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South Regional Report
Edited by Mike Jones - lovetoy2@geocities.com

Hello everyone! Now that spring is getting closer and warm weather should be on the way, more tours and more outside shows should be on the way. It's also getting about time for the summer festivals to start announcing lineups as well. Surely an exciting time in the music world. I just heard that Lenny Kravitz and The Black Crowes are teaming up for some shows around May and June, so watch out for that smokin' tour. Right now, the Crowes are in the middle of their "Souled Out" tour with British band Moke opening up for them and then starting on March 21st (?) Nashville's very own Bare Jr. will be opening the rest of the way. If you haven't seen Bare Jr. yet, definitely check them out, they are a sight to see and play some great music along the way. They have a dulcimer player who takes lead on a lot of their stuff. Anyway, here come the reviews for this month, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did. Peace ya'll....'til next month.....

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March 5th, 1999 The Charlie Mars Band @ Zydecos Birmingham, AL
by Mike Jones (lovetoy2@geocities.com)

Whenever I go see this band play, I feel like I'm on top of the world because at least for a little while I get a little piece of Heaven. I'm always guaranteed a good time by a great bunch of guys that just love to play music. Lately, I've found myself listening to this band more and more, some of my closest friends are probably asking themselves if that's possible but yes it is. I always manage to find myself in their music somehow and it seems that I can always relate something from my life to the music so it just speaks to me that much more.

Lately, the boys have written some new material which I heard briefly at another show about a week before this one. I had one tune in particular stuck in my head. It's called, "I Ain't No Angel". I wish you could all hear this song because I think it's one of their best ever. Also, they guys did some demos at EMI in Nashville a couple of months ago and one the songs from those sessions, called "Can You Hear Me Now" is another one of my favorites. Very powerful song.

Arriving at the show the band had already setup and done soundcheck and were nowhere to be found, so I just hung out with the two coolest people in Birmingham, Kristi and Toni. The opening band, who I couldn't even tell you the name of, scared off some of the crowd, playing Rockabilly music and embarrassing Elvis by doing their rendition of "Suspicious Minds".

Charlie welcomed the crowd back when they took the stage and the place actually filled back up fairly well. They played usual numbers such as "Maybe His Name Was Jay" and "Headlight God" to get the crowd warmed up. During the night, they broke out some covers such as Tom Petty's "American Girl" and a new cover, "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones. They also played a smoking version of "Black Dress" starting off slow and melodic by focusing on the keys playing by Jason Fuller and then moving to the calling of the blues through the guitar of Matt Ulmer. I wish one night Matt would just surprise everyone and break out and wail on some blues music and just jam for a bit. What he plays during shows seems like only a small hint of his true ability.

These guys are destined for bigger and better things and anyone that has seen a live show knows what I'm talking about. They have recently opened up some dates in Virginia for the Pat McGee Band. If things keep going better for them at the rate they have for the past year or so, it won't be much longer before everyone knows about this band! Check out http://www.charliemarsband.com to see when they are going to be playing near you!

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Mardi Gras Report
by Benjamin Hudnall chillywater14@yahoo.com

In case you have been apart of it, every year there is a crazy celebration in New Orleans that everyone calls Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras consists of parades, drunken parties, and of course some of the best live music.

This year New Orleans was saturated with incredible bands during the carnival season. The talent included Leftover Salmon, The Disco Biscuits, and moe., along with all of New Orleans' hot local bands such as Michael Ray & the Cosmic Krewe, Galactic, the Funky Meters, and Los Hombres Calientes.

The biggest dilemma that someone who appreciates live music has during Mardi Gras is deciding which shows to see. On any given night one has to make the decision on what bands to see and which bands to miss out on. Having a sixth sense for the best place to go is a valuable talent during this time of year.

My Mardi Gras started at the Los Hombres Calientes show at the Dream Place on February 6th. The show was unbelievably good. The percussionist Bill Summers, from the legendary Headhunters, always amazes me. If you haven't seen Los Hombres Calientes, you are missing out on one of the most unrecognized, over talented bands around. I got down like my life depended on it.

The next day I saw Leftover Salmon at the House of Blues. This show was a sure bet for a good time. The band soaked up the carnival feeling and rocked the crowd with floor-stomping slam grass. A highlight of the show was a super-funky drums and bass jam. At the end of the show Vince jumped off the stage into the crowd and led half the crowd to the Mississippi River where he started an after party while Apt. Q258 was entertaining the rest of the audience.

The next weekend was officially carnival, and every decent night club in New Orleans was in full swing.

On February 12th, Galactic started the day early by playing Tulane's campus at 4:00. There was a large turnout, and the show captured a good deal of the festive energy that New Orleans is so famous for. The crowd was all smiles and people were enjoying a beautiful day and the beginning of the endurance challenge that we call Mardi Gras weekend.

The next day, Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe did their annual Mardi Gras show at Snug Harbor, which was a surprise to me. Snug Harbor, a calm up scale jazz club, turned into a Mardi Gras madhouse Saturday night. Michael Ray turned the place out, and everyone was raging and absorbing the festive New Orleans energy. The Cosmic Krewe played all of their best songs such as "Saturn," "Earth Right," and "Champions." Later that night my friends and I weren't ready to call it quits, so we drove to the Galactic show uptown, and got to see the end of their stellar show. They had also got a hold on the Mardi Gras funk, and the quality of their music was unparalleled. They played a super funky version of "Quiet Please" and encored with an undescribingly good "Crazyhorse Mongoose" and a slick Houseman song.

After a little bit of rest we ventured out Sunday night to see Iris May Tango, a local hip-hop/funk band at the Dream Palace. It was pretty chill, but an all round fun experience. Monday night (Lundi Gras) was very different. At the stroke of midnight at the Howlin' Wolf in the warehouse district, the funkiest bass player in the south, George Porter Jr., had a show. He brutalized the crowd with some of the best swamp funk to every escape a New Orleans sound board. Everyone knew what was up, and the scene was the definition of Mardi Gras: jovial, grooving, and crazy. After two flawless sets, a broken e string on his bass, and a whole lot of sweat, George encored with "Sing a Happy Song." The crowd definitely wasn't ready to go, so George came out again and funked the audience hard with "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley." It was definitely the highlight of Mardi Gras.

If you haven't been to Mardi Gras, then you are missing out on the best party, and some of the best music this country has to offer. But now it's time to prepare for round 2-- Jazz Fest.

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Day by the River 3/5/99 Willie Mitchell's Legends, Memphis, TN
by Rich Vining <rvining@honors.semo.edu

 

Set I
Exit Now, Garden of Earthly Delights* > Lambic, I Wish**, Jam*** >
Puddin'

Set II
Crystal > Shed, Jam > Bee Jam, Peking, OJ

*w/ Jason on mandolin
**w/ Ted on mouth/air trombone
***starts Walt & Dave only, then Ted joins, then full band... heavily
percussive

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We arrived at Beale Street somewhere near 8pm, it was raining a bit and the street was pretty dead. It didn't take long to get over to Legends, parking was easy to find and close to the venue. After wandering inside, we set up the ol' taping gear and BS'd with everyone for a bit. Finally got to meet Roadie the Soundboy, he's a good guy and was a huge help in accommodating us with a good mix. Lee, if you're reading this, thanks a bunch. The tapes sound killer and the effort is much appreciated. Good to put a face with all these stories of mud, ponds, jousting, and such.

James Dunseth, Walter Pollock, and I hung around the venue and listened to a blues cover band and played UNO waiting for showtime and the expected arrival of another bunch of Rats. Missy, Devon, Lauren, Beth, and Summer showed as expected, and it was great to see some of them again and meet others for the first time.

--- Set I ---
Exit Now, Garden of Earthly Delights* > Lambic, I Wish**, Jam*** > Puddin'

Show started about 11pm I think, Exit Now opened the show with a bang. I really like that song as an opener, it just has that quality that makes you want to get your booty out of your chair and jiggle like mad. Then again, lots of DBR songs do that. Hmm.. well, anyway...

Garden of Earthly Delights > Lambic was absolutely unreal! My first time hearing Garden, and I was floored when the segue into Lambic came. The disco ball was in full effect and those of us up front were dancing up a storm. Great stuff.

I Wish and then the Puddin' were played quite well, the air trombone part was long as hell... as long as I remember ever hearing it. Ted was up there doing his thing for at least a few minutes, I really can't give a good estimate. I was far more interested in the moment that paying any attention at all to a clock. I suppose you all know how that goes. Puddin' was wonderful as usual. The jam before Puddin' was unlike anything I've ever seen of Day by the River before, phenomenal percussion heavy tribal madness laced with gorgeous jazz riffs and some really great communication going on.

It started with just Walt and Dave on stage as the other band members wandered off, and one by one they came back and joined in the fun. This was awesome live, I hope it translates as well to tape. As for Puddin' itself, Pat claims to have flubbed his bass solo but I thought the result was cool in its own right. Mad dissonance, ugly, angry sounds that were really intense from my point of observation. Either way, I dug it and that's what counts. By the way, are we still discussing whether or not Puddin' has sexual connotations? If so, here's my say - yes. Duh.

--- Set II ---
Crystal > Shed, Jam > Bee Jam, Peking, OJ

Crystal was unbelievable. Dave Brockway rocks. Hard. Damn hard. Me like much. I really don't remember a lot about Shed other than it had some alternate lyrics to make fun of the plight of our beloved Roadie the Soundboy. Can't recall the exact line(s), but it was related to Lee's spill from a sturdy log into some sort of muddy bog. Fortunately, he wrestled the gator to death and escaped unharmed. And *that* is why he is the resident soundman extraordinaire. All hail the Roadie from the Black Lagoon!

I honestly remember nothing of Bee Jam. Doh. I think I spent part of it pursuing my natural human need for bladder relief. I came back to it during the tail end, which was smokin'. I can't say enough how great the jam segments and playing were in Memphis. Tapes of this one will be flying around shortly, I plan to make an offer once I get caught up with my current B+P stuff. Oh, what fun that is...

Peking and OJ were cool, to say the least... Peking was extended (or at least I remember it that way) far beyond its structure, and had some OJ teases throughout. The house sound system seemed to be belching a bit every time the OJ teases would come in, it was quite strange. It seemed like every time OJ was going to start the PA would fart and the band would kick back into Peking. Strange circumstances, but cool for Peking I suppose. OJ was very fun! The group of wonderful southern lady Rats who were present showed everybody how to get down to some mad bluegrass. If memory serves, the band initiated a quiet segment in OJ and those of us in the crowd got involved with some clapping, aided by MC Walta B. Damn, great way to end a high-energy show. Both sets ran something like 75 minutes each, and if my elementary math serves me, each set was only 5 "songs." To quote Lance Stack, I say "gawd damn"! If this band is gonna be in your area, go. If they aren't, go anyway. All I can say about the recent level of playing is a big open-mouthed, jaw-dropped "Wow..."

Thanks for reading,
- Rich Bob Vining