Austin Dazed

This past Saturday, I saw another special performance by Austin's premier Grateful Dead tribute band, DeadEye, at The ABGB. This show was a celebration of the band's 15th anniversary, and both the band and their audience made sure that it was an especially high-energy show. I arrived part way into the first set, but got there in time for a rocking version of Chuck Berry's "Promised Land". The second set included fun covers such as The Meters' "Hey Pocky Way" and Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away". The band also did a great job on Dead classics like "The Wheel", "The Other One", and "Uncle John's Band". They finished with sing-along encores of "Ripple" and "Playin In The Band". The Austin Grateful Dead Jamily realizes that we are very fortunate to have a band as good as DeadEye based in our city, and I think that I am not alone in wishing for many more anniversary shows in future years.

Larry "Buck" Baldauf

This past Friday I saw a couple of outstanding performances at RADIO EAST by two of Austin's best tribute bands.

First up was A Live One, a Phish tribute band. I am not actually much of a Phish fan, but I really enjoy this band's take on the music, mainly because I love the musicians in the band. The band includes Josh Pearson on guitar and vocals, Andy Harn on bass and vocals, and Zack Morgan on keyboards and vocals. I enjoyed the set, and even though I was not familiar with most of their songs, I admired the interplay between the band's members and their ability to bring Phish's music to life.

Then came Cream Cheese Accident, (obviously) a String Cheese Incident tribute band. I am much more of a String Cheese fan, in fact, I am looking forward to seeing them perform six sets at Bender Jamboree in Las Vegas later this week. This Austin tribute band is also made up of great musicians, including Eddie Robbins on acoustic guitar and vocals, Keither Perkins on electric guitar, Mile Altgelt on bass and vocals, Zack Morgan on keyboards and vocals, and Enzo Loechel on drums and vocals. They did a fantastic job of showing the wide range of musical styles of String Cheese, as well as emulating their four unique-sounding lead vocalists. The set included fun covers such as Rusty Wier's "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance" and Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer", along with String Cheese classics like "Rosie" and "Let's Go Outside".

There were a bunch of Austin Jamily friends in attendance at the show, as well as a large contingent from Houston. Radio/East is one of my favorite Austin venues, and we all had a lot of fun dancing and carrying on during this fantastic evening of music.

Larry "Buck" Baldauf