Whenever I leave my camera home, I always see a great band

I deliberately left my camera home last night when I went to see The T's at Slim's, because I've documented them several times, and kind of wanted a night off. That was a mistake, because the band who opened for them, The Lonely H from Port Angeles, Washington, was pretty extraordinary -- a '70s symphonic-rock extravaganza unlike anything I've seen around here. I've you've been in Slim's for the past month, you've probably seen the Led Zeppelin I-looking poster with the five hair-bears all huddled together under the word HAIR. Well, that's them, and that poster pretty much sums them up in more ways than one. They are hairy, though they're so young, it looked like only one of them could sprout hair on his face. And they have some very distinct Zep influences, though honestly I heard more Zep on their CD, particularly one song that came a little too close to "That's the Way." Both Stephen and Martin said they reminded them of Meatloaf, which is fitting because all their songs had this powerhouse rock-opera quality a la "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." The guitars owed a lot to Queen and Thin Lizzy. And just to hammer that last point home they even covered, and nailed, "Cowboy Song." It really is too bad I didn't get footage of them, because they really were one of the best bands I've seen around here in a while. The T's rocked as usual. Seriously, they get better and better each time I see them. Thanks also to Rick Cornell for mentioning the blog in this week's Indy.