February Birthdays 
A tip to SG101'ers: if you can, time your visit to NYC to coincide with Unsteady Freddie's monthly (first Saturday) show at Otto's Shrunken Head Tiki Bar. The back room reminds me of, well, my own basement rec room.
Last night's show was definitely worth the trip to the Lower East Side: four bands, three of whom were pretty good! First up was a trio, The Clams. who let's just say were well positioned in the 9pm slot while the crowd was still small. The 5-piece (#5: congas) Bongo Surf was next: such excellent tone and chops (if a little Santana-ish at times) that it's a shame they only played covers, and only chose well-known covers (excepting the stunning first tune, the Aqua Velvets' "Spanish Blue"). The room filled up and was packed for the veteran Supertones, who rocked through a straightforward set of mostly originals. My prize of the night goes to the North Shore Troubadours, a 5-piece (#5: sax) playing creatively warped, dissonant, time-shifting originals. Get hold of their promo CD; visit them at www.myspace.com/nstroubadours.
The inimitable Unsteady Freddie was the evening's host. I actually enjoyed his schtick. Tip to Freddie: if you want to shoot video without turning on the kleig lights and ruining the tiki atmosphere, it isn't that expensive to get a palm-sized digital video cameral that shoots well in low light.
