Brittanie Shey:
Easy. Lady Gaga, who is probably the biggest stage show I've ever seen. She even rivaled Cher. And I love her message of acceptance and ars gratia artis. Dave Wakeling as The English Beat was pretty cool, because with a revival act like that, you never know how the show will turn out. I went in with the lowest of expectations and was completely blown away by how much fun it was and how great his voice sounds after all those years.
Same thing with Dick Dale and Booker T, who could eat crackers in my bed any day. Biggest revelations for me was going to my first Jimmy Buffett show, Say what you want about Margaritaville,"" but the man's early work is so charming and his fans - even the ones who'd been drinking/tailgating all day - were some of the most laid-back, friendliest concertgoers I've seen in years. It's impossible not to like the guy. I know that's more than three.
God, is it obvious that I hate all modern music?
William Michael Smith:
Under the Volcano is right around the corner from my humble abode, which means no parking issues, no drunk driving (although there is occasionally inebriated walking involved), a generally music-oriented crowd, seldom a cover charge, early 8 p.m. start and 10 p.m. finish times for a work night, so we tend to see most of the Wednesday shows there unless we're on assignment elsewhere or out of town.
Not only are there those pluses for us, it doesn't hurt that the club has a great knack for snaring national and regional acts on off nights. Since we've already listed our favorite Houston shows of the year, here are some memorable ones from a year of Under the Volcano Wednesdays that we didn't include in our other list.
- Chuck Prophet: Like the Rolling Stones playing your living room. Don't be whining about "the music scene" if you missed this one.
- Anne McCue: We weren't really sure how McCue would play here, and we were wondering if her live show would match up with her excellent album. She rocked it hard. Very hard indeed.
- Damon Bramblett: It was great to see Damon playing in Houston again. A savvy, gifted writer, picker, and singer, a few years back we thought he might be one of the few to claw his way out of Austin and on to the country music mainstream without watering himself down.
After shelving his career for a few years, it was great to see him back on the boards, doing what he seems to have been called to do. Find us anyone else who sneaks in a cover of Fred Neil's "Sugaree" and absolutely owns it.