Show Pics: Mean Jolene Record Release

mean-jolene-release-03Just before the madness of Sound on Sound Fest (roundup and galleries coming soon), ATH records hosted a little get together at Cheer Up for Mean Jolene’s Salty.

Half of the band, Jolie and Adam, were still on a Cubs related high. What better way to celebrate a historic World Series win than by releasing a record? Will and Ben may or may not have been hungover. The band had too many friends and too much fun. Tiger tall boys. Tater tots. Satin jackets. Flying earrings.

Joining in on the festivities were Talkies, The Bond Twins, HeyBaby and Summer Salt, so pics after the break. Sorry to Summer Salt for hitting the wall after a long day.

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ACL WE2 Sunday in Photos

acl-we2-3021Hi.

Austin just went through another “festival” with what appears to have been a rather successful Formula One race weekend. I am an F1 fan and the three days out at the circuit are treated as a staycation for the wife and I. Why am I telling you this? I do not know.

Back on topic, The final batch of photos from ACL are ready for your consumption. Sunday was a sleeper day. The fest was sneeky-fun and I had a great day with my photo friends. The weather was amazing again and we had some big WE2 exclusives.

First, I did not go anywhere near that crowd for Willie. It was INSANE!!! A friend went up in a cherry picker and took twenty some-odd wide angle photos and stitched them together into an impressive panorama. Instead, I watched the set via festival TV and relaxed. Ra Ra Riot, on the other hand, was an early in the day highlight of festival hits. Amasa Hines was the surprise, think blues guys doing Interpol covers. Also on the BMI stage, Atlas Genius drew the biggest crowd I have ever seen at our favorite stage at ACL. NF did an Eminem impression, just grabbed photos on the way to Pete Yorn. Local Natives ooh-ahh’ed straight into our hearts. St. Paul and The Broken Bones brought the soul review to life, though I was concerned the Saint’s jaw would unhinge and swallow one of us whole. Miike Snow filled a gap; too much fog. Young the Giant got sexy and dirty to a fanatical crowd obsessed by frontman Sameer Gadhia while the band seemingly went through the motions.

And finally the second bucket-list shoot, LCD Soundsystem gave us the end-of-the-fest dance party. Seeing their set two weekends in a row, you realize that it is scripted and I guess that is understandable given the number of synth, percussion and instrument changes required. Didn’t stop WE2’s dance party from being any less awesome…

Click through for the pretty photos.

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ACL WE2 – Saturday in Photos

acl-we2-2060Saturday may not have been the strongest lineup, but it was awfully photogenic.

Slaves was a pure musical highlight for me; British punk rock from two individuals that believe in the songs and enjoy what they do. More on that after the break. JR JR was the surprise set of the day, far more fun than I imagined it would be, shiny things. Saint Motel has left the ATH behind, now a solid fest headliner after we spring-boarded the band with a Stubb’s Inside booking, sarcasm. Andra Day is terribly talented, but not my jam. LL Cool J was the throwback performance we deserved. The Naked and Famous used black and white outfits and high energy from the crowd to fill a memory card. #jumpshot Blue Healer won the day for the locals, strong set getting the crowd to stop and listen. Two Door Cinema Club put down the best festival set, admitting the crowd, in spite of how favorably they responded to the new songs, wanted bangers. Finally, I finished with a little Connor Oberst before heading out.

Read on past the break and then look at the pretty pictures.

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ACL WE2 – Friday In Photos

acl-we2-121aAre you ready to reminisce?

Let’s kick off more photos from the front for Austin City Limits on Weekend Two. Friday was the day. Let’s name drop – Radiohead, Die Antwoord, M83, Foals and more. A whole day of headliners for me and I was super excited. I had one “break” where I decided to get photos of Banks and Steelz to fill in the gap. Oofah. Do I have a story.

How about you read past the break? I had to suffer for my art. Heh.

#pukeandrally #radiohead #cantstopmenow

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Mohawk’s 10th Birthday Photo Show

img_1776Hi.

Those of you that know me probably know that The Mohawk is a near and dear environment for me. I love the place, the people and the shows. Too many great moments for me over the years to count, from seeing how shy and awkward Lauren from CHVRCHES was early on in their first tour to Iggy and The Stooges wanting to be my dog. I was spell bound by Phantogram, shimmied with Twin Shadow, thrown beer on by Hunx and met Thurston Moore. Now you can come and see photos of those moments and so many more as me and several other of the awesome Austin music scene’s best photographers put works up for auction to benefit Austin Music People, never too early to check off a few people from the Christmas list. Full list of Photographers: Brian Gray (that’s me), Chad Wadsworth, Cody Cowan, Daniel Cavazos, David Brendan Hall, Ismael Quintanilla, Jessica Alexander, Maggie Boyd, Mary Rehak, Randy Cremean, Pooneh Ghana, Rick Kern, Roger Ho.

Thursday night, starting 7pm, come hang with the photo nerds and buy stuff for charity. It is free to look, so spend some jack on a printed and framed shot of your favorite artist and show.

Show Pics: ATH Goes Back To School

Summer SaltNathan summed it up in a book face post. He, with Mike’s help, runs a label that is proud of the content, proud of the people, happy to be helping bands in Austin have merch to sell and fund the next project. It is a ton of work; pursuing, promoting, logistics and coordination. I am happy to be associated with ATH records.

Hit the read more and view the greatness of Pollen Rx, Mean Jolene, Rose Selavy, Plantation Band, Young Girls, Basketball Shorts, Summer Salt and Shivery Shakes (in drag).

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Show Pics: The Fixx @ 3TEN (8/24)

The FixxSo, there are risks in going to shows of bands that you loved from twenty years ago, hell even ten years ago. The Fixx was booked at 3TEN, probably the ideal venue for shows like this. It is a band that will draw a crowd of nostalgia seekers and the younger audience that made the discovery. I mean, Reach the Beach was among the first CDs I bought after getting my first player. It was important to me and I will put that record up against any of the current crop of nostalgia-driven indie prominent right now. The rack of keyboards, the front man with a specifically strong vocal and the mix of guitar and synth to build the layers – it is all there for you to love and rediscover.

We had a little extra dose of semi-local nostalgia in Deep Blue Something. You know who they are…

Read on for thoughts and pics.

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Show Pics: Nada Surf @ The Parish (5/27)

Nada Surf 17I was allowed to kick off my holiday weekend with some fun show bidness. After morning rain, a cold front blew through to give us a nice evening and I had spots to go take in Nada Surf at The Parish. When I have several separate circles of friends at the show, it warms your humidity-laden heart.

Click through. I have plenty of pics from the night and a few thoughts including some on the openers, The Misteries.

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Pecan Street Musings

Pecan Street 29The lineup for Pecan Street Festival was quite ATH friendly. Given that two of the wife’s favorite Austin acts, Night Drive and Knifight, were scheduled for set times that book-ended the dinner hour a couple blocks from Parkside, we figured we would take in all that Sixth could offer before it got dirteh.

Thoughts, pics, etc.

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Show Pics: Animal Collective @ Emo’s (4/30)

Animal Collective 16When ACL cancelled a day of the festival a few years back, we were flooded by a series of pop-up shows to keep visiting artists busy. When the press release landed cancelling the entire festival, I emailed Team ATH to keep an eye out and put an ear to the street. One of the first big acts to land a venue was Animal Collective. The show at Emo’s sold out in two minutes. In fact, most pop-up shows sold out in a ridiculously short time, but I think this one was the fastest by far.

If you were at Scoot Inn or Hotel Vegas, get ready for notes and pics from the big show that featured Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith as the open…

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