Videos from The Lonely H and Sikamor Rooney!

I've decided that rain is the worst thing that could happen to a band playing in Raleigh. Seriously, Raleigh rockers will brave snow, sleet or just freezing cold, but if it rains, they stay the hell home. This fact of life was not good for either The Lonely H or Sikamor Rooney, both of whom soldiered on through great sets to a sparse crowd at Slim's on a Sunday night. The first time I saw The Lonely H, I thought they were amazing. The second time, I thought they were struggling to make up for the loss of their second guitarist. Last night, they were back to amazing. It's too bad only a few of us saw them. Here's Video of "The Meal": New York's Sikamor Rooney probably appreciated the low-key vibe because they played sitting down, due to some sort of exhaustion from the night before. I think it worked for them. Check out the video for "I'll Level with You." See more photos here!

Win a night on the town from Random Thoughts!

Though I dare say, $100 won't touch the bar tabs of some people I know. Check out the Random Thoughts blog.

A fun, then weird night in downtown Raleigh

First things first, someone followed me as I drove home from downtown last night. I had the good sense not to drive home, but what I should have done was call 911. If you know me on myspace, the details are there. Just be careful when you're walking or driving down there late at night. Now, on to the fun part of the evening. The Suburban Sweethearts (pictured above) totally rocked Slim's last night. My understanding is that the most recent indy compared them to The James Gang and Foghat. I don't hear that at all. Instead I hear a whole lot of MC5 with some Flamin' Groovies thrown in. Check out the video from the show. Opening band The Booze, from Atlanta, was an awesome, tight homage to the Nuggets box set, and they're all snappy dressers too. Check out the video for "Hey Amy." More photos here.

Belated videos from Rockin' the Park

OK, it's no secret that Durham is not one of my favorite places. I worked over there for 5 years, so whenever I go, I always feel this sort of left-over stress. I really need to get over that because it's home to a really exciting, self-sustaining grassroots scene.

Sunday was Rockin' the Park, a day-long festival organized by Kim Gray at the Durham Farmer's Market. Dogs and kids were everywhere, and Chef Shirle sold vegan hummus and black bean wraps. A torrential downpour during Sawteeth McTweedy's set added a bit of nervous excitement -- especially when I saw that the power cord for the PA was literally underwater. Having fun, for me anyway, does not equal being electrocuted. But all went well, and I got two videos, one of The Virgo 9 (see above) and one of Sawteeth McTweedy. Seriously check out the downpour in the background of that video.

Video of The T's and The Names!

Last night I went to Slim's and saw The T's for what seems like the 1,000th time. And once again they totally rocked me. Seriously, I've run out of things to say about The T's. They rock. You should see them. You should buy their tape (or, rather, their CD). You should take a look at the following videos. And if you like what you see, you should see the band at Weesefest on July 3 at the Pour House. (The T's -- "Smoker Friendly") (The T's -- "Goin' Nowhere." Don't know what I was thinking here. I know the song has a longer ending live, but for some reason I stopped shooting before they finished.)The opening band was The Names, about whom I don't know much. I believe they're from Maryland. They had a really cool Plimsouls/Knack thing going on, right down to the matching outfits. Here's their video. UPDATE: Here's their myspace page. See more photos of the show here.