Day Glo Red plays in New River

Matt's band is still playing on the Northwest side of town, so I bribed my friends Josh and Becky into making the trek to New River with me so I didn't have to drive alone at 3am. We had dinner at Kid Chilleen's Kick-Ass BBQ. I have looked at that place to the east of I-17 for many years, and finally had an excuse to have dinner there! After dinner, we headed to Gavilan Peak Sports bar, and watched the guys rock out. Unfortunately, there were only about 20 people there, but everyone enjoyed the music.

Day Glo Red plays at Donna Jean's Libations April 9, 2010

Matt plays bass in a band with 4 other very talented musicians, Will-lead vocals & acoustic guitar, Scott-electric guitar, Gary-Drums, and Tony-Keyboards.

They have been palying at Donna Jean's Libations in Glendale, and always manage to draw a good crowd. They don't disappoint! My favorite song is Little Vampire, followed closely by Tattooed Soul.

I have enlisted Becky, my fellow nerd, in making the trek to the west-side with me, but she also loves the music, so it's not too hard to convince her to go!

The Sail Inn Grand ReOpening!!

The Sail Inn, which had been a live music staple in Tempe for many years, closed in 2005. On January 30, 2009, the Sail Inn reopened. I ventured up to the bar for both Friday and Saturday of Opening weekend, and on Saturday, the Mojo Farmers played, featuring their new drummer.



Thanks to Gina for bringing back the best live music venue in Tempe!!

Saturday in Dublin-Winding Down

Saturday morning started out eventfully for Danielle and I. I woke up, squinted at the clock on the TV, then noticed it was 8:25am. We were supposed to meet our bus at 8:50 for the Wild Wicklow tour!!! I shouted at Danielle, we threw on our clothes, grabbed the backpack, and sprinted out of the hotel for 3 blocks. We found the group we were supposed to meet, then proceeded to stand there for an hour. . . Finally I walked over to a nearby hotel where the concierge called Wild Wicklow. Turns out their tour bus had broken down!

Danielle and I then high-tailed it back to our hotel, where our friendly concierge called around and got us booked on a separate tour of the Wicklow area, which picked us up in front of our hotel. It turned out to be a lucky twist of fate. The driver/tour guide for the new hotel was amazing, he was funny, clever, and entertaining, which was nice since the majority of the tour was in the bus.



We drove out to the Wicklow area, and the Glendalough, a 6th century monastic settlement, and a quick walk to two very peaceful lakes. The day was beautiful, overcast with the sun peeking through at various times, casting an almost mystical light over the forest. I kept expecting to see fairies, or a hobbit, at least. :)



After Glendalough, the tour went through the town of Avoca, home of the handweavers. That was a very interesting shop to go through, and watch the process of the handweavers making a blanket or scarf. Danielle and I ate lunch in a little fish and chips shop overlooking the river, which was beautiful as well. I know I keep using beautiful in my descriptions, but hopefully as you look at my pictures you see why.





We napped on the bus ride back to Dublin, then took off for dinner around 8:30 (one of the advantages of the late sunset). We walked the famous Temple Bar area, noticed quite a few hen parties, with the ladies all decked out in boas, wigs, wings, and other such accessories having a great time.


Dinner was at a magnificent little Italian restaurant, where I had my favorite meal, a glass of red wine and penne arrabiata.

A Mojo Sendoff

On Friday the Mojo Farmers played at the Last Exit, which was fitting as it was the drummer, Tim Olson's, last show. Tim has been playing with the band since its inception, but has decided to pursue other interests. The show included previous members of the band as a reunion to celebrate Tim's contribution, and to wish him luck on his way.



Tim has been a big part of the band for many years, and I wish him luck on his future endeavors. Thanks for the memories and the music Tim!!

Hot Child in the City

Well, I'm not really that hot, but Albuquerque isn't much of a big city either, so I suppose we're even. :)

I'm traveling; my first trip in a long time without homework or other obligations, so I took myself out on the town, researching live music venues for my favorite band, the Mojo Farmers.

I had dinner at one of my favorite local spots, the Flying Star Cafe. It is a hip joint, with magazines to borrow or buy, and an excellent menu. I highly recommend the pasta pomodoro. There is always good music playing, in fact the set tonight could have been from my Mp3 player.


After dinner, I went over to the Launchpad, a great place right downtown for live music.




The show tonight was excellent, 3 performers all doing acoustic sets. I even bought the CD of the opening act, Alexa Wilkinson. She has an amazing voice, so please visit her myspace page. Next up was Joshua Radin, who has an amazingly deep voice. Unfortunately for me, most of the songs were sad, lost loves, breaking up, etc.

Ingrid Michaelson, the headliner for the evening, is a true MySpace success story. She started posting her songs on myspace, got a break by getting a song on an episode of Grey's Anatomy, and the rest, as they say, is history.

All in all, a very good way to spend the evening, and hopefully, my Mojo Farmers will be playing in Albuquerque very soon.

Halloween Mojo Style!!

My friend's band, the Mojo Farmers, played at Hollywood Alley last night. They unveiled a new song, Day by Day, written and performed by my friend Jim King. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my camera into movie mode (still working on reading the instruction manual), so I don't have a video, but it was an awesome song. Hopefully I will be able to steal a portion of the clip from Becky's video camera.



The bar is an awesome dive bar half in Mesa, half in Tempe. There is actually a line down the bar that shows the city division. Bar hopping and band watching in Arizona is much nicer now that it is smoke free indoors!!



Happy Halloween!!

Yucca Tap Room

Fortunately the live music scene in the Tempe area has started to thrive again. Last night my friends and I enjoyed the music of Greyhound Soul at their CD release party at the aforementioned bar.




The two opening acts were also very good, one was strictly acoustic, which to me is amazing when a band can sound great without any electronic amplification.



We also saw a bachelorette party in progress. The girls all had wigs on, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were handing out condoms, requesting condoms, dancing, and just all around providing entertainment for everyone else in the bar!