There's a whole lotta bands in the history of rock. And there is an equal lot of cover bands emulating their rock and roll heroes. In the case of The Guided By The Voices, the live shows were such an essential part of the Geebs experience. So it's no wonder that a crop of amazing GBV tribute bands have sprouted up over the last few years.
One of my personal favorites are the mighty
Heedonists, spawned from the GBV message board
Disarm The Settlers (and the heed of The Heed) for the sole purpose of playing
Heedfest I. And they brought the rock with authority. Ever since, the Heedonists have been in high demand- playing both Bob Pollard's 50th birthday party and a GBV tribute night at Southgate House in Cincinnati. Equally brilliant are the lovely Canadian ladies of
The Girl Guides (links for all these bands with music clips, tour dates, etc. will be permanently housed in the links over there --->)
But there's a special place in my heart for Chicago's own
Textbook Committee. Had a blast hanging out in teh windy city with Andrew and TTC for their November '07 gig opening for Pollard. Then I shared an equally harrowing and hilarious van pool with the band through a blizzard down to Bob's Southgate House show (Karl Malone and Sam Malone, maligned).
This winter, Blob Pollard (or Tobin Stout) and The Textbook Committee have been on tour, melting faces in Newport, KY (with The Heedonists et al at the aforementioned GBV tribute night), Brooklyn (with Doug Gillard!) and Minneapolis (with The Girl Guides and
John Sellers). Wish I could have gotten the word out about those amazing shows sooner. Alas, my life took an unexpected turn a month and a half ago (more on this later).
But its not too late for the final show on their home ice in Chicago this very Saturday (3/29)! Here's Andrew with the good word...
Resuming their roles as “Shitty Guided By Voices”, The Textbook Committee will embark on some serious freedom cruising around the Eastern half of the United States as the 2008 edition of the Electrifying Delusion tour comes your way.
Sat. 3/29/08 – Chicago, IL
The Textbook Committee
Tom Daily and the Volunteers
The Handcuffs
9:00 p.m. / Ages 21+
@The Note
1565 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
The first single off of "Robert Pollard Is Off To Business", Weatherman And Skin Goddess, is now available for pre-order from Rockathon Records! The limited edition EP (1000 CDs, 500 12" LPs) due April 15th is also the debut release on Pollard's new Guided By Voices, Inc. record label. Word is that Weatherman And Skin Goddess is just as rockin' and catchy as the previously released Off To Business single Gratification To Concrete. Along with the title track, two non-album tracks Kiss the Quiet Man and Coat Factory Zero will be along for the ride. Don't sleep on this one, kids!
