The Slow Learners and OMEGA Band!

If you didnt' make it to Asylum in DC, you missed a great show by both bands.

I left my home and took mass transit into DC and when I popped out of the Metro, I took my maiden voyage on a DC BUS!

And, the driver was a woman, and young and cute! How the heck does that happen????? I mean....I'm 39.....but.....I didnt know that was possible!

So, in my humble opinion - this show was great!

I want to take a moment to thank Ed from the slow learners who literally introduced me to every person he knew at Asylum to make sure that I was comfortable but also for networking purposes - for friends of his in other bands.

But the bottom line here is that I was cool because I'm friends with Ed and that was great with his friends.

Ok - the show.

The Slow Learners -
Sweet B
Mr. Burroughs
Paul and
ED (also known as Special Ed)

This show was great with people getting up and dancing and moving their heads - The Slow Learners rocked the house. And members of the Omega band i spoke with prior to the slow learners show were so appreciative of Ed and so complimentary.

The Omega Band came on and Ricky just Rocked the house with - well, this is going to come out weird, but the word I want to use is LUSCIOUS and SOULFUL. They have a great sound, the vocals were great - and, it doesnt hurt that the 2 woman at the front of the band are beautiful.

Last night's show was free to all who came and The Slow Learners as well as The Omega Band were selling CDs for $5 each.

That's not much considering when Independent Musicians need to pay for studio time, equipment and, OH YEH! If someone gets sick, its not like they always have a day job giving them medical benefits. If a doctor costs 100$ to go see and they dont have insurance, there's no copay folks! And, if they need medication, once again, no copay - they pay full price.

Check out the slow learners at:
www.theslowlearners.com
www.myspace.com/theslowlearners

and the Omega band at
www.omegaband.net
www.myspace.com/omegaband

Recordings dont do justice to how the crowd reacts with the slow learners on stage or the omega band.

Take some time and listen to their music and go seem them live.

It's a great time.

PS - I want to thank those folks that gave me music last night - Dar, the omega band, and Mike Ivie - yes - THE MIKE IVEY of BASEHEAD.

* Quick Story *
Ed from the slow learners is a part of the mini community that Mike Ivey created that has spawned Citizen Cope and The Slow Learners as well as up and comers Mr. Burroughs and Yellow. But, the big thing is building the community and as your band grows or your following grows within the band, you also do your own thing until you spin off/out of the band. At the end of the day, it's like being born - again. But at the end of the day, they all know where they came from and Ed is repeatedly speaking so highly of Mike and this community he's built that I had to mention it here.

Don Caballero and Ponytail

I went to IOTA's last night with Mike - our very own Mike who brings us Donohue's Music Den every week.

So, we arrive as the opening act - Ponytail - was playing and Molly Siegel was belting out sounds that made me think of Bjork. Basically - the spoken word doesnt matter - its the music and the sound of the voice that count. - Think Psychic TV.....or, at least, that's what I did. The vocals are an additional instrument here.

So, while I don't typically listen to this type of music, I was open to it and, in the end, I thought that Ponytail's show was better than Don Caballero.

Don Caballero performed for about 50 minutes. And.....when they all walked off the stage.....I didnt know they were done. People stood around for awhile inside IOTAs - and there were probably about 50 people maybe more there......and I couldnt believe that there wasnt anymore. My gut tells me that a headliner plays for more than 50 minutes, but hey - I dont know what the deal was there.

Don Caballero's performance, for me, can be characterized as - mostly music....some vocals.....AND NO ONE WAS IN SYNCH with eachother.....

Mike and I just kinda kept looking at eachother like.....something was off....and, it was all of them.

Mike said to me.....I know what they're trying to do.....which would be good......but......they're not in synch.

So.....Don Caballero.....I dont know what you typically sound like so I have to be fair to you.....but, if you walked out of IOTAs thinking that you werent at your best and this was your first show and you're still working some stuff out....that's cool and good luck the rest of the way.....but.....I think some more rehearsal time is needed on your music.

If you want to read the article in the washington post about this tour, check in with this link for the washington post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081400907.html

And, Don Caballero is touring with only 1 day off from August 19 - Sept 6. Good luck.