Live Music

So this weekend I saw two great concerts here in the Live Music Capital of the U.S.: Harvest Moon featuring Stoney LaRue and Roger Creager at Waterloo Park, and a local band called SPEAK played at Threadgill's.

Friday night was a great turnout for the concert benefitting the ARC of Austin. Some companies, such as The Quarters on Campus, even took the liberty of getting some publicity by handing out free koozies and t-shirts to attendees as they entered the concert.

Roger Creager, an award-winning Texas Country singer and songwriter, performed first with his backup band, and played a great show, full of energy and appreciation for the crowd who took their happy hours out of the day to bring their own booze and show up early in the evening. Halfway through his performance it seemed most of the crowd had arrived. Roger even brought out his father, Bill Creager, to assist him in singing one of his most famous songs, "Rancho Grande."

Stoney LaRue, the main act of the Harvest Moon concert, came on around 9p.m. His performance was just as energetic as Roger Creager's, if not more so due to the growth in the audience. Roger Creager riled up the audience for Stoney's performance, which delivered a rowdy end to the night before the park curfew at 10p.m.

The second concert I attended this weekend was SPEAK, a local band formed here in Austin. Their genre is a mix of electronic and "innovative pop," which is how they refer to their genre on their MySpace page. They performed at Threadgill's an historic restaurant, bar and music venue. The band, though not well known yet, has just signed with Playing In Traffic Records, who also signed the Los Lonely Boys.

SPEAK's performance was indescribable. For a small-scale band they attract quite a crowd, and are one of the rare bands that sounds fabulous when performing live. The lead singer, Troupe Gammage, has one of the most versatile voices I have ever heard. He was able to sing covers of Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman" and The Breakfast Club theme song, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, as well as their own pop-rock-electronica original songs.

Overall, definitely a great weekend of live music in Austin, Texas. Everyone in town should try and see SPEAK when they perform next at a local venue.

Lindsay Lohan's feud with her father...going full steam ahead.

So Lindsay Lohan is in the spotlight once again, having a feud with her father, Michael Lohan about his very public comments about her behavior. According to E! Online and TMZ, Lohan is now taking legal action against her father for secretly recording a phone conversation with her with the intent to release it to show her current state, which, he accuses, involves drug use and other inappropriate behavior.

The 23-year-old is now seeking legal action against her father, and her lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley has said that Lohan simply wants to "explore all legal options" for now.

It seems Michael Lohan believes his daughter is going through a rough patch, and needs assistance, which he has been claiming for some time now. Lindsay simply wants him to shut up.

Lindsay is constantly posting new tweets about her father, one of which said "Its so sad that I even have to share this w/everyone, but I haven't had a real relationship w/Michael Sr. in years. That is the truth. Xox."

Maybe Lindsay needs to listen to her father and accept the fact that she has a problem? The star has been in and out of the spotlight for her outrageous behavior, however now she is trying to show that her father is the one with the destructive behavior.

What Lindsay is trying to get at her father for doing is recording and releasing her voicemails without her consent, which is a legitimate crime, but what is at the root of the problem is Lindsay's destructive behavior.

Of course, we all remember Lindsay's rebellious behavior, and from what her father recorded it seems she is still having a tough time. According to entertainment news outlets, she was crying claiming that no one cares about her and that she is still having problems with her on-and -off girlfriend, Samantha Ronson.

Back in April, Lindsay was spotted carrying a bottle of Neuro Bliss, a drink targeted to "relax neural tissues, to enhance brain activity, focus, and provide a sense of well-being." She obviously has some issues that she needs help working out, and perhaps her father is right. She needs to work her own problems out before she can start any others with her parents; her father is only trying to help her.