Whoo-Hoo!

Okay, I'll calm down.

This weekend's gig was just so tremendous! Three of the best bands I have heard in I cannot say how long, one right after the other. My heart of course belongs to Del Castillo, but I am really impressed by both Acustyka and Vallejo. What blistering sets! And a great crowd to just spur them all on to better heights.
I did get one lesson in preparation that I will be kicking myself about for sometime- my camera died at a most in-opportune moment.....
Rick Holeman and Mike Zeoli from DC sat in with Vallejo to do joint percussion. Those two were having SUCH a blast and the guys in Vallejo were getting a kick out of them too. I had saved some pictures to catch this jam, and two photos into my run....no battery.

I will say it simply--------AAARGGHHHH!

Well, I got some pretty good ones of Vallejo from another gig and a few from this one- I will have to post a new book for them on my Webshots site. They really are amazing folks- do not miss it if you can land any or all of these bands in your hometown!


and now that I am done ranting....

Nice couple of weekends lately. The guys in DC have just been inspired lately. It is hard to believe that I have been on this craziness of following them around for almost a year.
It started at a benefit for diabetes at Antone's last year, and I have had few weeks where there wasn't something DC on my agenda. I haven't made it to an out of state gig yet- money, timing, warning, all have not worked to my favour yet. I will have to make 2005 the year I change that!

I have watched and heard so many changes in their music in the last 12 months. They were amazing when I first saw them, but they are tighter now than they were then, by far. It is a fun thing to watch bands grow, and I am closer to these guys than all those before, save the ones I worked with. It is astounding how well they work together and still manage to have fun together. As I have said before, even the worst night I have ever seen any of them have has far outdone most people's best.

The guys played one of the galas in Washington DC recently, and I have heard many stories which give me hope for the exposure they got. (I will leave my political feelings to a different blog, and let the reader know that DC is my only claimed "hometown"- as a military brat, I really don't have roots. I'm more like a wandering jew- stick my feet in new soil and soon enough I will make it mine.) The boys' managers had nothing but good things to say about the actual gig, though security was ridiculous and the guys couldn't go out of the hotel. Probably just as well- the precursor to one of the heaviest winter storms ever seen on the east coast was there at the same time. Right now, the city they were in is socked in and partially without power. I loved snow to play in now and then, but some things about it I do not miss at all!

As I understand it, the guys played switch off sets with Patricia Vonne, and actually had all those stuffed shirts up and hoofin' it! Yeeha! Now, this particular event is a hundred year old party called Black Tie and Boots, put on for those Texans who are feeling homesick when stuck in DC for political reasons. It is also one of the hottest tickets, and definitely hard to come by. $$$$ and then some. Connections to the Texas Society would help. I am just really glad the guys got the exposure- it comes down to who might have been in that audience. I am sorry they didn't get to do anything in the Capitol- there is much to be absorbed there, but as I understand it, though they were more or less captive, they were fairly well pampered ones. As long as they took care of my guys....sorry- OUR guys....Possessive, aren't I? :))

My Fault

I have failed to mention many of the other bands DC has played with recently, and now I must apologise to one in particular: Vallejo. I had not sat through their set before, for whatever reasons on the past, and Saturday down in Houston, at Fitzgerald's, they really impressed the heck out of me. They were tight, unique, obviously well-practiced, and far more talented than too many who have landed the big contracts of late. this might be a good lesson to Del Castillo too: Vallejo had a contract with Sony. It took getting out of it for them to start seeing some recognition. These guys have had a hit down in New Zealand. Just goes to show that the big companies are not always necessary, or looking out for one's best interests. This is a money making business and that is what they are out to do, damn the little guy either way.

Whatever, eh? Listen though- if Vallejo should be playing in your neck of the woods, catch them. Very impressive. I am sorry that pop bands like Los Lonely Boys get all the media attention when there is such talent to be found elsewhere. Vallejo is loads tighter musically and more interesting in their writing. Of course, after 5 albums and more tours, maybe LLBs will have grown too- we'll see.

Some of the other bands of note to mention include Akustica (I think I spelled that right...) and my aforementioned Toumai. Those guys are really talented, but have been absent of late from any place I have been to. I hope it doesn't mean they called it quits. Grupo Fantasma was tremendous, very lively and highly dancable, though with the horn section, I was glad to have seen them outside! Would probably get a little loud for even this old headbanger indoors.


I just had to make mention of Vallejo. Check them out on their site: www.vallejomusic.com.
They are well worth the effort!

Note of Passing

I am an old hippie, and my music loves go way back. I read this morning about a death that saddens me, even though I haven't listened to the guy's music for many years. Jimmy Griffin, a founding memberof, singer and songwriter for the band Bread passed away from complications of cancer at an early age of 61.
Yeah, Bread was kind of pop/easy listening, though they could rock when they wanted to. I loved the harmonies and songwriting though. Same vein as, say, early James Taylor- not spectacular musicians, but respectable in their field. Jimmy was a versatile and talented musician, and he leaves a gap out there.

It is not fun getting older- everybody you admired is aging too, and eventually they die. I don't mind losing folks to old age, I regret it when drugs take a toll, but too young to disease bugs me for some reason. I am afraid it will get nothing but worse too.

I remember my mom's mother sitting in her living room once, a forlorn look on her face. She said to no one in particular, though I was the only one there, "All my friends are dying." She herself only had another year or two. I was moved by it then, in my twenties, but sadly now, 25 years later, I also understand it.

Godspeed Jimmy.

That Was Interesting.

I can't say as I would want to do it again, but it was interesting.

Del Castillo played at an Austin Icebats game. That's hockey, not my favourite of professional sports. Well, I get pro sports about as much as I get all the hubbub about movies. Save me, Goddess, from the mundaneness of normality! Should I ever start falling into that category, may my time here be finished!

Anyway, the game was typically rather stupid. It seemed very slow to me at first and then rather childishly played- almost deliberate fighting over the puck the way 2 year olds fight over a toy. Silly. I was allowed to laugh, which I appreciated, especially watching the refs dodge the puck! there are some folks who have a problem with their favourite pastime being mocked, but luckily for me, none of them were around me. They didn't even mind me doing my needlepoint while the game was on. (In a bar, I would have been harassed.)

Anyway, the Icebats won, which made the crowd happy, and then they got a dose of DC. My friend Terri had bought VIP seats and offered me the second one as a gift. We really didn't know what to think of our location until we got there. Let's just say. I will never complain about high stages again....

Several of us DC nuts are used to getting up pretty close to the stage, if not right up front, and to do that last night, we would've had to have been members of Circe de Soleil! This thing was at least two stories off the floor, tiny, and surrounded by stairwells. There was less that a two foot margin behind the stage for the roadies to work. Yikes! not a fun load in, I am sure. (The guys have complained, rightly, about Fitzgerald's in Houston- 2 flights of stairs and no ramps for help at all. )
I took a photo from the floor to show folks what they didn't miss. While the boys still put on a tremendous set, I agree with others- I do not feel like I was fulfilled... well, you know what I mean! Of course, we are spoiled little children about it sometimes. When this band hits the bigtime, it will get steadily harder to get any closer than we were last night. I do not look forward to that. I like the intimacy right now.

I would take the time to report on all the details of the gig but I only saw a few of them! Heard quite a bit more, but could only see a couple of members at a time from where our seats were, and from down on the floor, they all looked about an inch high! Even my opera glasses (well, birding binoculars actually) didn't help much. Then they were about three inches high.....
I should've brought my heavy duty binocs- those things can go out half a mile. I do know that they sounded good throughout that somewhat echo-y hall (thank you, Gary!) except right up next to the stage. According to a couple of people, I should've stood behind the stage- would've sounded like they do in their rehearsal hall.

Rick stretched out on a couple of tunes,which encouraged Mark to, and truly they all sounded like they had a good night. It just probabaly wasn't a good night for most dedicated fans. They did however once again make a bunch of new fans, which is what it was all about. One was even from a magazine called Latino Style, out of LA. Like I said in previous entry, who's to say who might be in that audience?

I'm off to buy tickets for yet another DC event, and then rake leaves as long as I can stand it. Strange how house chores can pile up when you're having fun......

now there's a good one...

A sign that a band is making it on a bigger scale- the fans start to judge what is right and what is wrong for the group to be doing. A person on DC's message board complained that playing after a hockey game was beneath the band. I say it is better exposure for the guys: not all people into sports are mindless Neaderthals. The group never fails to make some fans at every gig I have watched them at. If they are going to be a large scale success- something they DO want- they have to be heard by more than just this little legion of localized fans. I am the first to admit I do not want to lose seeing them so much, but I also want them to go where they want to be. Austin is chock full of musicians sitting on their hands because there isn't enough room for everyone to play every weekend. Most of them hold down regular jobs because they have to- the bills wouldn't get paid otherwise! It is really stupid and selfish to tell a band they shouldn't play a gig based on what you as a fan feel they should be doing.
DC's enthusiasm is strong enough that they see the potential in playing this rather prestigious position at a sports arena. Okay, it isn't romantic, it isn't classy, but I know enough about these guys to know they do not see themselves as being above anyone else. They take opportunity where they are handed it. Who knows who might be in that audience? Just such an opportunity is why they are on so many soundtracks before they have managed to land a big company contract. Robert Rodriguez came out, heard these amazing musicians, and wasted no time. Who might be next? No telling.


Well, I know from many years of being around fanatics about this or that group that it doesn't matter what I say, which is why this isn't on the band's message board. I see no point to starting a fuss over one person's opinion. I just had to spew out my own or it would gnaw at me.
I personally detest hockey, but a friend offered me a ticket, so I will be there. I have been told the stage is in the air, which should be intriguing....(hmmmm...I suppose that means that the game WILL infact be beneath the band!....sorry!:) I am packing my opera glasses just in case!
No matter what, I expect to be impressed. I always am with Del Castillo.

And So It Begins

They are making their mark.

They are finding doors to open for themselves, and yet more are following in that path.

They are going to be huge in the not too distant future, and I am not ready.

I haven't found that point where they fill me up yet.

sigh.


Del Castillo is such a special band, so very one of a kind, and I have been blessed with being around them for a year and a half now. One would think I would get tired, or have had enough by now, but that is not the case. I love them more each time I see them perform, and I cannot help but love them, their crew, and the family I have meet so far.

I know where a lot of what they are as a band comes from.

This year, 2005, is going to be a very busy and hopefully fulfilling year for these guys. I wish I could watch every move, but I am not yet made of money, so it may not happen the way I wish. It will be fun to see the rest of the world get the vibe, but bittersweet too, because it means I won't get to be at as many gigs. Forty-five gigs in 18 months has got to be some kind of record.
At the very least, it proves both my insanity, and my love of this band.

I will consider whether to keep this blog open soon. I may not have much to write about. I hope I am wrong. at the very least, it will be less often.

In the meantime, I will get to every gig I can, and love them as much as one heart can.
You guys make my heart and soul sing.