Show Review: Tennis with Wild Belle at The Independent, 4/30/12

Regular readers of this site are aware of the fact that I put together a list of recommend shows in the bay area every week. Sometimes weeks it’s easier than others. Sometimes I scour through the schedules of local venues, and I find myself listening to a long list of bands that I’ve never heard before. I’ve uncovered some really good stuff over the years, but, rarely to I find a single song that makes me need to change my schedule around and go out on a Monday night. Was it worth making my way out on a Monday night? Well, your going to have to click that “more” button to to find out how that worked out for me:

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Show Review: Tyrone Wells with Mike Annuzzi and Joe Brooks at The Independent, 3/29/2012

Tyrone Wells: unique and delicious

At first glance, he might just be a very large, very bald man with a tiny guitar and a voice that mesmerizes. Upon closer inspection, though, Tyrone Wells is just tall, talented, and playing a ukulele. Well, at least until he starts yodeling, anyway…if it’s all a bit to take in for the first time, I understand. It’s a unique (and thoroughly enjoyable) experience, and I can still remember the first time I witnessed it myself, several years ago. Since then, I’ve fallen for albums like Remain and EP Metal & Wood, as well as the brand new release, Where We Meet, which brought him to The Independent this Thursday, alongside local opening act Mike Annuzzi and English singer/songwriter Joe Brooks.

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Show Review: Fresh & Only’s, Woods at The Independent, 7/29/11

Fresh & Only Wood

Friday night at the Independent saw and infusion of fuzzed out low fi, 60’s garage rock revival with New Yorkers, Woods and San Francisco’s own The Fresh & Onlys. This common bond of lo fi revivalism is about where the comparisons end with these two bands however. While Woods is known for their spaced out psychedelic jams that hover below singer Jeremy Earl’s haunting falsetto, The Fresh & Onlys play a much more straight forward style of rock and roll, relying on surf rock guitar lines. Where Woods will let their songs meander through dreamy solos, The Fresh & Onlys keep their songs straight forward and stick to their musical point.

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