Text and photos by Frederick Noble
Still hungover from Friday night and tired after a major tattoo touch-up, it took a lot of people raving about The Billygoats to goad me into going to The Star Bar. But it had been a while since I'd seen Caroline sing and I knew all the old Star Bar regulars would be there, as well as a few close friends, so I rallied.
Things started off with local surf band The Mystery Men. Pretty much just straight up surf - good, but how much can you take in one dose?
| Fortunately they seemed to know this and brought along some eye candy, in the form of a pair of go-go dancers, to hold the attention of those who can't enjoy 30 minutes of the same sound. |  |
If surf is your thing see www.myspace.com/themysterymenofsurf.
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Next up, Caroline and the Ramblers. I've said it many times before, I'll say it again. Caroline has the best female voice in town. |
Chad Proctor is a damn rockabilly guitar machine. I think he holds the record for Most Sets at the Star Bar in a 72 Hour Period at a Bubbapalooza a few years back, being part of so many bands that have played there.
| And the Ramblers are such nice folks that the bar was packed wall to wall with friends from way back, giving the show a class reunion kinda vibe. |  |
I'm sure I saw The Billygoats at a Bubbapalooza or something somewhere back in a previous epoch. However, it has been many years (something like 8 since they played last at all, and I have no idea when I saw them) and back then it seemed like every band that played The Star Bar was jaw-droppingly fantastic. So apologies to The Billygoats, Star Bar regulars and friends for my lack of enthusiasm about the show beforehand. My hesitations were waylaid, trampled, electrocuted by the band.
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They play a lot of rockabilly and country sounds. The lead singer has a beautiful voice that can both plumb the depths and lilt and yodel with the best of 'em. |
| As if that weren't enough, the band was really an amazing, cohesive unit, slipping from rockabilly to country to garage rock to surf with apparent ease, cranking up the energy, then simmering a bit, then bringing it back to a boil. |  |
They said repeatedly that they were thankful to be on stage in front of such an appreciative crowd, while I tried repeatedly to get a photo that showed all the old Star Bar regulars, only to fail every time since there were familiar faces at every turn.
I couldn't make it through the encore, and after such a weekend it took Sunday and MLKJ day just to get back in synch with the workaday life. But I'm glad I was motivated to stick it out.
For more Billygoats, see www.myspace.com/thebillygoatsnashville
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