Putting on the Ritz for Halloween

The Ritz is one of Missoula's grand old buildings, and home to several businesses, including the Badlander, the Palace, the Golden Rose and the Savoy. The guys on the doors want to see those wrist bands.



Themes bounced back through town, going from Minneapolis to Portland this time. They've made the trip many times, but hope to reduce travel time by moving to Portland. Tonight, they opened festivities in the Palace.



Olivia crept in for a shot of Themes, while another photographer faced the stage. Both may be seen in the previous post, regarding Black Velvet Elvis.

In the streets, I find a scary clown and a woman with multi-colored eyes.

My friends, Ruthie and Kyle, are also there.

Adelaide, from Ceretano's Studio is a member of Rooster Sauce, along with the Count.
The Count has a flair for the dramatic, which sometimes detracts from the music. This night, I thought the pitch was a tough one, to cover Ween for Halloween. Rooster Sauce knocked it out of the park with a dead-on blast. In fact, this was one time when Reverend Slanky got upstaged by the downstairs.



A triumph!

Reverend Slanky wound up the celebration in the Badlander.
I don't remember seeing a woman sing with the group until now.





Some folks showed up in both the Badlander and the Palace, while others picked their level and settled in. V darted around some, while Mary and Joseph held their spots in front of the Badlander stage.

I made my way home about 2am and downloaded 320 photos. Almost half of those may be found in the flickr archive.

Halloween in the Zoo City, part 1

I was not the only Uncle Sam. There were at least four others in the Ritz Building, up and down, in the Palace and the Badlander. Two were obvious counterfeits, but this guy seemed to be the real deal.


Black Velvet Elvis said this was their last performance. Joe was already gone, Tony was planning his move to the east, and Olivia finally admitted she's moving to Portland. I know bands leave Missoula for bigger scenes all the time, and I still say, if all those bands had stayed here, this would be THE SCENE. BVE combined a ton of talent into a driving trio, one of my favorite groups on the scene. I saw them first on the eve of Valentine's Day, at the Loft, and twice at the Other Side, during the PBR Performance Series, last spring. I've tried to see them every time I could since then.





Olivia gave parting gifts to her loyal fans, including these panties with the phrase, "Shut Up and Fuck," in fancy script. I scored a t-shirt and felt very lucky to have a souvenir. Check the flickr archive for more images of this performance and the audience here.

Tuesday at the Ritz

Wartime Blues Powers Snowghost Party

Tuesday may not be a convenient night to see bands, but the Badlander and the Palace packed two high powered line-ups in the old Ritz Building, last Tuesday. Both were well worth the price of admission. The Snowghost party, in the Palace, featured bands who recorded in their Whitefish studio.

I made a point of getting downstairs early for Wartime Blues, because they brought in an impenetrable crowd last time around, and while I heard a sound I liked, I didn't see much, leaving without a single band photo. Bethany, who played cello with Good Neighbor Policy, is now part of this band, along with a drummer I photographed playing behind Wolf Redboy, some time ago.

This band has been added to my list of favorites. Down-home folksy, charming and rocking with a large assortment of instruments, including acoustic guitar w/pu, electric guitar, electric bass, stand-up bass, keyboards, drums, cello, banjo and mandolin.






BVE at the Badlander

Upstairs...
Olivia happily introduced several new songs, as well as presenting old favorites with new tempos. She's a major talent, and Tony can still play that ax, but I miss Joe.



And that was all I could handle of the evening, because I'm an old man and it was past my bedtime.

Letting Off Steam

Confession: sometimes I have anger issues. I can't watch faux news, for example. Software updates annoy me, and everybody is doing it. I hated Microsoft back when windows was the only culprit putting my computer out of commission during deadline work. Now, the web browser updates, my Adobe programs update (sometimes good; sometimes not), Apple programs I never use update, security system updates and, of course, windows still updates. All of these updates are capable of damaging other sub-systems, disappearing passwords or directories. I hate'em all. The worst are those that start a countdown to tell you when the system will restart to complete the the installation process.

The rich have become so arrogant as to ridicule the poor. It's one of those let-them-eat-cake moments. Four years ago, I couldn't believe the GOP got away with ridiculing all veterans wounded in the line of duty, with some crass joking at their convention. This year, I couldn't even watch for fear of bursting a blood vessel. The ruling class now laughs at the problems of common people.

Another confession: I can't come close to staying up all night, anymore. In fact, I haven't shut down a club in weeks. I couldn't stay up for the headliners at BVE's CD release party. I tried, but I couldn't. I did arrive in time to catch three lively tunes by Tater Pig, the opening band.


Ok, another thing that pisses me off is the discussion over which side to take with Russia and Georgia. Much more important is accepting that thieves lied us into the Iraq mess, and ending that war ASAP!

A million Iraqi civilians have died, because the people who start wars don't die in them, only the innocent do. Our tax dollars have been used to demolish another nation. The Republic is over; we are empire.

Joe Leaves BVE

Who's missing? Joe is, because he is leaving Black Velvet Elvis. He's being coy about his reasons for leaving and about what he may do next. It isn't a stretch to assume he will be playing with another band in the future, but with whom and where? Rumor has it, he is contemplating a move to Portland.

Olivia can still sing, and Tony can play the guitar. That's a double understatement, because they are both terrific at what they do, but without Joe, BVE loses some impact. A drum machine is no substitute.

Joe will play with the group, for one more outing, during Total Fest. His congenial manner has made him popular on the scene, and everyone wishes him well with whatever he does next.