Busy Weekend: Ruben V, Texas Radio & Deja Vu

LONG but kickass weekend! Starting off with Friday night...we headed out kind of early to go to Ruben V’s CD Release party at Rolling Oaks Sports Bar & Grill for his new CD, “Labor of Shame.” Oh my god, the place was packed! We had to park way back in the neighborhood behind Rolling Oaks. There were tons of tables, but they were all full and it was standing room only and not much of that to go around! The show was great. They performed some blues, some rock and even what Staci informed me was some old-school Motown. Ruben kicked ass on guitar of course, with his riffs that vary from melodic to shredding, not to mention the great vocals. The saxophonist was awesome! And the percussionist was really cool, with some instruments I have no idea of the name of. There was some kind of shaking instrument reminding me of a large maraca, but looking more like a large vase. Also a fairly flat instrument that was wood with a head like a bongo, but had something mounted on top of it and produced a sound that sounded almost electronic. Sorry for my ignorance in the percussion area, but I have no idea what these things were called. Pretty cool sounding, though!



Their set ended and we decided to split because with summer evidently coming in April this year, it was getting very warm in there! I just wanna say congrats to Ruben V on his success here in San Antonio. The turnout for this release was amazing. This was the largest crowd I’ve seen for a local band ever here in SA. Also, check out the video clips of “I Am” over on the Video Page.

After this we decided to stay in the “hood” and check out a band we always liked and haven’t seen in a long time. Texas Radio was playing over at BoozeHounds. Their lineup has changed since I last saw them (new bass player and drummer), but the thing I liked about them still remains true: they do a larger variety of music than most local cover bands. Sure, they do some of the staples like The Toadies “Possum Kingdom,” but they also do everything from Led Zeppelin to Stabbing Westward. Their show included Tonic, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Cheap Trick, Wild Cherry, The Chili Peppers, Cracker, Collective Soul, AC/DC, Pink Floyd and Alice in Chains, to name a few. We always have a good time at BoozeHounds. It’s my kind of laidback place.



Check out a video of Texas Radio doing Nickelback’s “Never Again” over on the Video Page.

Saturday we went over to Main Street to check out Deja Vu back with Brett singing. Not that I don’t like Xavier’s performance, but I find the band more entertaining with Brett. They seem to tend to put out more between-song banter, plus Brett has a great voice! As we entered they were playing Gary Numan’s “Cars.” The night went on with some Rick Springfield, Flock of Seagulls (sorry I think I will just always hate that song!), The White Stripes “Seven Nation Army” (a fave of mine), The Toadies “Possum Kingdom” (like I said, a staple), Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally,”more 80's music from the likes of Duran Duran and Prince, plus Puddle of Mudd, Bryan Adams & more.

I was kind of surprised to see Xavier show up to support, but that was very cool of him, I think.



Also, check out a video clip of Deja Vu doing Puddle of Mudd’s “She Hates Me” on the Video Page.

Also, something happened that is a first for me. I had someone tell me that they read SA Rocks everyday...and they weren’t in a band! So far I have only heard this from band members, so it’s nice to know that fans are using this site to keep track of the local scene. This is the first definite indication I’ve had of this. At Rock City, at Suzi’s birthday bash, when she introduced me, several people gave some really loud “woo-hoo’s,” but I wasn’t sure if it was because they were aware of the site or because they were just so drunk they’d “woo-hoo” anything! So that was very gratifying for me to know that some fans do frequent the site regularly. I don’t get enough of that kind of feedback.

Where to catch ‘em:

Ruben V will be at The Cove this Saturday 4/8, starting at 9:30pm.

Texas Radio will be at Main Street April 7th and at Code 3 April 14th.

Deja Vu will be at Billy D’s April 14th.