News 3/23/08
“SWEETEST ‘STACHE” Contest to raise money for a local charity --
the Make a Wish Foundation of Alabama.
CLEAN SHAVEN DAY-- Tuesday April 1st, 8 pm @ BottleTree
: All participants must show up / sign up clean-shaven and be debriefed for the rules of the contest.
MUSTACHE CHECKPOINT DAYS will be held once a week at various participating local bars on Thursdays at 8 pm for Mustache Mischief and games, and, of course, beer drinking.
April 10 / TBA
April 17 @ Rojo 8 pm
April 24 TBA
‘STACHE BASH 2008
Final Judging will occur on Thursday May 1st @ BottleTree. Participants will bring their collected donations and submit to a rigorous mustache review board. Panel will judge on various criteria including “Beer Foam Retention.”
...more exciting details to come soon!
News 3/12/08
"Indie rock, Afro pop live up to the buzz-band hype"
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
JEREMY BURGESS
For The Birmingham News
At the Bottletree Cafe Monday night, ticketless fans stood outside the sold-out venue trying to find a way to see Vampire Weekend, one of the most-hyped bands in the nation which performed on "Saturday Night Live" just two nights earlier.
Inside, the former Columbia University classmates lived up to the hype.
Although Vampire Weekend was the opening band for the night (preceding the Walkmen, another New York area indie rock outfit), the guys managed to steal the show in just under 45 minutes with a set full of catchy tunes that were equal parts New York and Africa.
Vampire Weekend began its short set with "Mansard Roof," one of the singles from its self-titled debut album that was released less than five months ago. After briefly addressing the crowd, the band continued with "I Stand Corrected" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," another single and a clear crowd favorite.
"We're embarrassed to say this," lead singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig told the crowd, "but this is our first time here in Alabama. We're very excited." A round of applause quickly made Koenig feel at home: "Sounds like you guys are excited, too."
While the band didn't talk too much into its limited time slot, the members did take time to do what they called a "trust-building exercise" that involved a call-and-response echoing of the chorus to "One (Blake's Got a New Face)."
Vampire Weekend finished its set with "Oxford Comma" before The Walkmen hit the stage. Although the Walkmen were outdone by their opening act, they weren't to be ignored. Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser took to the stage and howled his lungs out, sounding like an intense combination of Bob Dylan and Morrissey. The band created an atmosphere, filling the room with a spooky rock'n' roll sound as it mixed several new songs with crowd-pleasers like "Little House of Savages."
Vampire Weekend may have been the reason why the show sold out, but it certainly didn't go to the guys' heads. They were out in the crowd afterward, enjoying the Walkmen's set and leading the encore-provoking cheers. Also refreshing was the fact that even though the show was sold out, it didn't appear to have been "Teasleyed" the way many sold out shows at the Bottletree have been in the past.
The Walkmen have been in their shoes before. They were well-hyped around the turn of the century, and now that they have four albums under their belt, that hype has been replaced by a quieter form of admiration.
Perhaps this show was as much a learning experience for the members of Vampire Weekend as it was a chance to show that they're as good as everyone thinks they are.
News 2/15/08
PLEASE GET TICKETS FOR VAMPIRE WEEKEND / THE WALKMEN BECAUSE IT WILL BE SOLD OUT VERY SOON!
The Vampire Weekend / Walkmen show is really blowing up and it is definitely selling out!!! Please get tickets soon if you want them.The show is MONDAY, MARCH 10TH.
All Secret History Tickets are listed and can be purchased on this link: BOTTLETREE TICKETS
THE WALKMEN / THE RAT
VAMPIRE WEEKEND / MANSARD ROOF
News 2/13/08
Thanks to everyone who came out last week to the Band of Horses and Fiery Furnace's shows....and thanks to everyone who have been supporting the cafe -- we appreciate you!
We are temporarily suspending our Grouper menu items because of declining population & sustainability issues.
Look out for Sunday Brunch with an expanded menu -- including tofu corn fritters with fresh salsa, starting some time in April -- we'll let you know when we start.
We're really pleased that Alabama Public Television has chosen BottleTree as a venue for a new series which features live musical performances, set to air in September -- think of the Magic City version of Austin City Limits. Please support your Alabama Public Television Station, they're trying to do something innovative for the "80 and under crowd" and need your support!
New Podcast -- covering the rest of February, hosted by Andrea & Greg! We'll post a blog with the song titles and artists in the podcast on our myspace page. LISTEN HERE!
News 1/16/08
BLACK MOUNTAIN IN THE NEW ROLLING STONE
--The new issue of Rolling Stone contains both a feature article and album review of Black Mountain ... READ HERE.
They are playing at Bottletree February 23rd with Blood on the Wall.
Please don't miss this show.
News 1/14/08
--Hi everyone! We've got the first podcast of the new year available to you, and it's packed with great songs by bands you may or may not have heard as well as information about our upcoming shows. On this podcast are songs by:
Butane Variations
Lab Rats
Bill Frisell
Through the Sparks
Gabriel Todd's Beast Rising Up Out of the Sea
The Color Fred
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
High on Fire
Sole and the Skyrider Band
Kevin Devine
Band of Horses
Fiery Furnaces
Also on the podcast is information about upcoming movies, shows, and events. Come discover something new--there's definitely something for everyone on this podcast, no matter your taste...and...HERE IT IS!!!
News 1/8/08
--Download Magnolia Electric Co. Show from Bottletree:
HERE
News 1/6/08
---SIERRA LEONE REFUGEE ALL STARS IN THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES:
front page
article link
News 1/1/08
--Take a look at the A**hole Santa Xmas 2007 photos by Jonathan Purvis:
HERE
(In defense of YouTube) / B.Y.O.URL Night!
The invention and pervasiveness of YouTube has no doubt changed our culture. Andrew Keen’s indictment of YouTube in his recent book "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet Is Killing Our Culture," can be summed up thusly: the mass democratization and dissemination of images basically erodes, undermines and belittles truth, true experience and expertise, "threatening the very future of our cultural institutions."
Well, yes. Sort of. But, I for one have been reduced to a state of pure awe by the clips of nature videos on YouTube, snippets of undersea creatures I’ve never even known to exist before, in action -- the vampire squid turning his body inside out, an octopus caught on film changing the texture of his skin to mimic a nearby outcropping of coral, biolumenescent creatures pulsing with neon displays that look positively extraterrestrial. All at my fingertips, and I can watch these awe-inspiring acts of nature again and again. And I have. And I do. Therein lies the addictive power of YouTube, it’s accessibility and repeatability.
I have also benefited from watching the Sammy Stephens’ YouTube clip over and over again, learning the "Mini Mall" rap, alone in a room perfecting Sammy’s fancy footwork and vocal stylings, and later, humiliating myself in the safety of friends, who’d also become devotees to the Mini Mall man’s charisma.
Was it collective hysteria? or was it a mass Vitamin in a (you) tube?
They say laughter increases your immune system’s defenses....
How many times have I guffawed watching over and over again the clip of the piano-playing German "Rod Stewart" wedding-singer having the mic inadvertently shoved down his throat by the nearby stray elbow of a dancer, then hearing the muffled choking sounds of the mic stuck in his throat, amplified, literally, through the speakers? Dare I say dozens. In the last seconds of the video you can just make out the thin trail of saliva and a mic cord coming out of the side of his mouth.
Aside from laughing at others’ misfortunes and foibles --which we all do, if we’re honest -- the human experience is far too rich and varied to turn a blind eye.
YouTube is nothing more, of course, than the progression of Candid Camera and America’s Funniest Home Videos (neither of those enterprises dismantled our culture) -- the only difference is the accessibility and speed at which these videos are collected, disseminated, consumed and spread much faster than that of television, hence the term "viral" video.
The quickening (and leveling, to concede a point to Keen) of our collective cultural consciousness is inevitable. The shared experience of these videos makes them much more pervasive, like music-- and like music -- taking the bad and the good together, nonetheless puts a firm plus sign in the "pros" column of human achievements, along with running water, great architecture, the polio vaccine, microwave popcorn, oh, and those cat calendars in which the cats have been lovingly
painted to resemble mandalas, argyle patterns, clowns, etc.
Are we not all, at the end of the day, richer with a little of the inexplicable ( "Yacht Rock" and "Yatta") in our lives?
Come on out tomorrow night (Thursday) 8 pm to share your favorite videos and kill a few more of those brain cells, collectively.
It’s FREE and you will definitely laugh your ass off.
Thank you,
Merrilee
and now...
News 3/25/08
First order of business: Please contact your local representative, and ask them to support the RECYCLING BILL 395:
(Sent from Michael Churchman, Executive Director of the Alabama Environmental Council)
At last week’s Environmental Management Commission, we learned that House Bill 395 has made it out of committee and will be voted on this week. Please contact your representative and let them know that you support recycling and ask them to support this needed legislation. You can call 334-242-7600 or use the following link to contact your representative’s office.
Rep. Frank McDaniel of Albertville introduced House Bill 395, the Solid Wastes and Recyclable Materials Act. This legislation will require a $1 a ton tipping fee on solid waste which would create a fund to develop and enhance recycling programs, to identify and cleanup illegal dumpsites, and assist the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in regulating solid waste.
Presently, Alabama is one of the last states in the country without a comprehensive recycling program. Only 81 out of the Alabama’s 460 municipalities provide some kind of recycling program or service. Of the counties, 26 of 67 have recycling programs.
Please contact your representative.
Michael J. Churchman
www.aeconline.ws ****************************************
Also Please Support the AEC and attend the Green Tie Affair: Thursday, April 17, 2008
_________________________________________________________________________ Also, this is really cooL --
the Alabama Symphony Orchestra will present "RADIOHEADINGS (CUTTING EDGE MUSIC / COOL PARTY) conducted by Maestro Justin Brown. The performance will include Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead)’s haunting compositions for the film "There Will Be Blood" entitled "Popcorn Superhet Receiver."
Please support the ASO (www.alabamasymphony.org/radioheadings) and go see this performance. Tickets are $15 and if you come to BottleTree after the show, you’ll get in for half price when you show your ASO ticket stub. An amazing band from Los Angeles is playing that night called HEALTH.....they blew people away last time, so please come out. Thursday April 10th @the Alys Stephens Center and then to see HEALTH, an altogether different sonic experience.
News 3/24/08
BOTTLETREE PODCAST -- EASTER PEEPS MUTILATION EDITION (with photos!)
Hi everyone, here’s a heads up to let you know that the most recent edition of our Bottletree podcast is now available through your iTunes subscription. If you wish, you may download the link directly HERE.
In addition to recording our latest Bottletree podcast, our poddlecasters Jackson, Traci, and Leah had fun trying in various ways to torture that bastion of all Easter baskets, the ubiquitous Peep. Witness their sadistic revelry:
This podcast features the following songs by the following artists:
Felice Brothers - "Glory, Glory"
The Dodos - "The Ball"
Through the Sparks - "Natural Machine”
The Weakerthans - "Night Windows"
The Dirtbombs - "Indivisible"
Kelley Stoltz - "The Birmingham Eccentric”
Felice Brothers - "Frankie’s Gun!"
Ralph "Soul" Jackson - "Set Me Free"
Grand Ole Party - "Look Out, Young Son"
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - "When You Were Mind" (Prince cover)
Health - "Crimewave"
We Versus the Shark - "We Versus the Inevitability of Death"
13ghosts - "Riverside"
The Dodos - "Ashley"
Thanks for your support, "peeps. " We hope to see you all out at several of these shows!
We have THIRTEEN amazing local designers & artists who are participating in this Saturday's Trunk Show: Belinda Hyatt (Accessories) / Jacklyn Hamric (Home Accessories) / Kate Merrit-Davis (Art) / Daisy Wynfrey (Drawings & Paintings) / Paul Cordes Wilm (Paintings) / Sarah Heath (Metal Sculpture) / Merrilee Challiss (Drawings) / Chatham Hellmers (Jewelry) / Dough Baulos (Art & Ephemera) / Chris Lawson (Art & Ephemera) / Alison Ward (Jewelry) / Jaia Chen (Contemporary Chinese Clothing and Design)
Come out, have brunch and stock up on some great local art and design! (The flyer says 1 - 4 pm, but we'll be set up from 11 am - 4 pm)!
News 6/24/08
The F Yeah Festival shot a video here at BottleTree: to watch go HERE
and click on "Team Robespierre does Alabama"!!!
News 6/5/08
Community Events -- ALL FREE!
JUNE 11th / WEDNESDAY -- YOUTUBE VIDEO SHOW AND TELL NIGHT/ 8 PM --
"Walk it Out Fosse" anyone? Bring your own U.R.L.!
JUNE 15TH/ SUNDAY -- COMMUNITY YOGA: open to all skill levels / donation only / bring your own mat.
Starts Sunday June 15th. Class at 11 am. One hour Vinyassa Flow every Sunday at 11 am.
JUNE 23rd/ MONDAY : DEAD CELEBRITY NIGHT &
Stitch - n -Bitch -style CRAFT NIGHT.
Bring your own needles!
JUNE 28TH/ SATURDAY : TRUNK SHOW: art and jewelry by local artists and designers: Chatham Hellmers, Daisy Wynfrey, and more!!!!!!! 11 am - 3 pm
JUNE 30TH / MONDAY: BOTTLETREE'S first EVER!
OPEN MIC NIGHT! Anything goes.....
JULY 4TH: TBA -- YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE FIREWORKS FROM OUR PARKING LOT....
BUT WE'LL HAVE SOMETHING FUN PLANNED FOR POST-FIREWORK ACTION!
JULY 5TH: BON SCOTT TRIBUTE BAND AUDITIONS! (We're not kidding)
JULY 12TH: COMMUNITY RUMMAGE SALE 11 AM - 4 PM / First Come First Serve to set up! No Commission taken -- all vendors must take care of their own sales & commission.
News 5/29/08
NEW BEERS at BottleTree:
Yazoo Dos Perros & Yazoo Pale Ale (from Nashville's Yazoo Brewing Company)
NEW WINES to try:
Clay Station Viognier, a light,refreshing wine for Summer
& Gnarly Head Merlot, a surprisingly bright Merlot, which has a light fruit-forward finish.
HAPPY HOUR is 3 - 8 pm! Probably the one of the longest Happy Hours in town.
A great way to save money and still "get your drink on" during these trying economic times.
HAPPY HOUR APPETIZERS ARE $1 OFF FROM 5-7 PM EVERY DAY
Save the Date: Community EVENTS on the horizon......
*Two Wheel ONLY Festival Saturday JUNE 21st, more details to be announced.
*TRUNK SHOW (jewelry & art by local artists) SATURDAY JUNE 28th
*BIG SUMMER Neighborhood RUMMAGE SALE Saturday JULY 12th:
Come and sell your wares -- first come first serve!
(Set up is free/ no commission taken-- each vendor must handle their own sales & taxes)
MONDAY JUNE 2nd:
TWISTED CRAFT NIGHT 7 pm until:
Monday NIght's project (led by Merrilee):
APPLE DOLL "SHRUNKEN HEAD" --
BYO Apple, and a small carving knife.
Uses: #1: Alternative aromatic charm for your auto: you can hang one from your rearview mirror, and it will develop a warm, sticky sweet smell as it "cures" over the summer. Yum!
Use #2 Voodoo: In HIgh School, I once scared the hell out my typing teacher after she sent me to the office for wearing shorts. I left one on her desk with a note which said "...the chicken man is watching you."
Mondays are now SERVICE INDUSTRY NIGHT!
Come in and get your BottleTree-issued
SIN card from one of our bartenders -- good for lots of special deals!
TUESDAY JUNE 3rd:
THE WANDERLUST
REPRODUCTIVE STORY COLLECTIVE AND BIKE CARAVAN
This summer, fifteen women are traveling from New Orleans to New York City with the Wanderlust story collective and bicycle caravan. In solidarity with local activists and rooted in the belief that sharing stories is a powerful way to elevate awareness and create social change, they will be pedaling from town to town to listen to your stories and document how you and others are working to expand access to reproductive health care, defend reproductive rights, and promote reproductive justice. WANDERLUST IS A PROGRAM OF THE PRO-CHOICE PUBLIC EDUCATION PROJECT. Please join us from 7-9PM for this free event.
THURSDAY JUNE 5th:
BLACK WARRIOR RIVERKEEPER BENEFIT
with ROLLIN' IN THE HAY / ONE EYED MARY
The Black Warrior Riverkeeper's mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River and it's tributaries. This is a citizen based non-profit organization dedicated to improving the habitat, recreation, and public health throughout the largest watershed entirely contained within Alabama, America's leading state for freshwater biodiversity. Find out more about Black Warrior Riverkepper's from their website, www.blackwarriorriver.org Tickets are $10. 18 and up.
FRIDAY JUNE 6th:
ART OPENING 6-8 PM / *Featured artist: BINX NEWTON
...and then.....
TEN29 DJ SET
ten29 is the music and video project of Shawn Avery and has been many things over the past several years: an experimental, progish instrumental rock band, an outlet for nearly 100 demos, and currently a live dj set with a strong visual component. since 2002, ten29 has been dormant. as of 2008, Shawn is experimenting with audio / visual material as 'ten29 dj set.' in this form, he usually does a themed mix, be it ambient, industrial, eclectic, rock, whatever... and match multiple video feeds that are manipulated in time with the music. He usually throw in some of his own tracks as well. The idea is to see which side wins... the aural or the visual? no cover. 18 and up. starts at 9pm.
News 4/29/08
Check out the lastest podcast HERE.
Tracks:
1/Islands ----Rough Gem 3:37
2/ Man Man----10lb. Moustache 3:36
3/ Yeasayer----Forgiveness 3:42
4/ Langhorne Slim ----Hello Sunshine 2:27
5/ The Cave Singers----Seeds of Night 5:00
6/Gamma Knife-----The Dead Science 4:52
News 4/11/08
The Dodos (who are currently touring), when asked what their favorite venue is, told pitchforkmedia.com that it was us!
Pitchfork: Favorite venue?
ML: I feel like I should probably say something in San Francisco since that's where we're from, but I don't know...I think the Bottletree in Birmingham, Alabama.
Pitchfork: I used to live in Birmingham, but sadly it was before the days of the Bottletree.
ML: It's great, the venue is really nice, they have awesome food and the people there are so freaking nice. And it's in the middle of Alabama, too, where you'll play a string of horrible shows at horrible venues and then there's little oasis in the middle of Alabama where they have...the cooks there are amazing, the whole staff is just super nice. They have an Airstream in the back with DVDs to watch, and last time we played there there's this tall bartender with glasses, and while we were playing people were talking and he was literally screaming, "Shut the fuck up!" They have your back there.
Read the full article HERE.
****BottleTree is getting draft beer! We'll have an Abita Pilsner this weekend!
****Come out and see us at the Birmingham Folk Festival this Saturday August 2nd, 2008!
We'll be selling wraps, gazpacho, hummus, drinks, etc.
We're also hosting the AFTER PARTY with SWORN ENEMIES / THE WHITE OAKS
*Music starts at 10!
****The Birmingham "IN" Campaign named our GINGER MARGARITA as one of the must have Top Ten Cocktails in Birmingham!!!!
*****Please vote for BottleTree in the Birmingham Weekly's Menu of Menu's Readers Poll:
http://www.bhamweekly.com/ballot/
*****The new Alabama Public Television show conceived by J. & Matt Whitson, "We Have Signal: Live from Birmingham" features bands playing live from BottleTree. The show, Birmingham's own Austin City LImits, is slated to begin airing sometime in October.
We're planning a "teaser" screening and benefit for the show in early September.
*****Call for Artists to participate in a group show for October.
The show "Black Cat Magic," will be a benefit for the new Alabama Spay & Neuter Center in Irondale.
We're looking for artists to donate a small piece (either a cat or dog (or other animal)).
The show will open October 3rd. If you're interested in participating, please email: merrilee@thebottletree.com