A week after the fact, but I thought I'd share a few pictures and thoughts from the Terrible Twos I helped put on here in Phoenix.
First, Matt Pryor and his Terrible Twos bassist Eric McCann are, unsurprisingly, really nice guys. That's one of the nice things about this genre -- I have this mental picture of the music scene for adults being rife with ugly personalities, and I just haven't seen that at all in this genre. Anyway, Matt and Eric are down-to-earth guys; some people you know are lawyers, some are teachers, and some happen to write or play music for a living. Matt and Eric are in that last category.
WooTwoZooTube! (Or, The Terrible Twos in Phoenix, Now on Video)
The Terrible Twos (or, at least, Matt Pryor and Eric McCann) put on a great show last night at Phoenix's Modified Arts. I'll have a recap with photos up soon, I hope, but in the meantime, here's 19 minutes of video from the show, featuring songs from both their albums, split up into 8 tiny nuggets.
The Terrible Twos - "Old Man Miller"
"A song about a porcupine..."
Have I Told You Lately the Terrible Twos Are In Town?
OK, I probably have. But, you know, I tell you all about shows like Kidzapalooza or the KC Jiggle Jam and nobody seems to mind that much, so why should I be so worried about telling you about a Phoenix show most of you won't get to see (live, anyway).
So for those of you who might not care about tomorrow's show because they're, like, 1,000 miles away, here's a stellar interview with Terrible Twos main man Matt Pryor. It's only maybe a quarter about the Twos (as opposed to Pryor's solo album), but there's also some great stuff on there about what it's like to be a working musician with family. Oh, and there are some mp3s from the first album plus some demos definitely worth checking out.
And just so you don't forget: Wednesday, Aug. 20th -- the Terrible Twos at Modified Arts (407 E. Roosevelt) in Phoenix. Doors at 5:30; show at 6:00. Tickets just $5 for adults, $3 for kids...
Ralph's World In Arizona, Presented By...
OK, not me. Next time, I hope. I can't help present every show. (Time for the unsubtle reminder that the Terrible Twos show, presented by, yes, Zooglobble, is next Wednesday, August 20th at 6 PM. Details here.)
But I am happy that Ralph Covert is heading down to Tucson with his band. That's right, on Saturday, November 8th, Tucson's Rialto Theatre will host Ralph's World in concert, doors at 10:30, show at 11:00, tickets $16 each. The show is being presented by Mrs. Tiggy Winkles, a Tucson toy store which carries a nice selection of kids music. Plus, they also have link for the bathroom.
And, apropos of nothing other than I saw the embedded video, which I'd somehow not seen before, for Ralph's wonderful "We Are Ants," here's a video.
Ralph's World - "We Are Ants"
Recess Monkey - Live At Modified Arts
OK, it's not quite Live At Budokan, and I'm definitely no Scorcese or Demme, but I've got 12+ minutes of video from Recess Monkey's show at Phoenix's Modified Arts. One's below, four more after the jump.
Recess Monkey - "S-L-Double-E-P-Over"
Drew's foot reminds me, vaguely, of the Robert Klein "I can't stop my leg" bit.
Concert Review: Recess Monkey (Phoenix, August 2008)
Recess Monkey have come and gone, but I'd be remiss if I didn't post a few photos from the show, along with my thoughts. (It should be noted that since I, well, presented the show, this really isn't a "review.")
Readers who've already purchased the band's latest disk, Tabby Road, will recognize the band's iconic Honda Element and trailer. OK, perhaps it's not really iconic, but maybe it'll become like Abbey Road and find itself in hundreds of thousands of pictures as the years go by. Hey, wait, guys -- they totally need to ship that thing to London and have it photographed crossing the Abbey Road intersection. How mind-blowing would that be?
OK, not really at all, but still, kinda cool.
Anyway, the band got to Modified about 1:30, got set up, and waited for the throngs to arrive. And sure enough, by 3 PM, there was a healthy crowd of people (not quite full, but definitely not empty, ready to rock out.
Actually, with the air conditioning not being very strong on a 114-degree day, there was comparatively little rocking out, though one of the fun parts of seeing a band live after they've played songs for a while was seeing how the audience interaction developed -- "Down Down Down" and "Boogie Monster" are two songs that really do lend themselves to crowd participation. And of course, the band sounded really good live.
After close to an hour of playing, the band wrapped up with "Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road." We had dinner at the grandparents' to get to, so we didn't literally see them off, but you can find out much more about the day at the band's ever-amusing tour blog.
Thanks very much to the band for making room in their schedule for Phoenix. It was a great show. We hope it's not the last time -- as the band's suggested before, spring training makes for an excellent excuse to visit the Valley of the Sun.
More photos after the jump, and videos from the show later today.