Yes, I'm still here

(Backwoods Payback)

I've been a bit MIA lately. Not really going out at all since the Cough show. There are lots of reasons for that, one of which is that I'm now heavily involved in The Beehive Collective, a giving circle composed of young (ish) Raleigh women (mostly) who support progressive causes. If you're Facebook friends with me, or if you follow me on Twitter, you've seen my appeals to new members during our Membership Drive. If you're interested in knowing more about us, let me know. 

I did actually go out on Friday, which was a night in which -- music wise -- you really couldn't win and you really couldn't lose. There were two great shows in Raleigh, a great show in Chapel Hill and a great show in Durham. No matter what you chose to do, you saw a great metal band. And no matter what you chose to do, you missed at least three other great metal bands. 

I started off the evening at a house party where I saw Richmond garage punk band Human Smoke  and local sleaze rock genius the Infamous Sugar. This was my first time seeing Suge in a while, so I hadn't heard his new Hot Dog song, but it definitely got all the metal heads singing, and has been stuck in my head for two days. 

During Human Smoke's set I was asked not to take photos, which is weird because now that I look at their Myspace page they have all kinds of videos on there. Not sure what was up with that, but it worked out because I honestly wasn't in the mood to take pictures anyway, and what I got was pretty crappy. 

We missed Might Could (who, I heard, rocked) and went to Slim's for Backwoods Payback, an awesome Southern-style sludgy band from Pennsylvania. Again, I just wasn't in the mood to take pictures. The only thing I got that I liked was the total accident at the top of this page. 

I'll be out again soon. Will definitely be at Agalloch on March 20 at Kings, and I will be at Neil Young on April 15. Don't expect photos from that one! Still debating whether or not to make the Tuesday night trek to Greensboro for Saint Vitus. I also really want to see Batillus, Hull and Caltrop on March 23 at Reservoir, but may actually skip out on that to see Prince at RBC Center. We shall see what happens. 

Weekend party favors

I had a lazy weekend that stupidly included golfing in Sunday's 101 degree heat, but I did manage to catch some rock. These videos are from two parties honoring some folks you know if you hang out at Slim's a lot.

The first one, from Friday's birthday party for Slim's bartender Olivia, is the Infamous Sugar doing a very special cover song. I really wish I'd gotten video of Suge's new song, "Coke Zero," about, in his words, the sorry state of cocaine in this town. That was clearly the crowd favorite.


The Infamous Sugar from Mann's World on Vimeo.

The second video is The Loners doing "Soulshaker" at Mike and Allie's wedding party on Sunday, also at Slim's. That was a really fun early show, made even more entertaining by watching Eddie Taylor's little girl dance wildly while watching her daddy play. I didn't capture any of it in this video, but it was very sweet to watch. She's a lucky little girl to grow up with such a cool dad.

On a related note, I did an interview with Eddie not too long ago, and will have it online soon. After doing the 5 questions thing for so long, it was good to sit down and have an in-depth conversation, but I'd forgotten what a pain it is to actually write the thing. Maybe I should just have a video podcast where I interview people, Charlie Rose-style.


"Soulshaker" by The Loners from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Send good thoughts to Suge

The Infamous Sugar will NOT be playing the New Raleigh showcase this Friday because he has double pneumonia! So send him good thoughts, and check him out the next time he plays.

Five Questions with The Infamous Sugar

Check it out: My Five questions with the Infamous Sugar on New Raleigh!

Quick and dirty with The Sugar

Just got back from seeing The Sugar, who managed to win over some tough critics at Sadlack's with his selection of bawdy originals and re-worked dirty versions of various covers. It's been a long weekend, so I'm just going to put this up straight: Here's his version of George Clinton's "Pussy." Enjoy! BTW, this is the barstool view. Not sure if you can see the downpour outside, but you should be able to see the various rain-bedraggled drunks who kept walking by.

(VIDEO DELETED)

Raleigh's new favorite band ...

... is The Sugar, judging by the reception this one-man band's bawdy Nuggets-style keyboard-rock got last night at Slim's. Imagine a cross between Ray Manzarek and Blowfly, and you have a good idea of what he's all about. (Credit to Mike Spence for coming up with the Manzarek part of that description).

I Was Totally Destroying It from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Check out the video

Download The Sugar's theme song here.