Thursday, May 21, 2009

MATT The ELECTRICIAN and SOUTHPAW JONES at Flipnotics 5-20-09

These guys have been doing a weekly show together for quite a while but I had not been to one until last night. They basically do a song swap except they play and sing on each other's songs so that is great.
No cover, just a tip jar was passed around. Crazy, I know. The room was packed but not many people ponied up which I thought was pathetic. Flipnotic's also keeps their prices reasonable (cheap). $2 for an Amstel Light.
Anyway, I'm much more familiar with Matt. I've grown to really like his music. Southpaw, I didn't know his music at all. He's a pretty humorous guy. Writes quirky songs. They're good. He has a way with words. Many, you will laugh out loud yet there can be a serious undercurrent to them. One song that stuck out for me was about Marilyn Monroe with the premise of how different her life would have been had she married Henry Miller. Some of the lyrics were about their moving to Paris, dying her hair blue, doing some opium and probably being alive today. It was pretty hilarious.
Matt played several I am familiar with & really like, My Dog, Animal Boy, the Angela/WalMart song (I don't know the name of it). He did a very funny one about not wanting to be your Facebook friend.
These guys play various instruments, too, which really livens up the show. Matt, besides guitar & banjo plays the cajone, a mini-trumpet and...euphonium!! Southpaw, along with guitar, plays harmonica, mini-xylophone and keytar. So, for only two guys, they can sure make a joyful racket together.
Also, it seems every week they come up with a new topic, either from fans or themselves, write a song and play it the following week. Last night's song was based on renting relationships or timeshare relationships. Next week's song will be about "It wasn't my fault." Someone in the audience threw that out there last night after he opened the door and the handle fell off!
These guys make good music, have a good time, a lot of laughs, well worth going out to see.

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