Free Radio SF

After a long day of hiking to the sandstone outcroppings, south of San Francisco, the last thing I thought I would have the energy to do was to go to 12 Galaxies for a show. I just wasn't going to do it. I was home, I was about the get tucked in, I had my late night snack...but wait! I just remembered, Radio Moscow is playing tonight.

I haven't heard of them either, until Annie, the bartender at 12 Galaxies, in the Mission District of San Francisco, turned me onto them about a month ago. She had one of their songs on her MySpace profile. This serious power trio immediately took me.

Radio Moscow is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Parker Griggs. On the self-titled debut CD, out on Alive Records, Parker is credited with guitar, drums, vocals, and percussion. Right out of the gate I hear touches of MC5, Grand Funk Railroad, and Love. I hear a White Stripes influence in there as well perhaps. Though there is no copying the Stripes sound, they too are from the Midwest; Griggs hails from Iowa. There is obvious love for early 70's power trio fare here. Great riffs in each and every song, driven by Dan Auerbach's of the Black Keys,bass lines, and Griggs brilliant, and never self-indulgent fills on the drum throne, fuel this CD. I'll admit though, it's at guitar that Griggs really shines. And I just bought the CD tonight. I'll write a more thorough review of the CD in the weeks to come, once I've really had the time to digest it.

Having fallen hard for the Swedish psych band Dungen, and the multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Gustav Ejstes, who also writes and plays everything on his CDs, I can see Griggs coming into his own within the next two RM releases. 

Let's talk about the show tonight.

As I said, I wasn't really up for going out, but once I realized who was playing, I threw on my porkpie hat, jumped into the Fleetwood, and made my way to Mission street.

I walked in 15 minutes into their set. Dang. I didn't allow my truancy to keep me down. I made my way to the front of the sparse crowd, and began to rock out. I'll say this, next time this band makes it to SF, or your town, be there early. It'll be packed. I see a rise in stature for this very talented and very humble band within the next few months. I hope they have good management.

Having not owned the CD before I saw them, I came with little expectations, except to be seriously rocked out by the time I left. The interplay between Griggs and his new drummer from Missouri, Paul Marrone, was brilliant. Bassist Zach Anderson appeared to be the typical Bill Wyman/John Entwistle bassist: subdued physically, but kicking your ass with every move of his fingers. The three of them seem to be playing on instruments from the early 70s; perhaps blessed by the likes of Freddie King, Ginger Baker and Noel Redding; then wrapped up and placed in a steel vault, not to be opened until 2007. 

The licks that Griggs were playing came from somewhere else. I spoke to him after the show, not a good place for an interview, and I really desire to understand where his talent comes from. He's either a natural, or he's someone who enjoys sitting in his room eight hours a day and flying through scales after scales until they're second nature. Either way let's thank the guitar gods for the likes of Parker Griggs.

They covered much of the latest CD. A great version of Lickskillet pounded our brains, as did Fuse, which, if I remember correctly had Griggs applying a slide for much of his solos. As I listen to the CD, I hear a lot of slide on the solos. Look out!

They threw in an amazing version of the Muddy Waters classic "I Just Want To Make Love To You". I love the arrangement fellas. Give us more please. You can find the Muddy Waters cover on their MySpace page.

So they decided to pay us in liquor. Thanks a lot Katy Bell.

Last night I judged a "talent show" at 12 Galaxies in SF. The Spass Guerilla was hosted by the fine and fabulous Katy Bell of Cyclecide, and Porn Clown Posse. She had all the essentials in place: leiderhosen, high-heeled converse high-tops. Yep. I judged the performances along with my compadre from this years Power Tool Drag Races, Mikl-em. He's cheeky. We also grabbed a delightful Ranessa from the crowd to balance out all the testosterone brewing up on the stage. Katy gave us a gong to employ if any of the contestants got unruly. It wasn't the contestants we were concerned with. The judges got more boos than anyone last night.

The award-winning Ask Dr. Hal show is an interactive intellectual salon in which you, the audience, have the opportunity to consult the omniscient and oracular Dr. Hal Robins on life's eternal questions and trivial minutiae. The show is set to the frenetic soundscapes of the SF Weekly's Best Audio and Visual Collagist of 2005, KROB, and the pertinent visual puns of Yo-Yo King David Capurro. All orchestrated and moderated from on high by surly showman Chicken John, former proprietor of San Francisco's infamous Odeon Bar.