Isaac Slade of The Fray at the Frank Erwin Center photo by staff photographer jeff barringer

The Fray
Hometown: Denver, Co.
http://www.thefray.net/
The Fray Concert Photos
Monday, January 29, 2007
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
also: MuteMath

Moondog called to remind about this gig, and I want to thank him for helping me get the credentials to shoot this. Austin's Frank Erwin Center, known locally as the "Superdrum" or the Special Events Center, is the home to the University of Texas basketball program and, with a capacity of over 20,000 is the largest venue in Austin.

I got a close look at it when I registered for my U.T. classes as a freshman. The paint was still relatively fresh, Ronald Reagan was still president, and the lines of students wandering through its halls seemed endless. Over the years have seen an untold number of performances from both the cheap seats in the nosebleed section, all the way down to front row on the floor. Some of the bands I 've seen there include AC/DC (with Brian Jones), Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Genesis , Rush, Yes, Neil Young, the Moody Blues, Van Halen, and a host of other acts throughout the seventies, eighties, and nineties.

I'd never been behind the scenes for any of the SEC events, and it was good to get a guided tour from UT's publicity department as we were ushered into, around, and through the venue. I could swear we passed the same maintenance guy three times on the way to the stage. For this show, we would actually be escorted from shooting location to shooting location by UT staff who got us through the various levels of security, which is nice because I'm getting pretty tired of fighting my way to the stage every time.

Charlie Sexton at Antone's photo by staff photographer jeff barringer

Hometown: Austin, TX
http://www.charliesexton.com/
Charlie Sexton Concert Photos
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Antone's (Austin, Texas)
also: Hundred Year Flood

A long long time ago, in a decade far far away called "The Eighties," local (at that time) guitar hero Stevie Ray Vaughn and I were talking offstage one night. He had just finished a set opening for the then-hot Delbert McClinton at an Austin night club, now long gone, called Club Foot. This is back before he became "THE Stevie Ray Vaughn," and Stevie was still Austin's own private little secret.

We were chatting about some of the local musicians who he favored, and he mentioned that he was really impressed by this new kid known as "Little" Charlie Sexton. Charlie had been opening a number of sets at Antone's and other venues about town, and amazing people like Stevie with his prowess. At that time, Charlie was only thirteen or fourteen, and was already creating a strong buzz among Austin industry veterans, rightly being labeled a child prodigy. I made it a point to check out this guitar wunderkind, and after seeing him play at Antone's I, too, was impressed both with his skill with a guitar and with his look as well. With his Matt Dillon-like chiseled features, he had the look of a rock star.

Shortly after our chat, Stevie Ray Vaughn went on to fame and later misfortune, releasing his classic album Texas Flood, touring with David Bowie, and then much later dying tragically while en-route to play at Alpine Valley. Stevie's everlasting legacy is that his rise to stardom lifted all of Austin's musical boats, helping to make Antone's and Austin's live music scene legendary, and propelling a number of local artists into the national spotlight. Charlie Sexton, and to a lesser extent his equally talented younger brother Will Sexton, were direct benefactors of some of that legacy. Charlie went on to his own mainstream success with his 1985 album release of Pictures For Pleasure, released when he was just sixteen, charting the hit single "Beats So Lonely," and setting the hearts of thousands, if not millions, of teen girls aflutter.

Cris Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets and Dean DeLeo of Army of Anyone onstage at La Zona Rosa 1/20/07 photo by staff photographer jeff barringer

You hear about them happening, you hope it happens when you're there, but usually you hear about it afterwards and turn green with envy because you missed it. Every once in a great while, completely unannounced, and to the surprise of the crowd and often the venue, a great band shows up at someone else's gig and wants to jam. I often talk about the Mick and Keith showing up at Antone's many years ago and jamming, and how I missed it, and how envious I was of the guys that were there and got to taste a little bit of history. It never seemed to happen at any of the shows I attended. Until tonight.

I got an invite to cover the Army of Anyone show (ex-Filter and Stone Temple Pilots members) at La Zona Rosa from the band, and when I set out on a cold, drizzly Saturday evening, I was pretty much plugged in to it being just another show, albeit by a really great band, but nothing with what could be termed "historical" significance.

When I arrived I found it was just me, Jay West and Sean Claes from Insite magazine working the photo pit, but something was odd. There was a buzz, an electricity running through the air that you could smell, taste, and feel. Asking around a bit, weird rumors abounded about surprise guests showing up at the soundcheck asking to jam with the band. Cornering a couple of my Direct Events contacts at the venue, they quickly fessed up, confirming that there were in fact to be special guests, unannounced guests, and that Army of Anyone would be jamming with the legendary, newly reformed, Meat Puppets, Curt Kirkwood, his brother Cris Kirkwood, with Ted Marcus from NYC who is the drummer on the upcoming record.

And that is exactly what happened.

Midway through their set, they stopped, invited the Puppets onstage, jammed with them on one song, then let them wail away on their own for their next. Awesome. Incredible. Historic.

After the set I got a chance to talk with both Curt and Cris and they confirmed for me a forthcoming album, a Meat Puppet documentary AND they will be appearing at Austin's upcoming SXSW 2007, although plans are very rough at this point. Look for a video interview with the Puppets real soon!

Cris, Curt, glad to have you back... you have been missed!

Watch for a review of this show by Alexis Allo soon!
Check out the full set of images in Our Concert Photo Gallery

Please Note: This article has been corrected thanks to input from our readers. Earlier we incorrectly identified the drummer for this set as Derrick Bostrom, it was in fact Ted Marcus.

Meat Puppets onstage at La Zona Rosa 1/20/07 - photo by staff photographer jeff barringer

Brandon Boyd of Incubus at La Zona Rosa photo by staff photographer jeff barringer

Hometown: Los Angeles, Ca.
http://www.enjoyincubus.com/
Incubus Concert Photos
Saturday, January 18, 2007
La Zona Rosa (Austin, Texas)
also: Albert Hammond Jr.

Fans of the band Incubus got a real treat this week when they brought their HUGE entourage (I counted four buses, two semis and at least two vans) into Austin's La Zona Rosa nightclub, in what for them would be considered an intimate set.

Parking wasn't the only thing that was limited as anyone approaching the venue was destined to be accosted by roving gangs of ticketless teenage girls.

Seriously.

I got asked well over 100 times if I had extra tickets, and what tickets were available from the few scalpers were going for $200 and up. One individual was turned away after buying a phony "will call" for $500 off of EBay. According to James Wetz, member of Direct Events publicity team, the online tickets for the show sold out in an incredible 12 seconds.

Mike Einziger of Incubus at La Zona Rosa photo by staff photographer jeff barringer

Was the show worth it? Certainly the hard core Incubus fans that got in thought so, but what did they get for their money? An incredibly tight performance by Incubus for one thing. Both the sound mix, and the band's performance, were album perfect and flawless. Fans also got a set list to die for. Interspersing songs from their new Light Grenade album with songs many would consider their "greatest hits," the band started off slowly with "Quicksand," then launched into "Kiss to Send Us Off," and then "Wish You Were Here."

Our three songs expended, we photographers were shooed out of the pit, and I left the venue to secure my cameras. I missed "Have You Ever" and "Paper Shoes," but the walk to my vehicle was accompanied by the off key singing of the ticketless teen girls' choir that had formed outside the venue gates.

I returned just in time to catch them mid-song in "Anna Molly" from the new album. They kept on playing, stopping to switch to acoustic for "New Skin" and "Drive." Other crowd favorites included "When it Comes," "Dig," and "A Crow Left of Murder," as well as both "Light Grenades" and "Earth To Bella" from the new disc.

Brandon Boyd of Incubus at La Zona Rosa photo by staff photographer jeff barringer

By the time Incubus moved into their encore, the show was well over an hour, and they finished up their set with "Pendulous Threads," "Pistola," and "Megalomaniac," doing a total of nineteen songs. The audience was ecstatic, crowd surfing the entire night. Incubus has a very complex and intricate sound that pushes the boundaries beyond the mainstream "pop" world, begging, borrowing, and stealing from a variety of genres. It was neat to see them shift back and forth from pop, to metal, to hip hop, and do it so effortlessly and note perfectly. I don't think anyone was left disappointed.

I was not able to cover the opener, Albert Hammond Jr., touring solo rather than with the rest of The Strokes. He sounded pretty good from the bar .

It was great to run into Jay West and Moondog working the show; it's always fun to compare notes and pictures side by side. Thanks to James Wetz and Emily at Direct Events for hooking me up with the photo pass and to the guys in Incubus for letting me shoot their show.

Chris Kilmore and Mike Einziger of Incubus at La Zona Rosa - photo by staff photographer jeff barringer