First Night in the Zoo City

The first highlight of First Night was hearing Dave Thomas reading his poetry at the Dana Gallery. I had greeted him often on Higgins, but didn't know his name until I saw him with his Festival of the Book name tag. The gallery talks at Dana are always exceptional. I bought Dave's book, Buck's Last Wreck, an original 1996 print with the original low price, and he signed it. He reminds me of Gary Snyder, and, indeed, Dave said Gary inspired him.

The Festival of the Book was another well-planned Missoula event. I have some images of other Montana writers I captured, which should be on this site soon.
I enjoy Tom and the Tomatoes. To see them during two other events, look for that name among the sets on the flickr archive. There's also a set, which matches the title of this post. There you will find more photos of my three favorites from First Night. This feisty group was the second.





Thomas Pendarvis and March of the Black Queen jump started the new year. That makes my favorite three, in chronological order.

I saw Bethany, another graduate of Good Neighbor Policy. I had just missed hearing one of her new bands, Pillar Saints. She said the other band, Wartime Blues, would be playing the Badlander, Tuesday, January 13, 2009. There is a set of Wartime Blues on the flickr archive.

Missoula events.net is the place to look for up to the minute action in zoo city. KBGA is the hip campus station. I'm embarrassed by how long it took me to find out there was more than the NPR station on campus.

Badlander Hosts Another Benefit

Thomas Pendarvis brought his new band, March of the Black Queen, to the Badlander to open the Saturday night benefit concert. I had seen a couple of practice sessions, at Dauphine's and knew Thomas was a tough taskmaster in rehearsal. Thomas' intensity paid off handsomely, as the band hit its mark and did its best to blow the roof off. This is not Good Neighbor Policy renamed, although GNP was a great band, and some members are also in this group. There is also a veteran of Arrows to the Sun. If I remember correctly, that band gave its farewell concert at the Bike Doctor's place on Toole. GNP said its good-byes on this same stage, and I covered that in a previous post.



Rooster Sauce was up next. The count was looking debonair and his partner was looking pugnacious. I praised this group highly for their covers of Ween material for Halloween (see earlier post), when they appeared in the Palace.

Farewell

Good Neighbor Policy, with the exception of Bethany Joyce, is leaving town. Thomas Pendarvis will stay in town for a while to train his replacement at Dauphine's, before joining the band in Bellingham. The good-bye event was held at the Badlander Friday, and the band celebrated with an outstanding performance, while their fans gave them a tremendous send off. The Apples of Discord opened the evening, and Victory Smokes followed with a vigorous set.

Check the flickr archive for more images of GNP, Cale and the Victory Smokes.

The Missoulian once said this might be the best band in Missoula. There can be no doubt they ranked in the top echelon. The grumbling about GNP, from other bands, must be professional jealousy. No one else can do what Thomas does up front, and Bethany is amazing on the cello.























It's a business decision for the band to seek more opportunity in the Seattle area, but I hate to see them go. Sometime in the future, I hope you will also see more pictures of GNP, taken in Washington State, after they are up and running there, and after I make the money for gas.


A young woman, with a point-and-shoot, squeezed between me and the stage. She thrust her camera into my view, and I played a bit catching her LCD screen and the band in the same frame. I considered moving to the other side of the stage for a different angle, but the crowd was thick and in full swing, and I was feeling too old for that battle. I took one more shot of the band with one of their avid fans and bid the Badlander a fond good night.

Getting friendly with Dead Hipsters at the Badlander

Good Neighbor Policy proved they are more than just a rock band with a cello, as they played during the Friend x 3 Fest at the Badlander, without the cello, delivering a crisp set. Thomas Pendarvis showed his usual dashing style up front.

The only disappointment was the lack of listeners. Dead Hipster put together 24 bands, at the Badlander, for three nights of diverse, lively sounds and few showed to enjoy it. Local favorites alternated with bands from around the country in an event dedicated to friendship. What more could anyone want?


Here's Cale, playing with Apples of Discord, on Thursday.
And below, he plays with the hermans, on Saturday.


Does anybody call this fellow anything other than "the count?" And can he be mentioned without adding that he played with the International Playboys? I don't know the answer to the first, but the latter is answered with a no. For some reason the IP are stuck in the consciousness of local music fans. Given enough time, the hermans will overshadow IP and become a legend on their own.




Amanda was looking very stylish with a hat, as she played bass with Wolf Redboy on Friday of the Friends Fest. I suspect the highlight for her, however, came on the first night, when she was delighted to have her picture taken with the Oscar-winning song writers from the movie Once. They had performed as the Swell Season earlier in the evening, at the Wilma.

Glen Hansard, on the left, had some knowledge of cameras and an interest in photography. He had noticed my shooting without a flash earlier in the evening and asked what kind of results I was after.

I used the flash, bouncing it off the ceiling for this of him, his partner and Amanda.


A quick summary: three days of exciting music and few to appreciate it. My advice: quit watching American Idol. Get out and see some live and local music.

PBR flashback--the first of several, probably

One positive aspect of the Other Side is their lighting. Photography is all about the light, and some photographers work very hard to get it right. During the PBR Performance Series, I began to play with it, because I'm too lazy to work. I had been shooting the bands, with great diligence, trying to get full group shots and each member individually, as well. The lighting made that easier here than in some venues. Then I turned my focus on the crowd and colored lights, and photojournalism took a fine art turn.

Good Neighbor Policy is a band I like, and I feel they have not had their due on this blog. Here are a few more images to make up for that, and there are more in the archive, with more coming soon.



One of the local papers (I can't tell them apart) said GNP was possibly the best band in Missoula.
I don't want to argue the point, since they are damned good and definitely one of the best bands in Missoula, but the local scene is exploding with talent and originality, making best a difficult label to hand out.

Reverend Slanky won the PBR championship to claim the title of best band. Again, I will say damned good and one of the best, but...

Here they celebrate their victory.

Full Saturday with Prelude

Prelude

Live and Local! That's the best way to get your music fix.

The prelude is over, and about time, too.

Saturday





A proud mother told me her sons were on stage. From her, I learned Austin is the man in the brown t-shirt next to Kyle, and his brother Dillon is working the turntable. Kyle and Austin do some energetic call and response duets.

I was delighted the Inhumans refused to compromise their creative integrity, charging right into "Fuck no, we never landed on the moon." They also did "let's put the geee back in geee-sus."



The next stop was the Elks Club for the Lolo Community Garage Benefit. The Lolo Community Garage has a sliding scale of charges for mechanical repairs based on the customers ability to pay. These mechanics keep cars running for families who need them but ordinarily couldn't afford such service.


Timeslide Oct,2008 Bethany now plays with Wartime Blues, a band just added to my favorites list and one you should hear if you haven't already. Timeslide continues below as Thomas Pendarvis performs his signature move. Thomas has a new band called March of the Black Queen. Most of GNP moved to Bellingham, some returned and some are with the new band.