Calling All Troubadours Fans to the Surf Club

If you've been meaning to go, now is your chance-
finally The Rhodes Tavern Troubadours will appear live and in person THIS FRIDAY NIGHT at the legend in its' own time, still gasping, but not for long- Chick Hall's Surf Club right there at 4711 Kenilworth Avenue in Beautiful Bladensburg- gem of Prince George's (don't call it PG) County. Karen Collins and her Backroads Band will hold up the honky tonk end of the show while The Troubadours will faithfully lean towards the rocking side. Show starts at 9:30. Most probably this will be the last time Troubadours play Chick Hall's- where the real people like to hang.

And if The Troubadours' show leaves you wanting more... you are in luck. Mark Noone will be playing At The Velvet Lounge in downtown DC the very next night- Jan 26- this time disguised as a Hula Monster.

And don't forget - coming up -Feb 2 -it's the RTT kid's show at the historic Avalon Theater.

Try and get your fill now...it may be a long time 'till the next gig.

Tribute Turns Out A Crowd

The Troubadours had a great time at the Nick Lowe tribute. Seemed like old home week with the cast of thousands that turned out to play and watch. The Troubadours did Soulful Wind from the Impossible Bird recording with guests, Bill Kirchen on guitar and trombone, Louise Kirchen singing back up, and Jon Carroll on piano. Just to add to the mix up- Jake Flack played the drums and Jack O'Dell played guitar on this one with Mark Noone holding down the bass line as usual.




Their other Nick Lowe song, Play That Fast Thing One More Time, had everybody back to their places, with Jon Carroll still on piano. The night ended with a humongous finale- too many musicians to name, but plenty enough to change a lightbulb.

There are TWO gigs (count 'em TWO) coming up- one for the older set at Chick Hall's Surf Club-January 25 and a kid's show at The Avalon Theater- Feb 2. Both are great venues, and you know these appearances are scarce now so mark your calenders.
Thanks to Linda Parker for these great shots- you can check out more pix of The Troubadours and the Nick Lowe tribute at her site.

MARK NOONE FANS ALERT

Slickees @Otto Bar courtesy of Dunbek

Troubadours/ Slickees/Mark Noone fans.. this is IT.
The big Slickee Boys shows are this weekend at Chick Hall's Surf Club in bee-u-tiful Bladensburg, MD on Friday Night Dec 28th
and The Otto Bar in Baltimore on Saturday night Dec 29th.
Both shows will be outrageous fun as usual... and you can even bring the kids to Chick Hall's and share the legacy of your own misspent youth.
And for all you commuters- catch Mark on the radio tomorrow morning, Dec 27th, at 8:15 a.m. with Weasel on 94.7 FM The Globe
.

Troubadours Withdrawl? Get Help Here

Get your Troubadours fix where and whenever you can. In December you can catch that cool cat, Jack O' Dell playing the big holiday show with the venerable Bill Kirchen at Jammin' Java
(And special guest on sax-- you've seen him play with The Troubadors, too-Derek Huston.)

And don't miss this show- including the legend in his own time- Mark Noone when The Slickee Boys take the stage at the soon to be gone Chick Hall's Surf Club on December 28th, along with their pals The Beatnik Flies and Prabir and The Substitutes.



Plus one more chance!
The Slickee Boys will also appear in Baltimore on December 29th with The Howling Mad,
Chelsea Graveyard and The Screams at Midnight, and Jukebox Zero at The Otto Bar

Hopefully Jake Flack will show up at one of these shows so we can at least say hey to him, too.

The State Theater Event

It was a fun time at The State Theater last Sunday night. Lots of familiar faces and good music.
Unfortunately, due to technical problems, the film portion of the evening didn't happen, but Mark Noone gave a short history and a nod to the Langley Punks who showed up even though their films did not. He also thanked Weasel for giving his Slickee Boys career a huge boost back in the day when WHFS in Bethesda ruled the airwaves for us locals in the
know. Here are a few shots of the evening:

Mark Noone with Ron Holloway
Mark and local DJ legend, Weasel




Eddie Angel and ... you guessed it.

Bulletin: RTTs Return!

Kids' Show this Monday- October 8- at the Phoenix World Gate Theater. Get your popcorn and the wee ones and head over there-13025 Worldgate Dr. in Herndon, VA. It's at the obscenely early hour of 10:30 am.Tixs are $5; the set is about 45 minutes. We're not kidding when we say this is a rare show so hope you can make it.

And don't forget the State Theater Sunday night. Mark Noone emcees Langley Punk films featuring such bands a s The Slickee Boys of all things. Details below.

Music On the Rise

Big night at The State Theater coming up on this Sunday October 7- a concert featuring local legends Billy Hancock (former Troub, Dave Chappell will be playing with him) Robert Gordon, Eddie Angel and more. The above link has the lowdown on the musicians.

Early on in the evening at 6 p.m., there will be a showing of the old Langley Punks films emceed by our own MARK NOONE.
(Look for him to be IN the films as well as talking about 'em)

Check out Music On the Rise to find out more.

This show promises to be a re-enactment of the dear ole 80s in DC- a pretty amazing time for the arts around here- brought to you by folks who are all about preserving our past. If you weren't there, come out and see what all the fuss was about- and if you were there, well, you know what they say about the sixties... Here's our chance to go back in time and refresh that brain page.

Troubadours- Get 'Em Where You can Find 'em

Troubadours fans are mostly music fans, and a surprising amount of music can be found in this town. The Troubadours do have a gig coming up in November, but in the meantime look here for updates/links on where band players may be found ...in public anyway. Jack O' Dell can be seen with Bill Kirchen, but you never know when he'll cross over to the Hula or Grandson side of town. Mark Noone is a staple of the Hula Monsters, but he also plays with other bands including, of course, The Slickee Boys. And Jake Flack has something up his sleeve. So watch this space- it won't always be empty!

Place A Hold On Summertime

Just because everyone went back to school, summer's not over yet. At least not in downtown increasingly hip Hyattsville, MD. The Summer Jam is coming up this Friday, September 7. It's a community event with beer and burgers in the parking lot of the Municipal building at 4310 Gallatin Street. The Hula Monsters will play from 6:30 until 8:30, and as if that isn't enough, rumor has it there will be a moon bounce as well.

And if enough is NEVER enough you can catch the Hulas in full dance mode when they share the bill with Karen Collins and the Back Roads Band at Chick Hall's Surf Club 4711 Kenilworth Avenue in, best left in a category by itself, beautiful Bladensburg, MD on September 8 this Saturday night.

Monster Troubadour Out Tonight

Jack may be out of town, and Jake is AWOL,
but ever busy Mark Noone will be playing tonight
with the Hula Monsters in the Mason District Park
- a free concert- one long set from 7:30 until 8:30.

It's a great band and great players-you can check out their sound at the link above,
or better yet come and see 'em.
Remember variety is the poi of life.

Practice Makes Perfect

Steady ...steady ....


AND


taaaaaaah-
Dahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

No Animals Were Harmed...

Jake's Party

Only Jake seems to know what is in store as the other guys in the band seem pretty calm at Jake's birthday party last Saturday night. Below Jake shows the secret ingredients in Mark Noone's cocktail. Stay tuned for what happened next.

Chill, baby

It's on the Red Line, but all our worries are over. They blew up that little brown box so we can all come out and live in peace and harmony and see THe Troubadours TONIGHT at The Quarry House in Silver Spring- an extremely limited engagement. The band starts around nine and go go goes until midnight or so. Seven bucks will get you in and a few more will get you tater tots, and depending on your own low or high standards, you can get a beer to suit any mood or pocketbook.

Plus it's Jake's birthday so you KNOW the band will set the place on fire.

Three Guys, Six Ears

What The guys in the band are listening to these long dog days:

I'm digging a band from England called the Magic Numbers. Also a comedian named Patton Oswalt has a new live CD out on Sub Pop. There are some great DC references to Minor Threat, the Bayou, and Arch Campbell. There's a new Fats Domino (best of) coming out that is absolutely great. Steve Earle's new record is really good too.
JAke

Last night I listened to Parthenon Huxley’s new CDs. He has two, but I think one is out takes. Still great! This guy is a Troubadour fan must see. Speaking of must sees, I think Prabir will be at the Galaxy Hut on Sept 21.

Noone

I'm listening to Arcade Fire's new CD "Neon Bible", Conway Twitty (best
of) and NRBQ live bootlegs from the '80's.

Jack

See the Troubadours live this Thursday- a rare public appearance for August

Metamophosis Or Transfiguration?

(The Beatnik Flies @ 9:30 Club July 29)

So what do you get when you cross a Slickee Troubadour with a Beatnik Fly?


trans·fig·u·ra·tion
Pronunciation: (")tran(t)s-"fi-gy&-'rA-sh&n, -g&-
Function: noun
1 a : a change in form or appearance : METAMORPHOSIS b : an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change


answer: mark noone, of course

One Troubadour's Better Than None

For those of you in Troubadour withdrawal, you at least can catch two of Mark Noone's other personalities this weekend. See alter ego number 1 when The Hula Monsters play Lubber Run Park in Arlington, VA, Saturday evening from 8 until 9:30. (free)
(Come on out, buy a Hawaiian shirt, and get down and luau.)

Mark will also be singing Slickee Boys' style with The Beatnik Flies backing him up at the big (make that humongous) dc space reunion at the 9:30 club on Sunday. This event will not only make history, but will also benefit a very cool cat, Tom Terrell, who is fighting cancer for his life. Twenty buck donation to get in; doors open at 4 p.m., and the performances go on until 1 a.m.
A lot of bang for that donated buck. See DC ROCKS for more details.

(Mark and The Flies are scheduled at 8:45.)

dc space is the place again

Catch Mark Noone if you can...this Sunday July 29th.

( click on flyer to read... more info. at DC ROCKS)

Summer Reading List

The Troubadours are truly a literate band- which is not surprising really since they are all smart, and all song writers in their own rite.

Jack O' Dell tackles the New York Times Book Review every day, and these days, if he has time left over, he's reading Nick Hornby's latest- A LONG WAY DOWN.

Mark Noone is cursing his way through psychology and biology textbooks. His book club is reading ULYSSES by James Joyce. ( I told you they were kinda smart)

Jake? He's out of town, but check in next week for his list.

( ok it's a slow news cycle)

Don't Make Me Go In There

Due to summer scheduling conflicts, Mark Noone found himself going to the Hit and Run studio alone last night...late last night, down a dark road somewhere beyond Rockville.
He was getting ready to lay down the bass tracks to a new Troubadour's song when... out of the shadows... stepped a Man in Black.

Hello, he said, My name is ...

Just then the power went out, EVERYTHING went black, and the last thing Mark remembers is a voice saying over and over "What deaf dumb and blind kid??"

Need less to say, the CD is progressing, but slowly.

(photo from suzysputnic @ flickr)