Briefs

Steve Miller Band

Date: Friday, June 22. Gates at 7 p.m.

Venue: The Amphitheater at The Wharf, 23325 Amphitheater Dr., Orange Beach, AL www.thewharfal.com

Tickets: $56/$46/$21.50 available through Ticketmaster.

Steve Miller Band could be considered a quintessential element of both rock-and-roll and American culture. Songs such as “Take the Money and Run,” “The Joker,” “Fly Like An Eagle” and many others still receive an overabundance of play on classic rock stations.

In celebration of the release of the 30th anniversary edition of “Fly Like An Eagle,” Miller has once again hit the road heavy with Norton Buffalo (harmonica/vocals), Joseph Wooten (keyboards/vocals), Gordy Knudtson (drums), Billy Peterson (bass) and Kenny Lee Lewis (guitars/vocals), all musicians from some of Miller’s legendary albums.

Miller has a rich musical history. His godfather was Les Paul, inventor of the legendary guitar that bears his name. And Boz Scaggs was a high school chum. In San Francisco, Miller found time to open for legends such as Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead.

The ‘70s belonged to the Steve Miller Band and “The Joker” even hit number one on the U.K. singles charts as late as 1990. His music has created a soundtrack for many lives. Who can’t associate at least one Steve Miller song to a specific point and time in their life?

Blues Old Stand

Date: Friday, June 29 at 9 p.m.

Venue: Monsoon’s, 9 N. Jackson St.

www.monsoonsmobile.com

Tickets: $5 at the door

Blues Old Stand is back with a vengeance and revived with ambition. Fans ecstatic to see this band back in town flooded Monsoon’s with calls questioning the veracity of their reunion.

With a dedicated and established following, many have wondered where this band has been all these years. “Back around 1991 to ‘94 or ‘95, we were right in there with the rest of them, for lack of a better choice of words,” guitarist Scott Crompton explained. “We were doing our thing in the Southeast region and getting out west a little bit and on the Atlantic Coast. Not long after that, we kinda fell apart a little bit. We’d gone with a management group and that ended up being a big mistake.”

Blues Old Stand spent the next 10 years playing scattered gigs around the area and cycling members in and out of the band. In 2004, they established a core group of originals and longtime members.

Th’ Legendary ShackShakers*

Date: Saturday, June 23 at 10 pm

Venue: Cell Block, 216 Dauphin St., www.myspace.com/cellblockbar

Tickets: TBA

“The Pentacaustic Revival” is once again hitting the Port City with the return of American Gothic superstars Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers. Boasting an original sound flirting with psychobilly, punk and Southern gospel, this band has an electrifying show powered by front man dynamo Col. J.D. Wilkes. His furious, cartoon-like contortions and bantering are enough to compete with any fire-breathing minister.

Th’ Shakers are currently touring in support of their 2006 release “Pandelirium.” This makes their second release on Yep Roc and another confirmation that this band still has their pulse on society not only in the South but from coast to coast.

Wilkes is also making an effort to uncover some of the stranger, eccentric sides of the South with his movie “Seven Signs,” a film presenting some unique and misunderstood Southern elements. Wilkes clearly states this is not an exploitative film but a visual representation of “Southern Gothic.” The film is in its final stages, and a release date is set for “late 2007.”

The Rundown

Another one from back in the day

With the reemergence of Blues Old Stand, it seems as if 2007 will bring about the second coming of another local favorite (even if it is for just one night). In the Dec. 5, 2006 issue of Lagniappe, Boozie mentioned her conversation with Molly Thomas concerning the possibility of a Slow Moses reunion. After several months, it has become a reality.

On Sat., August 11, Slow Moses will reunite at Soul Kitchen. Much is still unknown about who will participate in this reunion, but hopefully it will include Ryan Balthrop (vocals), Molly Thomas (vocals/violin), Phillip Stein (guitar), Bill Hamby (keys of all kinds), Ben Tenhundfeld (bass) and Tracy Duarte (drums).

Those who aren’t familiar with this band can expect a night of superb organic rock in the same vein of mid-to-late-’90s bands such as the Dave Matthews Band.

Barnyard sluts join GWAR

Just when you thought GWAR’s July 9 show at Soul Kitchen couldn’t get any crazier, it was announced this week legendary South Louisiana sludge metal masters Goatwhore will also appear as an opener in addition to Shadows Fall and Chimaira.

The few metal fans not familiar with Goatwhore will be excited to know that this band’s line-up includes Sammy Duet (Acid Bath/Crowbar), Ben Falgoust (Soilent Green). In 2006, they released “A Haunted Curse,” which was their debut on Metal Blade Records. This will truly be a night of furious metal madness.

Students get some summer relief

The students at Alabama School of Math and Science were allowed to blow off some steam with their annual Stress Fest June 2. This mini music fest held in the Black Box Theater featured some of the area’s finest underground music including Abstract Artimus, Brent Burns’ Project and Lightrunner.

Lightrunner (featuring former members of Nuees Ardentes and Difference Engine) got the ASMS students on their feet with its chaotic instrumentals. This band rocked the crowd at the XBXRX show at Cell Block and did the same at the Black Box Theater. Judging from their MySpace page, each song is given a number not a title. Their live show presented a style of music that is a modern day answer to bands such as King Crimson.

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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