01 Aug 13

Ah, the night is still young, blogspot readers, and this reviewer wasn't really ready to head home. After screening the new Percy Jackson movie, SouthSide randomly ran into her good friend, the mysterious (un)masked Flabby Hoffman taking a break from his latest edition of the Flabby Hoffman Cavalcade show at THE GRANDBAR (aka the former Betty's Blue Star Lounge).  It has been years since SouthSide stepped inside this West Town night spot and was quite surprised of its fresh new look. Gone were the booths, blue-painted walls and dive bar atmosphere with the sound system which made it very difficult to review bands. Instead this bar got a complete makeaover - red lighting to set the mood and atmosphere of its patrons' evening,  a hip bar scene that now fits the type of patrons they want to attract, an upgraded sound system, and standing bar tables as well as elongated booths (located in front of the sound/DJ booth) to relax with friends. Compared to this venue's former self, she was lovin' the new look, blogspot readers, which mostly definitely fit tonight's Flabby Hoffman audience attending the show. And this masked man certainly knows how to attract a modest crowd even on a Thursday night.

This Flabby Hoffman show featured a combination of local comics and musical acts including a performance by singer/songwriter James Moore who during his set performed a cool cover of Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl before continuing with more of his original songs. This reviewer enjoyed the pop-sounding falsetto in his vocal tone that at time became quite expressive whenever he highlighted the vivid pictureseque imagery inside the lyrics. This artist's soothing voice while amidst a rhythmic downtempo acoustic beat had a way of making his audience feel where his mindset was at the time of creating his songs. For example, listen to the closing song Gary Goose (a song written while attending college about pot smoking) allowed everyone to enter his vivid imagination while rockin' the stage with a slight upbeat acoustic swing. This particular song had a toe-tappin' rhythm that you could get into but listen carefully, blogspot readers, to pickup on the pot smoking references laced throughout the lyrics especially during the chorus. It was quite a tale James told which one could easily follow as he sung the song in a more natural vocal range than falsetto. This reviewer highly recommends checking out this singer/songwriter at his next show or you can listen to more of his music at http://www.jamesmoore.bandcamp.com.

Until next time, support your local scene,

SouthSide