The Greenhornes - Hacienda - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Apr 1! !011

The Greenhornes - Hacienda - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Apr 12 2011

Hacienda - Taking the present is a drummer, bass player/vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist. They plunge into a rootsy blues-rock sound. It's cheap and electric with a dainty bite. They are from San Antonio and there is a harder-edged Doug Sahm sound in their somewhere, from what I think of Sir Douglas Quintet.

The keyboards came to living in the second song with that lovely farfisa sound. I was liking it easily enough, but wish a lot of blues based material, it wasn't truly lifting me to any great heights. I did like the southwestern style they employed. Yet, as the set went on, they mixed in some pretty fierce sounding songs and varied it about a bit. Slowly, I was pulled into their creation and truly enjoying what they were doing. I was not only as the good crowd tonight was slowly increasing the mass of their ovations. By set's end, the 100 plus in the crew gave this set a big ovation. We all had proof that good bands hitting the road can truly get their hearing when they take the goods to deliver. Hacienda has certainly got the goods to fall back as a star next time.


The Greenhornes - I was concerned in this show, but had some doubts when I asked myself the mere motion of Why? I knew aught of this band, other than the rhythm section went to work with Brendon Benson and Jack White in the highly celebrated Raconteurs for a pair of albums. I saw that act and enjoyed it. And spell the rhythm section was good, they were only a rhythm section. But with Jack White drumming and Benson doing some solo work, the Greenhornes got back together. The critics were kind to their recent record, so I decided to create the spark to the NE side of H Street. First surprise was that they had a fourth musician on guitar/organ. It was apparent early on that the rhythm section was good. The lead vocalist/guitarist was right enough, although his leg movements were less than Roky Erickson, maybe closer to that of Kraftwerk. The songs were simple bluesy rock/indie rock styled I would say and frankly were not exactly pulling me in. They hit more of a garage-based rock sound as the set went on and I was enjoying it a bit more. The crew was respectful, but there was not rather the increase of excitement that was felt during the Hacienda set. I was thought that it was if this southern Ohio band was running with rejected songs by another southern Ohio band, Guided By Voices. But so I quickly remembered, that Pollard releases every good, bad and indifferent song he writes under GBV or several other guises. But there was a similar sound and repugnance to GBV, although it was a lower-key approach. At least there were a few high points, but overall, I would care to listen better songs or get something a bit more exciting to grab onto.

Quote of the Night: From Steven Adler's book "My Appetite for Destruction". Howard Stern asking him the next "How the hell do you get kicked out of Guns'n'Roses for doing drugs?" I think the solution lies in these pages, as yet with a co-writer, Adler appears to me to be near the dumbest person I get always read about. At least he appears to be honest, although I always remind myself of the new adage. Never believe a junkie.