[Chicago, IL] when I hear this band, I hear hugeness, stages, and screaming in my head, and I genuinely thought this band was HUGE – Double Vision is one of my favorite songs of the last few years and they sound HUGE and everytime one of their songs come on I think “I like this band so much,” but the crowd was modest and they were just average joes – apparently, this is achieved through the use of voice echoing, distorted guitars, walls of sound, and good musicianship – it’s a little contrived but it’s pretty effective – in person, they’re difficult for me to describe – although I had them classified in my head as garage punk, in person, they made me think of hard shoegaze and indie rock – I don’t know! they were cute and that song inspires me everytime and their sound pleases me immensely even if it’s kind of cheating – I particularly like the guy’s voice and their psychy-pop ethic – plus a female guitarist, always good, and she was appropriately detached and cool without being a hipster at all

[Seattle, WA] so most of the bands tonight ended up being former members of the audience, easily identifiable since the audience started out pretty sparse – this band ended up being the guy next to me who had the shirt I was crushing on (“No Trends”) and the guy in the “NoTV” shirt – as you might expect, people who don’t believe in trends aren’t necessarily a lot of fun – the music was a distinct departure from everything else, no feedback and no distortion, just clanging slapping-your-face guitar, bass and drums – they intentionally chose notes that didn’t quite fit together and weren’t exactly rhythmic or melodic – more of a marching discordant sound – NoTV was the mid-40s bald-headed singer, and he sang spoken voice a la Henry Rollins – NoTrends was the bassist, proficient, but the theological ringleader from my perspective at least – the band was a cross between Primus and Cake but that\”s making them sound better than they were – they were abrasive and unpleasant – so I was all prepared to give this band one of the worst reviews (at least for a group of good musicians) that I have in a long time, until they suddenly changed face and started playing faster and harder and were fantastic – so I conclude that they’re your average intently nihilistic hardcore band, who having aged, can’t turn to country or to writing ballads, so turn to slowed down hardcore that sounds like crap

[Nashville, TN] a skinny boy flouncing around in the audience kept catching my eye because he was wearing ridiculously short retro (80s) basketball shorts with the upcut thigh and an old-school sports tank top – by the time he made it on stage there was a foxtail attached to his shorts – silly boy – so they started their set with silly boy on the ground playing guitar and enthusiastic Bruce-Springsteen-drummer on stage (thrashed his head in time with the drumming throughout the WHOLE of their set) – of course, the crowd was moved by this novel approach but their sound kept the crowd in their grip – it was kind of incredible – so intense and full, it seemed impossible that two people were making it – they were channeling the spirit of Tia Carrera (local psych metal band) but were far more upright and composed – they were, in essence, a garage jam band, but the one you wish you\”d been – there was a lot of Black Sabbath riffing but, in the end, I\”d classify them as a dark Cheap Trick – I predict that punk-power-pop is the wave of the future

[Austin, TX] two skinny guys on guitars and a girl on drums – I enjoyed them but don\”t have a lot to say about them – I guess they were garage punk but with shoegaze or noise rock overtones – music was minorly intense but felt simple – the bassist did go into nice groovy finger-intensive leads – what defines them to me is the intensity of their lead singer (on guitar) – he spent 10 minutes telling the sound man to turn up the monitors on the vocals and then harped on it in between songs too – amusingly, intense guy kept turning to the drummer girl to start songs with a 4-3-2-1 whatever and she (supposedly suffering from strep throat) messed it up like three times

[Nashville, TN] I liked this band, partly because I am a sucker for female bands (there was one guy (on bass?)) – so I kept thinking that they were a mix between riot girrrl music (Babes in Toyland) and retro-garage stuff like the Donnas but finally came to the conclusion that they were basically a total ripoff of The Runaways – the girls, very young, were in high-waisted shorts and ugly 80s ankle-boots – take note, little hipsters

[Louisiana - he might not live there now but he is forever Louisiana] Oh Jerry – he was the point of this whole weekend (for some of us) – sure I know his hits, but he was never momentous to me – I appreciate his music though and I appreciate his style, especially after weeks of tutelage in his finer moments – so I\”m all amped up to see this wild-haired, piano-bench-thrusting guy who made 50s kids writhe like they were possessed, and I\”m even prepared for the fact that he has aged since those days, but I wasn\”t quite prepared to see a hunch-backed old man helped out onto the stage to sit on his piano bench, where he sat stiffly for the remainder of the show – a lesson in mortality, my friends: age will seriously tame even the wildest of us – where\”s his 13-year-old cousin now? – anyway, he actually put on a great show – he can still sing and he can still play – the piano honestly sounded a little muddy to me at times, but I\”m not sure I\”ve ever seen piano, boogie piano at least, live and maybe that\”s just the way it sounds – by the late-middle of the show, he was cracking jokes with the audience and telling some rowdy little jokes and it\”s clear he\”s a man who has enjoyed his time in a serious way – despite that, he has been described as worrying more than other sinners over his post-death fate, what with his fundamentalist religious beginnings (and continuings possibly) which is a pretty fascinating way to have endured through life

[?] I am a fat sucker for this band despite their silly rockstar posturing – they act like pretentious partiers and play like rockers and it works – it’s the over-the-top tongue-in-cheekness of it that makes it hilarious and then suddenly I’m kind of believing it – even falling for the sexy LA sunglasses at night – plus, like other long-playing bands, they’re just so fast and professional and…tight (I don’t know another word for it) – they totally reminded me of The Hellacopters (I forgot they did last time too) which is such a good good thing – if you’re going to rock, then don’t mess around = garage punk

[Texas] this band was all defamed before the show as a pop-country nightmare but they weren\”t all that bad – upright quick-paced snare drum country with loads of Latin influence, particularly mariachi brass – none of us really liked him even so – and he won a Grammy too

[Corpus Christi, TX] pretty standard hyped up rockabilly – sure it\”s quality but I\”ve heard it before and there are new things under the sun after 60 years [I think this review is more a result of my disregard than their musical quality b/c they sound a lot more interesting on myspace tonight than they did that night: psychedelic distortion!]

[El Segundo, CA] pretty standard hyped up rockabilly – sure it\”s quality but I\”ve heard it before and there are new things under the sun after 60 years

[Austin, TX] so all the young people and the hip people cleared out before this show, leaving the middle-aged and old people and the genuinely cowboy hatted people, and the mildly embarrassed remains of some young or at least younger people – this band is mildly legendary in Austin but pretty much just among the adult contemporary set – I found out at the show that they’d won a Grammy and was prepared to still not be impressed but they were just so polished and pretty, I couldn’t help it – it was kind of country swing but very sophisticated with hints of old-timey jazz – besides being all shiny, the music was complicated with little surprises at every turn and lots of heart – not to mention that I found myself wildly attracted to the lead guy, a mammoth long-legged old mountain-porch of a man – maybe I was being delusional but I recognized both his name (Ray Benson) and him…past lives

[California now] surprisingly probably my favorite show – former bassist of The Stray Cats – he conveniently played some of their stuff and then did a sort of homage to Sun Records\” musicians – while same-old same-old rockabilly bands get tiresome tiresome, hearing his very apt renditions of Stray Cats\” songs reminded me how un-same of a band they were – cool darkness, style, distinctive pacing with the bass lines – they were a great band and he translated that to us all by himself (with a backing band) – and then he reminded me, something I only learned upon moving to Texas, of the pivotal-ness of Sun Records\” musicians, a good lesson for any young person

[LA, CA] I came into this show all prejudiced because Rockboy (a HUGE fan) links this band back to the 80s LA cowpunk scene and I hear their songs and get disappointed because to me the only thing punk about them is that they hung out with X and Gun Club – you know how people sometimes get confused when they love too much… anyway, their music was as expected, an slightly edgier rockabilly-tinged bluesy country rock with a slightly nutsy lead singer (less famous Alvin brother) – BUT they were just fantastic: guys who have played for so long and so often that they’re astounding simply because they are the definition of tightness – while Alvin was the supposed main attraction in his long red coat, I stared at the bassist and lead guitarist who strummed hard in perfect synchronicity with legs spread, no show, just business – they also had Nick Curran, a local growl-voiced blues singer recovering from tongue cancer, playing with them – he sang one song, his first since treatment, and it was inspiring and heartbreaking all in one

[Austin, TX] retro music bores me more quickly than some of my associates but Wayne was kind of gripping – his voice was so quintessentially twangy and old-timey country, even though he’s not, plus he had an assortment of minor face ticks that kept you watching – very good “juke joint swing,” as he terms it, with lots of Hank Williams in there – will remain forever baffled by the Hawaiian-sounding lap steel accents of country swing music

[San Antonio, TX] we didn’t get to this band ’til about their last song because of the multitude of logistical problems at this way too expensive little festival – regardless, all of the music was of high caliber – these guys seemed to be pretty standard country rock with some retro overtones – I did appreciate the lead singer’s rock leg kicks and flexibility