Interesting things happen when the camera stays home

Last night I decided to go out to Tir na Nog sans camera because I'd seen both Magic Babies and the Huguenots before and didn't necessarily think I needed to capture them again. That was a big mistake because the Huguenots, who were playing their third show of the day, were on it. I've described them as Nuggets-style before, but really they're much more mod with clean hooks, beautiful vocal harmonies and snappy Ringo-style drums. I still have "Julia" stuck in my head this morning.

I think the Magic Babies were good -- at least what I heard was good. Right before they came on, someone swiped my companion's phone from the little fake wall in Tir na Nog, and the next hour was spent in chaos trying to locate it. We knew it had to be the creepy guy who wouldn't leave us alone earlier, so we told Chris Tamplin, who has single-handedly made Tir na Nog a good place to hang out rather than just a cheesy Irish bar. Chris, and another guy named Chris Church, took off after the creepy guy and found him with the phone at Woody's,where they apprehended him and held him until the police arrived. So, if you see either Chris at Tir na Nog, congratulate them and buy them a beer, because Raleigh needs more people who not only book great music, but actually look out for their customers when trouble happens.

Sweethearts go Static

Last night was the debut of Static Minds, which is essentially Suburban Sweethearts with The T's Andy Kerr on second guitar. I sort of assumed both bands would sound similar, but in fact Static Minds are much heavier. They certainly won over the crowd at Slim's. And a certain friend of mine remarked that Lucius is the only man in town who can get away with wearing a neckerchief. Here's a very dark video of the first song. Opening up were The Huguenots from Chapel Hill, who have a '60s mod quality similar to The Names and The Booze, two great not-local bands I got to see this year. They're the ones who listed The Barbarians' "Moulty" as an influence. I got to the show after they began, so I don't know if they played that song or not, but I will personally buy each member of the band a PBR if they play it the next time I see them. Actually, I'll go ahead and put that offer out to any band in the Triangle. The only stipulations are that I have to be warned ahead of time so I can shoot video, and I will only do it once. And the drummer has to sing. Actually, the more I think about this, it might be better to have Sir Arthur do this song, and have Trent Bowles sing. Anyway, here's video of The Huguenots. The Magic Babies headlined the show, but because I had to work early this morning, I cut out before Static Minds had finished.