Now&#39;s Your Chance

Mark your calendars! The FLAT TIRES are headed to California for three days this week:

Thursday @ The Doll Hut in Anaheim
Friday @ Eli's Mile High Club in Oakland
Saturday @ The Shakedown Bar in San Diego

It was almost a year ago I had the fortune of seeing the FLAT TIRES at the Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte. The sound was awful - not because it was so loud, but because the building is built like a concrete bunker so the music bounces off everything. And about the only thing that could absorb the noise was the people in the room.

So I stood to the side of the stage - behind - the speakers. Playing loud is the easy part. But sincerity and skill are difficult to sustain. And I was blown away. Here's a broadcast cut of "Pretty Lady". No vocals. Listen carefully to the instrumentals:

The guitarist is equal parts Chuck Berry, Keith Richards and Johnny Ramone. The drummer tightly keeps time slightly ahead of everyone else (listen for the quick lead-in snare at the end of fourth measures) which anxiously drives the music forward. The bassist refuses to complicate matters yet plays tonal counterpoints to the drums, moving up and down the fretboard in minor arpeggios.

And the lead singer? It's something about the way he looks at the crowd.

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You've probably seen this look before. It's the same kind of look your dad gave you when you were a kid and you had company for dinner and your mum tapped a big spoonful of somethingyoudontlike on your plate. You started to look up and say something about what you were and weren't going to eat. But your dad's eyes were already waiting for you with...that look.

And whatever it was on your plate? You ate it.

That look. The lead singer looks at the crowd with that look. It's the visual and lyrical equivalent of hurricane force winds surrounded on three sides by musical tornadoes.

Here's how it all comes together:

Needless to say - I hope to see you all in California. So put down the mouse and step away from the keyboard. And bring along a couple of friends as witnesses.

Because you can download the music. But you can't download the experience.

Thursday
Doll Hut
107 South Adams Street
Anaheim, CA 92802-1001
(714) 533-1286
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Screen Shot 2011 09 05 at 8 21 57 AM