Thu 24 Jun – Moving Mountains, Some Never Sleep, Underground Cities, The City Speaks

First time I've been to The Underground. Very cool little basement for shows downtown Mesa. Reminds me of a smaller Flint Local 432 (in Flint, Michigan), where I spent many weekends. No alcohol, which is fine. Smokers outside and so-on.

Caught the part of the band before Moving Mountains and grabbed an EP from Underground Cities in the parking lot after the shows, but missed them performing.

Moving Mountains was really good but you could tell the heat was killing them. It was really sweaty in…

Wed 5 May – Mono, Balmorhea

Mono was amazing live and its impressive to see them play the songs as well as they are performed on the records. The Kidnapper Bell was a highlight for me and I knew it was coming as soon as Yoda and Takaakira stood up after reading some show reviews from the past week or two.

Good crowd. Hard to tell who will show up at shows like these since post-rock (or whatever you feel like calling it) is such a niche thing… either people are super passionate about it or just don't get it.…

Wed 10 Sep – Mogwai, Fuck Buttons

Really good set (probably 75 minutes long?) playing old and new stuff. seriously bright lights and great volume.

Nice venue as well.

Tue 5 Aug – Melvins, Big Business

Tim Moss from the band PORN played some synth guitar noise while Dale played the drums. I was really hoping for a PORN set.

Big Business played a few new songs. I grabbed the "Tour III" CD. Great performance, but Jared's vocals were tough to hear in the PA. It was really loud because Small's is so small…

Melvins played a lot of the new record along with some classics. I don't remember them playing much of the old Gluey or Ozma stuff. They closed the show with the National Anthem.

Good night.

Sat 2 Aug – Dirt Fest 2008

Best sets of the day:

Red I Flight
King