Moon Taxi: Trusting Your Instincts

About 3 years ago I got a text from my buddy Briant

 (The tall guy in the photo, the one that's not me is my brother) shot me a text and said 'Hey my friend's band "Moon Taxi"  is playing in your town. Their first LA show. I'd love it if you could come and check them out. Just find Trevor or Tommy and tell them I said hi. I can put your name in and get you tickets compted.' Sure, I said. . . I mean why not, a free rock show and on the plus side I love meeting artist, at a famous venue like that, I'd never been, seemed like a cool night. So I called up my buddy Jerry and my buddy Matt and said 'hey wanna go to a free rock show tonight at the Viper Room'. 'Yeah' they said. It was a decent show. One of the two didn't like their sound at all. There were maybe 3 other people in that venue besides us. We got compted, and I doubt anyone else there had even paid to see a band that was unheard of . . . especially in LA, there were about 10 bands playing within a 5 mile radius that night. They were good, but nothing special, nothing I remembered past the name, the adventure of it and the endorsement of my long friend Buru. 

Never heard of them, but I know my friend Briant's proclivity with music. I gave them a shot, it wasn't a miss, it wasn't a hit, but it wasn't a dud, they were a good band. So what was it?

Truth is, I'd seen many great bands in my time, and I'm not talking professionals, I'm talking fun bands that get dubbed that immortal word, 'LOCAL'. They felt like a fantastic local band. Not stars, not yet.

My first gig in production was a music video for a southern band called 'Analog Missionary'.    I love them, they were a great band, but quite experimental. Not sure they had what it took to make it big.  (If you don't blink you can see my teenage self at the end of this.) Then after collage when I was just figuring out that I even wanted to be in LA I shot a music video and followed around a band called "Undertoe Hopscotch" (not kidding that were there name, and I loved them, and loved the adventure of them, still listen to there C.D. out here in LA, I keep it in my car, for nostalgic purposes and I really respected and loved those guys.)    In the span of 2 years I only missed 2 of their shows. Moving equipment, trying to set up dates with other bands, overall being a supporter and even going to a music conference with the drummer in Atlanta to try to build the bands brand. Well life took a hold of us I moved to LA, and the band split up, wives, kids, careers the whole nine yards you hear from every art story if you stay with it long enough, for the most part. Aaron the lead singer still writes and I do see him occasionally when he swings down through LA. Which is more than pleasant. But this blog entry isn't a story about lost dream fizzling out. Like I said, I still listen to their C.D. and still know several people who keep that band close to their heart, even ones that weren't directly involved. And we got tons of great stories.

You see I didn't start this blog to ramble about my past. But to establish a tone...a mood, and an understanding, that being an artist, musician, actor, filmmaker, whatever is HARD. And if you don't knock them dead the first shot out of the gate and every shot after...you might as well stop.

But like I said, you should trust your instincts.

Oh not mine. I'd remembered the name and followed them on the Facebook, but I didn't honestly give "Moon Taxi" much thought after that night at "The Viper Room". I'm talking about my friend Briant's instincts. Over the 3 years after that he kept mentioning them and reminding me about them. Then finally without me calling him I noticed on their tour, "TROUBADOUR" . . . one of those crumby but legendary LA dive-venues that makes shitty burgers and you could probably score heroin if you tried. (I did not try) And I decided yeah fuck it, I'll go, it is their second show back in LA and I won't ask for compted tickets. I'll buy, I'll support. This would probably be a better show...I mean they seem to be picking up. You see I watch Letterman every day he records, give or take (don't ask)  (and they were on there two months ago) and Conan on Wednesday  What was I saying, they were definitely picking up in popularity.

But I still didn't expect much. They were a band from Tennessee my buddy knows well. I followed around local bands for years, none of them made it anywhere accept obscure reviews in obscure magazines no one reads. And I work in the entertainment industry and know a plethora of actors, writers, and directors who 'worked on that thing, with that guy' but none of them had 'broken out' yet. Lots have worked on huge projects, but they weren't the huge project or the 'next big thing'.

And then I sat in the Troubadour, two hours early and ate a crumby cheeseburger. I'd posted I was going on FB and invited maybe one or two of my friends, didn't make a big deal on it. And it slowly started to fill out.


It got more and more crowded and before the show I sat and talked with an old asian man who'd saw them on a trip to Tennessee and 'just had to see them again'.

Was this the same band I'd seen years ago?

 (Click to enlarge) 

Absolutely not. 

I was not just blown away but had that rush of energy I only get at stadium shows with major bands like Muse. And then that rush of seeing great live music kept coming in song, after song, after song. They had it, they had the audience by the balls. Every cord, every nuance, from bass solo, to drum solo, to keyboard solo, to jumping off the amps was perfectly timed. It wasn't just a band playing anymore it was a show. To the point you're jumping up and down and cheering and beginning to lose energy but you keep going, sweating and all. They had it. And I mean they had IT.

They had that thing that great artists, musicians, actors, directors, whatever IT that irreplaceable and unforgettable thing when you know a thing is going to succeed. The Troubadour, on the other side of the country they started in was packed to the gills, and I can imagine like a plague the word of mouth from that show would turn these men in the next coming years into a household name.

This had never happened before from cocoon to beautiful butterfly I'd witnessed over 3 years or not even over three years but like a drastic sharp cut to time, cause I'd not followed them over the past 3 years the full evolution of a band from good performers almost fresh out of the garage to soon to be legendary ROCK STARS.

I've seen probably 200 shows in my life but I was blindsided by "MOON TAXI" at the 'Troubadour' last Thursday night. They were poise, perfect, knew when to play it fast, knew when to play it slow, and knew how to move to their audience.

I'd witnessed a full transformation. It was the same style but perfected.

I couldn't recommend this band more, and I couldn't recommend seeing them live more.

I bought their album  and was blown away just as much by their album and it's variety and near-perfect mixing as I was by their show.

If you love music . . . check out "Moon Taxi" right now!

And if you're an artist remember...keep hustling, keep hustling, keep hustling.