Shortwave Dahlia dot org

Per Jack , Shortwave Dahlia has been CONFIRMED to perform at Neil’s in Memphis on September 21, 2007.

This is initial information and supporting acts are TBD.
The band will more than likely be performing new tracks from their upcoming album, “The Wilderness”, and having heard a few of the tracks, it’s definitely a gig you won’t want to miss!!

Heidi

We’ll update you guys as soon as we know more!!!

::Plans a trip to Memphis::

I got to the venue at around 7:30. I like to get there early, especially if it’s a place I’ve never played before, to get comfortable and familiar with a place. The bartender, Michelle, was very nice. She advised me that the bands got free Pabst Blue Ribbon—not quite ready at that point for the hipster Beer of Champions, I bought a beer and settled in. Wifey went to hang out with a friend from work. If you’ve never been to The Bucc, it’s a very small place. The “stage” as it was is situated in front of an old fireplace. I should have asked if it was a functioning fireplace—I meant to and forgot. There is no sound guy, but a small PA system sits on the fireplace and the mains are hung up on the wall. Mark showed up pretty soon after I got there, and Ethan and Shawna were not far behind him.Just before the Unstoppable Juggernaut guys (they’re a duo) got there, we went out and brought in our gear. The Juggernaut guys were very nice—they let us use a PA they brought with them, and we helped them bring their gear in. They had a lot of kit for two people and understandably it took a while for them to get things set up. As they were adjusting sound levels, the crowd started to show up and the guys in the Curtains arrived—I greeted Mike as he was the only one I knew personally.

Unstoppable Juggernaut went on first and…wow. They did some very interesting things, were very technical, very challenging. I couldn’t get into some of what they were doing (a mixture of math-rock, free jazz and Mike Patton-ish freakout) but it was further confirmation that there are some unique things going on in Memphis musically. It also solidified for me that this would be yet another diverse bill for the night.

Our set was challenging but for an entirely different reason. In terms of executing the songs, we did quite well…in fact, I think one of our best songs that night was one of the new ones (“A Novel Idea”). Unfortunately, we had a number of technical problems especially in the first third of the set that knocked us off a lot. In spite of this, we came out pretty well. The set was:

Call and Response
Vanity Tax
Chinese Whispers
Discontent
A Novel Idea
The Human Condition
Song For Vara
Automata
Loose Arrow
Survival

We finished, and the crowd fled. I’m not sure if it was because it was late, that most of the crowd was ours, or what. Of course, we did have some people in from WAY out of town (Illinois and Florida) so I totally understood them wanting to get to their hotel for a little rest. The Curtains went on at around 1:30 AM and were loud. Great, but loud—I was really happy to finally get to see them, even if my ears were really tired by that point. Mark gave Wifey a ride home and I hung out with Ethan and Shawna and talked to the gal working the door, Lyndsi. I’ve known her for a long time, and she used to date a good friend of mine who also showed up.

Everybody at The Bucc took good care of us and I think we put on a pretty decent show. It’s hard to say if we’d play there again, as I don’t know if we’d cater at all to their usual crowd, but it was a marvelous experience and I left tired but happy.

We got together at the venue at around 8:00 PM. Met Lee from Simon pretty early on, who was incredibly good to us. I traded him a copy of the EP for a t-shirt. Dana came to the show and got some pictures which I cannot wait to see. We ended up with a small crowd but there were indeed some familiar faces in the room. Since Ethan Grim brought his B.C. Rich Warlock, I used my Samick and Robert from Clouded Son loaned me his Vox amp (I have GOT to get one of those.)The set went off without a hitch for the most part. I thanked everyone for leaving prom early to come see us. I got to play second guitar on a few of the tracks (enjoying the axe most on “Song For Vara”). “Call and Response” was on-target as usual. I completely forgot the words to the new song, “A Novel Idea”, but the music itself sounded pretty good. I ad-libbed my way through it and had a good laugh after it was said and done. “Vanity Tax” was great, “Discontent” is always good and to me was even better Saturday night than it was in March. I think I tried to make a joke about Mary Hinkley and ended up saying something about Henry Winkler having shot his husband. We wrapped up with “Automata” which sort of left things on an edge—it’s not a closer like “Survival” is, that’s for certain. We got lots of compliments from the other bands for doing something different, and the sound guy said this performance smoked our last one.

The good part about opening is you can just stop and enjoy everyone else’s shows and we did just that. Seafood Hotline and Simon mine from heavier places, but both are remarkable at what they do. Seafood Hotline are a somewhat sick duo who honest-to-god recapture the fury and strangeness of indie-label Nirvana, and I loved the hell out of it. Joe from the Hotline is such a cool guy, he made mention of us throwing down in Murfreesboro sometime. I can see doing that sometime. Simon were hilarious and heavy, stoner rock with a sense of humor and some art-rock leanings. They also take established songs and completely nuke the arrangements (their version of the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the UK” is price of admission alone).

Altogether it was a good show. I’m already looking forward to May, and then to recording the album.

We’re going to be rolling out a new tune called “A Novel Idea” this Saturday at Neil’s. I don’t want to tell you a whole lot about it, but we’re all very excited about it and look forward to sharing it with you.

Remember, be sure and get there at 10:00 sharp–we plan on starting up promptly. Oh, and go see Clouded Son at Neil’s Friday night with Chess Club and Star & Micey! I’ll be there.

Love and gourami,
Jack

I wanted to make everyone aware that we’re the first act on that night. The show starts at 10:00 PM and hopefully we will take the stage right at around this time.

Of those of you who plan to attend, is there anything you’re itching to hear? We’re still deciding what to play that night.

Per Jack:

“If you’re more into just having the mp3 files, we’ve opened a digital store on the MySpace profile (http://www.myspace.com/shortwavedahlia where you can buy the songs individually for $.99/song OR the whole EP for $5.00.

The store is powered by SNOCAP, the new venture of Shawn “Napster” Fanning. Isn’t Fanning his last name? I think so. Anyway, it’s awesome.”

You can still order the EP if you want an actual copy with artwork by sending $6.25 (that’s $5.00 for the cd and $1.25 for shipping Media Mail) via Paypal to shortwavedahlia@yahoo.com.

The EP is FANTASTIC and we all highly recommend a copy for you, your family and pets!

BTW: IF you’re in the Memphis area this weekend, don’t forget the Shortwave Dahlia show Tomorrow Night (March 24th) at Neil’s, which is at the intersection of Madison and McLean in Midtown Memphis. The show starts at 9:00 PM with a $3 cover.
Opening bands are Two Way Radio and Holly Cole, so come early to support these great bands!

We’re edging up quickly on March, and the first public performance by Shortwave Dahlia as well as the unleashing of our 2007EP release. The response in pre-sales has been very encouraging and we’re excited to share this music with you.

I guess this would be a good time to tell you that the pre-sale ends February 28th. After that, the cd will be priced at a (still affordable) $5; however we will be charging a small amount to cover shipping costs. This applies to domestic orders, as we will have to deal with international orders on an as-ordered basis. So please, if you live abroad and you would like to order a copy, please e-mail us first (admin@shortwavedahlia.org) so that we can calculate shipping for your location.

As far as the live performance goes, we are happy to be headlining our first bill March 24th with two immensely talented opening acts. Two Way Radio (formerly Walkie Talkie) deliver sparkling pop and Holly Cole is a talented singer/songwriter of folk and country disciplines. We appreciate such a diverse bill and hope you will too. Neil’s, the venue, is at the intersection of Madison and McLean in Midtown Memphis (wow, the alliteration is staggering!) and the show starts at 9:00 PM with a $3 cover. In addition, the food at this place is pretty good if I remember rightly.

I think I’ve probably rambled long enough for now. We will have more to tell you about the show as it nears. If you want to take advantage of the pre-sale price, PayPal shortwavedahlia@yahoo.com

Have a good weekend!
Jack