Alan Wright BIO RELEASES NEWS UPCOMING SHOWS PRESS PHOTOS LISTEN! LINKS
7/11/07:
The Blue Moon is a great, if
not infamous Seattle watering hole with a routine mix of intellectual
hippies and hardcore drunks. A place where college students have long
meaningless conversations with road worn alcoholics and romantically link
themselves to that world because they had one too many shots of Jamesons.
Live shows there are notoriously weird scenes and ours was no exception.
Thankfully we had enough friends and fans show up to make the night a cool
event, which exceeded our expectations and ended up being a real good time.
Drive
It Like You Stole It did their thing as only they can do, with some
fresh blood in the band they had a little harder attack than the last time I
saw them. This was the first time I’d seen
Autolite Strike and they won me over instantly with their hard rockin’
rhythm and blues for the working man. Frankie Stax is a great
songwriter and master of the classic blues based guitar riff. Along
with his heartfelt vocal delivery they exploit the three piece formula well,
with great bass chops, solid drumming, and sparse but powerful guitar.
These guys are just gonna get better and better, so keep your eye on ‘em.
After their inspirational set we had to take the stage and set that place on
fire. We ripped through our set, pausing only to haggle with some
pathetic old rummy who kept trying to heckle us without falling off his
stool. A fun night all around and we made it outta there in time to
hit up another Seattle institution: Dick’s Drive-In. Nothing beats a
Dick’s Deluxe at 2:00 a.m.
Our next show was another great night at the Funhouse. Having only heard a few songs online, we weren’t sure what to expect of Lucabrazzi, but we were pleasantly surprised by their hard hitting, high energy blast of whiskey soaked rock and roll. Openers Bite drank so much beer in the green room I didn’t expect them to be able to stand up, let alone make it through a set. Take the stage they did though and the singer impressed us by getting up off the floor and continuing to rock after bashing her head HARD on a metal pole (a blow that would’ve rendered most people unconscious) during the first song. We had the best kind of set there is: a rowdy crowd in front of us, dancing and putting out great energy, making us just turn up the power even more and ROCK THAT SHIT!! Like I said, it was another great night at the Funhouse.
As always though, it takes a few valleys to make you appreciate the peaks. I generally avoid saying negative things about a band, but the opening band at the Mars Bar pulled a classic disrespectful hobby rock maneuver that always cheeses me: invite all your pals co-workers, etc. to the show, they watch your set and then leave, and you leave ten minutes behind them. This is really not the way to win friends and gain influence in the music community. 1. The establishment booking you expects that you will bring in paying customers, including yourselves, who will make it worth their while to book you again. 2. The other bands on the bill are also counting on exposure to your fans. 3. When you leave before another band’s set you are certainly aren’t showing them any support. I could go on, but you get the idea. This band left in such a rush that they left some of their drum gear behind for the rest of us to trip over all night. Then they had the gall to ask us a few days later if we’d picked it up for them and had the nerve to say “great show” when they weren’t even there. Fuckin’ total bullshit.
Unfazed by the loss of the crowd, Autolite Strike once again blew our socks off and made us forget all about the other band. We took command of the stage and stayed true to our motto: two or two thousand, we play the same. Once I had determined my spatial limits on the tiny stage I looked up to see amongst a handful of friends two guys I’d never seen before, totally digging it. “Well, that’s who I’m playing for tonight,” I said to myself and commenced with the attempted murder of my guitar. Despite the broiling heat and small crowd we gave it our all and had a great night anyway.
For the rest of June and the first half of July we’ve been on hiatus as August had to undergo shoulder surgery for a torn rotator cuff. Glad to say he’s doing well, trying not to get hooked on the pain meds and using his recovery time to work on material for the next album. He’s already back to playing guitar and the band resumes practice next week. We’re looking forward to all the great shows we’ve got coming up including a private party for August’s Anniversary and a gig with Ms. Led at the Funhouse on Lesli’s birthday, August 15th, that’s sure to be a blowout. Hope to see you there.
Remember: there’s
more to life than rock and roll, but not much.
Until next time, Live Free – Fizzy Lipton, Minister of Propaganda
HEAVY ROTATION
August:
The Saints – “I’m
Stranded”, “Eternally Yours”
Autolite Strike – "Autolite Strike!"
The Fucking Eagles – “A Million Dollars Worth of Music”
Buzzcocks – “Another Music In A Different Kitchen”, “Singles Going Steady”, live in Germany 1981 DVD
The Cars – “The Cars”, "Candy-O”
Oni:
Flaming Lips - "Hear It Is"
Ether (SLC) - "Codyjudy"
The Doors - "Strange Days"
Julee Cruise - "Floating into the Night"
Melt Banana - "Cell scape"
Steve:
Betty Davis - "They Say I'm
Different"
Kings Of Leon - "Because Of The Times"
The Police - My Own Mix Of : Demolition Man, Too Much Information,
Rehumanize Yourself, No Time This Time, Voices Inside My Head, When The
World Is Running Down - You Make The Best Of What's Still Around
Autolite Strike - "Autolite Strike!"
AC/DC - "Highway To Hell"
Zak:
Autolite Strike – "Autolite
Strike!"
Los Gatos Locos -"Psychobilly Babtism"
Marlene Dietrich - "Falling in Love Again"
Stiv Bators - "Disconnected"
Mastodon - "Leviathan"