Weekend Recap
Dang - I thought I was gonna have something for you last night but alas no. Thus, I’m gonna go through what was an incredible weekend purty fast.
Thursday night had dinner at Hola! for the first time. This Spanish tapas restaurant has been on my list for quite some time and may I say, YUM! I never know how to order tapas so I’m glad I went with some friends who had been there before. Everything was so delicious and fresh - beer marinated chicken, roasted bell peppers, super salty olives (my fave!) followed by a handsome dessert of black pepper ice cream amidst a red glazed pond filled with strawberries and orange slices. Absolute heaven. And a nice night out on the patio. My friends even bought me dinner. Way too nice.
Friday night kicked into high gear with PrideRadio’s fabulous launch party at S4. I’m all about parties with free booty. Although it wasn’t the kind I ain’t been having for a while. Here were bags filled with gift certificates to Fuse, candies, Calvin Klein undies and some other stuff. I wasn’t sure if we were having free drinks but I never got one. Dangit. The pink martinis looked good. The party was phenomenal in an upstairs room and packed with media types and snooty sponsors. The CK underwear shoot was a little awkward and sort of contrived but everyone piled around as it happened. Sigh…people are so easy. I was looking for me in the reflection here but never saw. I may have been signing up for a free trip to Vegas which I don’t think I won. Haven’t heard anything yet. Thanks to Nicole from Clear Channel for getting me on the list.
After having a blast there, I made my way to the Darkside Lounge only to have a monumentally better time there. I went to see a band but had to suffer through the Enemies List, a quintet of rock wannabes with a sexy chick up front. Too bad she had about as much charisma as my fingernail. The bands hard rock wasn’t mixing well with her gritty vocals. It seemed like it should but maybe they are just too green. I’ll safely assume they are from Plano. But I was there for Gito Gito Hustler, a J-Pop and Roll girl band that melted my face off with their Go-Go’s/Joan Jett-like tunes and bubbly enthusiasm. These chicks tore that place up and did it with a sweet smiles and broken English. They were amazing. I can’t even figure out how to do them justice by writing them here. I’ll let you decide:
A late night was followed by an early morning at the St. Patrick’s Greenville Ave. Parade. My first time on a float and the entire experience was nothing short of awesome. Loads of fun and the fact that people are idiots for generic beads makes me laugh. Had the distinct pleasure of hanging with our sports writer, his wife and their friend the whole day. Who knew he was such a fun and funny guy? Maybe the best part was the VIP tent at the Toadies concert even though I didnt’ see them. Preceded by horrific bands including Brutal Juice, it was too brutal to take. Besides, the free beer and the heat, albeit nice weather, were not making a good combination. WeeDemon saved the day.
Later that night, I went to see The Drams at The Old Monk. Now, I love me some Drams. I have their cd and I’ve seen them about four times prior but this show shook my confidence in them. They seemed to start out ok with a couple of Drams songs but then everything else was Slobberbone, a somewhat prequel to this band. Then all this solo stuff was going on. Then the mike broke. Then, it was more Slobberbone. I can totally get playing to the fans that were up for the SBone but come on…some of us are Drams peeps and want to hear…oh…I dunno….The Drams? It was a long winded show that I was getting tired of fast. Didn’t help that Brent Best shrugged me off. If it wasn’t for Tony the drummer, who is my friend’s friend and an incredibly gracious guy to talk to, I might be a little harsher, but rather, I’ll just shrug off this show and hope for a better one next time.
Besides, the five bands I had seen on Saturday had yet to compare to Gito Gito. Until Sunday and I know I’m gonna get crap for this but the Taylor Hicks concert at Nokia was way more than I expected it to be. The Greyhounds from Ausin opened up and I totally dug them. I can’t stand blues music but they were young but had a good grip on the sound and somehow won over the audience with some rockin’ tunes. Openers don’t impress me much but these guys pulled it off. And they are going to be at Poor David’s Pub tomorrow night. I just may go check it out.
And then there’s Taylor. So I went to this show because a) it was free and b) cause I totally dig this guy. Why? Don’t ask. But this show jammed hard. I think he’s 30 or something like that so he’s somewhat a product of pop culture and despite his non-trad choice of music for his age, you can see his frontman influences from James Brown to Roger Daltrey to Prince to Axl Rose…and a few others I can’t think of. He’s working his music butt off and it was infectious. He’s all spirit and doesn’t come off as the least successful American Idol winner he’s been touted as. Just kinda tell he’s happy to be doing this and having a good time. He may never be a superstar but he’s a good one to watch.
And that…my friends…was my one helluva weekend.
