The Stonemason boys opened for a cd release party tonight for local band Slabdrab. As it turns out, this is Slabdrab's third such recording. I'd heard of them and a couple of their songs, but never seen them live before.

The venue: a small blues bar about six blocks from where I live. The kind of place with high tables and stools where you throw peanut shells on the floor. The mullet rate was about 2% (unless you are just counting men, in which case it would be about 4%). They usually have blues bands, but last night's show was straight-up rock.

Stonemason had a decent set. I was in a much better state (read: more sober) than last weekend, so I got more of a chance to enjoy the music this time.

Slabdrab had an extensive bunch of 80's covers, mostly from female artists (Slabdrab consists of four guys, but the backup vocals are used a lot so they get a lot of harmonies going), including: Tiffany's I Think We're Alone Now, Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'n Roll, The Bangles' Manic Monday, and Madonna's Material Girl. They even played the more obscure My Name Is Luka by Suzanne Vega. The tiny dance floor was packed for the last couple of hours of the show. I'm glad they played several of their original songs earlier in the night, though, because that was what I was more interested in hearing. Sadly, the scene here is not big enough to suport bands that just play their own music.