Hopeless Jack & the Handsome Devil and Sun Blood Stories @ the Crux (12/5/12)

I had actually planned to stay in this night--had some projects for the day job that I wanted to put some work into.  Then I remembered that Keesha Renna's Vagabond Promotions had set up a special blues night at the Crux featuring hard-rocking Portland duo Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil.  After a bit of deliberation, I said, "Screw it.  The day job is always with you."

I counted a little over forty people when I got down to the Crux.  I arrived in time to observe a blues dance lesson that Keesha had helped arrange.  Looking back, starting the night with this was a brilliant move: it got the crowd pumped up and ready to dance by the time that the bands started playing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the entire night.  My disregard of the day job goes only so far.  Still, apologies to Matt Stone and Indecisive.

Sun Blood Stories kicked off the night's live music.  Their languorous grooves, slippery basslines and fiery guitar were exactly what the situation called for, and they all sounded in excellent form.  Ben Kirby worked his smoky, aching drawl so deftly that I'm now convinced he's one of the best singers in town.  Amber Pollard's girly backup vocals complemented Kirby's low moan nicely, and her tamborine helped accentuate the beat.  Drummer Brett Hawkins swung and stomped as if daring the crowd not to dance.  And in addition to playing bass, Andy Rayborn wandered amongst the crowd and let rip some wailing saxophone solos.

Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil played next.  This set emphasized slightly slower-tempo material than has been their norm, but that just encouraged the crowd to keep dancing.  It also showed that this duo is built for comfort and for speed.  Hopeless Jack Biesel's baritone growl sounded as ferocious as ever but also showed increased nuance and soulfulness.  Smilin' Pete Thomas worked a new ease and swing into his drumming without sacrificing any of his brute force.  It only took a handful of songs to get most of the audience on their feet.  By the time that HJ & THD played their full-throttle finale, just about everybody was dancing, clapping and whooping.  Friggin' glorious.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.

Like A Rocket, Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil and Parade of Bad Guys @ Grainey's Basement (7/5/12)

From what I gather, there was some good music getting played around town this First Thursday (congratulations to ORRiginal Promotions for their Red Room show).  I opted to check out this show at Grainey's Basement, which was set up by Keesha Renna's Vagabond Promotions and which featured Like A Rocket and mega-hard-rockin' blues duo Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil.

Quite a few people came down to Tom Grainey's, but most of them chose to hang out on the patio.  I can't honestly fault them for that: it got pretty friggin' warm in there.  Hopefully, some of the music travelled upstairs.

Like A Rocket started off the evening with a typically strong performance.  Speedy Gray's voice and guitar sounded in particularly good form, Max Klymenko kept the songs grooving along and Z.V. House got to show off his skills a little by playing and tuning at the same time.  Their set this night was composed entirely of newer material--even played a couple of songs that even I hadn't heard before.  Hopefully, they'll include some of this material on their upcoming album.

Next up was Portland-based Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil, who likewise turned in their typical raucous set.  At one point, Hopeless Jack quipped that he'd lost half his body weight when they played in Bend, OR the night before.  They probably lost a few pounds this night too: by the end, both halves of this team were thoroughly drenched in sweat.  It was good to see some folks venture downstairs to check these guys out.

HJ and drummer Smilin' Pete gave a couple of shout-outs to Parade of Bad Guys during their set.  I thought that right commendable, though it would've been nice if they'd thanked Like A Rocket also.  They may have just been too preoccupied.  In any case, I had to give them bonus points for covering one of my favorite blues songs (with a little rewriting), Robert Nighthawk's "Sweet Black Angel."

Local group Parade of Bad Guys closed out the night.  There set wasn't as intense or galvanizing as the other two bands', but that was probably for the best: it gave the audience a chance to mellow out a bit.  Which isn't to say that it didn't get them dancing and cheering too.  They delivered excellent guitar solos and a good groove throughout, and they did a decent cover of one of the greatest songs in the history of mankind: The Faces' "Ooh La La."  Part of me wonders if they got that song from Ooh La La or from Rushmore, but that doesn't really matter.  If any local group has the right to cover The Faces, this one does.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  And for any touring bands looking to book shows around Boise, you can contact Vagabond Promotions via Facebook, email Whatvagabond@hotmail.com or call 1 (208) 283-0259.

Wellspring & Honor, Hopeless Jack & the Handsome Devil and Parade of Bad Guys @ Grainey's Basement (5/3/12)

Funny how things can change over time.  I used to be kinda "meh" about Tom Grainey's--decent enough place, I thought, but not one of my go-to bars.  Starting with the Tango Alpha Tango/ Violet Isle show back in March, though, I've found that this bar has been putting on some outstanding live shows.  It probably helps that they've been working lately with my friend Keesha Renna of Vagabond Promotions.  Keesha ran the booking for the Red Room all last year, and she put together consistently superior shows there.

Keesha tipped me off via Facebook about this show at Grainey's Basement.  I grew particularly eager to see it when I saw that Portland, OR punk-blues duo Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil would be playing.  These guys blew the roof off the Red Room last year, but you wouldn't have known it from the stone-faced reception that they got from the crowd that night.  I figured I'd make sure that they got support from at least two people in the crowd this night.

Wellspring & Honor, a power trio based here in Boise, kicked off the show.  I found their casual, self-deprecating air quite agreeable when they bantered with the crowd, much less so when guitarist Marco Mancuso's high, breathy moan wandered off pitch or when their groove came a little unglued here and there.  Maybe driving up from a gig in San Francisco tired them out.  Maybe all the familiar faces in the crowd made them loosen up a bit too much (the bass player quipped that everyone in the audience was their personal friend).  Maybe they just had a couple too many at the bar before showtime.  Still, W&H played well enough to hint at just how good they can be when they're firing on all cylinders.  Their catchy melodies and pensive lyrics came accessorized with throbbing bass, droning riffs and ultra-syncopated drumming that, at times, evoked that Zen master of great rock drummers, Charlie Watts.

Next up were Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil, whose tossed-off instrumental jams packed more concentrated wallop than Wellspring and Honor's entire set did.  And they played those during their soundcheck.  When they really got underway, things got even wilder.


These guys combined the brute force of Led Zeppelin with the heedless, careening velocity of Hound Dog Taylor (the blues' answer to the Ramones).  Hopeless Jack's soulful, tough-as-nails baritone growl would have given Mike Ness larynx envy, and he matched it with his loud, dirty, heavy slide guitar (which he played so hard that, as he said when he stopped to retune it, he "knocked it down six keys").  Smilin' Pete backed his partner up with joyously rough backup vocals and fierce machine-gun drumming.  Like a good Walter Hill movie, they took the raw meat of the macho hoochie-coochie-man archetype, stuck its tounge firmly in its cheek, slapped it on the grill and cranked the heat all the way up.  It was heartening to see that this night's audience was much more receptive to their 120-proof take on the blues.

Local power trio Parade of Bad Guys respectably handled the unenviable task of following Hopeless Jack and the Handsome Devil.  The most telling moment in their night-closing set was their cover of Bob Dylan's "The Man In Me," which I'll bet that they took from The Big Lebowski rather than New Morning.  Lebowski sums up these guys pretty well: solidly crafted, more than slightly zonked out, not too serious or deep, damn good fun.  Their set consisted of friendly, goofy, drunken banter punctuated by sturdy, punky blues/rockabilly-based songs.  Lead singer Ben's plain, amiable groan (which had a hint of Kurt Cobain's raspy whine) and sharp, Billy Zoom-esque guitar enlivened original material like "Whiskey Drunk" and a Pac Man homage as well as their covers of Dylan and of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads."

You can find more info about these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  And for any touring bands/musicians out there: if you'd like to book some shows in Boise, you can contact Vagabond Promotions via Facebook, email Whatvagabond@hotmail.com or call 1 (208) 283-0259.