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Lonelyland Lonely is not a word that came to mind as I entered the Saxon Pub on Monday night for Bob Schneider and his Lonelyland show. Lonelyland played to a packed, standing room only, house on April 3rd (as they do every Monday night). This is Schneider's (ala Scabs, Ugly Americans) solo project and he is accompanied by accomplished musicians with Stephen Bruton on acoustic guitar, David Boyle on keyboards, Bruce Hughes on standup bass (the electric, skinny kind), and Mike Longoria on drums. The band was seated in an acoustic relaxed setting at this little pub in South Austin. Schneider's CD, Lonelyland, was released in February and has gotten some attention due to three of his song's being included on girlfriend Sandra Bullock's movie soundtrack for Gun Shy. With this exposure, Schneider became the first unsigned musical performer to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Not to mention the truckload of Austin Music Awards he took home last month· So, things are happening for Mr. Schneider, but he still shows up for his weekly gigs at Saxon Pub. He creates an easy atmosphere, going smoothly from warm up right into their first song, "2002." Schneider's songs move from sensitivity to debauchery, from heartbreak to who cares? with personal lyrics and obscure references. A common theme is being stuck in between, as in "Metal and Steel" ("left me here in the twilight zone") and "Big Blue Sea" ("Sometimes I feel like superman, sometimes I'm just recuperating"). While "Round & Round" has an obvious hook, he added texture by including Bullock's mother Helga, with a sampling of an operatic aria on the CD version. In this show, bass player Hughes added the high brow touches and it worked. Schneider is a charming host for the evening. He led the band through a recollection of their past five years at Saxon (a joke, I think it's been a little more than a year?) with each member rising to the challenge with some witty repartee. Bruton professed a blackout of the experience, Hughes mentioned the night he was married (to which Bob remarked "whatever happened to that guy?"), with Longoria citing the night he received his Ph.D (in filthy lucre). Boyle just ranted in an undecipherable manner about Guinness and Hughes' gay marriage (also a joke). Later Schneider played "Madeline" and "Loreena," his songs with women's names in the title. He is challenged by the audience to sing another. Melissa is thrown out and Schneider dishes up a freestyle "Goddamn Melissa, I Miss Her Melissa." He introduced his "mid 20s breakup song" saying that in the first two months all you can do is angry stuff (he actually screamed out Goddamn to illustrate). He also told a tale about opening for Dave Matthews a few years back and how he tried to piss people off with raunchy numbers like "Hanging Out with the Horny Girls." Schneider mixes styles in the acoustic format, from ballad to rocking. His expertise is with his rapid fire hip-hop delivery which I particularly appreciate in the acoustic setting. He played for two solid hours, was funny, cute, sexy (although a bit scruffy with the facial hair this night), and serious all at the same time. They finished up the set, as they do every Monday, by singing their "It's Time to Go" song, but in the fashion that the audience picked. Tonight it was Santana, which threw a bit of a snafu to Schneider, who eventually pulled off "Oh, it's time to go· right now" to "Evil Ways." The only error of the evening was in Schneider's failure to tell the audience to stick around for Superego, in the 10:30 slot. Superego, headed by singer/guitarist/songwriter Paul Minor, is a local Austin band with a unique knack for the power pop song. Various influences are evident, including bossa nova, country, rock, Cajun, and everything pop from the '60s - the '90s. This night, Superego was a little light on personnel with second guitarist, Jon Sanchez, taking a break from the group, and drummer, Kevin Pearson, MIA due to illness. Never mind, Andrew Duplantis, of the Meatpuppets on keyboards and Chepo Pena, of several Austin bands, including the Sexy Finger Champs, was all that was needed. Minor is the ultimate showman and delivered a performance that was more subdued and quiet than his typical Sunday Night Gig at Hole in the Wall. But without percussion, the audience was able to glean the sensitivity of Minor's lyrics, his use of irony and a clever turn of phrase. From the current Oh Yes My Friend, Minor played "Eastern Bloc" ("Don't want to put the war machine in hock, I just want to shut you down in the Eastern Bloc"), "Another Weak Attempt" ("Another weak attempt at bouncing back from experience I lack"), and Lagniappe, a song about a strange, Cajun word that means gift. From past projects, Minor played "Smokey" (a simple, autobiographical sketch that deals with complex issues such as racism, gun control, religion, and relationships), "It Scares Me" and "Breeze." Influenced by a recent KISS show in San Antonio, Minor opened both sets with "Beth" in homage to the Knights in Satan's Service. The name Superego is itself ironic with the Freudian reference lost on most (that part of the psyche responsible for conscience and guilt), and many have naively ascribed a literal, uninformed context of conceit to the group. Nothing could be further from reality, as Minor's songs triumphantly deal with issues of low self esteem, lack of confidence, disappointment, and rejection. Minor blends styles and influences so seamlessly, creating his own fresh, special, pleasant genre. Oh Yes My Friend is flawlessly produced and includes contributions from many of Austin's musical elite including members of Fastball, Cotton Mather, Dismukes, Meatpuppets·you name it, they're here and they're good. So what that Minor had to play maracas and guitar at the same time and sing with his guitar pic hanging out of the side of his mouth· so what that when they got to the part in "Tighten Up" (the Archie Bell and the Drells song) when Minor beckoned to "Tighten Up" on the drums, and we sat in silence for four measures. Anytime you can see Superego is a good time. For the hundred or so folks that left after the Lonelyland set, all I can say is that you missed a rare chance to catch one of Austin's most talented songwriters deliver his craft in a most sincere, personal manner. On That Note, I'm outta here...... C |
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