04 Aug 10

Hey, blogspot readers, it's metal, leather and Flabby Hoffman on TV ...oh my! SouthSide's latest adventure had her making a guest appearance on the Flabby Hoffman Cavalcade, the newest addition to the Flabby Hoffman TV series. This cavalcade featured a variety mix of local comedic talent as well as rockin' music under one roof at The Exit - a popular gathering place for bikers, metalheads and the leather/alternative community.

Now, you're probably wondering who is Flabby Hoffman? Some say he's a rock myth ...a local legend righting the wrongs of the evil doers ...a champion for the little people. Who really knows? Probably some direct (or indirect) relation to the well known Abbie Hoffman with his pseudo-political themed songs when performing with his band, The Flabby Hoffman Trio, this masked man tapes live shows around town for his weekly Chicago Cable Access show (on channel 19 every Thursday from 11:30p to 12:30a). Sorry, only Chicago residents can only see this television show however one day he shall conquer the world, blogspot readers. Local music acts such as Hail The Black Dragons, Pool of Frogs, Before The Sun, Camera, Reverie (now Model Stranger) and Mr. Russia have made an appearance or two on the Flabby Hoffman Caravan Show. Tonight's musical acts included Wally Dogger, Spherical Banana and Soul Fix. For more information about Flabby Hoffman and/or how to appear one of his many shows, visit www.flabbyhoffman.com.

As always hosted by the lovable Sloop Biederman (www,dailylimerick.net), the first cavalcade got off to a rocky start, blogspot readers. Besides the minor technical difficulties, the comedy sketches were found to be a bit lacking on the funny side until later into the show. SouthSide enjoyed laughing to Ricky March, Marcos Lara and Thomas Bottoms during their five to ten minute sketches. Then there was the slightly unusual performed by another mysterious masked man only known as Sid Yiddish. This performance artist/poet/throat singer did a solo for the throat and spit stream as his act. This performance was quite interesting as well as entertaining to this reviewer in which she found herself laughing too hard while listening to the poetry of his throat effects. SouthSide highly recommends checking out the strange and unusual poetic style of Sid Yiddish. Sid can be found at www.myspace.com/2dollarcockroach or read his blogs at http://mishegasmaster.blogspot.com.

Wally Dogger rocked The Exit with an energetic performance of lively music and whimsical songs. This reviewer liked Tramp Stamp and You Only Like Me When I'm Leaving in which both appear on their We've Turned Into Monster CD. Though Pauly's (Wally's front man on guitar) voice somewhat sounded emotionally depressed during Cyanide, she liked how his vocals also vented some angst while keeping the music light and fun. Check out Wally Dogger at www.wallydogger.com or www.myspace.com/wallydogger for more music including Sugar In The Kettle. Meanwhile Spherical Banana was the most unusual musical act SouthSide has ever reviewed. The combination of folk/rock with in an instrumental Americana sound impressed this reviewer with its only song performed. It was about the sound an upset chicken makes when the guy she loves doesn't love her back (think of the Camilla-Gonzo-Miss Piggy-Kermit love square, blogspot readers). Despite having some rough distortion during this performance, she enjoyed the trippy-psychedelic feel to this one (long) song ...also liked the vibrant earthy flow and spontaneous energy that changed with the tempo and mood. Visit www.myspace.com/sphericalbanana for more details and information about this band. Lastly, the rockin' hardcore bang of Soul Fix closed out this edition of Flabby's Cavalcade. It was very energetic and full of vibrant guitar riffs especially during the instrumental bridge. This band truly allowed the chords ride long and hard with plenty of passionate fire. Yet the "soul" side to Soul's music came from Marlon's (front man on guitar) vocals. He had the audience feeling the angst and frustration as well as his high falsettos during certain songs. It's not a typical vocal style heard with rock band like Soul Fix but it definitely does work for this band ...giving it that momentum it needs to rock out a place like The Exit. SouthSide highly recommends checking out the hardcore sound of Soul Fix with its thunderous guitar sound and soulful vocals. What a dynamite combination! Visit www.soulfix.com or www.myspace.com/soulfixrock for more details and information about this band.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide