THE ORANGE

Sure, I said I was there for Admiral Grey, but only cause I wanted to support a new, unestablished, band. But I was just excited to see The Orange, who kicked off their 40 minute set just a couple minutes before eleven. They kinda began the first song, and you could really hear Tyler Spears shaking his tambourine, before the curtain opened. “Alright!” exclaimed vocalist/guitarist, Scott Tucker. “We’ve got to bring this fucker…” I assume he said down, though I couldn’t hear the rest of his sentence, as they ripped into the song. And they really didn’t stop in between songs, as they brought the end of that one in to the next one. “This song, is called Such a fucking Drag.” said Scott, adding the “fucking” to the songs title. Afterwards, they took a short breather. During which, bassist, Matt Williams, asked the large crowd, “How are you doing, Dallas?” Which got only a couple of screams or woos. Scott then approached his mic. “We just released a music video for this song.” he stated, being a dead giveaway that “Nip/Tuck” was to follow. For the next song, they were joined by their keyboardist, Emily Thompson, and Scott switched out to another guitar. While that was happening, lead guitarist, Channce Moffitt, was fiddling with his pedal board, getting it set up for the next song. And in the few notes he played, he gave it away to any Orange fan. And when Scott was ready, they started “Snow Globe”. For the next song Scott lightly started strumming his guitar, and, over time, was joined with some light beats from drummer Cody Waits, and soft beats by Matt. Eventually Chance joined the mix, as they really got going with “30 Minutes”. “Everybody, close your eyes.” Scott instructed, though I didn’t see anyone do that. I really liked this song when they played it a few months ago, but man, tonight I thought it was the best song they did. It’s really a killer tune with a great vibe to it. They welcomed “Chicago Dan” on stage to aid them with their next song. And they’re apparently expanding his little role with the band, as they first did “Teleprompters”, and then the song Dan has helped them with in the past, “Doomsday for Mr. Denton”. And they put a close to their set with “Cityscapes”, and they really cut loose on the songs lengthy instrumental portion at the end. In fact, during the songs final moments, Chance raised his guitar up and moved it where it was right against his back, all the while shredding away.
-Music Enthusiast - The Music Enthusiast

It doesn’t happen very often where so many bands of extraordinary talent play on the same bill. And even rarer is when they all have such varying sounds from one another. But that was exactly what was happening at Tree’s tonight.


I caught only the last minute or so of the first band, God’s Joke, but what I heard wasn’t too good. And I didn’t much care for their music on a demo CD they handed out afterwards. The main problem with their music? Their singer can’t sing. At least not well.


The Orange hit the stage next for their first show at Tree’s since reuniting, and I found out later their first time there in six years. You could really feel the energy resonating from them, as the curtain opened to them rocking out the first song. And along with the four members of the band they also had a guy on stage with them playing a tambourine, which went pretty well with the songs he played on. After their first song they did one of the few songs they still do from The Orange’s first life, “Mr. Denton On Doomsday”. This song is great, and even though I only saw them a couple times back 2+ years ago, the song has stuck with me cause I still remember it. During the song frontman, Scott Tucker, took laid his guitar down and went to grab the mic, but he had a problem. They put some fake vines up the mic stands and along the stage, which makes it look cool. But it’d gotten wrapped up with the mic cord so he couldn’t just pull the mic out. No problem though, as he picked up the whole mic stand and began walking around stage, eventually ripping the vines off and letting the mic stand fall to the floor. They slowed things down for a few minutes with “La La Land” and then got back to their normal fast paced, high energy performance with “Such a Drag”. I want to get slightly off topic for a second and say I’ve never heard any songs (from any band I’ve heard of) sound the same. But when the started “La La…” the opening chords sounded almost identical to that of “God Save the Queen” by Mothers Anthem and Greatness in Tragedy. I just found that a bit amusing. “This next one’s for you old school fans!” Scott yelled at the audience as they began a great song from their EP, “Nip/Tuck”. It is one of my favorites of theirs, but I would like to hear a couple other oldies come back. *Cough* Teleprompters and Snow Globe *cough* *cough*. They had a couple more left and did “Cityscape” before ending their forty-five minute set with “Thirty Minutes to Midnight”. The set was much better than the one in Denton a month and a half ago. They seemed more cohesive and were emitting TONS of stage presence.


The music switched gears next, when Radiant took the stage. Going from pop/rock with catchy songs to more of an indie sound (and some would even say British pop, but I disagree). They opened with “Golden Hour”, as frontman, Levi, sat behind a piano and crooned out its beautiful lyrics. With that I was hoping it would be like their show in Frisco a little over a month ago, and it was. Just minus most of their old stuff. They too got a forty-five minute set, which mainly consisted of their newer material. My favorite of those is one that at the Frisco show Levi said was about his wife’s grandfather passing. The song is just majestic and sounds full of divinity. They ended their set with some softer songs, again due to the piano, doing “We Hope You Win” and finally “Sound of Splitting Atoms”. It seems like they’ve started playing a bit more often recently, and I really hope they continue to!


Air Review was rounding out the night, and doing their first electric set in Dallas in a few months. And in that time they’ve announced the departure of one of their guitarists (Radiant’s guitarist filled in for them). And for this show were promising basically new everything. And by new everything that meant a revamped set, which was good cause I’d gotten tired of the one they’ve been using all year. They opened with “My Aromatic”, which was a pretty good opener, especially considering it used to be one of the last songs they’d do. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t open with (or even do) “Gospel” though. That song is amazing, and I hate to think that it’ll never be played again. Another new thing they introduced tonight was some visual projections, but it only played for a few seconds of the first song before going black. It was pretty cool though, a close up on a set of (woman’s) lips, which moved in perfect sync with what Doug was singing. They did a couple more, “The Landing” and “House of All We Left Behind” before addressing the projections. “So we had this huge thing planned.” Doug told the fifty or so people still hanging around (seriously, it was a far cry from their sold out show here back in April) “But it isn’t working so we’ll be doing it old school.” Their bassist then replied, “Actually I think it is working. But it’s brighter on the borders than the center, but we can probably put up with that.” So the projector came back on, and the visuals lasted for the remainder of the show. They did “Cartography” next, before pulling out the acoustic guitars. Oh yeah! They welcomed a friend of theirs on stage to do some backing vocals (the same woman who sang with them at their acoustic show), and first did their newest song, “Age”, then a cover of Sufjan Stevens “Chicago”. I’ve only heard that song twice now, both times when they’ve covered it, and it sounds incredible. And I’ll be willing to bet much better than Sufjan Stevens original. They wrapped up their mini acoustic set with “Can’t See the Sun”, and after asking everyone to give their friend (Sarah, I believe they said was her name) a round of applause for helping them, they got right back into the rock with “Chasing Corporate” followed by “Awake”. Some where around this time Doug joked about how they were missing out on seeing Lady Antebellum, who was doing a show in the area this night. “You just don’t know these things when you book a show. And when you find out about it, it’s like oh man, we have to play that night.” They did two more songs, “At the Switch” and completed their fifty minute set with their song that I swear gets more beautiful each time I hear it, “All Because You’re Mine”.


Thanks to the line-up this was an incredible show. And I think it’s worth noting it was my 200th concert, and a fantastic one to commemorate the occasion.

Posted 1 year ago
Tagged: Air Review, Radiant, The Orange, Trees Dallas, Concert Reviews, Music, Reviews, God's Joke, .


September 18, 2010 - Exit 380
I usually make one trip up to Denton a month, and tonight it was time for that monthly trip. This time to the club, Hailey’s, which was playing host to a really great line-up of music.


It started with a band called Elkheart. The first several songs they played I didn’t much care for, as they were using an acoustic guitar and it was the most prevalent instrument. And it really sounded more like slow paced country songs. But towards the end things picked up. Their music still had a bit of a country sound to it, but I liked it much more now. And their last several songs were really pretty good and at least enjoyable.


The Orange was up second. Or at least the new incarnation of The Orange. They broke up, give or take, a year and a half ago. No word at first that they’d even disbanded. Only later did frontman, Scott Tucker, make the announcement. It was sad, first off because they were a realy talented and incredible band. And secondly, because I’d really just became a fan and had only caught a couple shows. And then, at the end of July of this year, they made their return to the Dallas music scene. And I was very eager to see them once again and see what they were like. Scott is the only original member left in the band, but really that’s all that matters. I’m not saying other band members arn’t integral, but in my opinion the singer is who defines a band, cause only that person has that voice. Their around thirty minute set was comprised mainly of new songs, like the opener, “Blow Up”. At the strat of the next song, they, specifically Scott, made the only slip-up I saw them make. He played guitar for a few sseconds at the start of the song before taking his guitar off. He was doing that in such a hurry, he hit the mic with his guitar, making a little feedback sound. But he quickly recovered, putting his guitar down and grabbing the mic and he started running and jumping about the stage. And all that reminded me what a good and active frontman he is. They did a few more songs, including a really good instrumental piece, beforwe they finally got to the only song I really knew. “Nip/Tuck”. A really fast paced, catchy, rock song that you just can’t resist getting into. And then they only had time for one more, finishing with a song entitled “Cityscape”. They put on a great show and they were everything I remembered them being. I was a bit dissappointed that one particular song wasn’t played, but I learned from Scott afterwards that it would be worked into live shows soon. I know I’ve said Dallas has been lacking some truly great bands in the past few years, but with the return of the Orange, it’s one more step in the right direction.


Third up was Traffico, who had more of an Americana/Folk Rock sound going. I guess my musical preferences are expanding, cause I’m starting to like that sound more and more. They sounded great, even when they slowed things down for one song, it still seemed to flow and fit with the rest of their set. And their singer had a really good voice, and I liked that at the end of almost every song he would softly croon “Traffico.”. I guess he was wanting to make sure everyone knew who they were, and after seeing them I think everyone should.


Exit 380 was headlining, and it had been a LONG time since I’d seen them. Almost a year and a half to be exact. And it was very evident there had been some changes. The most noticeable were a keyboard set up by the center mic which frontman, Dustin Blocker, played and lead guitarist, Aaron Borden, was playing a steel guitar in soundcheck. It’d also been so long I’d forgotten they’d added a second guitarist, Jeremy Hutch, who is the brother of their bassist, The Hutch. And while I’m doing their names I’ll go ahead and throw drummer, Bobby Shoes, name in there. And when everything was all set they opened with “Daddy Was a Freight Train”. It’s from their upcoming “Cities Townies” record (a five song EP is currently available), with the townies stuff being more geared towards country music, which was exactly what this song, and the next, “Moonshiner Run”, were. I haven’t been very overwhelmed with the recordings, but live they come across very well. And it’s totally the opposite of how I was used to seeing them, with Aaron sitting in a chair, playing a steel guitar, and just all around much more relaxed. That didn’t last to long though as Aaron moved the chair out of the way and changed out for an electric guitar and began a very familiar song that I’d not heard in way too long. “Quid Pro Quo”. “Get on your knees if you want to leave. Corporate prostitution’s easy if you scream. The poor and the hungry are the one’s who are free…”, Blocker sang out, a line that I’ve always been fond of. They kept the rock flow going with a song mining in the same vein as “QPQ”, and one from the cities side of things, “Street Trash View”. I’ve listened to the recording several times, but it in no way compares to the live version, which really gets the rock juices flowing. They slowed things down again, just a bit, as Blocker busted out his harmonica, and started my favorite E380 song, “2 Lie”. I was not expecting to hear this one as I only had once before when the “Last Monday” album was still new, and I figured by now it had disappeared from the live shows. But I’m glad to see it hasn’t. The surprises kept coming as they did a couple from the “Life & Death…” record, the mostly instrumental “Sinfull Bliss” which segues perfectly into “Sweet Remorse”. Those couple of songs are slower paced, and they brought it down another couple notches with another townies song, “Run for the Gold”. “We like to do the townies stuff alot.” Blocker said before hand, “Cause it’s different from what we usually do and we’ve really enjoyed changing things up.” The next several came also came off the “Life & Death..” record, which Blocker also set up. “A couple years ago we released a concept album that got mixed reviews. It was like people either really loved it or hated it. We don’t care cause we love it, and this is the first song off it.” It was “The House and the Tree”. And upon finishing it, they brought it right into “Funeral”. “The Wrangler” came next, and then my favorite song from that record, and another I didn’t plan on hearing, “Whistle In the Wind”. With the very, I’d say beautiful, or at least very true, line “…Time is heartless, time is cold…”. “How ‘bout we do a little Caught In a Lie?” Blocker asked his bandmates, setting up the next song. The next song they did was a request for a girl who was having a birthday, and I could hardly believe what I was hearing as they started it. Jeremy had traded out his electric guitar for an acoustic, that he only played for a few seconds before unplugging it and going back to the electric. And then the song started to really take shape. It was “Dammit”, a softer and even a little depressing song, that was done in the early 2000’s, and captures a completely different sound of E380, and is just proof that they’re ever changeing. And then they finished their hour and five minute set with “Crazy Now”. It was an amazing set of songs they’d just churned out, but the fans (whom their were only about ten of left in the entire club.) wanted more, and each person shouted out at different times “DEATH MARCH!”. Aaron seemed gung-ho for it, but when he turned to Blocker to get an answer Blocker shook his head no. It still was an incredible show and I really like the duality of the cities and townies songs, cause it’s not to often you can hear one band play two totally different styles of music. It’d been so long since I’d seen them I’d forgotten how good they were, but after tonight they made a huge comeback in my book. And I won’t let another year and a half go by before seeing them again.

- The Music Enthusiast

This was the first of a two night stand at the Curtain Club. And to make it even more awesome, I’m a fan of practically every band on the bill, and each one is really worthy of headlining a show.


The first band playing here was God’s Joke. I’d seen them before and had some, well, unflattering things to say about them. So I opted out of their show, instead going next door to the Liquid Lounge to catch the first act there. But after sitting, waiting, for awhile and nothing happening, my dad & I went for a stroll around Deep Ellum. And when we got back, singer/songwriter, Jenny Leigh Tressa, was playing. She finished up the song she was doing and said that the last few had been covers, but the next one was an original. “…It’s about my grandparent’s house.” she said. She continued on with what I assume was a mix of originals and covers, which could’ve just as easily all been originals to me, since I’m not much into mainstream music. But one song she covered, which was hands down the best song she played, was a cover of Duff’s “Mercy”. (And for the record I did have to research that to find out what song it was and who originally did it.) She has an incredible voice any ways, but WOW, it sounded the best on that song! As she was performing, more people started coming in to the LL, and apparently most people these days think you can socialize while a band/artist is playing. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against talking to people during a show, I just think you owe the artist(s) respect when they’re playing. And if you do want to converse with people while someone is performing, then go out to the patio. And that really gets on my nerves when I’m trying to listen to someone, especially a singer/songwriter, and the people talking overpowers the person singing. So yeah, I got a little pissed off here. But at least it subsided enough towards the end of here set I could hear the last couple of songs. One of which was a new called “Mean Girls” that she said she wrote after “…Having dinner with some friends, and they kept telling me I’m too nice.” Really, is that, that bad of a quality to have? She was incredible, has a great voice, and left quite an impression on me. Check her out. She has a show coming up at Cafe Bohemia in Plano, on Friday, June 10th.

After Jenny finished we walked back over to the Curtain Club, where The Phuss was getting ready to rock. It sounded like they were still doing a sound check when they broke into their first song, then the curtain opened on them. And not far into that song, singer/guitarist, Josh Fleming, enthusiastically asked, “HOW THE FUCK WE DOING DALLAS?!” Then when they’d finished that song, drummer, Trey Alfaro, counted them into the next song, “So Hard to Swallow”. They followed it with a couple other songs, before Josh announced that they “…Finally had a CD for sell.”, referring to the split EP they released just a couple weeks ago. “And these next couple of songs are from it.” Which brought them to “Something to Die For” and “One for Now, Three for Later”. In that last song, it pauses for a second, after the line, “…Just give me my chance to speak…” And when it paused, Josh looked back at Trey, who in turn looked at Josh. “BITCH!” they each shouted out, before returning to the song. After that the three of them, including bassist, Forrest Barton, shouted, “STUPID FUCKING GIRLS!” a couple times, before starting the song of almost the same name. Just without the “Fucking” in the title. They did a couple more tunes, but it seemed like they were starting to run low on time, and I was beginning to doubt that they would play their “signature” song. Then after building some suspense, they revealed “Preacher, Preacher” to be the final song in their 33 minute set. I’ve really become a legitimate fan of these guys, and that is owed in large part to their EP. Which you can preview the 3 songs HERE. And catch one of their upcoming gigs. May 28 at The Dead Horse in San Angelo, TX. Friday, June 3 at Hailey’s up in Denton. Then they’ll be rockin’ The Moon Bar on June 24, in Fort Worth.

I’m not sure who played next. Well, I mean, I know it was The Commotion. But this wasn’t the same Commotion I saw not even a full month ago at Trees. Or any other time for that matter. I don’t know what the difference was, but they seemed to have a lot more presence tonight, and I really felt what they were up there performing. They started the show with “Carry On”, and it was followed by “Killing Time” and “Crim”. They really just brought it tonight, and everybody was on their A game. And they usually just go from one song to the next, and talking is kept to a minimum if not completely non-existent. But tonight, singer/guitarist, Micah Creel, even said a few words, thanking the other bands that had played as well as The Orange, and some other things, before saying something like, “…I’m going to quit talking now, cause if I do for too long I start saying stupid stuff…” The rest of their set consisted of “LOL” “Dare”, another one whose title I don’t know, but it is quite possible their best song. Then “Just a Test” and final “Backseat Driver (Wash it Away)” to wrap their 40 set. The show went pretty smoothly for everyone, except poor Justin Hold. Early on in the show his bass strap came undone, and after trying to fix it and not being able to he set down on the drum riser so he could finish out the song. Then he snapped the strap back on and got right back into it. But that happened to him another two, maybe three, times during the show. But that certainly wasn’t enough to ruin anything, just an inconvenience for him. They just killed it tonight, and if they can keep that up then they’ll definitely be a band to watch.

And lastly, headlining the Curtain Club for the first time in over three years, was The Orange. Of course that large lapse in time is attributed to their break-up. And since Scott Tucker re-formed the band sometime in the middle to later part of last year, they’ve been better then ever. The only thing though is that their “classic” songs that are found on the “…Lala Land” EP (available on iTunes or at Good Records in Dallas) have been largely absent from shows, with them only performing one song from it. Well, that all changed tonight, as they came out not only with guns drawn, but firing away, as they began with a song I hadn’t heard live in two and a half years. They tore right into “Teleprompters”, with the curtain opening just in time to see Scott start singing. “Here we go!” he said, then immediately spit out the first line of the song, “Today teleprompters tell us what to say to stop us from thinking for ourselves…” If that had been the only song they played tonight, I would’ve been okay with that. It was incredible, and not just getting to hear my favorite Orange song live again. This was the first time I’d seen them since Channce Moffitt took over as the lead guitarist, and as he proved during this song, as well as several others throughout the night, he is a master shredder. And the tambourine, which is used on several songs and played by Tyler Spears, just seems to make the songs even more fun then they already are. They did another song and then “Such a Drag”, before going into some more old school stuff. “All right.” Scott said, “This one is a classic Orange song.” as they did another fave of mine, the beautiful, “Snow Globe”. I still remember the time they played the Curtain and used a snow machine for this song. Well, the song after, as a glitch happened with the machine and it didn’t go off until they were threw with “Snow Globe”. And if my archive of gig posters I have saved on my computer is right that was on June 28, 2008. Just in case you were wondering. They did another old tune, “Nip/Tuck”, before doing the more experimental sounding, “Cityscapes”. I wasn’t too sure about that song the first couple of times I heard it, but I really do like its lengthy instrumental part. “This next song is a cover song.” Scott told the decent sized crowd. “It’s by a band that played here in ‘97 or ‘98.” They then welcomed an older gentleman, Chicago Dan, on stage with them, who went over to stage right, tapped the mic to make sure it was hot, then pulled out a harmonica and played a few notes. “I was hanging out with this guy in ‘97 or ‘98 too.” said Scott, and gave a laugh. And I of course didn’t have a clue what song it was, but it sounded pretty good (NOTE: I have since learned the song was by the band Spacehog). They they rocked out “Doomsday for Mr. Denton”. And for their next song, Scott brought up the rapture that was supposedly going to take place the following day. “The truth is…” he said, before pausing. “I don’t know if the world will end tomorrow or not. But this is a song I wrote two years ago about what it might be like to ascend to heaven.” before adding, “It sounds better if you close your eyes and listen to it.” It was titled “30 Minutes”, and it must have sounded better with your eyes closed, as Scott played the entire thing with his eyes shut. It really was a pretty killer song, and then they played one final song to end their 56 minute set. I’ve always been a fan of this band since first hearing of them back in ‘08, maybe ‘07. But to nights show greatly deepened my love for their music. I believe they are currently in, or at least getting ready to go in, to the studio to do a new CD. And I really can’t wait to see what they churn out!

Posted 1 year ago - The Music Enthusiast

Trees had put together a fairly last minute show that was taking place this night. However, even though it was last minute, they had assembled some pretty killer talent to perform.

There were only three bands on the bill, and a little before ten the first one, The Orange, got going. I had not seen them in quite some time. I actually think it was when they played here at Trees last July, and they’ve made a few changes since then. The most obvious was their new(er) lead guitarist, Kirk Livesay, and I’m pretty sure bassist, Jason Wessup, is a new addition since I last saw them, too. Then came the audible difference, as the song that opened their 35 minute long set was one I had never heard before. This is a pretty big statement to make, but this could well be the best song The Orange has ever done. It was intense, it was in your face, and it was filled with catchy hooks. I wasn’t expecting anything like this… But wow! By the time they were only a third of the way into this tune, my mind was already completely blown. “This next song is called Such a Drag” said singer and rhythm guitarist, Scott Tucker, as they continued on with their set. Scott ditched his guitar on this song, as he grabbed the mic and ran and jumped about the stage, most of the time singing, but occasionally letting out some more punk sounding screams. When it was done he picked his guitar back up, and began to play a cool riff, while Cody Waits rocked out on the drums. Chicago Dan then joined them on stage, as he approached the stage right mic and began to let the audience hear the sweet sounds of his harmonica. Once he started belting out those notes I thought it made the song feel slightly like an old western movie… It didn’t last long, though. Dan left after helping set up this intro as it turned into a real rock song. Following that one was what Scott said was his “…Favorite Orange song to play.” If memory serves me right the song is titled “Twenty Minutes”, and the minutes long instrumental intro for it is heavenly. This is actually one area that sets The Orange apart from other bands, because they do have a few songs that are as much instrumental as anything which allows you better see what great musicians they are on their respective instruments. Another fan favorite came next, which I’m pretty certain was “Doomsday for Mr. Denton”, while I believe “Cityscapes”, another song with lengthy instrumental parts, ended the set.

This was a hell of a show they put on and ranks as being one of the best (top three) Orange shows I’ve seen. Aside from what I mentioned earlier, I also like how Scott breaks things up during their shows. Going from being a high energy singer and guitar player, to assuming more of a frontman role and really commanding the crowd’s attention while doing it.
-The Music Enthusiast
- The Music Enthusiast

On board as the main support act was The Orange, who had helped out the Opium Symphony during the recording process. They kicked off their 42 minute set with “Doomsday for Mr. Denton”, and you could hear their guest musician, Chicago Dan’s harmonica before the curtain ever opened. And when it did, they were in full-swing, as Tyler Spears shook his tambourine, which adds so much to the live show to be such a simple instrument. At one point vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Scott Tucker, pulled off his ax and paraded around the stage singing for a bit, before putting it back on for the last bit of the song. Scott asked something like, “What’s next, Livesay?”, referring to lead guitarist, Kirk Livesay, who told him. Soon after, drummer, Cody Waits, ripped into what is still one of their catchiest songs, “Teleprompters”. They just perfectly nailed down the “hook” with the chorus of the song, “…I really love the way they make the catchphrase, hits you right in the mouth. Inside, outside, running back to my side, who’s side is she on now?…”, which is simply infectious. I believe it was after that song that Scott urged their large audience to pack-in close to the stage, saying, “God damn, this is an Orange show…” and encouraged them to come up and start dancing. The followed that with what Scott pointed out was one of his favorite Orange songs, “Thirty Minutes to Midnight”. It’s also one of their longest, and the instrumental buildup to it takes awhile, though in itself sounds great, but it truly takes off when they finally get to the first verse. Chicago Dan rejoined them for their next song, and afterwards as he once again took his leave, Scott announced the next song, saying, “This is Such a Fucking Drag”. Right on the heels of it was “I Want to Go”, and they then closed things with “Cityscapes”.

It was a fantastic set they did, and part of me wondered if it could even be rivaled, let alone topped. I swear, these guys keep getting better and better with each show I see, and hopefully before too much longer, say, by the end of this year, they’ll finally have some new recorded music to put in their fans ears. In the meantime, go to a show and pick up a copy of their old record, which Scott proudly announced they had for sale this night, pointing out that it was the first time in six months or more since they had, had CDs for sale at a show. And speaking of their shows, be sure to “like” their FACEBOOK PAGE so you’ll know when they have future gigs.

- The Music Enthusiast

So far I’m two for two at seeing Trees’ anniversary shows, and now after this night, I’m three for three.

It has been a little over three years now since Clint Barlow reopened the legendary Dallas venue, and to help celebrate this year’s event he had gotten Bowling for Soup to return to the club, after playing there four short months earlier.

I don’t know when the show started, but evidently it was early, because when my dad and I got there shortly after 8:30, the first band, The Hollow Empire, had already done there thing.

I can’t say I’m disappointed, because I don’t know anything about them, but hey, if they were playing an event like this, they must be pretty good.

We did at least get there early enough to see one of the bands I wanted to see, though, and that was Ten Can Riot.

I had seen the band once before, but that had been two plus years ago, so I didn’t recall much about them, but once they got going, my memory was refreshed a little bit.

They are a trio that churns out some Punk/Rock music that could easily compete with the best of the best. Singer and guitarist, Scotty, is an Australian, and his accent adds an extra element to the songs, frequently shining through on the songs, such as “Got My Rights”, where he growls out the chorus, “Well I got my rights…”. They tore through their set, and the coolest thing about it was how crowd embraced them. After announcing that they only had one song left, there was an audible sound of disappointment, and I even heard someone say, “Play five more!” Yeah, seemingly no one wanted their set to end, and I was in that group, because Scotty, bassist, Dougie, and drummer, Micko, were killing it. But of course they had to, to make room for the remaining acts.

I think these guys usually play pretty often, but I can’t find any upcoming dates at the moment, so I don’t know when their next show will be. They have a record, which you can order online via their OFFICIAL WEBSITE, but it is not available in iTunes or other such retailers. You can listen to their stuff on REVERBNATION, though, and if you like ‘em, go see a show. They will not disappoint.

I had bought the tickets for this show not long after they went on sale, because Bowling for Soup was more than enough reason to get me out to it. But then I found out that The Orange had been added to the bill, and my excitement grew. And those cool cats were next.

A 37 minute set was all they got, but they packed it chalk full of Indie Rock goodness. Their set consisted of their newer material, with a few exceptions of some oldies that have not been recorded, such as their opener, “Such a Drag”. It was a good way to get things going, and while the band rocked out, Tyler Spears, who plays the tambourine, strutted around the stage. Singer and rhythm guitarist, Scott Tucker, ditched his guitar for the next couple of songs, the first of which was “I Want a Girl”. I didn’t know that title of that song until they mentioned it there, but I remember it from the past few shows of theirs I’ve seen, and is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Like so many of their songs, it has a real infectious sound to it. Afterwards, Scott welcomed “Chicago Dan” to the stage, as he walked down from the steps that lead to the greenroom. He lent his harmonica skills on the next couple of songs, one of which I believe was “Doomsday for Mr. Denton”. During that song, Scott left guitarist, Kirk Livesay, bassist, Jason Wessup, drummer, Cody Waits, and the others, as he hopped off the stage and got lost in the crowd. He soon reappeared, and shortly after pulled a young girl on stage. “This is her first concert!” he said, while the girl appeared a little frightened to be on stage in front of so many people, but after seeing Scott jumping up and down, she followed suit. “Scream!” he said at one point, having her scream into the mic., before she eventually left the stage. “I don’t care what anyone else says, Rock ‘N” Roll saves.” Scott said as the song ended, then added, “Raise your hand if you’ve been saved by music.” The bands guitar tech brought out a guitar for Scott, and while that happened, Jason told everyone the next song was called “Mr. Money Maker”. Scott then added it is the first single from their upcoming record (tentatively due out in early 2013). Chicago Dan left after aiding the band on that song, and they soon started their next tune, and one of their longest, “Cityscapes”. As the song builds, the main line that is often repeated is, “Nothing really matters.”, and right before the band ripped into it, Scott said, “The truth is, when you really think about, nothing does matter.” This was the only song that didn’t go off without a hitch, as Scotts’ guitar had some issues, and he switched out a couple of times during it. They ironed out the problem before beginning “Valium”, which Scott said was simply about, “…Taking Valium.” That brought them to their final song of their night, which once again required the sounds of Dan and his harmonica, while Scott set his guitar down for the explosive (no pun intended), “Blow Up”.

I’d say this was the best show I’ve seen the band do since the last time they played here at Trees. Hell, this is quite possible one of the best shows I’ve seen them do period. They were really on top of their game this night, even by their standards.

As mentioned, they are working on a new record, but until then, check out their first EP, “A Sonic Collection of Short Stories from Lala Land”. They also have some more shows coming up, one of which will be on October 12th at The Doublewide in Dallas. They will be back here at Trees on October 27th. Then they have a show at The Door/Prophet Bar (Big Room) in Dallas on November 2nd.

Obviously, people were most excited about seeing Bowling for Soup, and as it got closer to time for them to hit the stage, the people packed in there like sardines and started to chant the band’s name. Then their theme music started, and a vast majority of the crowd was singing right along to it.

The curtain opened with Jaret Reddick, Gary Wiseman, Erik Chandler and Chris Burney already on stage with their instruments, and once the music subsided, they started rocking out. It was just music at first, but then they put the right chords to it, and truly shocked me by opening with one of their biggest hits, “Girl All the Bad Guys Want”. “Sing with me!” said Jaret when they got to the chorus, having the fans sing every other line, such as, “…Turntables in her eyes…”. After it, they took a little break, to talk about Trees and wish the venue a happy third birthday, and soon something was said about needing to be happy, setting up their next song, “Shut-Up And Smile”. I’ve always liked that song, and it’s cool that it’s found its way into the live set, and when listening to it, it really is kind of hard to not smile… Especially when they started talking about how much they loved ice cream, after the line, “…All we need is some ice cream and a hug…”. The end of that song saw the start of the bands typical banter in between songs. “…I think we found the secret to having a great show.” Jaret said. “Only charge three dollars… At this rate, we’d only have to do ten shows a day and still get to live in a van!” He then started setting up the next song, saying it was about his ex-girlfriend, who caught “The Clap”. That led to a hysterical conversation revolving around, “What exactly is The Clap?” “Don’t ask me, I failed health education…” Chris said. They knew it was either Gonorrhea or Syphilis, but the audience couldn’t provide a definite answer, either. I think they finally decided on the former, and Jaret again said this was song about his ex, “…Who got Al Caponed…”. “He died of Gonorrhea, right?” he said, saying something like that gem of a joke could have just been ruined. They got to the song after that, as Jaret started, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, another dose of unhappiness…”, begging of course, “Emily”. Around this point it was mentioned that they almost didn’t make it to this show and would have been stuck in Toledo. “…Which wouldn’t have been too bad. There’s stuff to do it Toledo…” said Jaret, in a hesitant voice. “Yeah, Detroit’s not too far from there.” Erik added. “…We were so close to Detroit we could actually hear the gunshots…” he added. Then, after asking his band mates how they were doing, Chris said he was having a “bad pants day”, which led to a little discussion about his pants. As that topic neared the end of discussion, they started softly playing their instruments, doing an intro of sorts that soon gave way to a fan favorite, “Ohio (Come Back to Texas)”. During the sing-along portion, everyone was asked to raise their hands in the air. “If the person next to you isn’t doing this, then they hate puppies.” Jaret told everyone, and after the crowd swayed their arms back and forth for a bit, he then asked them to do “jazz hands”. “Okay, now spirit fingers!” he exclaimed. Afterwards, Jaret took a breath mint or something, saying he thought his breath was bad, and offered Chris one. “…I need some of that ball fresh…” he said, which soon turned into a joke about how much he stank. “Can you smell him out there?” Jaret asked. They said it’s sometimes hard to shower when you don’t have one, and Chris said something like, “…What am I supposed to do? Wash my dick in the sink?” That hygiene topic went on for a few minutes, and then Jaret asked how many “really good singers” were in the crowd. “Okay, how about how many bad singers?” he asked, and they really outnumbered the good ones. “Okay, I’m going to need you good singers to help out the bad ones during this next song.” he finished, as they broke into “Almost”. They got to the bridge, and that was when he said the good singers needed to help the bad ones, as the audience sang, “I almost forgot to say something else, and if I can’t fit it in I’ll keep it all to myself…”. Another random conversation started after that tune, and eventually led to “closet peeers” (is that even a word?). “But there is one man who has peed in more closets than anyone…” said Jaret, who asked that one of their roadies come out on stage, saying he held that title. SO, what’s a good song to play after talking about peeing? How about the delightful, innuendo filled song, “My Wena”. Upon finishing it, they reminisced about when they used to play Trees, back in the day. “We’d play here on Wednesday nights.” Jaret said, noting their audience then was the other bands and the bartender(s). “…And it was so cool. Back then, we used to get to pay full-price for drinks!” Chris chimed in, “So we didn’t drink.” “Yeah, once they start giving this stuff to you, it’s all over.” Jaret added. They then got ready for their next song, saying that for the past eight years or so, “…Which isn’t even half of our career…” pointed out Jaret, they have been credited for doing the song, “Stacy’s Mom”. Jaret said that the song went out to a mother and daughter who had bet about who did the song originally, “…[The mother] wins.” he said, before they began the song. When it was over, Jaret said something about how he thought he smelled toast, to which Erik eventually asked him if that made him worried if he ever were to have a stroke, saying something along the lines of, “…You’d be, like, it smells so delicious, but there’s no toast. I must be having a stroke…” “Let’s All Go to the Pub”, a brand new song, came next, and is a song that is done in true BFS fashion. It’s quick and funny (i.e. the line, “…My girlfriend’s acting pissed at me, but that ain’t nothing new. Could it be a birthday or anniversary? Beats the hell out of me…”). It’s definitely bound to be an instant classic. Speaking of classics, they did another one, “High School Never Ends”, which I find even more funny now. There are SEVERAL celebrity names thrown into the song, and after the line, “…And Katie had a baby, so I guess Tom’s straight…”, I kind of laughed to myself, since that couple is no longer together. At this point, someone passed a note up to the stage, which was a coupon for a 44oz. drink that they joked they could all split and each get 11oz. of it. “Yes, I see the note on the back.” Jaret told the person, then Chris took it from him. “Oh, it says “Chris has a lovely dick.” “Now if you’re going to get a note, that’s the kind of note to get. Saying that you dick is lovely.” Jaret joked. Someone from the audience said something, and Jaret quipped back at them quickly and then they immediately started the Phineas and Ferb theme song, “Today is Going to Be a Great Day”. They didn’t get too far, though, before stopping, and Jaret said he was feeling so good from his joke a moment earlier, he hit the wrong note, so he wanted to start the song over. Another short song followed, which was done after they said they “made mistakes” in their youth and did power ballads, rather than keeping things short and simple, and it was one they “made up” there on the spot. “What should we sing about?” asked Jaret, before asking a girl what her name was. It was Holly, and they said they were going to do a 45 second song about Holly. “…Holly, you’re standing fifteen feet in front of me…” was one of the lines, and they only got so far, before the 45 seconds were up. Chris then said something about rock musician, Sebastian Bach, would probably be contacting them wanting to do that song. “If he did it, it would go like this.” Jaret said, as they proceeded to do the song with an 80’s rock flare to it. Chris then joked they could do it like Dokken. “But see, if we did that, we’d be the only ones who understood it.” Jaret told him, essentially saying everyone here was to young to remember that band. When that was all done, they took a beer break, then launched into “The Last Rock Show”. “Now everybody, put your hands up like this!” Jaret instructed, flashing the rock hand sign. “If the person next to you isn’t doing this, than that means they hate gonorrhea…Which, is a good thing.” he slowly said, and I’m going to guess he botched that joke ever so slightly, though it was still good, and then they tore into “Punk Rock 101”. They (or rather their road crew) had, had some rough moments around this time, as a fat guy somehow started crowd surfing, ended up on stage, and then started trying to fight Tony when he tried to get him off stage. And by fight I mean it looked like blood was about to be drawn. So, during “Punk Rock 101” the band did their photo moment, where they pose on all sides of the stage so fans can get pictures, and Jaret said something like, “For the first time ever attempted at Trees after a fat guy jumped on stage and nearly started a fight…”. After the picture taking, they joked about the situation, which was really funny because they continued performing the song, though all four of them watched as they guy pulled Tony to the floor where they wrestled for a moment. “…You guys are like, “Fuck it, we only paid three dollars to get in here and we’ve already heard Girl All the Bad Guys Want…” said Jaret (or at least something like that), then said that would have to be the name of their Greatest Hits. “…The thing is, we need a lot more hits. Otherwise we’re stuck with a shit sandwich.” said Chris, to which Jaret said they were running out of time. They slowed things down a little with “When We Die”, and then invited Clint Barlow, the owner of Trees, who had gotten on stage before the band started to thank everyone for coming out, back up on the stage for one more speech, which he reluctantly did. Trees does have several Hard Rock and even occasionally Metal bands come through, so to honor that Jaret said they had the perfect song, Britney Spears’s, “Baby One More Time”. Once it was done, Chris took notice of the giant ceiling fan that the venue has, saying, “That’s a big fan… I could use that in my bedroom.” “I’d be worried that if you had that in your bedroom your whole house would float away.” Jaret told him. They stayed on that topic for a bit longer, and then began their final song, which was of course, “1985”. Towards the end, they had the crowd sing the chorus to them while they took another beer break. “That’s right, you do all the work and we still get paid.” Jaret told everyone. Their break wasn’t too long, though, and after finishing it, Chris mentioned he wished they had put a double chorus at that spot. “Well why not do it now?” Jaret told him, and the fans again sang it, before they came back and finished what little was left of the song.

That brought an end to their 81 minute set, and for the first time ever (or I guess second, counting when I saw the band on the Warped Tour in ’04), they did not do an encore. Why? There was a DJ who was filling the rest of the time, right up to two AM, so the bands gear had to be gotten off stage.

For the sheer fact of wanting more, I wish they had been able to do a couple encores, but still, they had done everything that the people expected to hear and then some, so there’s no denying it was an incredible set.

BFS will soon be doing a UK tour, stretching from mid-October to early November. They also have a new record Called “One Big Happy”, which is more of an EP of sorts, featuring music from them, The Dollyrots and Patent Pending. You can find it, and all their previous albums, HERE in iTunes.

All the way around it was an awesome show that Clint had assembled at Trees, and a very good way to mark its third anniversary. Go see a show there sometime and help make the place get to four years.




- The Music Enthusiast

DALLAS — The atmosphere was chill and the crowd small on Friday night at The Cavern on Greenville Avenue, where God's Joke, The Orange, and Cocky Americans performed.

-The Orange took the stage next and brought the crowd to their feet. The Orange went off on many awesome instrumental tangents, and they gave us a night of guitar distortion mixed with dance beats. They sound a bit like The Arctic Monkeys. The best part was lead guitarist Michael Scroggins's impressive solos, which tied each song together. Front man/guitarist Scott Tucker got the crowd involved by doing a short clap-along. Our favorite was their catchy song “Nip Tuck,” which got the crowd dancing and singing.

- Pegasus News

Fans of bombastic area power pop/psychedelic rock act The Orange might have some trouble spotting the band on any area venue's upcoming show calendars.

Mostly because, um, The Orange has been peeled. Which is to say that it's done with.

Well, partially.

"As far as The Orange goes," frontman Scott Tucker wrote in response to our email inquiry, "yes, I am changing the name to The Life Fantastica... Artistically speaking, I just don't feel the name gives proper reference to the project anymore."

We last caught up with The Orange about a year ago, as the band prepared for the release of its disc, A Sonic Collection of Short Stories From La La Land. (Download a copy of the song "Nip/Tuck" from the EP here.) Pretty catchy, upbeat stuff--and certainly interesting in that the band found itself a home at the Curtain Club, a venue usually not conducive to the type of sound The Orange brought.

So why the change? Just a desire for a new direction?


"The sound of The Orange was more of a collaboration," Tucker explains. "The lead guitarist, Aaron Berkes, [and I] had been playing together for 13 years. He recently had to leave the band for a full time career as a structural engineer. We had known it was coming for a year now, but Aaron held on as long as he could. With our tour schedule in 2008 being intense at times, Aaron had to make that decision.

"Aaron and I wrote all the music and now that he is no longer with the band I am taking complete artistic responsibility for the project."

And where'd The Life Fantastica come from?

"The Life Fantastica was originally a solo project I started with a guitarist named Kirk Livesay about the same time as The Orange got together," Tucker says. "Kirk and I have been playing together for 12 years. Now that Aaron is no longer with the band, The Orange will undergo a complete transformation to The Life Fantastica. I am really excited about this project... I finally feel free to express music in the clearest possible way now without any distractions."

In some ways, Tucker says, the change is something of a weight lifted off of the band's shoulders; the band is excited about the freedom lying before it.

"Aaron and I wrote great music together," Tucker writes. "And I'm really going to miss sharing the stage with him. But now all the music in my head that keeps me awake at night will be free to launch."

Too bad. I was a big fan of The Orange, if only for a very stupid reason: It's name was the same as my college's sports team nickname. (I told you the reasoning was stupid.)

Anyway, Tucker says the band's first gig will be in Austin at a showcase during SXSW. Keep an eye on The Life Fantastica's Myspace page for info on upcoming local show dates.

- The Dallas Observer

Ethereal psych-rock band The Orange is experiencing a wicked state of euphoria these days. After three years of exploring its musical purpose, the Dallas group has finally reached a blissful peak with the release of its new EP, A Sonic Collection of Short Stories from La La Land, and upcoming New York tour dates. The Orange will celebrate this accomplishment with an extravaganza of music and "surprises" tonight at the Curtain Club. (Get a taste of the new album at the end of this post.)

Scott Tucker and Aaron Berkes are guiding The Orange's journey and have come full-circle from their adolescent days of sneaking into Deep Ellum venues to watch their favorite bands. Creating music together for more than half their lives, Tucker and Berkes possess a distinguished bond anchored not only by their shared musical vision, but also by an innocent curiosity to explore the full potential of their creative bursts.

After a touch-and-go experience in the much grimier version of themselves, Special Edword, the friends stripped themselves bare (literally, according to tales of Tucker's late night cemetery crusades) and began the reconstruction that lead them to this moment.

Surrounded by shiny, vintage rock equipment and headless mannequins, we sat in The Orange's Arlington practice space to dig a little deeper into the orphic energy of the 25 year-old bandmates.

(Note: Bassist Brandon Morris also joined us. He sat politely and bashfully in the corner.)

Tell us about the title of your new EP, A Sonic Collection of Short Stories from La La Land.

Tucker: Well, the name comes from... OK, there are so many bands that seem to be writing songs that just don't seem to mean anything. Even the words of the songs and the titles of the songs are like "Wait" or "Breathe." (To Berkes) What's another one?

Berkes: Or like "Capture!"

Tucker: Yeah! "Capture!"

Berkes: This is a new one from our album called "Capture!"

Tucker: And it's like everyone names their albums, you know..."Blue...Steel! Blue Steel Magnum" from Never Said.

I've never heard of that album...

Tucker: You know what I mean. It's just that everyone tries to be so (death metal scream) hardcore, metal, Dallas. I was sitting in an English class, actually, and I had just read a book, The 2005 Best American Short Stories.... I was relating literature to the lyrics I write and I thought, in a way, music now is the literature that people really - well, people don't go out and buy books like they did in the '20s or the '30s and especially the 1800s - so, this is the literature of the day. And I just wanted to call it "A Sonic Collection of Short Stories," because every song is a story and it's sonic because it's musical. And it's from La La Land. La La Land is like this place where I wish I were. This is La La Land (points to the vibrant woods in the band's new press photo), just a place of bliss.

You guys worked with Dallas producer Jim King, yes?

Berkes: Yes, Jim King. Sonic Dropper. He was great to work with. He pushed us to the next level. We've recorded with other people before. (With Jim) it was like you did a take and even if you thought it was good, Jim would be like "no."

Tucker: No.

Berkes: No. He'd hear things that you didn't even know that you didn't hear.

Tucker: Especially me.

Berkes: He'd say, "Do it again." That extra push that he gave us, that extra drive, not only increased us professionally as musicians, but also made the record sound a lot better. It was really good to work with him.

People are always looking to slap labels on bands to describe their sound. So, what words do you attach to the sound The Orange?

Berkes: Hmm. Well, right now, it's a little dance-y. There's a dance element to it. But it's not something that we are trying to go for - it's not like, "hey, let's write dance songs!" That's where it's at right now. It's not emo. It's not screamo. I can tell you what it's not.

Tucker: It's not metal, hip-hop or grunge. I don't know. That's tough. Well, our manager describes it as a sonic, dirty bomb.

A sonic, dirty bong?!

Tucker and Berkes: A sonic, dirty bomb!

Aha! I get it. That's cool.

Tucker: When people ask me, I say our music is kind of like The Killers and The Dandy Warhols. But then some people say that Aaron and I have this sort of Nirvana element because...

Berkes: ...because we were brought up in the early '90s.

Tucker: I can't really think of one of our songs that has that though.

Berkes: We were way into Nirvana, Deftones and Silverchair. All those bands.

Tucker: Yeah, Daniel Johns (of Silverchair) is a musical prodigy. Do you listen to The Dandy Warhols?

Yes, actually. My friend has been emailing me their music lately. I've been revisiting.

Tucker: Courtney Taylor is really inspirational to me, actually. Courtney Taylor has really taught me to just release myself. After I discovered The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre I really decided that whatever comes out, comes out. If people like it, then they do. If they don't, then whatever.

The Orange is influenced by psychedelia, obviously. Tell us about that.

Berkes: We are definitely influenced by psychedelia. I've got a pedal board with a bunch of pedals. (Grinning, his sneakers motion to his massive pedal board.) That makes us psychedelic.

(Both Berkes and Tucker are humorously approaching the stereotype while pointing out the inventory of acid-rock paraphernalia around us.)

Tucker: Yeah, I play through a Vox AC30 amp and a Silvertone from 1965.

But, it's not just in the music; it's in the image, the show...

Tucker: I'm a visual artist, and I just really enjoy early psychedelic bands like 13th Floor Elevators and Rocky Erickson and that whole genre because it's so original and it's so fresh.

Berkes: We like the bright colors. A lot of the music out there is so depressing and we try to bring an element of color and light.

The Orange is hosting its CD release party tonight at the Curtain Club with The Future Cast, The Salutation and Wonderfool. Admission includes a copy of The Orange's new EP, A Sonic Collection of Short Stories from La La Land. -- Krissi Reeves

And, now that you're fully enticed, check out the track "Teleprompters" from The Orange's new EP.

- The Dallas Observer