Archer Avenue Live

As I mentioned in the recent interview with Archer Avenue, I’ve been in contact with these guys almost since the beginning of SA Rocks. At that time they were in Burbank recording at Dog Bone Studios and not out touring, so I’ve been waiting a long time to catch them live. I finally got my chance Friday night at Rock City Bar with The Killing Floor and Amplifyd. (I swear I’m not following TKF and Amplifyd around! They just keep playing with bands I want to go see!)

It was well worth the wait.

Archer Avenue

Archer Avenue is not really much of a “show band,” they don’t run and jump around or tell stories between songs or any of that sort of thing. They’re pretty much all about the music. And the music is good. When I interviewed them, I mentioned that their music reminds me of the popular alternative rock of the late 90's and Marc said, “In the end it comes out sounding that way, but I think we are all going for different sounds and styles, and for some reason it comes out sounding like late 90's pop.” Evidently that’s true, because one of the first things Staci said was, “I like them. They remind me of the Gin Blossoms.”

Archer Avenue

They played several songs off of their upcoming CD, We Watched the Headlights, We Watched the Stars, including “Breakdown on N. St. Mary’s,” “She is America,” and “The Most Permanent Tattoo,” as well as previous material such as “Marty Robbins” (which you can listen to on the mp3 jukebox above), and a great cover of “You’re Gonna Miss Me” by 13th Floor Elevators. Great guitar on that one!

I don’t know when Archer Avenue will be back in San Antonio. They have some dates coming up in December in El Paso and New Mexico and are working on booking a southwest winter tour in anticipation of their upcoming album, which I believe is due out in January. Check Archer Avenue’s website for updates. You can also catch them in an interview with “The Scene” Tuesday, November 8th, at 12:30 AM on Time Warner Cable Channel 20.

The Killing Floor

The Killing Floor was up next and this was a little different than their usual show because their bass player, Matt, was out of town and they had Tommy T filling in, so they couldn’t do any of their original songs. But, hey, nothing wrong with a set of blues rock favorites like “Voodoo Chile,” “Hey Joe” and “Cold Shot.” Tommy T gets almost as crazy with his bass as JCM does with his guitar, so it was quite a show. At one point, they both had their guitars on the floor, JCM playing with his foot and Tommy bouncing his bass up and down. My favorite part was when Garbage walked by and handed JCM a cordless phone, and without breaking stride at all, JCM grabbed the phone and started playing his guitar with it.

JCM with the Phone

Last up was Amplifyd, sounding great as usual, playing their originals like “No More Pain,” “Sun and Moon” (also on the jukebox as well as TKF doing “Voodoo Chile”), “Lies” and “Waitin’ for You,” as well as songs by KISS, AC/DC and ZZ Top.

Amplifyd

Another great show at Rock City Bar!!