Alley Cat Video

Brandon from the Toy Bombs directed this kick ass video!

Pre-Order The Dark Dark

Yesterday Mechanical People announced that you could Pre-Order their debut album "The Dark Dark"! I don't know about you guys, but I immediately clicked the link and made the purchase. The album will be shipped on May 12th, and has 8 tracks on it. If you missed the announcement HURRY UP and click here to get yours! Here is the track listing.

1 Sick and Wired
2 Secrets
3 Magnolia
4 Skyscraper (acoustic)
5 Sinners Dream
6 Dinosaur
7 Monster
8 Alleycats

Texas...

I'm sitting in Berlin, Germany right now wanting to write my thoughts/reviews on the shows but my buddy is insisting that I get my butt off the pc and join him for a beer ... so, this blog will have to wait.  So VERY sad that the short Texas Invasion is over ... hopefully more is to come.

SBL Austin

This is gonna be a long one bare with me. My SBL experience can be described as epically beautiful. The talent that graced the stage at the Mohawk was beyond words. My only complaint was that I would have preferred more Spencer Bell covers. The few fans that did cover his songs were great and did the music justice.

Blake Mackey blew me away with the amazing finger work on his guitar. His sound is folky and he is new to Austin.

Shawn Fernando ripped the stage as usual with his piano skills and smooth voice. He gave you a great mixture of upbeat songs, sad songs, a rap and even threatend to bust your face in with a baseball bat. If you haven't had the pleasure to see him live next time you are in Austin look him up. He is well worth a trip to the mutha fuckin A-TX!

The Kissing Club never disappoints with the sweet sound of Linden Tree and the upbeat ho down of Water in the Pipes. Jake was joined by friends on stage for most of his set and you could feel the joy pouring from the stage as they performed.

Axis Unity was a last minute addition to the SBL line up they were so freaking rad. The reggae beat gave the crowd a groovy sway. The horns and bongo section was a highlight in my day. I couldn't stay still during their whole set.

The Netherfriends blew me away. Anyone who will play pots and a helium tank as an instrument is fabulous in my book. I had a new cd by the time this set was over with and it had found it's place in with my Legacy Bands playlist before I made the journey to Dallas Sunday morning.

Mechanical People were next and to say they killed it would be an understatement. The harmonies these guys bring together just amaze me. The crowd gave just as much energy to them as they poured it into their art. Jake wailed on the guitar so hard I thought he was going to fall over. My favorite song of theirs that night was "Alleycats" the harmonies during the chorus were just sick. I could probably continue to go on and on about this band but I will cut this short.

Tin Tin Can I can only say I wish these guys were from my city. I want to see them all the time. Their songs just make me wanna move. They bring such a unique sound and energy to every show I have seen them play. A great surprise for the evening was their cover of Spencer's "Tourist". The crowd was a mass of swaying bodies singing along. I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little misty eyed at this point.

The show stopper and last but sure as fuck not least The Stevedores. They started out strong as we all expected with the regular members but as a huge surprise to everyone after a couple of songs Graupner joined Ben, Shawn, Jake and Adam on stage. Thunderdome was the last song of the night every musician was on stage playing, and I was rendered speechless. You could feel every soul and ounce of energy being poured into the lyrics, chords and beats coming from that stage. The music flowed through the crowd and made us all one family. Tears flowed, and cheers sounded as we all tipped our glasses, beers or shots to gratitude.

My words really aren't enough to describe the music that was heard and the emotion that surrounded this day. If you were there you understand if not watch the videos that some graciously provided. I didn't even bring a camera into the venue. Luckily, my friends did and I can live with their pictures. Until next time Beer, Love, and Robots... Jenn

Austin, TX Headhunters 3/22/11

I was trying to come up with words last night and I sat in front of a blank screen for about 30 minutes before I said fuck it. Eventually words will come to me but right now I am just going to bask in the epicness that was my cherry popper of a Mechanical People show. Until then I will copy Shawn and post this picture to commemorate my epic fall! Until next time folks... Jenn

Austin - Headhunters

I wanted to write a full review, but it's hard to put all the awesomness in to words.  So, I'll just post a picture that pretty much sums up the mood of the evening!  Enjoy!

Ben G says 'thank you'