Flanfire

Will Rhodes and John Pfirman of Youngmond Grand; Brian Dyer and Zach Firnhaber from Crawling with Kings; Jet Mullen (with Zach) of Emily Sparks; Clint Myers of Youngmond Grand -- all at Beerland. John and Robby from Moonlight Towers and Courtney, Will and Lily from Brothers and Sisters -- all at the Continental Club.

Okay - so I ducked out of the Slowtrain set to run to the Continental to catch Brothers and Sisters (before a PACKED house!) -- my very first time to hear this band whose music sounds like MY younger daze. The Courtney kids -- Will and Lily -- and Courtney Chavanell lead the singing, and there are lots of other band members on stage (reminiscent of Greezy Wheels, but not so decadent!). That Will Courtney writes some songs -- "Old Love Letters" (does anyone really write these any more -- though I remember writing passionate and very long letters the first time I was away from my future bride for a few days), "Sunday Morning Seven Days a Week," and on and on -- but did anyone ever say the sound is reminiscent of America and that wonderful "Sister Golden Hair" (which of course brings us back to Lily). I have to hear more of this band -- my kind of music, flowers in the hair, beads, and that peaceful easy feeling [the real one].

I was going to stick around for more of Moonlight Towers, but after a blown guitar amp stopped the band in its tracks after their very first song, I opted to head back to Beerland and caught a couple of songs from Crawling with Kings (in between conversational moments with Slowtrain birthday boy Andy Keating and his entourage) before settling down for a rare opportunity to catch Youngmond Grand (who go on the road again next week). I mean, they started right out with "I Like to Break Guitars," moved right into "Don't Hit So Hard," "Better Machine," "Not What You Said," and (sadly) only two or three more. Okay, the lyrics here are bleak and blunt -- but the music reminds me of the Cure (or New Order) on speed (walking over to Beerland there I noted that Elvis on Speed was playing next door).

I met songwriter-vocalist-guitarist Clint Myers over a year ago at the club currently known as "The Mohawk," but only got to see YG months later at Trophy's (not the best venue for what they do). Bandmates include the versatile Will Rhodes and John Pfirman on multiple instruments, Jonathan Humphrey on drums and stuff, and bassplayinben on (well) bass and electronics. These guys sometimes play three guitars, sometimes a couple of keyboards, and once in a while throw in some mumbling and some sound effects -- but the whole sound helps paint the word pictures of a world inhabited by imperfect people with real emotions. Give them a listen soon.