets to the Nanci Griffith/Guy Clark concert and the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss show...both of which were canceled. I was disappointed that the Plant/Krauss show was canceled...but after seeing the damage to the Woodlands Pavilion I can understand why. The roof was almost completely destroyed.

I also had to miss the Kelly Joe Phelps concert at Anderson Fair as I was busy preparing for the approaching hurricane.

One show I managed to make prior to Ike was Teribus (a pipe and drum band) at the Mucky Duck.

Here's a video from that show:



The other "pre-Ike" show I made was Brennen Leigh and Shotgun Party also at the Mucky Duck. Really fun show with two great bands. Here's a video of Brennen singing "Waitin' Out the Rain" which seems appropriate:


Here is a clip of Shotgun Party doing two of their songs at Sam's in San Antonio:



The first show I was able to see after the hurricane featured a performance by the Duck's own Liz Dannemiller. It was a great show and offered some much needed entertainment as I was still without power at home. Here is a clip of Liz performing at Boheme Cafe:



On Wednesday I was able to see the Drive-By Truckers in concert at the Meridian. I was also able to see singer Patterson Hood and drummer Brad Morgan play an in-store performance at Cactus Music. The show at the Meridian was one of the hardest rockin' shows I have ever heard. It took hours for my hearing to fully recover...as I was standing in the first row right next to the speakers. An enthusiastic review of the concert from the Houston Press can be found here (in which the back of my head appears in one of the accompanying photos). Here's a clip of the Truckers ripping through "Look Out Mountain" which gives a good idea of their powerful sound:


Finally, I saw Spiritualized last night at the Meridian. Another great show! Really interesting band with a unique sound and meaningful lyrics. Here is a video of them performing "Shine a Light":

ACL Blues

For those of us who can't make it to the Austin City Limits Music Festival...all is not lost.

The AT&T Blue Room will be featuring live broadcasts via the internet.

You can check out their broadcast schedule here.

You can also hear audio broadcasts from XM Radio. That schedule can be seen here.

I know I'll be tuning in.

Having just seen the Drive-By Truckers' amazing Houston show last night, I would recommend checking out the broadcast of their show at 3:30pm ET on Saturday the 27th.

Ike

Photo Source

I'm just now getting back online after Hurricane Ike. It's been a hectic and stressful past week and a half.

When the storm first formed I had a bad feeling that it was going to be trouble. With a name like "Ike" you just knew it was going to be a problem. On September 10th I woke up with a certainty that it was going to hit the Galveston/Houston area. On September 11th my family and I evacuated to Tyler, Texas.

This evacuation went far smoother than the debacle that was the evacuation for Hurricane Rita. We only encountered a few pockets of heavy traffic on our way out of Houston and then again between Lufkin and Tyler. The one big problem we encountered was on Highway 69 just outside of Lufkin when we met up with all of the traffic evacuating from the Beaumont area. It was then, during the heavy traffic, that our truck's fan belt and water pump started to go out. I was getting more than a little bit concerned, since it was night, and we were in a "dead zone" area where none of our cell phones worked. Fortunately, the truck was able to hold up until we made it into Tyler.

We stayed with relatives in Tyler for four days. My profound gratitude and thanks to John and Judy Idrogo for graciously putting us up...and for putting up with our dog Sam. They also knew a good mechanic who was able to fix our truck. Even 250 miles inland in Tyler we experienced high winds and some heavy rain.

On September 14th we drove back into Houston. Along the way power was out pretty much from just outside Tyler all the way back home. There were only a few gas stations open and there were already long lines forming. Most of the traffic signals were also out from Lufkin all the way to Houston.

Our house escaped any serious damage but we do have a fence down in the backyard. There was also a lot of fallen trees and limbs in our neighborhood. Our front yard had a fair amount of branches and other storm debris scattered about when we returned. We were also without electricity until two days ago.

On September 15th I ventured into downtown Houston since my office was open and at least had air conditioning and power. Downtown was still a real mess. None of the traffic signals worked and several streets were closed to traffic. The area around the Chase Tower was very heavily damaged. The pictures of the damage to the building don't do it justice. I walked by to get a better look and had to cross streets filled with shards of broken glass. For about the first 30 floors, every window on one side of the building had been blown out. At the main entrance the revolving doors had been twisted beyond recognition and were frozen shut. I've never seen that level of destruction in person before. Most of the rest of downtown was empty and there were only a handful of restaurants that were open.

Things slowly but surely began to return to normal throughout the rest of the week. Gas remained in short supply and there were long lines at gas stations for the first few days. By midweek more gas stations, restaurants and stores began to open. Things are mostly back to normal now, though many people are still without power and a curfew is still in effect.

Galveston Island was very heavily damaged from the storm surge. Even though the hurricane was only a category 2, when it made landfall it produced a category 4 storm surge. Both Orthodox parishes in Galveston sustained significant damage. Fr. Serge Veselinovich of Sts. Constantine and Helen Serbian Orthodox Church has set up a blog for the Galveston Orthodox community with updates and pictures of the damage.

Galveston also lost one of its most famous landmarks the Balinese Room. The famous nightclub was located on a pier that was completely destroyed. The Balinese Room was once a well known hot spot that hosted Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, George Burns and other famous performers. The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe was also heavily damaged but is already planning to reopen as soon as possible. Houston also lost Brennan's one of its best restaurants and a midtown landmark.

I was also disappointed that a number of concerts I had planned to attend were canceled including: Nanci Griffith with Guy Clark and the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss show.

Prayers are requested for all those still dealing with the aftermath and destruction caused by Hurricane Ike. One of my cousins sustained very severe damage to his home in Bridge City and he and his family will have to rebuild once again. His home was also damaged during Hurricane Rita. Many others in Southeast Texas face the same situation.

Donations for Hurricane Ike relief efforts can be made to the Red Cross and the International Orthodox Christian Charities.