Island Moon August 12, 2011B 8

tells me that she’s been busy booking bands into both the Gaff and the Wildhorse Saloon for the rest of August and beyond. Look for shows there from Suzi Bravo, Marc Wiles, Sol Tribe, Melissa Ludwig, Tiffany Kay and Better Angels. The more the merrier, I say! Let’s roll…

Rev. Horton HeatReverend Horton Heat (Dallas, TX) and Nashville

&#@!? (Atlanta, GA) played the Executive Surf Club on August 7th. I thought it was high time that I go into Corpus and see a real rock show for a change. So I load-ed up with my pal, Thom, and we dared to cross the creek in search of an honest to goodness, big time, in your face, louder than God rock and roll show…and bud-dy we found one at the Surf Club.

We walked into a sea of sweaty tattoos. I immediate-ly lost Thom but made it towards the front of the stage and squeezed in with a very eclectic collection of peo-ple: diesel dikes,. bikers with bandanas, punks with mo-hawks, chicas in miniskirts, jocks, family units, head-bangers wearing Danzig t-shirts…there were young and

old rockers of every description. It was an interesting ar-ray of folks. I immediately wished I hadn’t forgotten my ear plugs. I’m pretty sure they could hear the band in the next county.

The opening band had two slutty looking (and I say that in the most complimentary of ways) gals on stage play-ing bass and lead guitar. They were whipping their mul-ticolored hair around and striking consummate rock star poses, busting out of every seam. The lead singer was a rough looking fellow who looked like he wasn’t sure what city he was in and it really didn’t matter to him anyway. I only caught the last two songs of their set, but it was loaded with F-bombs and had a seething sexu-al message. I won’t go into detail. When they finished,

By Ronnie Narmour

ronnienarmour@gmail.com

Three Chords and the Truth

Here we are squarely in the mid-dle of the dog days of summer and I can’t breath. The air is too hot. The good news is, so is the live music scene. I caught a bunch of good shows lately. One was at Hooks B-B-Q last Saturday with Dave “Bottlehead” Miller. He had L Leon playing lead guitar (and, of course, Kenny Barnett on hand drums). I have gotten to know L Leon through his artwork and his love for music in the last six months, but had no idea he could play a guitar like that. He’s really good. I really dug the surf guitar stink he put on Miller’s material. Those guys really caught some good chemistry that night. Also, the same night,

I saw the band Mama Tried from Galveston at the Tar-pon Ice House. They had the whole bluegrass big band thing (banjo, mandolin, stand-up bass, Dobro, acoustic guitar and drums) going on and flat ripped the heads off of a bunch of original bluegrass tunes. I was impressed. And, last Sunday I went into Corpus and rocked out at the Executive Surf Club with Reverend Horton Heat and Nashville [Expletive deleted]. That was a wild ride and I’ll tell you all about it shortly.

There are a ton of great acts playing this weekend and it’ll take some juggling to see them all. Tonight (Friday, the 12th) the Sisters Morales (San Antonio, TX) will be at the Back Porch and blues masters, Mike Milligan and the Altar Boyz (Austin, TX) , will play the Tarpon Ice House. This will be the sister’s last show at the Porch, EVER, since Lisa and Roberta Morales are disbanding in September and going solo. Plus, it’s always a given

that Milligan and the boys will put on a killer blues per-formance. I say hit both these shows during the 9 to mid-night prime time and polish off the night with Ray T and the City Crew at the Flats. But save some energy for tomorrow night (Saturday, the 13th) because it’s ma-jor party time with three good bands. First, the rockin’ rhythm and zydeco orchestra, Miss Neesie and Earfood (San Antonio, TX), will take their yearly sabbatical, with entourage in tow, to the Back Porch. Then you have killer reggae with Rafiki Project for the Gaff’s 30th anniver-sary celebration and finally, a real deal cowboy trouba-dour, Larry Martin Sweeney (New Braunsfel. TX) will be playing the Ice House. Decisions, decisions! This is all good stuff.

Next weekend, on Friday the 19th, the pace continues with Ruben V (San Antonio, TX) playing the Porch and Michael O’Connor (Brenham, TX) playing a CD re-lease show at House of Rock in Corpus. I’ll preview the O’Connor show here. And one last thing, a couple of fa-miliar Port A bars will start taking a more active role in the live music scene. Local hip chick, Rae Drady,

hooksbar bq & Grill

722 TARPON(361)749.FOOD

The GaffBeer ● Pizza ● Belt Sander Races (361) 749-5970

Thom showed up and announced that he actually knew the band from years ago and was heading to their bus for a visit. That was the last I saw of him all night.

After a very entertaining equipment change, Rev. Hor-ton Heat came on. I had inched my way to the very front of the stage. It was hairy up there, but somehow I man-aged to fit in. I hadn’t seen these guys in 20 years and used to be a fan. Horton fired up the band with a song called Marijuana and everyone in crowd seemed to know the words. He is originally from Corpus and ap-parently has many passionate fans here. The band ran through a couple of dozen songs in chronological or-der of their recordings (he has 9 CD’s out since 1990). They ran the gamut from their early Dick Dale surf gui-tar sound, through the psychobilly/punk years, then into their signature rockabilly and finally the later country material. On a couple of occasions, Horton got on a vi-vacious rant about how much he hated music writers and music critics, even prompting everyone in the audience to boo and hiss loudly at the despicable scum. I can’t tell you how glad I was not to have a press pass around my neck right about then. It could have gotten ugly.

I made it through about an hour or so of this be-fore wandering over to the courtyard out front to give my ears a break and look for Thom, who even-tually showed up. He had been in a lengthy con-versation with one of the slutty girls about honey, granola and the positive benefits of good nutrition. Go figure. All in all, I got my rock show fix and no-body got hurt in the process…although it was a lit-tle nervy during the anti-music writers tirade.

DO NOT MISS LIST

Michael O’Connor/ 40 lb. DogMichael O’Connor (Brenham, TX) will play the

House of Rock on August 19th. 40 lb. Dog (Corpus Christi, TX) will open the show. O’Connor has ac-

companied some of the best folk/Americana artists on the circuit today (Susan Gibson, Terri Hendrix, Slaid Cleaves, Adam Carroll, Cary Sweeny, etc) on guitar, mandolin, lap steel and harmonica. At the age of 45, the Corpus Christi native will release his third solo CD en-titled, Devil Stole the Moon. The 10 tracks on this CD were produced by Jack Saunders and all but four of the songs were written solely by O’Connor (three by O’Connor and Adam Carroll and one by O’Connor and Cary Sweeny).

In his late teens and all through his twenties, O’Connor honed his chops playing blues, jazz and rock ’n’ roll in the rough-and-tumble shrimper and biker bars of the Gulf Coast before finding his way into the singer-songwriter and folk circles via studio and sideman gigs. His press release speaks of the songs on Devil Stole the Moon, “Across the somber, gritty noir-ish sweep of Devil Stole the Moon, his characters (some fictional, others directly inspired by friends, family, and associates) wrestle with addictions, broken dreams and mortality, while O’Connor himself confronts his own hardscrabble Corpus Christi roots”. This show is definitely a DO NOT MISS.

And that’s the truth!

Live Music TonightFriday, Aug. 12thCarol Elliott @ Tarpon Ice House (6-8) Mike Millligan & the Altar Boyz @ Tarpon Ice House Sisters Morales @ Back Porch Ray T & the City Crew @ Flats Lounge Pictures @ Brewster Street Emily @ Hooks B-B-Q Nethermedia Presents 6 Bands @ House of Rock Another Level @ Executive Surf Club C-Roots @ Coffee Waves Brian Winfrey @ Island Italian Aloha Dave & the Tourists @ Roberts Point Park Marc Wiles @ The Gaff Better Angels @ The Wildhorse SaloonSaturday, Aug. 13thMiss Neesie & The Earfood Orchestra @ Back Porch Larry Martin Sweeney @ Tarpon Ice House Sing-Along Pianos @ Brewster Street Phill Pritchett @ Executive Surf Club Stuart Burns @ Coffee Waves Rafiki Project @ The Gaff Dearly Departed/ Reely Rotnz @ Revolution Bar Ruben Limas @ Island Italian Rick Cates @ Scuttlebutt’s Lyrical Bynge @ Flats Lounge Dave “Bottlehead” Miller @ Hooks B-B-QSunday, Aug. 14thKings & Liars/Above Me/Stop the Phoenix/Is Dying Fate @ House of Rock Acoustic Jam w/ Van Blize @ Tarpon Ice House Tuesday, Aug. 16thOpen Mic w/ Rev. Fred @ House of Rock Scarecrow People @ Executive Surf Club Reno & the Groove Getters @ Dr. Rockits Clarissa Serna @ Revolution Bar & GrillWednesday, Aug. 17thChop Tops/Rocketz/Strikers/Paul Sutherland @ House of Rock Eli Young Band @ Brewster Street John Eric @ Pelicans LoungeThursday, Aug. 18thAloha Dave @ Back Porch Free Beer @ Tarpon Ice House Meygan’s Birthday Bash w/7 Bands @ House of Rock Thieving Birds @ Executive Surf Club Starlite & the Moonbeams @ Dr. Rockits

Friday, Aug. 19thCarol Elliott @ Tarpon Ice House

Ruben V @ Back Porch Le Freak @ Brewster Street

Richard Lockhart Band @ Hooks B-B-Q

Michael O’Connor/ 40 lb. Dog @ House of Rock

Matt Hole @ Executive Surf Club Get Off the Lawn @ Coffee Waves

Brian Winfrey @ Island Italian Ray T & the City Crew

@ Flats Lounge Melissa Ludwig Band

@ The Gaff Better Angels @ The Wildhorse

SaloonSaturday, Aug. 20th

Almost Patsy Cline Band @ Back Porch

Metal Shop @ Brewster Street Richard Lockhart Band

@ Hooks B-B-Q CC7D Award Show

@ House of Rock Sun Alutation @ Executive Surf

Club David Martinez @ Coffee Waves Mike Milligan & the Altar Boyz

@ Dr. Rockits Ruben Limas @ Island Italian

Lyrical Bynge @ Flats Lounge Suzy Bravo & Soul Revue

@ The Gaff Melissa Ludwig

@ The Wildhorse SaloonSunday, Aug. 21st

Acoustic Jam w/ Van Blize @ Tarpon Ice House

Richard Lockhart (noon, solo) @ Hooks B-B-Q

Tuesday, Aug. 23rdOpen Mic w/ Rev. Fred

@ House of Rock Scarecrow People

@ Executive Surf Club Reno & the Groove Getters @ Dr.

Rockits Clarissa Serna @ Revolution Bar & Grill

Thursday, Aug. 25thShy Blakeman @ Back Porch

Free Beer @ Tarpon Ice House Scooter Brown Band

@ Executive Surf Club John Cortez Band @ Dr. Rockits

Friday, Aug. 26thCarol Elliott @ Tarpon Ice House

Mike Blakely y los Yahoos @ Back Porch

Five Card Draw @ Brewster Street Witness by Proxy @ Hooks B-B-Q

The Iguanas/Weak Day Boyz @ House of Rock Scarecrow People

@ Executive Surf Club Acoustic Breeze @ Coffee Waves

Hilda Limas @ Mug Room Sol Tribe @ The Gaff

Better Angels @ The Wildhorse Saloon

L Leon, Ken Barnet and Dave Miller played Hooks BBQ on July 30th. Photo by Miles Merwin

GGrreeaat t

LLiive ve MMuussicic Upcoming Shows

Carol Elliott 8/12Mike Milligan 8/14Larry Sweeney 8/13Free Beer 8/18Carol Elliott 8/19BEER * WINE * POOL * DARTS

321 N Alister * (361) 749-2337

132 W. Cotter, Port A

GET READY FOR SOME FUN!Sat. Aug. 20

The ALMOST PATSY CLINE BAND

The

Great Bar-B-Q

Michael O’Connor will play the House of Rock on August 19

Rev. Horton Heat played the Executive Surf Club on Aug. 7th

Nashville &#!@$ played the Executive Surf Club on August 7th

Live Music Every Friday

Mon-Sat 10am- 2am

Sun Noon- 2am

NEW HOURS!

This Month...We have re-hung the gallery!

New work from Larry Felder, R. Kroninger,

& Sarah Fedak. www.feldergallery.com Private Parties, Personal Chef, Weddings

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Mama Tried played the Tarpon Ice House on July 30th. Photo by Miles Merwin