Tonight was a monumental night for Dallas’s premier electronic band, Ishi, who, after spending at least the last year and a half working on their sophomore record, were finally ready to release it to their fans. Well, at least in physical format, since the album had been available online for a few weeks at this point.

Still, everyone knows that a bands CD release show is typically one of the best shows they ever do, so it seemed almost a sure bet that by the end of the night, Ishi’s fans would have one of Dallas’s finest venues, the Granada Theater, packed.

The lineup for this show wasn’t your typical lineup, and Ishi was the only true band  on the bill, and the first opening act was The Nikki Trash Burlesque Experience.

As the name suggests, it’s a burlesque show, and the person at the helm of it, Nikki Trash, is a drag queen.

It wasn’t a drag show, though , and when I got to the Granada just shortly after eight, the handful of people who were already there were huddled up close to the stage, cheering and applauding as one of the dancers slowly disrobed.

They went through several dancers, covering a wide spectrum, with a couple of the ladies being plus sized, while a couple others were more my definition of alternative, and one even sported a mohawk.

After each performance Nikki Trash could be heard asking everyone to give the dancer at the moment a round of applause, at one point saying something to the effect of, “That’s some weak applause for such amazing titties!”

After the next to last performer, she introduced her own “god damn self” to the stage. Like the others, Nikki did a choreographed performance to a song, though she (he?) lip-synched along with it. The most noteworthy part of her show, though, was what she later referred to as her slave girl, which is exactly how I would have described her.

Nikki “drug” the girl around by her hair, making her lick her boot at one point, and even set atop her as they appeared to go at it.

Yeah, it was a different opening act, but it was actually fun to watch, and it’s a shame no more people were there to see it.

Would I see them again? Probably not, that is to say I wouldn’t go to a venue just to see Nikki Trash, but if you are into that kind of thing, than you should definitely check out The Nikki Trash Burlesque Experience.

The main support was Booty Fade, which is a collaboration between two Dallas are DJ’s, one of which is DJ Sober, and the other is Picnictyme.

I’m not a real of fan of stuff like this, and I really don’t know what to say about it, since practically everything they did was scratch some records, play some samples and stuff like that (sure, I know it was a little more involved than that, but that’s what I took away from it.)

Not being a fan of that style, it all sounded more or less the same to me, the good thing however was that their 54-minute long set seemed to pass by rather quickly, which was good, because I was afraid it would drag on an on.

The one thing I do remember from it is at one point around halfway through their set, Picnictyme said they realized that today was James Brown’s birthday, and they decided to do a tribute in honor of the Godfather of Soul.

“…Everyone’s sampled.” He said, adding, “Sober’s sampled him. I’ve sampled him…” They then sampled a portion of one of Brown’s songs, with Picnictyme singing part of it, too.

If you’re in to DJ’s, check out Booty Fade, as well as the individuals that make up the act.

I was glad when they finished up, though, not just because I was starting to grow weary of it, but because it meant it was getting close to time for Ishi to take the stage.

At 10:22, the lights went out as the screen in front of the stage raised up, revealing frontman John Mudd, guitarist Rocky Ottley, drummer Jonathan Merla and Becky Middleton, who was singing some backing vocals, along with a additional musician who was behind some keyboards over on stage left, and he played various instruments throughout the night.

They were all about using visuals to entice the crowd this night, and began with a large area of light on the horizon, which was broadcasted on some large totems of sorts that were set up on either side of the drum kit, and it looked as if you were traveling through space towards the light.

Despite some dapper attire, which included a vest and a jacket, John looked as eccentric as usual, with what appeared to be a mink stole (or some sort of similar animal) draped across his shoulders while he sported a hat that had reflective tiles, much like a disco ball, all around it. You can get a better idea of what I’m talking about by watching their music video for “Disco Queen”, and he had his face painted like it is in parts of the video to boot.

There was just enough time to take all of that in and John welcomed everyone to the show, then the sample track to “Mirror Ball Sky” kicked in, as they began their set with the lead track from the “Digital Wounds” album.

Accompanying the song was two disco ball, or generated images of them, broadcasted on the Granada’s screens on the left and right of the stage, which helped in giving the show more of a party atmosphere.

The fans at this nearly sold-out looking show cheered and applauded the band, almost as much as they had at the start of their set, and after subsiding briefly, the noise from the rabid fans again rang out as they fired up a hit from their “Through the Trees” record, “Our Time”.

John had certainly been mobile during that opening number, but he really cut loose now, dancing about the stage and providing all sorts of moves while signing, “Don’t let go of who you are. You came too far to be the one left standing on a falling star…” The chorus, “This is our time…” seemed especially appropriate this night, since the band hopes to push themselves into a bigger national spotlight with this new release, making this show a staging point of sorts for all of that. However, the best parts of the song came when Becky grabbed her mic approached the center stage for one of the few lines out of all of their songs that belonged solely to her. “…Wash your fears in the crystal river moonlight.” She belted out with her fiery voice that packs a punch, before retreating to her spot on stage left as John again took the spotlight to finish up the song.

He removed his jacket after that song, but put the stole right back around him. “Dallas, we will never stop loving you.” He said, obviously grateful to all the fans who had come out to celebrate and support his band and its newest release.

They returned to doing songs from their new album, including the serene and dancey tune, “Moon Watcher”, which seemed to place everyone in a state of bliss as they watched in awe. “…I’ll be riding the waves of our sweet, sweet memories.” John sang on the chorus, making the motion of a wave with his left arm, very fluidly I might add. He also did a little more hip shaking on that song, and is it came to an end, he crossed his arms, one hand on each shoulder, and bowed in perfect synch with the music. There was almost no downtime before their next song, the more electronic and even somewhat techno sounding, “Emotional Hard Drive”.

It was around this time where their show got elevated to the next level, as the laser light show began. The totems had small holes in them where some laser devices were housed, as the beams shot out at the crowd, waving about seemingly inches above the heads of those at the back of the venue. Not only is it a highlight track on their album, but it also was a highlight of this show, infecting the audience while Rocky bounced around, shredding on his guitar, as John, who had taken off his stole by this point, roamed around the stage.

They almost immediately got their next song going, which was “Touch The Future”, and as Becky added some “ooooh’s” to it, two people stepped through the stage door, bringing with them a couple of massive balloons, big enough a person could have fit in them if possible (though they might have had to hug their knees to fit). They were thrown out to the crowd, one of them busting nearly right away, while the other was bounced around all over the front part of the venue, almost ending back on stage before John hit it back out to the crowd. Eventually it too popped, and the audience let out a collective, “Ahhh” of disappointment. It was also during that song, which finds John singing in an incredible high falsetto voice, where he put on his stunner shades, with some parts glowing a neon red, while others were green.

Over the course of the next several songs, it would get so dark on stage that those shades were the only things truly noticeable, at least from where I stood at the back, and they seemed to be gliding through the air on their own accord.

They kept things moving swiftly along as Jonathan started them in on their next song, which was the title track of this new record, “Digital Wounds”. The song evokes an eeriness of sorts, yet it’s beautifully captivating. The upbeat “ISHI” came next, which has a sing along ending of “I.S.H.I. We’re rolling high on our own dreams tonight.”, and is another song that hints at the bands drive for success.

They still showed no sign of letting up, as they continued to tackle one song right into the next, though here John started everyone on a clap along, while again thanking everyone for showing up. The clapping went on for at least half a minute, with no one actually knowing what is was leading to, nor did they seem to care, they were just following instructions and enjoying being completely caught up in the moment, enjoying this brief escape for the drudgeries of everyday life.

Suddenly, the track for “Disco Queen”, the first single from this new album, started to play, and the crowd got ecstatic. The rather suggestive song was one that everyone had been anxiously awaiting, singing along with the chorus, “When I look into your eyes, the beat drops and we collide to the rhythm of the night…”

John disappeared to stage left as they song came to an end, while Jonathan and Rocky fired up the next song, though they kept their playing pretty light. Also joining them was the additional musician, who was shaking some maracas, or some type of similar instrument.

Rocky chatted with the crowd for a moment, thanking everyone for coming out. “Dallas, this one’s for you!” he declared while raising a toast to everyone. Soon, John returned to the stage, having donned his now customary attire for the song, which is a large Native American headdress and a luxurious red rope that nearly touches the floor. To top it off, each feather on the headdress has a neon element on it, with the designs and color varying from feather to feather.

They then truly got “Mother Prism” underway, with John crooning the first line, “Don’t be too hard on yourself, there’s enough love to go around…”, while making a circle with his left hand. It’s one of the most positive, upbeat songs I think I’ve ever heard, and it exudes an overwhelming amount of joy. “So let’s create the dance where we celebrate each other…” John sang as the song continued, and soon after Becky and Rocky chimed in, chanting the chorus, “Aiyah ayay, aiyah aiyah ayay!” It wasn’t just them, though, as the room was filled with a throng of fans shouting along with them on this anthem that is all about uplifting peoples spirits.

That could have been the show right there, simply because it would have been a perfect note to end on, but then again, there were still several fan favorites left, and even a few more new tracks, like “Naked Blur”. It slowed things down a little, and they got progressively got slower with the final song on “Digital Wounds”, the beautiful, more acoustic based track, “Diamond Door”.

Their 56-minute long set came to a quiet end. At least it kind of ended. While the band left the stage, they were replaced by two dancers, both of whom had what looked like hula-hoop’s fashioned to the waist of their tights, so they just hung there, moving around as they twirled about the stage.

It was very nicely though out intermission, making sure the show didn’t stop just because the band members were taking a breather.

Soon, Rocky and Jonathan returned to the stage, adding some light notes and beats to the track. Becky and John then made their way back out, and he had undergone another wardrobe change, this time wearing a white robe, or something similar to one, plus a piece over it that covered most of his upper arms and then a majority of his torso (watch the video that was mentioned earlier to see what I’m talking about.) It was a cool and very futuristic look.

Thus began their extra songs (at other shows John has made it clear they don’t like doing encores, instead just taking a break and then doing the rest of the stuff their fans want to hear), and the first of those was another oldie, “Make It”. It had been a long time since I had heard that one live, and it was quite nice getting to experience it again.

They had almost played “Digital Wounds” in its entirety, sans two songs, and somehow, I had failed to notice that “Slowly But Surely” was absent from the first set. While his band mates got it going, John climbed off the stage and into the massive crowd, climbing atop one of the partitions just in time for the opening line, “I’m coming for my love.” He moved about throughout the song, winding his way through the crowd, who obviously enjoyed the closeness, as you could see everyone who was around him at the different times pulling out their phones to snap a picture.

Getting back on stage was no easy task for him, but he eventually did once the song was over, disappearing on stage right while Becky took center stage as two dancers walked onto the stage. They busted out their cover of The Bangles “Walk Like an Egyptian”, with the dancers performing the dance moves and walking like an Egyptian. When given the chance like this, Becky really steals the show, and has an incredible voice. John eventually returned to the line of sight, hiding behind Rocky for a few moments as he outstretched his arms with the robe/cape waving behind Rocky. He then walked more towards center stage, co-singing the song as he again forced his voice into a higher register, which he pulls off with ease, and his voice doesn’t even come close to cracking.

The rest of their set would be the hits, well mostly so, and one of those which got greeted by a strong reaction from fans was “Come Closer”. “…Take my hand for the ride…” John sang at one point in the song, making a motion with his hand like he was driving a car.

Their next number was a bit of a surprise, as John said they had a new one for everybody. “And only for you.” He added, as they began a track that hopefully will make it on their third record, even though that is years away at this point.

If I were to compare it to any other Ishi song, I would say it most resembles “Mother Prism”, in the sense that it was more peaceful. It even had a chant that I can see catching on just like the one of “Mother Prism” has. It was another spectacular Ishi song, and it’s nice to know they are already looking ahead to the future.

This additional 33-minute long set started to wind down with “Pastel Lights”, which really got the fans moving around, though it was “Shake Your Dandelion” that received the most fanfare any of their songs had gotten since their show first began. “You know what time it is, Dallas. This is our last song of the night.” John stated as the track led them into the seductive and suggestive song, which was the perfect way to cap of what had been one of the best concert experiences I had ever had.

If there has been a better Ishi, it was one I was unable to attend, but I kind of doubt that, because the band was in rare form this night.

The stage show was amazing and everything was perfectly coordinated, though not to the point of seeming over rehearsed where it had all been planned to a tee. Then you have the energy, not just from the band, but the fans, as they fed of each other’s energy for the full 89-minutes they were on stage.

In regards to their set pieces, they served to only enhance the show experience, making it an even more memorable show than it would have been with just the band. And for anyone who read my posts regular, you’ll know lately I’ve been tough on some bands who have used different visual aspects and such, but Ishi is one of the bands doing it right, because they do it to enhance the show, not to seem like they’re a bigger deal than what they are. Besides, they already are a big deal.

That leads me to this, what I saw this night, is easily capable of becoming an arena-sized show. And let’s be frank, even though there are other bands in Dallas whom I’m a bigger fan of, simply because I’m more of a rock person, I can’t, at least at this moment, think of any band who even shows signs of one day being capable of playing an arena.

Ishi could, though, because the energy is there. Between Rocky running around the stage, Jonathan’s aggressive style of drumming, which often found him standing up from his kit and banging about the cymbals, while John is a mesmerizing frontman who will always command 100% of your attention.

The aesthetics are every bit as good, too, and already a few notches above most bands, and I can only imagine what they can do once they get an even bigger budget.

The band has truly found itself by fully embracing the electronic sound with this new album, and that was made very obvious this night.

Like I said earlier, they are hoping to do big things this year as Ishi, a fact John made sure to point out multiple times this night, which is all the more reason to get in to the band now, because this thing could blow up at any moment.

They have a couple shows coming up in Colorado, one on May 24th at Casselman’s in Denver, the other at State Bridge in Bond on the 26th. They’ll also perform at Stubb’s in Austin on May 31st. And do be sure to pick up their albums in ITUNES, which consist of not only their two full-length records, but also some remixes.

This was an amazing night, definitely one of the best shows of the year, and it was great seeing a Dallas band headline of of Dallas’s best venues for the first real time, and I doubt it will be the last, either.

I hadn’t originally planned on going to Trees this night. In fact, I wasn’t even aware the venue was hosting a show this night, until about a week before when a friend forwarded an email along to me from the PR guy for one of the bands. Long story short, I offered to go to the show to review it and got guest listed to do just that.

The only hometown act on this bill was the first act, Sinsect, who started their set at 8:20.

They were a duo, and set up like a DJ would be, with both James Ashley and Joe Virus operating a few synthesizers. Their first few songs were all instrumental, as cranked out their electronic pieces with various sample tracks intertwining with them. Things got even worse with James began singing on their last two songs, doing some full on singing for their final number, while he just added the occasional line on another. His voice was essentially auto-tuned and had a very digital sounding effect to it, which I disliked it because you couldn’t tell what he was capable of on his own.

All of that resulted in me not liking their set a whole lot, and at least it was short, even though it felt like it lasted forever.

I guess I should say I’m not a huge fan of the kind of music in the first place, but still, I have seen a band or two who are completely electronic like this, and then their singer has blow my mind with his voice. That wasn’t the case with Sinsect, though, and not only did their music do nothing for me, but James, or rather his voice, hid behind all the effects. Who knows, maybe that was for the best, but then again, what does that say about you as a singer?

If you’re curious to listen to their stuff, well, they do have an album, “A Broken Hero”, which can be purchased in ITUNES.

Well, at least the night was bound to get better with the next act, and that was The Rabid Whole from Toronto, Ontario.

This was the band whose PR guy I had been in contact with, and after listening to their stuff online, I was ecstatic to see what they were like in the live setting.

As the curtain opened on them, a cloud of smoke engulfed stage left, then slowly billowed out towards the crowd, making it easier to see bassist Oscar Anesetti. The band bills themselves as a 21st Century Alternative Rock outfit, and they definitely looked the part with their jackets and other attire which had a futuristic look to it.

They waited on the sample track to lead them in to their first song, while Chalsey Noelle laced some beautiful piano notes over it via her keyboard. It was the calm before the storm, though, as guitarist George Radutu, drummer JJ Tartaglia and Oscar soon ripped into “Stargazer”. “I’m still expecting you to break my fall, assuming everything goes wrong…” belted out frontman Andreas Weiss on the chorus, who was racing about the stage and often propping one leg up on the monitors, gazing out at the crowd while he sang. Before the final chorus, he placed the microphone back in the stand, picking up his guitar, shredding on it while signing the remainder of the song. That was the extent of his guitar playing, at least for the time being, though, and he placed it back in its stand once the song concluded.

With that one song they had pulled almost everyone up to the front of the stage, even if everyone was only about two dozen people, and after allowing just enough time for the crowd to applaud and cheer for them, they fired up “Delusion”. It was followed by another song from their “Refuge” album, “Corporate”, which was a infectious and powerful number, partly about chasing your dreams. “…It’s the day that my friend turned corporate. Hard to think that this shell was once a man…” Andreas sang on the chorus. There were also some moments of the song where he softly whispered a few lines, giving it somewhat of a chilling tone.

They let up after that one, at least long enough for Andreas to mention that this was their first ever time in Dallas and that they were excited to be here. He of course also noted that they had some stuff for sale back at their merch table, and then they got back to it with a song from their 2009 debut album, “Autraumaton”, called “Selfish Nature”. Afterwards, Chalsey left her keyboard station which had kept her slightly out of view, joining her band mates at the front of the stage with what I will call a keytar. There was no real neck to it, so instead it looked like just a keyboard with a strap on it.

“We have a video for this next song. It’s called Future.” Andreas said hastily, as they started the lead track and single from their latest album. Maybe it’s because in listening to their stuff online it had become my favorite song of theirs, but I found it to be the best song of their set. It’s just a perfect blend of sheer rock with more electronic tones that can put you in a mood to dance, and Andreas and Chalsey’s voices fit well together as they each sang a few lines on the chorus, his having a more forceful, raw quality to it, while hers was more delicate and had a very pretty tone.

Following it was a slower song, at least slow by their standards, and that was the title track from their 2012 record, “Refuge”, which was another song that saw Chalsey doing a fairly good bit of singing. Once they finished it, Andreas walked up the stairs at the back of the stage, while Chalsey disappeared in the shadows of far stage right, as JJ took the spotlight, doing a killer drum solo. Really, a lot of drum solos are less than awe-inspiring, but he played a great piece that held your attention throughout. As it wound down, Chalsey got back behind her keyboards, while Andreas descended the stairs. He informed everyone they had one song left, maybe two, depending on if they had enough time.

In case this was their last song, they were going to go out with a bang with the aggressive, “Metro”, which featured a thick and heavy rhythm section. As luck would have it, they were able to do one more after that, and they chose to close their 38-minute long set with another older song, “All The Same”. Andreas again thanked everyone for coming out to the show while he put his guitar on. Near the end of it he asked everyone to help them out and repeat after him. “What does it take to make you bleed?” he sang, with only a few people shouting it back at him afterwards. He wasn’t too impressed, saying it was even worse than what the people of Portland did to try to entice everyone to get more into it. It worked, and the shouting grew stronger and louder as a few more people joined in. After the sing-along portion was over, Oscar proceeded to attack his bass, viciously slapping it as they finished up the song.

Their set was phenomenal, and even though there was a VERY sparse crowd at Trees this night, it still speaks volumes about The Rabid Whole that they were able to pull nearly everyone up to the stage and get them actively engaged in the music.

Speaking of their music, that’s what initially drew me in. It’s fun yet serious with a nice space rock sound, and while I wouldn’t say it’s original in the sense that what they are doing has never been done before, it is more unique, and I doubt you’ve heard many bands that pull of this musical style as well as they do. Aside from the music being easy to get into, you also have the lyrics, which are very well written and come across as telling fairly personal stories, which makes it easier for them to get behind it.

As impeccable as their music is, though, and as well as their energy translates onto the recordings, it’s their live show where it’s all at.

From the moment they started, they were going ninety miles a minute, never letting up for even a moment. They didn’t care that they were only playing for about thirty people, and I have a feeling they could have only had an audience of three and they still would have been putting on the same show. Why? Because they were obviously all having fun on that stage, and I think everyone quickly picked up on and was reeled in by that.

The only complaint I have is more of a technical issue, and that was that the main mic could have been a little louder out in the crowd, because at times I had trouble hearing Andreas while he was singing.

Aside from that, everything was perfect, and The Rabid Whole ended up stealing the show right out from under the headliner, as unintentional as it was.

Their current tour may be over, but keep an eye on their tour dates, either on their OFFICIAL WEBSITE or their FACEBOOK PAGE, especially if you live in Canada, since that is the bands home territory. You can also find their two albums in ITUNES, plus a remix of their first album. I would highly urge everyone to check out the “Refuge” record, as it’s one of those rare albums where every song is exceptional.

The headlining band for the night was Dope Stars Inc., who had traveled all the way from Rome, Italy to be here, and despite having been around for ten years now, this marked the bands first U.S. tour.

Traditionally, the band is evidently a five-piece, however, on this tour they were a trio, consisting of singer and guitarist Victor Love, bassist Darin Yevonde and drummer Mark Madhoney.

Oddly enough, they entered the stage to a good deal of fanfare, and evidently, most of the people were here for Dope Stars Inc.

I didn’t know what to expect, because I hadn’t even listened to their music beforehand. They had a real industrial rock sound, and were even alternative rock, and like the two bands that opened for them, they did have an electronic sound to an extent, even though that was all supplied through sample tracks.

Honestly, after their first song, I contemplated leaving, because I just didn’t care for it a whole lot, but I decided to stick around at least through the next couple of songs.

“…This is next one is called Vyperpunk!” Victor shouted, which resulted in some members of the crowd cheering with excitement. Like most of their songs, there was almost a techno sound to it, but in the most rocking way, and I found myself getting a little more into the music. Before starting their next song, Victor dedicated to Michael J. Fox, or at least that’s what I thought he said, but his accent was so thick (both when he was and wasn’t singing), I thought surely I had misheard him. Turns out I had understood him well enough, as they stared “Save the Clock Tower”, from their newest album, “Ultrawired”, a song that is a bit of an homage to the Back to the Future film series.

“It’s Today” was what did it for me, as it piqued my interest and ensured I’d stick it out for the rest of their set. It’s a riveting song, an anthem in a way, with Victor encouraging everyone that, “It’s today that we have to wake up all the energy we own…”, which is the first line of the course, before ending with, “…Our time is dead. Our time is now. And now is past.” They really seemed to hit their stride with that song, too, Darin pacing around the entire stage while he effortlessly tore it up on his bass. Actually, I had to look several times to make sure it was a bass he was playing, because as quickly as he was strumming the strings, it looked like it was a guitar. Aside from that, Mark was devastating it on the drums, often standing up from time to time as he continued to lay into his kit, while Victor was shredding on his guitar.

“It’s hot here in Texas.” Victor proclaimed, before they started their next song. They followed it with “10,000 Watts of Artificial Pleasures”, which got the biggest rise from their little fan base, as Victor first told everyone the song title, than asked something like, “Are you ready for the pleasures, Dallas?”. The aggressive “Bang Your Head” came next, which found Victor often snarling and yelling the words, and once it was over he set things up for Mark to do a drum solo, as he and Darin left the stage. The drum solo didn’t impress me to the extent the other one from the other band did, but it was still a great solo.

Once he put the finishing touches on it, Victor returned to the stage, with Darin eventually following suit, as they continued their barrage of songs, first with one I wasn’t able to figure out, and then doing what I believe was “Banksters”. They kept moving right along with “Make a Star”, from 2005’s “Neuromance” album, and then another track from their latest record, “Blackout”. Those songs weren’t slow by any means, but they really picked things back up with “Self Destructive Corp.”, while “Defcon 5” began to wind things down. At the end of that latter song, Darin, who resting a leg on the monitor, let his bass dangle in the air as he plucked one of the strings, then Victor announced they had one last song left. It was the title track of their 2009 album, “21st Century Slave”, which ended their 69 –minute long set. Now, a lot of their songs make statements in one way or another, most of which seem more social or political, but this one is probably the most notable. It deals with being a slave to the corporate world and being “brainwashed” by various forms of “propaganda”, with the message being that technology is the key to freeing our minds and bodies from all of that.

Yeah, there’s songs carry a message with them.

While watching them play, I wasn’t all that crazy for their actual music, and was more watching them for their performance, which is definitely an area they’ve perfected in their ten-year existence. However, after listening to their stuff a little more, like while trying to identify the songs they played this night, it has really grown on me.

It’s good rock music with a twist, and something well worth listening to. I’m still not all that crazy about Victors’ voice, which frankly, isn’t the best in the world. I wouldn’t call it bad though, either, which puts it in the spot of being one of the most unique voices I’ve ever heard, and he writes some fantastic lyrics that can be rather thought provoking.

I went from not being sure I’d even stay for their set, to watching it all, and now I’ve gone from not having a real interest in seeing them again, to liking them enough that if they ever get back to Dallas, I’ll most likely be there.

Yeah, they won me over is a fan.

Check out all of their records in ITUNES, and you can even get a free download of the “Ultrawired” record on their OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

It was a fantastic night of music (with the exception of the first band), and I love shows like this where more independent and small time bands tour through, because I like getting a little taste of what else is out there, outside of the local North Texas music scene.

Earlier this year the London based The Joy Formidable released their latest record, “Wolf’s Law”, and this night the band was making a stop at Trees in Dallas as part of their tour in support of the record.

I got there later, missing the only opening act, IO Echo, and at about 9:20 the venue appeared packed almost to capacity, with all the fans anxiously awaiting the bands arrival on stage.

A little over ten seemingly long minutes later and the lights went out as the fans cheered. The main mic stand, which was wrapped in lights and something that looked like tinsel, lit up, while a chilling wolf’s howl filled the venue. There was also a backdrop on the stage, which was a large white sheet, and hanging in front of it was a black silhouette of a wolf’s face, which lit up with LED lights that lined it.

Moments later Matthew Thomas made his way down the stairs from the greenroom, taking a seat behind his drum kit on stage left, which happened to be set up sideways. Rhydian Dafydd followed, picking up his bass when he made it on stage. However, it was Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan who received the most fanfare, as she took the stage flashing a delightful grin at the audience.

There was a little bit of feedback going on over the sample track that was their intro, before Matthew and Ritzy suddenly fired up “Cholla”, much to the fans excitement. Things suddenly fell silent closer towards the end when they took the pause in the song, and I’m fairly certain in those few seconds you could have heard a pin drop, as little noise was made from the crowd. They jumped back into it, though, and after finishing it up, Matthew wound them right into their next song, as he kept laying down some beats. While he was doing that, Ritzy mentioned how “lovely” everyone looked, and also said she was almost certain this was the first time they had ever done a headlining show in Dallas. With that, she and Rhydian began singing in to their mics, “Ohoo, Ohoo…”, again getting a burst of excitement from the fans, who quickly realized it was a song that is featured on their first two albums, “Austere”.

Both of those songs, especially back to back, got them off to an electric start and they were holding everyone’s attention with complete ease. Not only that, but there was also a very fun atmosphere to it, and their gleeful persona’s were rubbing off on the crowd, or at least me, putting me in a pretty happy state of mind.

Hearing the older stuff was great, but this tour was mainly about the music from “Wolf’s Law”, and after a brief break where Ritzy switched guitars (for the first of many times this night), they tackled another song from their latest record.

“THIS LADDER IS OURS!” Ritzy shouted rather defiantly, almost as if they were preparing to go to war and she was proclaiming it to a fictitious enemy. They then started the song of the same name, and that lead track from “Wolf’s Law” was a highlight of their set. The best part of the song though, was seeing them really rock out to it during the instrumental portions, especially Ritzy who just attacked her axe. “The Greatest Light is The Greatest Shade” was another older they song they broke out, and afterwards, while this Rock/Pop outfit regrouped, something interesting was played over the sound system. It was a reading of Henry Longfellow’s poem, “The Arrow and the Song”. “…And the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.” it finished as Rhydian and Matthew opened up “Little Blimp” with a thick rhythm based intro. That short song little track become the most intense of their set thus far, and was a powerhouse of a song, at least once it took off, and they weren’t ready to let that energy they built with that fade just yet.

They kept things rolling with an instrumental piece, which climaxed with some pulsating bass riffs, roaring guitar notes and powerful drumbeats, before suddenly subsiding. “Come on Dallas!” Ritzy cried during this moment of silence before they launched into “Cradle”. “I can’t say what he means when he says that, I’ll pretend, pretty pretend…” sang Ritzy near the start of this high-strung beast of a song. That one was sure to have everyone’s adrenaline flowing, and I don’t see how anyone who was in attendance couldn’t have been fully engaged by the band at this point.

“I think this is what you call a sweaty rock show.” Rhydian said as they took a break after that song. Ritzy then chimed in, asking everyone if they were having a “sweaty good time” with them so far, to which the fans cheered. Her focus then turned to the weather. “..Fuck me!” she exclaimed, “…I mean, this is April isn’t it, and it’s already this hot. How hot must it be in August?” She continued, “…Do you all just leave for the hills during August? But, where are the hills?”

As a native Texan, I didn’t think it was all that hot, especially not in the club. Then again, I wasn’t up on the stage going all out, and all three of them had worked up quite a sweat now. Maybe it was just the way the lights were hitting them, but it looked like because of all that Ritzys’ makeup had began to run just ever so slightly, which in turn seemed to give her more of a raw Rock ‘n’ Roll persona.

During all that banter, their stage hand moved a keyboard out on the stage, specifically in front of Rhydian, as they prepared to slow things down just ever so slightly.

It’s not accurate to call “Tendons” a slow song, but it has its moments, and is a rock song it was utterly mesmerizing. Near the end Rhydian put the keyboard to use, but only for a few seconds, before tearing back into his bass as the song returned to its rock glory. They really brought things down with their next song, which required Rhydian to play an acoustic guitar in lieu of his bass, while Matthew pretty much set the song out, watching his band mates from behind his kit. The song was “Silent Treatment”, and Ritzy really didn’t even play her guitar during it, and since her hands were free, she used them “talk with” in a way, making all sorts of motions with them while she softly crooned, “…I’ll take a quiet living, but I’m hotwired and quick feeling. So, I’ll take the silent treatment…” It was a gorgeous song and showed off a totally different side of the band, but they were in the homestretch now, and it was time to reinvigorate the crowd once again.

After his little break, Matthew got to put his skills back to work on “Maw Maw Song”, pushing his drumming into overdrive at times on the somewhat chilling number. The most amazing part of it was the instrumental break, where each of them cut loose, allowing the audience to see what phenomenal musicianship they have. Upon finishing it, Matthew patched them right into their next song with some steady beats on his floor tom. It was a heavy hitter from 2011’s “The Big Roar”, “I Don’t Want to See You Like This”, which worked everyone into a frenzy of excitement.

“You’ve got good lungs, Dallas.” Ritzy said, her British accent as thick as good be when she spoke, yet barely noticeable while singing. She was about to move them along to the next song, when she had a request from a fan. “You want me to sign your arm?” she said, sounding surprised. “Should I do it?” she asked everyone else, before deciding to. She bent down at the edge of the stage then leaned out a signed this persons arm, and when she returned to the mic said she didn’t know if she’d ever to that again, but that it was an experience. She chatted with everyone for a moment more, before saying the title of what would be the final song of their 61-minute long set, “The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie”, which brought their set to an incredible close.

Very few people moved after the band left the stage, all awaiting the impending encore, even though it took them several minutes before they eventually returned.

Ritzy asked everyone if they wanted to hear a song or a joke, but quickly reneged on the offer, saying, “Let’s not go there.” Instead, they did two more tracks from “Wolf’s Law”, and beginning this 22-minute long encore was “Forest Serenade”. The song possesses a very upbeat quality to it, and is just another one of the band’s songs that is sure to put you in a more positive place than you were in before hearing it. Afterwards, Ritzy commented on what a “lovely venue” Trees was, again mentioning that this was their first ever headlining gig in Dallas and thanked everyone for coming out and being a part of it. “…So, Dallas, this is Wolf’s Law.” She said, as they started the album’s title track, which wound up being one of the most captivating songs of their performance. For awhile it was the softest song of their set, but it really roared to life, and could be described as beauty personified. No sooner had it ended and then they started the final song of their set, which was of course, “Whirring”. Like some of their songs before, it was the instrumental portion where they really shone, and at one point Rhydian and Ritzy stood back to back, before he playfully began pushing her over a bit. As they got closer to the end, she removed her guitar, then approached the fans , holding it out above them, allowing them to hit the strings, before eventually putting it back on as they brought the show to a spectacular finish.

Ritzy again removed her guitar, looking like she might slam it on the ground, but instead turned it parallel to the ground before dropping it, then waving by as she retreated to the greenroom. Rhydian followed suit, though he set his bass down, and after high-fiving several of the fans who were in front of the stage, Matthew, too, left.

 This was about as good as a show can get, and as great as the band was when I saw one of their free shows during SXSW the month prior, what they did at Trees this night was enough to leave your jaw on the floor.

They were going full throttle the entire night, coming out of the gate like that, and even on their slower stuff, they were still giving it their all. That resulted in their show being constantly enjoyable, and there certainly was never a dull moment.

The rapport they had with the crowd was excellent, and I think a large part of why their show was so successful, because the fans fed of the band and vice versa. If you weren’t there, you might not be able to understand it, because The Joy Formidable managed to create one of those rare moments that was complete unique to this show.

As amazing as their music is on the albums, it’s definitely the live show where The Joy Formidable excels, putting on nothing less than a stellar show. Rhydian’s a killer bass player, and while he has a little bit of the typical bass player persona of being all casual and nonchalant about it, he can (and does) throw down. Matthew’s a fantastic drummer, and I liked the fact that his kit was set up on the side of the stage, which made it a little easier to see him and take in his drumming. The you have Ritzy, who, when allowed to focus solely on her guitar playing, will be one of the best guitarists you ever seen, and she has a unique and heavenly voice to boot.

The only complaint I have about the show was the visuals that played on the backdrop behind them. It wasn’t always playing clips, and when it was just the wolf’s head silhouette flashing various colors, it was very cool. That part should stay, but other times, when there was stuff being broadcasted on the screen… Well, I was none too crazy for it.

Sure, some of the stuff can fit with the songs, and for a song or two it was the music videos of the song playing. Was it cool? Some may say so. I however zoned it all out in the first place.

I personally find stuff like that to be a distraction, and prefer to see a band doing what they do best, especially when you have a band like The Joy Formidable.

Their show is in their passion they exude. Their show is in the sheer joy they so obviously derive from performing their music in front of people. Their show is in watching them dominant the instruments they’ve dedicated so much time to perfecting. Their show is not in videos playing behind them.

Now, that was nowhere near enough to make this a bad show, nor even put a blemish on it, I’m just voicing my opinion.

And for the record, all those traits I mentioned that they have are something about 98% of bands could greatly benefit from adopting and trying to emulate.

The band is continuing their tour in support of “Wolf’s Law”, and for a schedule of all their tour dates, go HERE. If you have the opportunity to see one of those upcoming shows (especially if it’s a headlining one) take, because it’ll will be a show you’ll remember for years to come. Also, be sure to pick up their records in ITUNES.

A truly great weekend entails spending a night at the Curtain Club, at least in my opinion, and there were some talented bands playing there this night.

I wasn’t able to stay for the whole night, though, which is a rare event for me, and I didn’t even arrive until the first band was almost done with their set.

I did get there in plenty of time to see the instrumental trio Son of Swan, though.

The sirens of the songs sample track blared before drummer Billy Walker started them in on “SOS”, the opening song of their 30-minute long set. They got right down to business, with Neil Swanson so effortlessly shredding on his guitar, letting loose some shrill notes at times, while bassist Steve Wilson roamed all over the stage with a real swagger to his step. They followed it almost immediately with “Children Of The Night”, which is yet another raw rock song that encompasses some amazing guitar riffs and solos. At this point Neil approached the mic, informing everyone of who they were, before moving on with a couple more songs, one of which was a cover. Now, I’m not familiar enough with all their stuff to know it, but they did another original before tackling another cover. “…If you don’t know this one, well, maybe you should.” Neil said before they began it. I’m fairly certain they followed it with the intricately woven “30K Curse”, and before starting their final song, Neil made a very accurate statement. “…Remember, everybody that is somebody used to be nobody.” Very true, and great final words to speak for the night, before starting what I want to say was “Dog Days”.

Sure, song-wise this probably isn’t as accurate as I like to be, but that doesn’t change the fact that all those original songs plus the rest that comprise their seven song debut record are masterpieces.

Seriously, they are some of the best songs I think I’ve ever heard and when you see the live show that accompanies them, then you’ll love the band even more. Billy’s an incredible drummer, Steve has that casual persona that most bassists have, yet he’s constantly storming around the stage, and I don’t know how anyone couldn’t consider Neil to be one of the best guitarists they’ve ever seen.

He does steal the show with his guitar work, his hands racing all over the fretboard, yet he manages to maintain a more humble attitude in his playing. Whereas some guitarists give you the impression that they are wanting to go all-out and do some ridiculous guitar work that seems like it’s just to show off, Neil doesn’t at all come across that way.

It never seems like what he’s playing is meant to be showy, rather it’s just the natural progression of the song, and he doesn’t, say, hold the guitar in front of the crowd like “Look what I can.” Instead, what you see is simply a virtuoso at work.

I never imagined a day where an instrumental band could hold my interest, yet this was the third time I’ve seen them now and all three times my eyes have been glued to the stage. So if you think you won’t like them just because they are an instrumental act, just give them a chance. You’ll probably end up loving the music, and if you see a show, you’ll be blown away.

So far the only place to pick up their CD is at live shows, and next up on their calendar is May 24th at The Rail Club in Fort Worth, May 31st at O’Riley’s in Dallas and they will return to O’Riley’s on June 22nd.

Up after them was Greysmyth, and this was a pretty big show for the band, and even a bigger one for the singer.

See, this was the groups first show with Justin Ranton fronting the band, and it was also the first time he had performed on stage in over a year, and personally, I was beyond excited to be seeing that guy on stage again.

They opened their set with a song called “Avalon”, which got off to a slower start with some light notes from guitarists, Jerrod Nelson and Spuds Berryman, while Justin held back on his singing a bit. “Come on Dallas!” he roared after a bit, as drummer Brayton Lyons, bassist Kobe Garinger and the others really cut loose on the song, transitioning it into a full on assault of rock. They  did several great songs this night, but that was one of my favorites. Before beginning their next song, Justin took a moment to speak to the crowd, mentioning that it had been “a long time” since he had been on a stage as he thanked everyone who was there for coming out. “…This next one’s called Feed the Need.” He said, as his band mates ripped into the song. “Feed the need, my intention is to be close to you…” sang Justin on the chorus of this powerhouse track, which was really driven by the rhythm section. They did one more hefty rock track, “Peripheral”, before slowing things down with “Rose”, which Spuds announced was for his wife. It oozed with feelings, but not in a true lovey dovey way, and it showed off another, more sensitive side to the rock outfit. “…He’s saying he can’t live without you…” Justin said to Spuds’s wife after they finished the song. They didn’t immediately bring things up, though, instead doing another lighter track, “A Way to Love”. Both of those softer songs were really good, but I really liked the latter of those two, and they both pushed the band out of their element a bit, in a good way. They returned to what they do best with a song called “Bloodlines”, before finishing their 34-minute long set with the killer, “Corpse Flower”, which was proof they had saved (one of) the best for last.

It was a great rock show, and I found myself wondering why I hadn’t heard of the band before Justin joined them, even if they hadn’t played too many live shows.

It was fantastic seeing Justin on stage again, and while he began the show seeming a little apprehensive, he quickly warmed up and got into the swing of things, moving about the stage, operating in synch with the music and just being a commanding frontman. And even though it had been so long since he sang on stage, he hadn’t lost any of his stage persona.

Regarding the songs, Spuds, Kobe, Brayton and Jerrod have created some great stuff and put on a good performance, getting better the further they progressed in their set.

The music is different from Justin’s past projects, and compared to those I think it’s more melodic (that’s not to say Greysmyth is a Melodic Rock band by any means), but his voice fits quite well with the music, and even kind of pushes his voice to new heights.

Point is, I loved their set, and I’m eager to see how Greysmyth is going to grow from here on out, like, what their songs will sound like with Justin being a part of the band now, and how much better their live shows will probably be once they get more practice under their belt and become even more cohesive.

Definitely keep an eye on these guys, or better yet go see them with your own eyes. They’ll be playing Wit’s End in Dallas on June 1st, then they’ll be back at the Curtain Club on July 26th.

Not long after they finished was when I left. Junk and Carmeci were probably great this night, but Greysmyth and Son of Swan were well worth the ten dollar cover, and I’m glad I was able to see both of them.

As usual, there was another great show going down at the Curtain Club in Dallas, featuring an array of bands, some of whom I had seen before and others I hadn’t, but was excited to.

The first band was called Drag the Waters, and by the time I got there they were nearing the end of their set, but what I saw was pretty good. They looked like they could be a Metal band, instead, they were a Heavy Rock group and they made some  good music at that and put on a good live show.

I can’t find any info out about them, but I wouldn’t mind seeing them again if they happened to get on a bill with some other bands I’m a fan of.

The next band was the main one I wanted to see, and that was Alterflesh. Actually, they were the main reason I was even at this show in the first place.

I was introduced to the band after meeting their singer, Dayvoh, a couple months back and became a fan of the groups unique style, and I thrilled that I was finally going to see one of their live shows.

The first thing I noticed when the curtain was opened on them was a nightstand over by some of the amps. There were some books on it, as well as a lamp sitting atop it, all of which was rather aesthetically pleasing.

Dayvoh referred to everyone as his brothers and sisters as he welcomed everyone to the show, then said it was time to “…step through the portal…” It was a much more interesting intro than the typical things bands say, and it was very accurate, too, as “Megahub” did seem to open the doorway to another realm. See, the band doesn’t play simple songs, they play music that has a message , and that song deals with various philosophers throughout history, with Dayvoh spitting out the names of dozens of them. Actually, that’s another thing that makes the band so unique. See, Dayvoh is more of a spoken word artist and he brings that skill to the band, performing the songs more in that style rather than singing. “…A stumbling lost humanity. Most will go their entire lives without even understanding it…” he said on the songs bridge, which was just one of many lines in that song that can stimulate the mind.

Just one song in and I was loving it. The music was very engaging and the energy in the performance they were giving was something else. They kept things moving right along with “Toxic”, which makes a statement about the state of the Earth and how we as human beings are continuously destroying it. For those first couple of songs Dayvoh had been playing a guitar, but he set it down for the time being, grabbing the microphone saying, “…We’ve all had are fair share of self reflection…” then announced the next song as being “Imaginary Dreams”, which is one of the tracks they have yet to record. Dayvoh seemed to fit in best on this song and the others that didn’t require him using the guitar, as he could move about the stage, connecting more with the audience while he preached his message. He got his guitar back out for the next song, saying, “The mystics say we all slowly burn…” as he, bassist Paul Kubajak, lead guitarist Ben Schelin  and drummer Kevin Mills tackled another “Embers”, another song that they have yet to lay down in a studio.

Upon finishing it, Dayvoh surveyed the large crowd gathered around the stage, giving shout outs to Born and Raised, Solice and The Circle, plus several other bands who had members out representing. That was one thing that was so cool about this show, other musicians were actually out at it supporting these guys. They had a few songs left now, none of which Dayvoh used the guitar on, and the next was his “social rant” known as “Watch Rome Burn”. It was my favorite song of their set and could easily be the most thought provoking song in their arsenal. Aside from that, it’s just one of their most rocking numbers, with Ben shredding on his axe at times, and Kevin really got into his drumming (that’s not to say he hadn’t before, it was just more noticeable now). “Start Over” slowed things down a little, before bringing their 34-minute long set to a close with “New Horizon”.

In my opinion, they were the band to beat this night. Their performance was much more vigorous than I was expecting, with Paul constantly jumping up and down, which was quite a sight to watch. While more contained, Ben was is great guitarist, and Kevin just killed it on the drums, and Dayvoh was a captivating frontman. Together, they were able to hold the crowd’s attention with ease.

As for the music, they are a Rock band, and even harder Rock at times, which makes what Dayvoh does even more interesting. Like I said, it’s not full on singing that he does, and if you’re not paying full attention you may say he’s rapping. Sure, it can sound like that at times, but it most certainly isn’t rap. Rather, it is spoken word. And because he “sings” in that style, it allows him to get away with some things.

See, his voice is rather monotone, something your traditional singer couldn’t get away with. But the way he fires the words off, you don’t care if his voice is monotone or not, because you’re more fixated on the words. And that is what really makes Alterflesh stand apart from most other bands; the lyrics. Overall they have a positive, uplifting message to them, often about changing things for the better.

Really, that makes their show a spiritual experience in a way, and one I can’t wait to witness again.

If you want to hear something new and completely out-of-the-box, then check out Alterflesh, either on their FACEBOOK PAGE or REVERBNATION. Their next show is slated for July 6th at Tomcats West in Fort Worth, and if you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out.

Following them was Last Day Living, whom I hadn’t seen in quite awhile, and I was curious to see how their set would go.

I admittedly haven’t been as big a fan of the band since they lost their lead singer (which happened a few years ago now), resulting in them staying a four-piece and guitarist Shawn Pipkin picking up the slack as the lead singer.

The thing is, his voice just isn’t built to really sing, and that was proven during their first song, a slower almost ballad of sorts, where his voice repeatedly cracked. No, their 31-minute long set didn’t get off to the best start, and personally, I was never able to get into it. Shawn ditched his guitar for the next song, which he kind of rapped a portion of, before picking it back up as he, bassist Irish, fellow guitarist Paris Pipkin and drummer Daniel Burpo rocked out “Twisted Smile”, which was the single great moment of their set. Shawn got a little political before another song, asking, “So who’s pissed off at the government for taking our guns and then education from our kids…” A lot of people screamed and cheered in agreeance, and after finishing it they ran through their final three songs. During that last one, Shawn broke one of the strings on his guitar, and as they finished the tune he decided to finish the job, pulling the five remaining strings until they snapped.

Last Day Living writes good music and they put on an enjoyable live show, but in my opinion, they need a fifth member, one that can really sing. That’s the only hindrance that I see.

No, I wasn’t in love with this set, but the vocals were why, and I did enjoy the other aspects of their performance. They just need that one missing component to round things out.

There was one more band to go before the headliner, and that was Idler.

I first saw the band here a couple months before and instantly became a fan, and I was hoping their set this night would be even better.

“Vendetta” opened up their set, a song that finds siblings Micah and Katie Frank co-singing on the verses, while he tore off on the chorus, shouting, “Don’t cross me again. It all comes back in the end…” That song set the tone for the rest of their show in a way, gave the impression that they weren’t going to be holding back at all, and they indeed did not. Upon finishing it, Micah told everyone who they were, as well as the title of that first song and mentioned the next one was “Go for Broke”, another track from their debut, self-titled EP. A cool little instrumental intro set the song up, with drummer Eric Gustafson, bassist Nick Laracuente and Micah, who was the rhythm guitarist, created a nice little piece before Mykey O’Neill started plucking the strings of his guitar, giving the song its full shape. Both of those songs got them off to an explosive start, and “Let Me In” didn’t let up much, as the electric version is much more in-your-face than the acoustic version you can find online is.

They followed it with a couple more newer songs, one of which was titled “Deceit” and saw Micah handing his guitar over to Katie. She predominately strummed rather slowly, and once they finished pointed out that was her first time ever playing a guitar on stage. She seemed proud of the fact, and rightfully so, ‘cause she did a good job. That freed Micah up to roam about the stage a little more, acting like your typical frontman, standing on their boxes that bear the band’s name while he livened up the crowd. At the end of that tune, he even screamed the last few lines in a throaty enough voice he could give even the most hardcore Metal bands a run for their money. They followed it with a song that Katie sang lead on, which I believe was called “Buried”, before doing a couple more tracks from their EP. One of those was “Lose Control”, while the other was my personal favorite song of theirs, “Kings and Queens”, during which Micah laid his guitar down, again gaining some freedom to move about and Katie did the same. They weren’t always the main focus, though, as Eric was pounding out some thick beats that were undeniable, and the short solo, or rather riffs, Mykey plays are stellar. Up next they did another newer song, and afterwards Micah informed everyone that their next song was “Pitchfork”. That’s arguable the best song on their EP, but they didn’t have a chance to do it as their set was cut short at 32-minutes.

See, after he said that the house music came back on, causing everyone band members and fans alike to look around in disbelief.

Personally, I think it was pretty crappy. I mean, I get that things were running behind schedule, but the guys and girl of Idler never even received a heads up warning them they only had, say, five minutes left or anything like that. At least not that I know of.

Something like that can’t affect their overall show, though, at least not in a detrimental way.

I thought they were better than the other time I had seen them. Micah didn’t use a guitar almost the entire show then like he did now, but that didn’t diminish his persona, and even though he was more glued in front of the mic he’s still a mighty frontman. He even has one of the best and more unique voices that I’ve heard, and Katie’s every bit as good, and their voices mix together to create some amazing textures in the songs.

The other guys, Eric and Nick, do a perfect job of rounding things out in the live show aspect, as does Mykey, but I mention him separately because I believe this was his first show with Idler. He’s a great guitarist and on stage he looked like he had been playing with them since their inception.

If you like straight up Rock music, then Idler’s a band to check out. You can find their album on ITUNES, and even get a couple of free downloads (including their cover of “Highway to the Danger Zone”) on their REVERBNATION PAGE. As for shows, their next one is going to be June 29th at Hailey’s up in Denton.

Closing out the night and doing their first live show of 2013 was the Fort Worth based band, Pulse.

Now, I’ve heard a lot about these guys for awhile, but had never seen a show. In fact, I’d never even listened to their music, so I was interested to see how they lived up to the hype that surrounded them. Sadly, I think they may have been overhyped to me…

Like I said, this was the band’s first show of the year, and they used to play/debut a lot of their newer material. Their opening song was one of those new ones. Vocalist Sean Yeaney sang something along the lines of, “…I wish I could just wish you away…” on the chorus, and that was a song I really liked. They then did a track from last year’s “Show Me the Way” record, “Blame”, following it with another new(er) song, and then another album track, “No More Next Time”. That latter one was a good one, especially with the chilling guitar notes at the beginning and end of it, but out of all their songs thus far I wasn’t truly feeling it. Guitarists James Brennaman and Justin Judy, drummer Jimmy Lay, bassist Kelly Robinson and Sean busted out some more new songs, and during the second one of this string of them Kelly encountered some technical issues, resulting in not being an active part of their next couple of songs.

They soldiered on without him, though, and after finishing one that I believe was called “From Here to Home”, things were fixed and Kelly rejoined the action, just in time for what seemed to be a fan favorite, “Think About It”. Their next song found Sean singing the words at a very rapid pace, and afterwards they let the crowd choose which version of a song they wanted to hear. One option was the usual way it’s done,  the other was a 420 remix, which Sean noted they were never able to perfect, so it might not be the best. That didn’t stop the fans from choosing this remix, though, which had a bit of a Reggae sound to it. “They Have Arrived” was another good one, and had a killer thick intro with Kelly and Jimmy working in excellent synch with one another. Their show started to wind down with “Won’t Let Go”, and after one more new track they closed their 60-minute long set with “Run Away”.

It was nearly two in the morning when they finished, and I figured the show was over and left, However, when I walked out the door, I heard Sean asking the crowd if they were still with them. They most likely came back for an encore, but it was late and I had seen enough.

Like I said, I think the band was overhyped to me I think, because I was expecting something amazing, both in their music and performance. What I saw and heard, though, was honestly rather generic, and even struck me as a little lackluster.

I thought the best part of their stage show came during when song when Sean climbed atop the speakers, staying there for maybe a minute before leaping off back to the stage, but there was just never that one moment where Pulse got their hooks in me and wowed me.

I didn’t really like the fact that they used smoke machines, or cannons that propelled the smoke into the air, because really, bands on this level don’t need stuff like that. I’m kind of prude with stuff like that in the first place, be it with visuals playing behind a band or stuff like this, and I think it subtracts from any bands show. The main focus should be the music and any and every band needs to let their music do the talking, rather than using various things to try to “enhance” the experience. The only exception to this rule is Muse.

Now, it’s also worth noting that I’m basically the only person at this show that felt that way, because they had a ton of fans out, all of whom were shouting along to every song they knew, and listening in awe to the new stuff. I wish I could have been one of them, but they didn’t ignite any passion inside me like some of the other bands on this bill did. And just to be clear, I’m not saying they are bad or that their music is, it just did nothing for me.

Their next area show is scheduled for July 6th at Tomcats West in Fort Worth, but before that they’ll be rocking St. Louis, Missouri at FUBAR on May 18th. You can find their album, “Show Me the Way” in ITUNES and you can even get a free download of one song on their REVERBNATION PAGE.

Nonetheless, this was still an excellent night of music, and if you weren’t here, you missed out.

There were several great shows going on this night in Deep Ellum, but I settled for the most rock filled event of the night, which was taking place at The Boiler Room.

As far as I knew there were only three bands on the bill, but upon walking in I discovered there was a fourth, and it was the Wichita Falls based rock outfit, Twicebroken.

It had been quite awhile since I last saw them, so it was a very pleasant surprise.

A lot of their 37-minute long set was newer material, including their opening song which began a fury of Rock ‘n’ Roll. “This next song is called “Can’t Stop I Won’t Stop.” announced frontman Aaron Mullin, giving themselves just a few seconds of downtime before guitarists Bryan Crowe and Brandt Holmes fired up the intense number. Upon finishing it, Aaron mentioned that they had finished up a tour not long ago. “…It was awful…”, saying that their van had broken down while in Michigan I believe, leaving them stuck there for a few days. He obviously didn’t have good memories of it, and the way he talked it won’t be something they do again anytime soon. They did a couple more songs next, one of which was called “Crawling Out”, and then arrived at a single of sorts from their self-titled debut album, “Already Gone”. You really got to see how tight they are with one another during that one, with bassist Nick Knowles, Bryan, Brandt and Aaron all operating in perfect synch with the beats Billy Pennington was pounding out, thrashing around to them and such.  Another song they did from that album was “Walkin’ Away”, which has a more Southern Rock flare to it, then slowed things down with a much more sentimental song. Aaron stated that he wrote it about a friend who died in a crash about a year ago and he wanted to write something in her memory. I think the song was titled “Walk with the Angels”, and there was a duality to it, being both very beautiful and quite sad. They started winding things down with “The Enemy In Me”, and wrapped up their set with what is arguably the best song in their repertoire, “Preacher Man”.

Their set was chocked full of rock and matched with one of the most intense live shows you can see. That was what drew me to them whenever it was I first saw one of their shows, and they’ve only honed their skills since then, making them a true force to be reckoned with.

Hell, on any normal night they would have stolen the show right out from under the other bands on the bill, but this wasn’t a normal night.

Definitely go check out Twicebroken’s album in ITUNES, and while they don’t have any shows lined up at this moment, you really should go see them if you have the chance.

Second up this night was Waking Alice, who had made the trek from Fort Worth to Dallas to do their first show of the year.

They got started with what I think is one of their newer songs, and one I’m quite fond of, then tackled a couple of songs from their newest EP, “Retribution”. One of those was “Treason”, which drummer Jon Levey and guitarist Brandon Brewer got underway with some thunderous beats and roaring notes. “…Come on one more time, play the game with me…” Rus belted out as they reached the songs chorus. It is the most rocking song on their EP in my opinion, and that showed during their performance of it, which was just a little more vicious than some of their other stuff. “This next song is called Scars.” Rus announced, before they started the slightly darker (in a musical sense) sounding song, which has some thick rhythm parts where Brayton Light tore it up on his bass. That’s all evened out, though, by Brandon’s killer solo that closes out the song, however, it was outshined by the instrumental break/jam during “Biggest Lie”. Brandon captured the spotlight during it, just riffing and going with it, but Brayton and Jon certainly added their two cents on it, while Rus took a backseat. They do that at every show, but the most interesting thing is it’s always a little different, so it never gets stale. After that powerful number, they scaled things back ever so slightly with “Fates Design”, which tells the story of Rus meeting his now wife, but not in a cliché way like most of those songs are done in. They got back to the high-energy rock stuff with “Wasting Time”, though I believe it was that song that, before starting it, Brandon cracked a joke. Now, I couldn’t understand what he said, which might have been the same problem other people had, resulting in essentially no laughter. “You better laugh at that, or we’re not gonna play this next song.” he said. Rus chimed in, “I think he’s serious.” He did seem it, but it wasn’t long before they started the song, following it with another classic from the bands catalog, “Chasing Memories”. I love the new stuff they’ve done with Rus, but some of their older material, like that one, are at least every bit of good, and it’s given all new life with the slightly different approach Rus takes to singing it. They had one song left in the chamber, and it was brand new one no less. “…It’s That One…” said Rus, saying it again and pointing out that, that really was the name of the song. I really liked it, and out of the handful of songs they churned out with Rus at the helm, this one now stands out as being one of my favorites and it was great way to end their 42-minute long set.

Which each show I’ve seen, they’ve continued to improve and tighten up, delivering a better show each time, and this night was hands down the best Waking Alice show I’ve seen yet.

It’s a nice lively stage show they put on, and coupled with their music, it should have no problem holding your attention.

Their next show is going to be on June 1st at Andy’s Bar in Denton, and it’ll be one you want to see. And be sure to head over to ITUNES and pick up their albums. Again, the newest is “Retribution”, but they have some older stuff available as well, featuring the bands previous vocalist.

The night wasn’t about to slow down, especially with Red Angel Theory being the next band up.

Their 32-minute long set was kicked off by one of the new songs they’ve cooked up, which is just one of the great things that has come out of Monica Koohi fronting the band. It was clear right from the start they, like all the other bands on this bill, were taking a no holds barred approach to their performance, and tore through that commanding opener. They weren’t about to lose the momentum they had built with that one either, as guitarist Brandon Deaton immediately fired up their next song, “Shattered”. Early on in the song drummer Nick Sarabia could be seen flipping his drumsticks up in the air then catching them, as well as adding some backing vocals during the chorus, adding some extra force to Monicas’ voice (not that she needs it) which is what makes that song stand out so in my opinion. They let loose another newer song on the audience, before taking a breather, as Monica announced who they were and such, also mentioning what they were going to do next. It was “It Often Lies”, another heavy song of theirs with Phil Sahs bass lines and Nick’s drumming working well together. “…Standing tall and proud, fighting till the day we die. Open up yourself, now it often lies…” Monica sang in her one of a kind voice, right before the songs second chorus. They followed it with what is arguable their best song, “Inception”, a true powerhouse of a song, that even comes across as an anthem of sorts. Monica got ahead of herself with the next song, saying it was one, before Nick corrected her. Instead, it was another newer one, called  “Suffocate” I believe, and out of the three newer tracks they played this night, it was my personal favorite. Now they got to the song Monica was ready to do a few minutes before, but first she had to introduce it. Her speech involved stating that Red Angel Theory was “not about negativity”; rather they are about taking any negative thoughts and energy and turning them into something productive and creative, like music for example. The song was “The Darkness”, and despite the title, there are some positive, almost uplifting moments of the song. They went for a strong finish, as Nick started them right into their final song, “When the Dust Settles”, which happens to be the title track of their debut EP from last year. He provides some more backing vocals on that one, this time in the form of some ear piercing screams, which gives the song an extra layer of depth. It’s one hell of a song, and served as the perfect way to end their set.

I liked this Red Angel Theory show much more than the previous one I saw with this current lineup. Partly because now I knew what to expect and Monicas’ unique voice wasn’t as foreign to me as it had been before, and partly because they’ve got more shows under their belt now, and that experience showed.

They were awesome when I saw them a few months back at another Deep Ellum venue, but they were really clicking this night.

Monica was often racing around the stage, with a certain urgency to her step and her singing, which made it easy for your eyes to be glued on her. Brandon and Phil were a little less mobile, but they still have a presence about them. Besides, their musicianship speaks for itself, and you can admire it all, from the subtle nuances to the more intricate riffs each one cranks out. As for Nick, well, he’s a beast, plain and simple.

This was the best show I’ve seen them do yet, in either of the bands lineups, and it makes me excited for what they’ll be like down the road.

Go pick up their new EP, “Rise for Something”, in ITUNES. Then, if you want to hear those tracks live, go see them at The Worship Lounge in Colleyville, TX on May 17th. They’ll be up in Greenville on May 25th at the Texas Tattoos and Art Gallery, then on June 29th they have a Denton gig scheduled at Hailey’s. And on July 12th they’ll be back in Dallas rockin’ the Curtain Club.

This had been an amazing show so far with some killer bands playing, and now it culminated with Early Pearl taking the stage.
   
They ripped into their 50-minute long set with “Get Out”, and as soon as they started it you could practically feel everyone’s excitement as the adrenaline level in the club skyrocketed. As it came to an end, frontman Bishop Booker pumped one of his fists in the air, while he repeatedly shouted the final line, “Get out!”. They kept things moving right along as lead guitarist Chris Jackson wound them into another high-octane track, “State of Affairs”, before slowing things down just a bit with “Breakdown”. The coolest part of that song (and one of the most memorable moments of this show) came towards the end of it, when guitarists Chris and Ryan Maynard, plus bassist Chris Ivey all moved to stage right and formed small circle of sorts. Then, Maynard proceeded to hit the strings of Jacksons’ guitar, while Jackson did the same to Chris’s bass, who in turn played Maynards’ guitar. Like I said, it was cool to see, but above all it was a fun moment, and you could tell the three of them were having a good time doing it. “…This is Hindsight.” Said Bishop after he had talked with the crowd for a moment, which started them on a string of new songs, however, out of all of them, it was one of the best in my opinion. As serious as they were about rocking, there was also some entertaining banter between some songs, like here when it was said that Bishop had once gotten “…someone pregnant just by looking at them.” If I’m remembering correctly that all started because some of his sweat had dropped on a girl at the front of the stage, and he was joking that she couldn’t even talk after that happened.

They got back to the music with “Sooner Or Later”, and after someone bought them some shots, which they of course subsequently did, they tackled “Letting Go”. “Will I see you later, ‘cause I’m letting go? Will you open for me, or will you let me go?” sang Bishop on the chorus, amidst a barrage of drumbeats from Bobby Primm, and shortly after Jackson started his knockout guitar solo. Upon finishing it Bishop went to say something to the fans,but it came out wrong and rather nonsensical. “…I’m sorry.” He apologized, “I’ve been drinking and can’t speak English.” That got a laugh from everybody, and they then set up their next song, a very new song, and Chris asked everyone not to be too hard on them if it sounded horrible. It was only the second time they had done it in front of an audience, but I don’t think they had much to worry about. The song is called “Sure and Jaded Symphony” and it’s a killer song, being almost melodic at times, and others it’s just raw rock, which is exactly what you expect from Early Pearl. For the next song, Bishop announced he was going to do a little screaming, adding, “…I usually only scream if I’m with the right woman.” Chris chimed in at that point, “Or the right man.” “Man, I’m not even gonna talk to you after that…” said Bishop, while Chris just laughed. That led them to “Say It”, a song that is unlike any other of theirs, and even though they hadn’t been holding back in terms of their performance, they certainly didn’t pull any punches on that track.

As their set started coming to an end, Bishop made a brief speech. I don’t recall everything he said, but one thing was along the lines of there are a lot of bands out there who aren’t staying true to themselves. He went on to say that they supported what everyone of their fans was doing, since they support them. “…Early Pearl shows are about wearing funny hats…” he said as he kind of pulled a hat of a girls head. Overall, the takeaway message was to be yourself, which is a good message to send in my opinion. Now, they got back to some stuff from their album, both of which are fan favorites. “Dear lover, I need you to listen one more time. I’ve tried to deny you, but you just slowed my stride…” Sang Bishop, as they got “Turn” going, before bringing things to a close with “This Is”.

The fans were shouting for an encore, even though the two Chris’s were the only members left on stage at this point. “I’m sorry.” said Ivey, “In ten years we’ve only written ten songs.”

The fans, myself included, were eventually okay with that, but I’m not gonna lie, I was hoping they might bust out “Regret” for an encore. Maybe, next time.

As it was, it was still an excellent show, though.

To somewhat repeat what I said about the last Early Pearl show I saw, they put on real rock show. Sure, there are many bands that do that, but Early Pearl is a head above most others. Their music is still some of the best I’ve heard, and the live show is one of the best I’ve seen, and they won’t leave you disappointed.

In a month and a half now I’ve seen Early Pearl as much as I did in 2008 and 2009 combined, and will no doubt see them at least a few more times before the years over with. You should do the same, and while they have no shows scheduled at the moment, keep a check on their FACEBOOK PAGE for future show updates.

Also, head over to their SOUNDCLOUD PAGE to download their entire “This Is” album for free, as well as some live cuts of several of their new songs.

This was one hell of a rock show, and I’m glad I decided to spend my night at the Boiler Room.

It was time for round two of the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, and I was getting a much earlier start this day.

The first band I wanted to see went on at 2:20, at I got down to Dallas around that time, but the search for a parking spot took some time, and by the time I made it over to the main stage, Nicholas Altobelli and the Gigawatts were a little ways into their set.

Actually, they weren’t quite the Gigawatts, since they were missing a drummer and bassist, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Not long after I got there, Nicholas announced to everyone they were going to do a more “sensitive song”. That sensitive song was one of the tracks from his latest “Without a Home” album, “27 Stories”. “I don’t want to become something I’m running from… Crash and burn in the ground without making a sound, is that so hard to believe, or is it just me?…” Nicholas sang on the opening lines, using a more somber tone of voice on it to reflect the mood of it. After finishing it he mentioned his backing band The Gigawatts (pronounced like jig-a-watts), which was pedal steel guitarist Heather Kitzman, acoustic guitarist Robbie Saunders, and on the keys was Rahim Quazi, who is an accomplished area musician in his own right. Nicholas mentioned they were missing a few members, asking if they should change their name to the “gigabytes” since there were less of them. “No,” you could hear Heather saying while laughing. They then did another track from the new album, “I Don’t Think Tonight is Going to be a Good Night”, which was a little more upbeat, despite still being more of an emotional song, and it’s that certain level of emotion that is essentially a constant in all of Nicholas’s music. Without going into detail, he said that they seem to be cursed at the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, saying they played here for three straight years and something always seemed to go wrong, and now they were sans a drummer and bassist. Still, that’s not terrible. They switched things up a bit as Heather left her pedal steel guitar and approached the stage right microphone. She has another band, The Blondelles, an all female Country band that does both covers and originals, and now one of her band mates from that group joined them on stage to perform a Blondelles tune. The song was quite good and the occasional harmonies they had going on were very delightful, leaving me with a strong desire to see a Blondelles show. They returned to their typical lineup and did a couple more tracks, one of which was a new one called “Dogwood”, which Nicholas said would be on his next record. Yes, not even two months after the release of his latest album and he’s already working on songs for his next album. You have to respect that. As for the song, it was very catchy and I loved the story it told. I’d even go as far as to say it’s one of the best things he’s written, which is saying a lot.

At this point, he asked the person working the sound how much time they had left. “…Please don’t say, like, forty minutes.” He said. Well, how much time do you think they had left? Yep, forty minutes. Judging Nicholas’s reaction, it was obvious they hadn’t prepared that meaty of a setlist, which meant most of what they did next was all impromptu.

Heather volunteered to do another song of the Blondelles, which killed some time, and afterwards Nicholas busted out an older song of his, one which he set up as being about a town in Michigan. The town he spoke of was Ann Arbor, which was the title of the song. I first saw Nicholas about a year ago and this song was my favorite from that set, but then he mentioned he was probably going to be retiring it to make room for his newer material. So, hearing it was a bit of a treat, for sure. He and Heather handled that song, but the other band members joined in for “I Just Want to Feel Real”, which was undeniable the most upbeat song of their set. It had already kind of been a song swap since Heather had done a few songs, and it definitely became one here, as Nicholas handed his acoustic guitar off to Rahim as the two traded places. He introduced himself to everyone, then did one of his originals and the title track of one of his albums, “Supernatural”. It was an infectious tune and instantly made me a fan of Rahim’s. I’ve heard some great things about him over the years, and now, I understand why. He got back behind the keys after that song, and they spread the love around some more, letting Robbie do a song, which had a Bluesy vibe to it. The best part about those other two songs was watching Heather, Robbie and Nicholas trying to play along with it and add backing vocals in parts, because, since they were unfamiliar with the songs, they were having to watch both Rahim and Robbie with an eagle eye while they were doing their song.

That seemed to have exhausted a lot of their options, and now Nicholas again asked how they were on time, hoping it was almost up. “Perfect.” He said after hearing they were down to three minutes, giving them just enough time to do the single from “Without a Home”, “The Lucky Ones”.

Considering about half of their set was made up on the spot, it was great show, and they pulled it all off without a hitch. Even without the rhythm section and doing acoustic versions of all the songs. I even think that out of the handful of shows I’ve seen of Mr. Altobelli’s, this one was the best yet.

See a show if you can. They’ll be playing at AllGood Café in Dallas on May 31st, along with The Blondelles. On June 28th they have a gig at Sundown at Granada in Dallas, and on July 11th they’ll be up in Denton at Dan’s Silverleaf. And if you’d like to listen to/buy Nicholas’s records, check out a couple of ‘em in ITUNES.

After their set, I went to find some shade, and wound up at the Deep Ellum stage were a band by the name of Chant was finishing up their set.

They were a mix of R&B and Soul, and what little I saw was absolutely amazing. The trio had a fantastic sound going for them, and by the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one they had reeled in. There was quite a crowd watching them, and once they were finished, the audience erupted in applause and cheers.

I killed some more time once they finished, ending up at the Singer/Songwriter stage around four where Clint Niosi was doing a show.

I first discovered him late last year at the Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase, but there was one big difference between that show and the one he was about to do, and that was that he now had a full backing band. In fact, this was the debut show of The Unaccountable, which was what Clints’ backing band has been named.

However, just because Clint now had a full band, comprised of Tommy Garcia on drums, Matt Hanson on the piano, bassist Aaron Bartz, and Claire Hecko playing the violin, didn’t mean he was going to stray too far from his sound.

Their 35-minute long set got off to a slow start as he slowly plucked the strings of his electric guitar setting up a song from his 2008 album “The Sound of Dead Horses Beaten Against Cold Shoulders”, “Coalmine Canary”. When it was time for the instrumentalists to join in, they were all pretty reserved with their playing, too. The bass lines were subtle, at times hardly even noticeable, while the drums were loud enough to be heard, but offered no competition between any of the other elements, and the keys and violin served to really accentuate Clints’ voice, which was undoubtedly the main focal point throughout the show. That all held pretty true for every song, and next they did the somewhat eerie “White Elephant”, off last year’s “For Pleasure and Spite” album. In listening to it, to realize not only how much power the music has in setting a songs mood, but also how much the lyrics and the tone they are said in affect it. “…There’s nothing new and it’s all been done. Nostalgic for the way it never was…” sang Clint on one of the later lines of “New Light”, a song that is one of the best example at what an incredible songwriter he really is. All of those songs thus far, and most of his in general, have a certain ominous quality to them. I like that about his music, but “My Mepistophilis” was a refreshing change of pace, since a little bit of the song is more upbeat musically. That served as a turning point in a way for the show, because the songs that followed it, “The Sum of Parts” and “Little Heart”, also have a somewhat happier or more tranquil vibe, despite that latter song being about a breakup. Sometime around this point (probably a few songs before) a guy walked up to the stage. “Hey, don’t be afraid to actually play that guitar!” he said to Clint, who shrugged it off as the guy walked away. It was funny, mainly because the guy couldn’t appreciate what the band was actually doing. They had a few songs left now, and had saved the best for last, and both “The Formless Black” and “Shark In Your Water” were highlights of the show, even though they sound completely different from one another. They had one song left after that, and ended it with another track from the latest record, “While I’ve Got You on the Line”.

It was a fantastic set, even if some people thought he needed to play the more loudly.

As a solo artist Clint is great, and when I first saw him he was accompanied by Claire on some of the songs, but The Unaccountable create a whole new layer on the live performance.

They make the songs really pop. Sure, it’s all very subtle, but, like I said in another recent review (though it was meant in a completely different way then), there’s beauty in subtlety. You don’t have to be a loud rock band doing flashy stuff on stage to get people’s attention. All you really need is to be able to write deep, powerful lyrics that can captivate the listener… Well, at least the listener who can appreciate it.

Clint is a truly remarkable songwriter, and hands down one of the best in the area. As for the band, he did a good job at assembling some talented individuals that really fit with his style.

Be on the lookout for the band, and as of right now their next show is May 18th as part of the Arts Google Festival in Fort Worth where they will be playing at Sinaca Studios. As for his two albums, they can be purchased in either ITUNES or BANDCAMP.

As soon as they finished, I hightailed it back to the main stage at Good Latimer, where the Indie/Folk band The Fox and the Bird was getting ready to play. I’ve heard a lot about them over the years, but had never made it to a show, so now was the time to see what all the fuss was about.

Their 47-minute long set was a mix of old and new material and they opened with one of those new songs. I was drawn in to it almost immediately, though, due largely to the three and even four part harmonies they often had going on, making it very entrancing. They followed it with “Traveling Bones”, a sweet little love song where backing singer and occasional lead singer Sarah Scotts’ voice intertwined gorgeously with singer and acoustic guitarist Dan Bowmans’. “…I’m in love with the view, but I’m more in love with you…” the two sang in synch with each other. They did a little over half of the songs from their debut album “Floating Feather” this night, and the next song they tackled from it was “Women In the Kitchen”. Additional acoustic guitarist Jacob Metcalf sang lead on that tune, which had more had more of a Folk/Country vibe, and Petra Kelly’s violin playing was superb on it. They did a newer song next, which just so happened to be about the fine city of Dallas, which made it very relatable for all those in attendance. By all those, I mean a lot, as there didn’t appear to be an empty seat anywhere, forcing a lot of people (myself included) to stand and watch their performance. Upon finishing it, Jacob mentioned that their new album, an EP titled “Darkest Hour”, should be out sometime in May. They then did a few songs from it, which required Dan to exchange his guitar for an accordion. Not only that, but he also used a trumpet from time to time over the course of the next few songs, one of which was sung Sarah, showcasing what a strong voice she has, while another was the final song from their first record, “Hey Sister”. It was slower in relation to most of their other stuff, which in turn made the drums, which were manned by Paul Grass, the dominant instrument. His drum kit was pretty small and far from traditional, as his bass drum was a suitcase. Very interesting, and as odd as it looked, it resulted in a sound much like that of an actual bass drum. They got back to their normal setup, with Dan on the guitar, in order to do “Oldest Old”, which was one of my favorites of their set, and “Old Mother” wasn’t too shabby, either. They did a couple more new tracks, then arrived at the title track from their current album, “Floating Feather”. This cheery song was the only I was truly familiar with (I admittedly haven’t listened to the album a whole lot). It was every bit as good live as the recorded version, and is arguable the best song they’ve written. They had one left after that, bidding everyone farewell when they finished it, saying “…We’ll see you next time.”

Now, I know the whole Indie/Folk genre is kind of played out at the moment, since it has suddenly become the hot commodity and there are now a bazillion bands like that who have become successes from the commercial aspect. Honestly, I’m as tired of it as probably everyone else is. And while you can’t say there’s no other band out there like The Fox and the Bird, you can say they are doing it all right.

It’s creative musically, and lyrically several of their songs tell some good little stories. Plus they are all very capable and great singers, whose different tones of voice make sure nothing ever gets to repetitive.

I really liked it and am glad I finally got to see one of their shows. Hopefully I can make it to another sometime in the near future.

Find their album “Floating Feather” in either ITUNES or BANDCAMP, and keep a check on their FACEBOOK PAGE for info about future shows.

So far there had been a lot of diversity between all the bands (and that’s just from the ones I chose to see) and it was about to get more eclectic when Reinventing Jude took the stage.

I’ve heard of the band for a few years now, but it wasn’t until the last six months or so when I actually listened to their stuff and became a fan.

The band, which is fronted by Jude Gonzalez, was functioning as a quintet this night, and along with all the typical instruments a band has, they also had a cello player.

Their first song proved the self-description of being a Ballroom Rock band to be an accurate one. That’s the similarity between their songs, they all have somewhat of a mellow vibe to them and are rather relaxing, while also stimulating. It’s quite interesting, and had me captivated from the start. I think they followed it with “1919”, which let Judes’ smoky voice flow while she played her guitar. There’s no doubt that she drew the most attention, but her band mates were putting on a good live show as well and put more energy into it than you might expect based on their style of music. Yun Kim was a powerful drummer who was really into it all, and lead guitarist Nathan Hanlon is an exceptional guitar player, though he was more restrained here than with the rock band I last saw him in. They did another song before getting to what I think was “Midnight 30”, which was at times a little more upbeat, and had some nice cello parts courtesy of Ashley Montez, while bassist Chris Townsend and Yun created a very strong rhythm section on that one. “The Talk” was one of their most dynamic songs of the night, and “The Weather” was pretty good, too. Jude announced their next song was “Secret”, a track from the 2011 album “Shoulder Season”, and another one that showed off Judes’ somewhat sultry voice as she crooned on the chorus, “…I’m gonna fall in love and I’m gonna keep it…”. Before beginning the next one, she announced it was named “Swimmer Song”, which was an amazing song, and they did one more after it to finish up what had been a stellar 47-minute long set.

It was a nice set and I can’t believe it took me so long to see a Reinventing Jude show.

They have an extraordinary sound, and Judes’ voice is one of the smoothest and most distinctive I’ve heard. The slower pace most of their songs have might not be for everyone, but if you don’t mind that and you like music that has real substance and meaning to it, than you need to give Reinventing Jude a listen.

You can buy their albums in ITUNES, and get some free downloads of some singles on either REVERBNATION or SOUNDCLOUD.

They usually keep pretty busy when it comes to live shows, and as of right now you can find them at Hailey’s in Denton on May 10th, and the following weekend, May 18th, they’ll be at The Freeman in Dallas.

There was one last act I really wanted to see this night, and that was the Alt/Country band from the small town of Belton, Texas, Kirk Baxley and the Old Number Sevens.

The four-piece’s opening track was really good, and they kept the show rolling with the smooth sounding “Drive”, which is one of the tracks from the “Cold as a Stone” EP. It does kind of call into question how Alt/Country the band is, though, and singer and rhythm guitarist Kirk Baxley brought that up at one point during their set, saying that some people will classify them as that. “…I like to think of us as being more Belton, Texas Country…” he said, and that genre has a dash or two of rock added to the mix. Those first two songs had been pretty loud and fast paced, but now they took things down for a few notches with the sensitive love song, “Constantly”. Kirk’s always been good at the ballads, and that tune is a fine example of that. They stepped things back up afterwards with what was the most rocking song of their set. The bands lead guitarist really got to cut loose on this one, shredding and cranking out some awesome lines, and the drummer was able to let his chops show as well. It was beast of a song, and hopefully it can make it onto their next record. Kirk did some chatting with the crowd in between songs, doing everything from pumping the crowd up, to talking about the next song they were going to do. He did the latter here, saying the one they were about to do was for his dad. It was nice song, and they followed it with a few other non-album tracks, one of which was an old gem from the first time he played back during the time of his first country project, “God in Rock ‘n’ Roll”. I love that song and the positive energy it has, and it was great getting to hear it again, ‘cause it’s been a couple years at least since I last heard it. Before their next song, Kirk asked if anyone hailed from a small town, saying that was exactly what this next song was about, and it was aptly titled “Small Town”. “…Being from a small, small town, it ain’t easy…” Kirk belted out on the chorus, telling it like it is in a way, but the overall message is being from a small town isn’t that bad, and it certainly can’t define who you are or what you can do in life. They again slowed things down, way down at that, this time with the title track of their EP “Cold as a Stone”. I believe it was at this point where Kirk asked if anyone had a problem with them slowing it down and making it even more depressing. It was hard to think that could happen, but it did, and I think that was also the song where the bands bass player switched from an electric bass to an upright bass. It added a good sound to the music, but he went back to the electric bass for their next song, “Bring My Brother Back”, and after another song, they broke out the fan favorite, “Rock ‘n’ Roll in My Veins”. “I’ve got rock ‘n’ roll in my veins, but I love country music just the same…” Kirk sang at the start of this intense rock song, a song where you saw a glimpse of his rock frontman personality jump out. I thought the show was over with that, since it is a fan favorite and seemed to please everybody who was watching them this night, but they had one more left to cap off their 65-minute long set.

It was an awesome show, and much better than the last time I saw them, where they were limited to a five song set. I really liked it because even though he’s been doing this for a few years now, I’ve never been able to see a full set from him and his band in order to get a real taste of what their sound is like, and now that I have, I love it.

The music is far from being true Country, so it’s not going to alienate his older fans (at least not most of them), but they’re certainly not the loud, heavy rock songs he used to write, either. Instead, what he does now is a nice blend of each.

After all these years, Kirk is still one of the best singer/songwriters here in the area. Sure, he might not live in Dallas per say, but this has always been his hometown of sorts, which he pointed out while playing, saying he’s often been at the Deep Ellum Arts Festival in past years, but had never performed it until now, and he was proud to be able to.

They’ll be pretty busy the last half of May, doing a two night stand at the House of Fifi Dubois in San Angelo on May 17th and 18th. On the 24th they’ll be at The Rattlesnake Inn in Florence, then on the 31st they have a gig at Darwin’s in Austin. Also, be sure to check out their EP in ITUNES.

There was one band left, and somehow I didn’t know The Roomsounds were playing this thing until a few hours before this point. I really considered staying to see them, but after being out since the early afternoon, I was beat and decided to call it a night.

All in all, I had a blast at the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, or rather watching the bands that played it. This was the second straight year I’ve attended two out of the three days of the festival, and I’m already looking forward to what bands will be playing it next year.

Being out at the arts festival meant I had missed the first two bands playing The Curtain Club this night, but on the bright side, I wasn’t going to have to wait long to see the two bands I was most excited to see.

First up was Opium Symphony, who, after releasing their debut full-length album last year did a couple of tours throughout the South, Mid-West and East Coast, but have been laying relatively low since late last year. That’s not to say they haven’t played, it’s just that their shows had been pretty sparse.

Since it had been awhile since their last hometown show, they had decided to make this show a little special by playing some songs from the “Blame It On the Radio” album that had never been done live, beginning with the title track itself. It replaced their typical opener, which also happens to include the word radio in its title, and as big a move as that was, even gutsy in some ways, it couldn’t have worked out better for them. “Blame It On the Radio” was every bit as loud and aggressive as the other song, garnering them a good little crowd from the start, and they commanded their attention pretty easily. They quickly followed it with “Fiction for Addiction”, with singer and rhythm guitarist Kellen Ross leading the charge into it with the opening notes, and once Derron Bell entered in on the instrumental intro, he showed off some of his skills, twirling a drumstick in one of his hands. After that song, which happens to be the one the band got their name from, “…Didn’t want to give you an opium symphony…”, Kellen took a moment to thank the other two bands who had played before them, calling some attention to the first band, Plowboy. I believe he said he was as god as those kids are when he was their age, seeming very impressed by their talent. Rightfully so, too, ‘cause I’ve seen them before and they are great. Next up was one of the staples from their album, “Jukebox Junkie”, which was greeted with some fanfare from the fans. I had forgotten how awesome that song is, particularly in the live setting, from the slick sounds of the intro which finds Kellen and lead guitarist Jarrett Kramer playing pretty much the same chords, to the eerie bridge where Kellen softly whispers “Sell your soul to the devil you’ll find…”, before surging back into the chorus. Like usual, they rocked out the instrumental outro, but they didn’t just stop like they normally do. Instead, they had another trick up their sleeve. On the album that instrumental piece at the end brings them smoothly into “Soul for Sale”, a song that had never been performed live, until this night. It was like you were listening to the two songs on the album, and during a momentary break from playing his guitar, Kellen took in a deep breath like he was preparing for this epic six plus minute long song.  “Anyone today would gladly sell their soul for a dollar…” after that lengthy instrumental portion came to an end. Honestly, that’s not one of my favorites from their album (and that’s not to say I dislike the song, ‘cause that is far from being the case), but live it was another beast entirely and was one of the best songs of their set. Upon finishing it, bassist Drew Nolde had a question for everybody. “Has anyone ever had to choose between God or money?” he asked, which got little verbal response, instead getting an awkward look from people, like, “No, no I haven’t.” “Me neither,” he said, “but Kellen wrote a song about.” He was of course speaking about “God or Money”, the second and only other old song that made it into the setlist this time around, and after finishing that rhythm heavy tune, they wound it right into the explosive “Down the Rabbit Hole”. I think the only other time I had heard that one live was at their CD release show, so it had been a little while. It’s definitely one of the highlight tracks from their record and as well as the live show, it’s also very dynamic and everyone who was up by the stage was rocking out to it. Their 38-minute set was nearing the end, and now Kellen gave the fans a choice between two of their longest songs. One was “…Pennies…”, the other “Gospel”. Not many people voiced their opinion but the few who did made it clear that they wanted to hear “Gospel”. It’s the routine closer for these guys, and frankly I can’t imagine them not ending a show with it. Besides, how can you dislike a song that says, “…As long as god’s alive rock ‘n’ roll ain’t ever gonna die…” 

It was a fitting end to what was probably the best Opium Symphony show I’ve seen to date, or at least in the top two. Part of that can probably be attributed to their tour. I talked with Kellen out on the patio earlier in the night, asking him how their tours went, and he was talking about how when you play so many days in a row like that, that it eventually becomes all “muscle memory”. I’ve seen other bands do that, and when they get into that touring shape they’re elevated to a whole new level. Now, it had been two months since their last show, so they of course weren’t in touring shape, but you could tell they had benefited from it.

They were better polished than what I remembered, which is saying a lot, and everything was just so tight.

If you haven’t seen them yet, you need to, and hopefully they’ll have some more shows coming up soon. Also be sure to head over to ITUNES and check out their album.

Following them was another band who hasn’t been playing much, at least not recently, and that was Redefine.

They started their 41-minute long set completely differently from any other Redefine show I’ve seen. See, it began with a rap song, specifically Nelly’s “Hot in Here” playing through the speakers, and when the curtain opened, bassist Mike DiQuinzio, drummer, Daniel “Dano” Taylor, and rhythm guitarist Matt Jones were on stage. Soon the remaining band members, lead guitarist Chris Apaliski and singer Scott Headstream, made their way on stage, somewhat dancing along with the song. Soon it cut out, though, and they were ready to get to work.

There are always two songs I hope to hear at their shows, and they opened with one of them, as Dano got right into show mode, tearing it up on his drum kit. The song was “Like a Vision, a Ghost”, which was a great track to open with. “…When you were off setting your fires, I spent my days trying to douse those flames…” sang Scott as the start of the second verse, which is one of several lines I love from that song. Dano wasn’t the only one in show mode, and Chris and Mike had been racing all over the stage during that song, while Scott focused on working and interacting the crowd. “Hey Dallas, take your medicine.” He said before starting their next song, and another one from the “Blur On the Horizon” EP, “Take Your Medicine”. They kicked things up a few notches with that fast-paced song, ensuring everyone was captivated by their show. “Let’s be honest, I’m drunk.” Scott said to everyone after finishing that previous song. I want to say he also threw in that if anyone wanted to buy them any shots they’d be okay with that. I believe that since December, they had only done one other show before this one, and during that little hiatus from being on stage, they had been working up some new material, and now they were going to give everyone a taste of what they had cooked up. I think this first new song was titled “All That Ever Was”, and it was pretty good. It wasn’t quite as aggressive as the song they had just done, or even some of their others, but I enjoyed it. Dano filled the silence in between their next song by doing a drum solo of sorts, while Scott did a little begging, placing the Redefine megaphone at the front of the stage, telling anyone who wanted to they could put some money in it to help them out in getting new shirts made. See, a little while back a lot of their merchandise was stolen, so all the shirts they did have are gone. Through all of that, Dano was still laying down some beats, and now Matt, Mike and Chris laid some riffs over it, doing a badass instrumental piece, setting up “Arcana”. They kept the music coming, next doing “The Silent Hum”, which Scott noted was the first song he wrote with the band, which was at least four years ago now, if not longer. They’ve written some great stuff in recent years, but that is still one of their best songs, and Chris gets to go all-out on it, simply shredding on his axe. “Cut the Cord” was their next song, and possible the most entertaining of their set, but not for the reasons you may think. Towards the end of it, Scott grabbed the mic stand, flipping it up in the air while he sang a line or two, and as he was swinging it back down, Chris happened to go over next to him, subsequently getting nailed in the head by the bass of the stand. You could tell it hurt, but he didn’t miss a note, and Scott looked at him apologetically and in disbelief that it had even happened. They laughed about it for a moment, then they were ready to unleash another new song on the fans. I was told as of right now they are calling it “Whole”, and it was the most intense song I’ve ever heard them do. For those familiar with Redefine, think “The Silent Hum”, then multiple that by ten or so and you should have an idea of what this new track was like. Seriously, I’ve found my new favorite Redefine song, and I think I like it even more than my favorites from their two EP’s. It didn’t seem like they had been playing anytime, but already it was time for them to wrap it up, and they did so with “Leave The Light On”. Towards the end of it Scott made his way down the sort of steps at the front of the stage, still singing, and during an instrumental break he got right out in the crowd, watching his band mates rock out for a minute, before climbing back on stage to finish it out.

This was the best Redefine show I’ve seen in a long time. Almost two years to be precise, when they played here at the Curtain to celebrate the release of what is their most recent EP.

They were on fire and worked together like a well-oiled machine. I will say that their newest member, Matt, isn’t quite as lively as the other guys are, but then again, this was only his third live show with them. And regardless of if he ever moves around as much as the others do or not, you can’t argue the fact that he’s a great guitarist, playing all of his notes very fluidly.

With Dano officially back behind the drums and Matt on rhythm guitar, I think Redefine has finally found another winning combination, and one that will hopefully last a good long while.

No shows are on the books for these guys at the moment, but they’ll be rocking a stage sooner or later. In the meantime, check out their two EP’s in ITUNES, and if we’re lucky, by year’s end maybe they’ll be adding another EP to their discography.

I think there might have been one last band up this night, but I went ahead and left after Redefine’s set. After all, I was planning on being back out at the art festival early the next day and needed to get some shut eye.

It’s spring, which means it’s festival season, this week it was time for the annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival.

Like the name suggests, it is an arts festival, with tons of artists from all over setting up shop along Main Street, which is partially blocked off.

Also, they have a variety of bands playing multiple stages, which is what gets my interest, especially since it’s free. So, since I was going to catch a show in Deep Ellum in the first place this night, why not get down to the area early and see some of the acts at the arts festival.

Midnight Empire had been playing for awhile by the time I arrived, and I made it over to the stage as they were wrapping up one of their newer songs. They had some old gems thrown in, too, though, like the fan favorite, “Can’t Get Enough”. It sounded as good as usual, and the sweet guitar solo Art Struck rocked out helped make the song, but they were oddly reserved while performing it. Actually, the same went for their entire set, or at least what I saw of it. I hate to say it, but it did affect the show, and as cohesive as drummer Matt Cook and bassist Rick Reynolds were on the next song, “Tidal Wave”, it just seemed weird with them being rather motionless, while singer Jacob Henderson casually walked around the stage. After finishing it, he said he didn’t think they had played that song in about a year or so, asking Art if that was right or not. They finally agreed it was, and that they had probably last played it at one of the clubs down here in the Deep Ellum area. The ballad “Two Against One” brought the level down for a moment, before bringing it back up with some more full on rock songs, four to be exact, which closed out their set. That seemed like the end, but after finding out they had a few more minutes left on the clock, Jacob informed everyone they were going to do one more, another new one that would be on their sophomore album.

I’ve only seen one full show of the bands, and caught another partial set before this one, so I know what Midnight Empire is capable of, and will gladly write this off as they were just having a bad night. Still, none of them really seemed like they were into it, and the passion from the musicians (or lack thereof) can make all the difference in how shows are perceived.

This was just an off night for them, and still think they are probably one of the most talented bands in the Dallas music scene at the moment. They have two big shows coming up, one will be at the House of Blues in Dallas on May 22nd opening for Ratt. The other is July 18th at the Rock USA Festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Check out their debut album “Everything and Nothing” in ITUNES, as well as get some free singles on their REVERBNATION page plus some live cuts of a couple newer tracks on their SOUNDCLOUD page.

I killed a little bit of time by walking around and looking at some of the art after they finished, getting back to the stage a little after eight to make sure I didn’t miss any of Sayonara.

This was going to be an interesting set from the band to say the least, since earlier in the day singer and guitarist Debbie Blythe had gotten ill, posting online that the show may have to be an instrumental one.

Luckily, by the time they started had 8:19, her voice had recovered thanks to a steroid shot she had gotten at the doctor, which she mentioned a few songs into their set. All that said, you never would have known anything was wrong as they rocked out their opener, “Rendezvous at the Slaughtered Lamb”. That first song of their 44-minute long set sounded exactly like the fans were expecting, with Debbie hitting all the notes just fine with her unique voice, while the often smooth bass lines Sean Blythe was cranking out gave the song a great texture. When that song ended, he mentioned he had been down in Houston and had “…hauled ass…” to get back up here in time to do the show. That brief banter ended, as they started into one of only a couple older songs that were in the setlist this night. It was the lead track from their first EP, “Mothership”. It’s still one of their best songs, and since I’d only seen the band once before, I forgot how good it was live, being a fairly loud rock song with some killer beats from drummer Jonny Williams, but contrasting that, Debbies’ voice is a little softer and lacks the aggression heard on other songs, which makes for an exceptional tune. They did another new song next, one that often found Debbie moving her guitar behind her, playing the keyboard instead, giving it a slightly different feel from their other songs. At this point, Debbie apologetically informed everyone she needed to give her voice a rest, turning the next song into an instrumental one. “…I hope y’all don’t mind too much…” she said to the fans, several of whom were clustered in front of the stage. They seemed okay with it, and personally, I liked it much more than I thought I would. As I’ve said many times before, I’m not a fan of instrumental music, but without the lyrics taking some of my attention, I was able, or rather forced, to pay attention to their musicianship, and each of them is amazing at what they do. Sean owned it on the bass (and not just during this song), really getting into the music and rocking out. Jonny made the drumming look rather effortless at times, offering some slick moves from time to time, and Debbie picked at her guitar with calculated precision, but could also shred quite well when she needed to. Another new song came next, followed by another instrumental, and I believe that one actually is meant to be an instrumental track. “I Need Japanese Steel” was one of the most impressive songs of their set, and they cooked up one hell of a song with that one. After finishing it, Debbie mentioned she had been put on antibiotics, which led to a conversation about how she found out a little while back that drinking anything alcoholic while taking meds doesn’t make them any less effective. Instead, she said it just makes the potential side effects, say tiredness for example, more potent. It made for an interesting conversation, but soon they did another newer song, and then one of my favorites of theirs, “Discourage Wolf”. They had one left in the chamber after that, and finished a great show with one more new one.

I think the band members were just as skeptical of how this show was going to go as some of the fans were, and giving the circumstances, I was impressed by them.

For an off night, Debbies’ voice sounded great and showed no sign of weakness. In fact, there was one song where she did some screaming, and her voice didn’t even crack. And I did touch on their performance earlier, but this was a real rock show they put on this night.

Keep up to date with them and see when they’ll be playing, and if you can, go to a show. You’ll be glad you did. Besides, both times that I’ve seen them know Debbie has been sick and had to hold back on her singing, so if their this incredible on an off night, no telling what they’re like at 100%.

There was one more band I wanted to see at the arts festival, but I killed some time by going into the Curtain Club, then going to the Deep Ellum stage to see Vinyl Pilot.

I got there a little late, and the band was finishing up one song, which they eventually wound into “Watch It Grow Old”, from their older “So far, By Far” EP. The stage was smaller, especially with all the gear and five guys on it, but they didn’t let that hinder them, especially not lead guitarist Kyle Burkett, who was moving all over stage left, tearing it up on his guitar. He wound them seamlessly into their next song, which is the following track from that EP, “Keyword Optimism”. “Lock your doors and close your windows. So far, by far this is the worst time that I have ever had…” sang singer and rhythm guitarist Jeff Lowe, whose voice perfectly fits the upbeat, in your face style of Alt/Rock with touches of Pop that the band plays. They stopped long to briefly chat with the crowd, and then announced their next song was a newer one, before launching into it. So far, it had been strictly about the music so far, but they, or rather the bands newest addition, bassist Patrick Hunter, had some fun with the crowd now. He mentioned how lovely everyone looked, saying that they all ranked probably a nine and a half. “…Alright, alright, I’ll say a ten…” he said all serious like, like he was rating an official contest or something. “Bet You Won’t” was the next song in the setlist, but it didn’t being like it normally does, instead they had worked up an awesome intro for it, which just had the quintet, including keyboardist Chase Eriksen and drummer David Tapp just jamming. They were going all out and it lasted a few moments, before subsiding, highlighting Jeff’s singing for a moment as the song officially got underway. They kept up the high-energy pace of the show with the arresting “No Way in Hell”, but soon shook things up with the title track of their latest EP, “A Beautiful Disaster”. Beautiful is exactly what it is, with the notes Chase plays on the keyboard being nothing short of heavenly, while the lights guitar and bass lines accentuate it quite well. It’s not all serene and relaxing, though, eventually growing into a beast of a rock song, and in my opinion, it doubles as being the most intense song in their arsenal. With that, their 33-minute long set (well, that was what I caught of it anyway) was almost up, and they ended with a new, non-album song called “The Great Unknown”. It’s the perfect title for a song to close with, and left things on a good note.

This was the best Vinyl Pilot show I’ve seen yet, even if they didn’t have as much room on stage as they did at the last venue I saw them at. The reason I liked this one so much more is because they seemed more cohesive here. They were all in synch with one another, and I loved how Kyle segued them from one song to the next early on in the set. It gave things a very fluid feel, and I wouldn’t complain if they did even more of that.

And going back to the cohesive thing, Patrick meshed much better with them than he did on February 1st when he played his first show with them. I don’t mean that just in the sense that they’ve gotten more accustomed to each other, either. He added some comical relief of sorts with his occasional dialogue, and got a good rapport going with the audience.

Their an all-around great band, and if you want to see a show for yourself, well they have a free one coming up on June 5th at the Rockin’ Rodeo in Denton. They’ll be opening for Bowling for Soup, which is all the more reason not to miss out on the show. You can also find both of their EP’s in ITUNES, which I’d suggest checking out.

Night one of the arts festival was pretty fun, and I got to see some great bands, but just because the festival was getting ready to close for the night didn’t mean the night was over, as I headed back to the Curtain Club for some more music.

The Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff was hosting one of Texas’s best Americana/Country singer/songwriters this night, as Hayes Carll was in the house for the first show of his two night stand at the venue. Both shows were completely sold out.

It had been nearly a year since the last and only other time I had seen a Hayes Carll show, and I found myself getting more excited the closer it got to this Thursday night.

There was only one opening band on this show, and that was Warren Hood and The Goods, who hailed from Austin.

I found them to be an interesting choice for an opening band, because there couldn’t have been a bigger contrast between their style of music and Hayes Carll’s. Also, I want to preface this by saying on a personal level, their music didn’t really appeal to me.

The quintet, which was fronted by, who else, Warren Hood, who also played the fiddle, did mine the Country music genre, but it covered a broad spectrum. Some songs had a typical Americana/Country vibe to them, while others were more Bluegrass. They also had an older feel to some of their songs, conjuring more of a 1950’s era Country sound, which I just couldn’t really get into.

The talent they have was undeniable, though, not just as individuals, but as a collective unit, too. Warren did some amazing solos on his fiddle, and had a phenomenal voice that is very behooving of the genres they stick to. Some of what I thought were their best songs where the ones he and keyboardist Emily Gimble were singing as duets, and there were also a couple performed entirely by her, showing off her powerhouse of a voice. Guitarist Willie Pipkin, and their bassist and drummer also did a great job, really getting into some of the songs, while scaling it back on the slower stuff.

I have to admit, what they did they did exceedingly well, regardless of what my personal thoughts were.

Their set this night was comprised entirely of new songs from their forthcoming album, which Warren mentioned a couple times during their set, saying he had hoped they could have it ready in time for this tour, but it didn’t work out.

The album will see the light of day in early June, and I believe it will be June 28th when they return to The Kessler Theater to do a Dallas CD release show. They also have many other gigs coming up, and you can find most of them by going HERE. Oh, and you can find an older record of Warren’s in ITUNES.

After a 40+ minute long set, they got a little bit of a break, but they were coming back, because they were also serving as the backing band for Hayes Carll.

It was a little after 9:30 when the lights dimmed and the fanfare began, as Warren Hood and his band filed back on stage to assume their positions. In between all of them was the man of the hour, Hayes Carll, who stepped up the center mic and got the show on the road.

He began strumming his acoustic guitar, and as the chord progression came together, the packed room cheered upon realizing it was “Beaumont”. Several songs were performed differently this night, and it was one of them, being completely acoustic up to the second verse, when the band lightly joined in. It made for a good opener since it was even softer than normal and highlighted what everyone here surely already knew; that Hayes is an excellent storyteller who writes some powerful lyrics. There was a pause long enough for some applause when they finished, then guitarist Willie Pipkin fired up their next song. They did a few tracks from 2005’s “Little Rock” album, including the title track, which the fans seemed excited to hear. The band was completely utilized on that one, too, from the keys to the fiddle and the rhythm section, picking up the pace immensely on that more Rock sounding Alt/Country number. Now, not only is Hayes a good storyteller through songs, but also in general, and when they had finished that song, the audience was treated to one of his stories. He started by mentioning that this was the first of a two night stand at the Kessler, “…Which means we can enjoy ourselves tonight…” he said laughing, also noting that it would be nice not to have to worry about getting to another town by the next night. He continued, “…Actually I’ve never had much trouble with that [enjoying himself]…” Then he got to his story, saying that several years ago he spent six months over in Croatia, during the recession when no one had jobs. While over there, he joined a Croatian handball team. “…I didn’t do much, just ran around like a special kid while the team practiced…” he said casually and rather matter-of-factly. He said that the team of course showered after practice, and one day he went to clean up, but the team stood in his way preventing him from getting to the showers. “S one of them asked me, “Is everything really bigger in Texas?” said Hayes, doing his best (and a pretty good) imitation of a Croatian accent.

He took a momentary pause, allowing the crowd to laugh, and then with perfect comedian timing said, “So the next week I joined a Croatian racquetball team. They never really even showered so…” It was hysterical, and I was wondering how it related to his next song, presuming it was connected at all. He answered that with, “That has nothing to do with this next song, that’s just what was going on at the time I wrote it…” he said. The story lasted a few minutes, eventually leading them to a fan favorite from the “Trouble in Mind” album, “It’s a Shame”, and it was impossible not to sing along to the catchy chorus of “It’s a shame that we ain’t lovers, we could have been somethin’ so big and grand…” It was followed by another track from that 2007 record, as Hayes quickly said this next song didn’t always go over well with audiences, but he thought it would this night, adding that he and Ray Wylie Hubbard wrote it about drunk songwriters and the women who put up with them. “I got a woman she’s wild as Rome. She likes to lay naked and be gazed upon…” he crooned at the start of “Drunken Poet’s Dream”. He was right about the song, too, and it went over very smoothly with the crowd. They did one of his newer songs next, which, if I remember correctly, Hayes said was about your one last chance at love and not wanting to be hurt yet again. “…It’s called Love Don’t Let Me Down.” He announced. That serious song took things down a few notches, and also allowed Emily Gimble to shine, since they performed the song as a duet. Again, her voice is amazing and hits you like a ton of bricks, leaving you in complete awe.

The band got a few minute long break after finishing that song, as Hayes started into another story. It was about when he was cutting his teeth on the club circuit, and the setting was “Bob’s Bar and Grill”. “…None of you people would have been there. Well maybe two of you would have, but you wouldn’t have been watching me. You’d be watching some fishing tournament on the TV.” Hayes said, and I think it was also around this time that he had to work for several years to be able to play venues as nice as the Kessler was. This several minute long story continued and he mentioned a person, “…We’ll say his name is Mike…” he said. “Now, Mike was a drug dealer…” Hayes continued, informing everyone that Mike didn’t spend his money on anything lavish, however, he did apparently have a small zoo. “Now, when I saw zoo I mean a giraffe, some zebras and a African lion…” saying Mike kept those out on the beach. Already the story was so out there it was impossible not to be laughing, but it only got better when Hayes said sometimes when he did shows, Mike thought it was funny to move the lions cage behind the window at Bob’s Bar and Grill. “…So, if you looked out the window, which you wouldn’t have done by the way, ‘cause you wouldn’t have cared that I was playing music. Anyway, if you had looked out the window, you would have seen an African lion pacing in its cage behind me…” Hayes then recalled that when hurricane Ike hit he was over in the UK doing some shows, and was unable to get much information about what had happened to his hometown area. “…So, before one show, someone came up to me and showed me a copy of The London Times or something like that, and what did I see on the front page?” I was expecting him to say something like the sign from Bob’s Bar and Grill floating in the Gulf of Mexico, but no. “It was that same lion that Mike would have outside the window at my shows.” The crowd died laughing, while Hayes went on with the story. “Mike, being the good hearted person that he was, opened all the cages before he left to give the animals a fighting chance. Now that lion instinctually made its way to higher ground, which just so happened to be a church that was three and a half feet above sea level…” Some people eventually made their way to the same church “that was three and a half feet above sea level”, walking in to find a lion in there. Hayes reminded everyone that it was three to four days before the National Guard was able to get into the area, saying he thought that the people and the lion had developed a kind of truce, comparing the situation to a sort of Life of Pi moment.

With a story like that I knew what it had to be a segue into, but I didn’t know how, until Hayes finished with, “So this next song has a line about the old lion tamer behind the bar, and I didn’t want anyone to get confused when you heard that and wonder what it meant.” That was the launching point for what else, but “I Got a Gig”, which is a good chronicle of some of the bizarre things he witnessed when he was getting started, and it’s a song I bet most musicians can relate it one way or another. No sooner than that one ended, then Hayes again opened his mouth, “Well I’m wild as a turkey, higher than a Christmas moon. Empty as my wallet on a Sunday afternoon…” he sang as the band joined him on “Wild as a Turkey”. Things got more eclectic when they brought the mood down with “Chances Are”, and afterwards Hayes reminisced about his childhood, telling everyone that as a kid he told his mom he wanted to be a Country singer, but his mom told him, “You need to have a butt to be a Country singer, and you don’t have a butt. You’ll have to be a Folk singer instead.”, thinking that would deter him. “…So, before I was an international Folk/Country singer, I had a rock band back in high school…” Hayes said, saying they were called Southern Comfort. “We had 3 rhythm acoustic guitarists, all strumming pretty much like what I’m doing tonight, a bass player that looked like he could be the best bass player in the world.” He paused for just a second, adding, “If he ever learned how to play the bass, and a drummer that was about the same.” He went on by saying another friend wanted to join the band, but they thought five members was enough, and one more would have been overkill, so they made him the accountant to handle “all they money” they’d surely be making one day. He said that one day they decided to get tattoos to symbolize their friendship and the band, so they went to a tattoo shop one night, and the first volunteer was the accountant, who Hayes said got a Texas flag tattooed on his shoulder with “Southern Comfort” written above the flag. “…Now, it took longer than expected, and by the time he was done we needed to be home, ‘cause we had curfews back then. We thought, “We’ll go back next week and all get tattoos.” And then weeks turned to months and months to years and we never got those tattoos.” Said Hayes as the audience roared with laughter. “I’ve always felt bad about that, because there’s a guy out there somewhere who has a tattoo of a band he was never technically a part of…”

He then dedicated his next song to his friends who were in Southern Comfort with him, and that song was another one from “Little Rock”, “Good Friends”. It was another fun song with a great deal of truth to it, speaking of the shenanigans you and your friends have while in school, before eventually drifting apart and wondering, “…Where did all my good friends go?…” Upon finishing it, Emily, Willie and the bass player and drummer (my apologies, I looked online but was unable to find their names.) left, while Hayes said he was “going to keep Warren on stage with him” as they hit the lull in the show. Hayes chatted with the fans, mentioning that earlier in the year he had been in Canada with his friend and fellow musician Corb Lund, who was doing a show up there. Specifically they were in “Regina, Saskatchewan” which was pronounced ragina, like vagina. “…The motto of the city was the town that rhymes with fun.” Said Hayes, saying he and Corb had come up with a better slogan, “…Regina, it’s not the hole you’re thinking of.” There was of course a reason to all that besides entertaining the crowd, and that was to set up Corb Lund’s song “Bible On the Dash”, which features Hayes on the recording, and now he was doing an acoustic cover of it. The chorus explains it all, “It’s better than insurance, registration or lyin. It’s better than these fake ID’s I have to keep buyin’. It’s even better than an envelope stuffed with cash, they always said it’d save me, that old bible on the dash.” it goes, saying that a bible is all you need to get you out of trouble if you’re stopped by a cop. I had never heard that one before this show, and there were plenty of moments during it where I was cracking up.

To finish out this acoustic section of the show, Hayes and Warren did a brand new song of his, which was about Hayes’s nine year old son. “…He wants to be a magician. Not a musician, a magician…” Hayes said, putting an emphasis on the words, making sure everyone knew the difference. He was telling everyone about when his son first started practicing some magic tricks, “…and they were just awful…” he said, causing some people to gasp in disbelief. “No, they were…” he said again. He made sure to note that was when he first started out, though, but he had gotten better. So good, he was invited to join the Austin Magician’s Association (or Austin Association of Magician’s. Something like that, at least.) “…They meet every other Monday at the International House of Pancakes right by my house.” Hayes said. “Now, if you had told me fifteen years ago that I would be spending my Monday nights at an IHOP, I probably wouldn’t have believed you…” he plainly stated. In the end, he said his son had found what he loved to do, stuck with it and had gotten better, and the overall message of the story was to stick with what you love. The song was aptly titled “Magic Kid”, and was a pretty touching song.

As the final notes rang out, the rest of the band made their way back from the green room area, but they didn’t immediately bring the level back up. In fact, the next song, “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart”, was nearly unrecognizable at first, being played almost entirely acoustically, and even when the full band joined in they still kept it soft. It was a stark contrast from the more rock version that you hear on “Trouble in Mind”, but there were a few lines that carried more weight in this acoustic rendition, particularly when Hayes seemed to be asking everybody, “Doesn’t anybody care about truth anymore?”, following it with the next line, “Maybe that’s what songs are for.” Personally, I wasn’t as fond of this version, but it’s still my favorite song of his, and was also my favorite song of this epic set. Their next song was “Hard Out Here”, which had most of the fans shouting right along with it, except for an additional verse Hayes threw in which he said he had just finished writing. It came near the end, and the lyrics made mention of playing a small bar in Mississippi on a Monday night, where the audience was a few guys who had been out on their deer lease all week, and were so excited for the show they didn’t even stop at home to shower. All of this was more spoken than sung, and he went on, saying they had even brought their own beer to the bar. “…Now, I get that.” Hayes said, “…But isn’t that kind of like bringing your girlfriend to a brothel and asking to use a mattress?…” he asked. He made another witty comparison, too, and soon they got back to the actual parts of the song, finishing it out, before Willie immediately fired up their next song, the title track from his 2011 album, “KMAG YOYO”.

Everyone in the backing band had, had their occasional moments throughout the show, but Hayes was always the center of the attention so to speak. However, during that song, despite the fact that he was spitting out the words so quick he could put some rappers to shame, it was Willie who was the main focal point. He nailed all the blistering guitar riffs, showing a whole new side to his playing, proving he was capable of so much more than just strumming and picking. Once the applause subsided, Hayes again shouted out Emily Gimble, a sign they were about to do another duet, and they followed that first single from his latest album with the second single and subsequent track on the record, “Another Like You”. It’s the most brilliant duet I’ve heard, telling a unique story of two people getting together are polar opposites. “Well you’re probably a Democrat.” Sang Emily, with Hayes asking, “What the hell is wrong with that?” and her responding, “Nothing if you’re Taliban.” Yes, that kind of polar opposites, and another great line comes later in that verse when he sings, “I can’t believe you’re not on The View.” They had been on stage for quite some time, now, and the lead track from “Little Rock”, “Wish I Hadn’t Stayed So Long”, seemed to be a good indicator that the show was nearing the end. Sure enough it was, and the catchy tune known as “The Lovin’ Cup” brought this spectacular 92-minute long set to an end.

Surely, that couldn’t be it, though. After all, there was one high-profile song that was absent from all that. Sure enough, after a minute or so of making the crowd wait, they returned to the stage for an 11-minute encore.

 I admittedly wasn’t always a fan of the slower stuff this night, just due to my personal preference of music, but there can be no arguing that the slow, mostly piano driven “Hide Me” was the most beautiful song of their set, and was a nice way to get the encore going. Hayes quickly began plucking the strings of his guitar, starting the next song, which resulted in the audience screaming and cheering. He slowed his playing for a moment, saying, “I’ve got two songs that start this way, so I really hope this is the one y’all are wanting to hear.” It was the one I wanted to hear, and just about everyone else from the sounds of it, and that was “Girl Downtown”, which tells a nice little love story. I had only been expecting a one song encore, but certainly wasn’t complaining that it was a little beefier, and now it was time for them to bring it to an end with another rockin’ number, “Stomp And Holler”, which is the only song where you will ever hear the line, “…I’m like James Brown only white and taller…”

What a show this was. There was never a bad moment songwise, and the anecdotes sprinkled throughout the show added a whole other level to the entertainment value. All of that made sure it didn’t seem like it was an hour and a half plus long show, and even when it had ended, I found myself wishing they would play more.

Hayes Carll is a true Country musician, more in the vein of the greats, instead of the more Pop/Country stars that populate Nashville these days. Every song tells a story that should captivate you, and most of those have some clever lines to ensure they hold your attention. Along with that, he also has a great voice with a lot of character and grit to it. Still, it’s the songwriting where he really excels.

If you go into ITUNES you can find all four of his full-length records, the newer single “Love Don’t Let Me Down” and a live EP which also features a newer song. He and Warren Hood and The Goods will also be on tour from now through the majority of May, and you can find all of their tour dates HERE. Hayes has another Dallas show coming up on June 1st at Gexa Energy Pavilion where he will be one of many acts playing KXT’s Summer Cut music festival.

I’d urge everyone (at least those who like Country music) to see Hayes if you have the chance, and his shows are well worth the price tag, which are very reasonable in the first place.

Another weekend was about to start, and what better way to kick it off than by catching a show at my favorite Dallas venue, The Curtain Club.

Stand 2 Reason was the first band up this night, but due to some traffic jams, I didn’t get there until they were almost done.

What I heard of this mostly acoustic band was really good, though. They had the standard rhythm section, but the other three members of the group all played acoustic guitars, which actually added some great layers to the music, and the singer, Andy, has a great voice.

During just a few songs, they made me into a fan, and hopefully I’ll get to catch a full show sometime in the future.

Up next was the main band I was there to see this night, the Austin based, Distant Lights.

One of their newer songs, which I believe is titled “Science”, began their set, and got them off to quite a start. I was prepared for a show much like their one here in November, which was almost all-new material, but it was completely different this time around. In fact, their next song was a shocking surprise to me. I’ve never seen a Distant Lights show where they didn’t close with “Artifice”, yet now Gaelan Bellamy was cranking out the opening lines of it, shredding on his guitar, before Kevin Abbenante beat down on his drums, kicking it up even a few more notches. It is the most song in their arsenal, and the lengthy instrumental bridge is the highlight of it, giving bassist, Sam Marshall, Gaelan and Kevin a chance to take the spotlight and really rock out. It really just didn’t feel right at this point in the set, though. I think it’s a song that’s best reserved for the closer, or it would probably even make a mean opener. “We are Distant Lights, from just down the road in Austin, Texas…” announced frontman, Gabriel Fry, who also mentioned that most of what they were performing could be found on their albums, pointing to their merch booth. They slowed things down considerably with “Metamorphosis”, which has a nice flow that is truly complimentary of the song, starting off slow and heavy on the rhythm section, but as the lyrics get more exciting, “…and as the channel opens up I marvel at the power as it grows…”, so too does the music, amping up considerably. All that makes it a very well written song. They followed it with “Dystopia”, the lead track from their “Simulacrum” album and one I had not heard in far too long, and then moved on with one of their newer songs. That actually started them on a series of newer songs, and no sooner had they finished it than Kevin launched them into the aggressive, “Tightrope”. The mood fluctuated over the course of the next two songs, “Suffocating” and “Patterns On the Rise”, both of which have a real ebb and flow to them, being fairly relaxed at some points, before jumping into a full on rock song. That eventually led them to the final song of their 35-minute long set, “What’s On Your Mind”. It’s no “Artifice”, but it is the next best thing to go out on, and has Gabriel rather viciously belting out the chorus, while prowling around the stage.

It was a spectacular show they put on, and definitely the best of the night. They put such energy into their performance and have an undeniable stage presence. Even though the Curtain was fairly empty when they played, they still managed to captivate the attention of almost all of the onlookers, which doesn’t happen too often in my experience.

I almost want to say that Gabriel carries the band with the way he conducts himself on stage and the stellar voice he has (it is one of the best I’ve heard, and he sounds even better in the live setting than their recordings do), but that wouldn’t be true.  Gaelan’s skills on the guitar are out of this world, and he’s certainly at his best on the occasions when he’s shredding. Lastly, Kevin and Sam make a dynamic rhythm section, with Sam’s slick method of grooving on the bass, while Kevin is more assertive with his drumming, making it well rounded.

They’re just a killer group, and after not playing the Dallas for a few years, I’m glad that they’re starting to venture up here again. Hopefully it can become a normal thing once every two to four months or so.

You can find their first album in ITUNES, and word is they have almost completed their next record. They also have shows coming up on April 26th at Click’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and April 27th at Rock ‘N’ Blues in Covington, Louisiana. They have a hometown gig in Austin on April 28th at the Dirty Dog Bar, opening for Powerman 5000, and on May 11th they’ll be down in San Antonio at Fitzgerald’s.

So, once Distant Lights finished I went over to the Liquid Lounge side of the venue where Aaron Pose was doing a set.

I figured the singer of Admiral Grey was probably almost done at this point, and sure enough he was, only having two songs left, both of which were newer ones he had written. One of those songs was titled “Another Day”, but the best of the two I heard was by far his closing song, “Home”. Before starting he talked about his recent decision to take a break from music, saying he needed to “recharge his batteries”. “…I don’t know how long that’s going to take. Could be three months, could be six months, it could be a year…” he said, saying it was just time to take a break and focus on family for a while. Evidently, part of what spurred that decision was when he wrote this song, “Home”. And he said when writing songs, he just let’s it flow, barely even paying attention to what he’s writing at the time. He added that after he finished this song and then read, he knew it was time to take a break. Emotionally it was a deep song, dealing with not always being there for the people who need you, and honestly, may be the best thing Aaron has ever written.

The music scene will feel kinda empty without Aaron being an active part of it, but I feel where he’s coming from and I doubt anyone can blame him for taking some time off. I’m just glad it’s not a permanent hiatus, though.

Aaron doesn’t have any solo music available, but do check out Admiral Grey’s “Long Road” EP.

As soon as he was finished, I headed back to the Curtain, where the next band, Breaking Midway, was just getting warmed up.

I wasn’t instantly drawn in by them, and honestly, they struck me as being bland at first. There was no gripping quality to singer and acoustic guitarist Kelley Hannahs’ voice, and the first full song that I heard, “Dreaming”, came across as being a little drab. “Volcano” was a little more vibrant, and had a nice backbone, courtesy of drummer, Jay Chagnon, and their upswing continued with “I Won’t Let You”. It was after that song that I decided the band was more of an acquired taste, and one I was liking a little more with each song. They did a couple more tunes, one of which was another from their 2012 debut record, “The Speed of Life”, titled “Wish”, which was one of the catchiest songs of their set. “Living Room” was another standout from their set, and after another track, they did one of their newer songs, “Home”. There’s a real sentimental quality to the song, and while it didn’t connect with me on a personal level or anything, I must say it was quite moving. They had certainly hit their stride at this point, and now did “Finally Free”, which had more of a rock sound to it than their previous stuff, and the same could be said about “Done”, which just had a little more vigor to it. They only had one more for the night, and after laying her guitar down on the stage, Kelley said they had “saved the best for last”, and she wasn’t joking, either. I don’t know what it was, but it definitely was the most in your face song of their set.

By the time it was all said and done I don’t know if I’d say I had become a fan of Breaking Midway’s, but I had enjoyed their show.

I guess my main thing with Kelleys’ voice was it didn’t immediately grab me, which is what I prefer, but if you listen to a few songs, you’ll discover an endearing quality to it, and one that should hold your interest. Her, the lead guitarist and Jay put on a good show, but the bass player, he was rather lifeless, and appeared to be going through the motions instead of actually being invested in it and enjoying being on stage, which in the end was the only thing I disliked about their show.

Check out their albums in ITUNES, which ranges from a full-length to some singles and even a live record recorded right here at the Curtain Club. They also have a gig coming up on May 11th at O’Riley’s in Dallas.

I stuck around for the headliner, Ol’ Jug of Whiskey, whom I’ve heard a lot about and was very eager to finally see what they were like.

Their show this night was a first for the band, who is typically an acoustic act, but tonight was doing their first ever electric set.

The first song of their set required their guitarist, Mike Drake, to use a mandolin, adding an interesting vibe to what was more a rock song. He switched to a guitar after that, but after a few more songs, I decided to go back to the lounge.

They are a great band with an awesome sound and singer, Bryce Frazier, has knockout voice, but I just never felt drawn in by it. Instead, I kept thinking, “I’d enjoy Exit 380 a lot more than this.”

It’s just a personal preference, and nothing against Ol’ Jug of Whiskey.

I’ve seen Exit 380 quite a bit over the last few months, but there was a big difference between those other shows and this one, and that was that this was an acoustic set. The band doesn’t do many of those, and I was informed by their singer, Dustin Blocker, that to form their setlist they ended up looking at all their songs in iTunes to refresh their minds on what songs were more acoustic based. Yes, that also means that little rehearsal time went into this show, a fact they pointed out a couple times while on stage.

Beginning their brief 29-minute set was their song that is featured on a Hand Drawn Records compilation CD, “A Song About Us”. The song was really set off by Jeremy Hutchison, who was acting as the drummer this night, playing what I think was a djembe (not sure, and I’m pretty much clueless outside the traditional drum kit). It was all very fluid as he beat it with his hands, giving the song some great rhythm. There was a very lax mood to this show, even more so than normal, and after that song guitarist, Aaron Borden, said something about needing more bass. “That was all you…” Blocker told him while laughing, presumably referring to some little mishap I didn’t catch. They continued with “Soul Burning Train”, which was one of only two new songs that fit with this set, and honestly, I think this stripped down version was even slightly better than normal, just seeming a little more behooving of it. Those are two great songs, but they’re pretty much standard at most E380 shows, and I was looking forward to the older stuff, like their next song, “Dammit”. That’s still my overall favorite song of theirs, and I’ve only heard that now decade plus old song performed once before, over two years ago. A lot of their songs, particularly their newer ones, tell some great stories, and while “Dammit” is different from their current stuff, I think it tells the best story. Besides, Dustin adds a little more bass to his voice on that song, which in turn gives it a lot of texture. Now they informed everyone that they “didn’t quite rehearse” for this show, then started into a bonus track from the Townies album, “Oil Machine”. The tambourine that Dustin played and the more delicate bass lines Jon Hutchison was playing created a great atmosphere and the harmonizing Dustin and Aaron were occasionally doing sounded wonderful. As it ended, Dustin got  all crazy with his voice, hitting all sorts of notes. “…Harmonize that…” he told Aaron once they finished the song, and the two couldn’t help but laugh at one another. “Is it time for…” Aaron said, trailing of, but letting his guitar do the talking, starting a classic from the “Last Monday” album, “2 Lie”. “…You’ve been up all night, question me question life. You don’t think just desire, but don’t you fucking lie to me.” Dustin sang, that being the final line of this relatively tranquil song with a catchy vibe, which is what makes it another favorite of mine. They next did another song from that record, a hidden one, and another I’m pretty certain I had never heard live before. It was “A Much Needed Apology”, which is the most peaceful and calming song they’ve written, but they picked the mood back up a little, doing “In The Park”, which brought their set to an end.

It may have been a short show, but it was amazing and I’m glad I decided to see it. After all, how many times am I going to hear them do my two favorite songs in the same set? That’s probably not going to happen very much.

If for no other reason, it was also interesting just to see Jeremy act as the percussionist, since he’s typically a guitarist, and do such a killer job at it. In fact, I think they were a little too hard on themselves about having not rehearsed. Was it perfect? No. But it sure didn’t seem like they hadn’t rehearsed at all, either.

Then again, if you’ve been a band since 1999, you should be cohesive enough to pull something like this off with relative ease.

As of right now, it looks like their next show is going to be on June 2nd at the Capitol Bar in Fort Worth. Also, do check out all their albums. They have several available, and between ITUNES and BANDCAMP, you can get them all.

This wasn’t a bad night of music at all, and it was good getting to see some bands I hadn’t seen before, along with the ones I’m all too familiar with.

I seldom see the larger national touring bands that come through Trees, and honestly, I didn’t have much interest in the one that was playing this night, but the lineup of local talent was superb.

There were four opening acts on this bill, which meant the show was getting started early, and shortly after 7:15, Thrown took the stage.

I had seen the band before a few years back (2010, or maybe even 2009), and recently they seemed to have fallen off the map, making me think they had disbanded. That’s not the case, though. Rather, they had been regrouping, and tonight was their first back.

They had some new material under their belt, but this 28 minute long set consisted mainly of stuff from their debut record, “The Beautiful End”, like the lead track which was also the show opener, “Bleed Like Me”. It was a supercharged rock tune, and while Trees was pretty vacant at this point, the people who were there were gathered around the stage, obviously being drawn in by it. They followed it with another track from their old record, “Nothing Left”, which was another heavier rock number. “The One” came next, which was heavy on the rhythm, with bassist, TreVice Layne, and drummer, Brent Matthews, dominating the song, but also featured a blistering guitar solo from Brad McFarland, which helped balance out the song. The highlight of their set (at least in my opinion) was “Ignorance”, whose lyrics are even better than most of their other stuff. “…My eyes grow tired of seeing all the shadows that you cast…” shouted singer, Greg Vinson, on the chorus, his voice perfectly fitting the style of rock they play, and could easily compete with the best of them. They cranked out another song, and as their set neared the end, they pulled out their newest songs that they have released for their fans to listen to. One of those was “Back to Stay”, which shows they’ve kept with what works best for them, sounding similar to their other songs, but there’s a little bit of growth also noticeable in it. Their final was “Drunk On Hate”, which is arguable the most powerful out of those new ones, and brought things to a strong finish for them.

I really don’t remember much about them from the first time I saw them, other than really enjoying their music and their live show. The music was still great this night, even better than what I recalled, but the live show… Well, they did what they good, and it wasn’t really their fault. There was a full backline this night, and out of all the bands, Thrown had the least bit of room on stage, and Greg, Brad and TreVice were pretty limited on where they could move, and basically had to stay in the same place for their entire set.

You could tell they were wanting to do more in terms of their performance, too, but just couldn’t.

That aside, it was a really good show, and I’m glad to see that the band is back in action. They had a lot of promise when I first saw them and they still do, so if you have a chance, go see them live. Also, you can buy their first album in ITUNES.

The second act of the night was Awake In Theory, who hails from all over the D/FW metroplex, and honestly, I was surprised they were going on now, because I thought they deserved the third slot. Oh well, they’ll get there in due time.

The band through me for a loop by beginning with a song that is atypical when compared to the other shows of theirs I’ve seen, “Playing the Villain”. It worked better than I thought it would, throwing everyone right into their barrage of Alt/Rock sounds, and for a show like this, you do need to get people’s attention right off the bat. As it ended, guitarists, Brad McCain and Terry Kimmel, drummer, Raymond Chambers, and bassist, Adam Garcia , fired up their next song, while Eric Hawkens offered an explanation of sorts about it. “This song is for anyone who had to do what I had to do this past year, and that’s taking someone you love to rehab.” Said the bands frontman (or at least something along those lines), as they got underway with “Let Go”. It was with that song that deals with some of the hardships of life where their show really came to life. As with all the opening acts, they suffered from some cramped conditions on stage, but they utilized what little space they had, with Eric stepping back when he wasn’t singing, allowing the instrumentalists to get to the front of the stage and entertain the onlookers. After finishing it, Eric mentioned that this was their first time playing the Trees. “…But we’d play here every single night if it meant we could play in front of all of you…” he added, before stating the title of their next track, “Innocence for the Innocent”, a song where Raymond gets to really show off some of his drumming skills. Before their next song, Eric informed the crowd it was one they don’t play too often, which had me curious as to what it was. He couldn’t keep a straight face for long, though, soon admitting, “I’m just kidding, we play it all the time.” Terry then opened up “Barely Breathing” with some haunting and stellar guitar notes. This is the song they’ve opened with the two previous times I’ve seen them, and it’s still my favorite of the bands, plus I just love the line, “…I’m barely breathing, but I’m still healing from this war…”. Their next song was dedicated to everyone who serves in the military, and Eric asked everyone if they see a member of the service to go up and tell them how much they’re appreciated. That led them to “Hero You Hate”, and upon finishing it they had one last song in their 28-minute long set. It was their single, which they recently laid down in a studio, becoming the first song they’ve recorded together, and it’s called “Daddy’s Little Girl”.

It was an incredible show they put on this night, and while they’ve been very solid before, you could tell they stepped up their game for this show. They were wanting to make an impression, and they most certainly did.

They’re a badass rock band who puts on a strong performance, and if you haven’t heard of them already, take a few moments to get acquainted with them.

They have a few shows on the books, beginning with April 27th at ARNETIC in Fort Worth. You can catch them at Six Flags in Arlington on May 4th, and they’ll be in Dallas on May 10th at Wit’s End. They also have another gig at Tree’s scheduled for June 15th.

After their set, I wondered out onto the patio, running into Marc, who plays in the band, The Circle, whom I talked with for a little while.

By the time I went back in, the instrumental trio known as Son of Swan was into the last half of their set.

I’ve only seen the group once before, and even though I only caught a little of their set this night, they managed to blow my mind even more.

Band founder and guitarist, Neil Swanson, is a virtuoso on the guitar and plays it with sheer ease. I’m not even a fan of instrumental music in the least, but music this spectacular doesn’t need lyrics to entertain. And along with the out of this world skills that he, bassist, Steve Wilson, and drummer, Billy Walker, posses, they also can put on an exciting live performance.

I never thought I’d even remotely enjoy, let alone love an instrumental band, yet those are my feeling for Son of Swan.

This show also served as their CD release gig for their debut album, which you can purchase at any live show. That said, they have a few coming up, including April 26th at The Curtain Club in Dallas and May 24th at The Rail Club in Fort Worth.

Serving as the main support band for Adrenaline Mob (not only at this show, but pretty much every single date of this leg of the tour) was San Antonio’s own, Nothing More, and out of all the bands on this bill, I was most excited about seeing them.

When the curtain opened on them, it looked like it was going to be interesting given the bands setup, specifically singer Jonny Hawkins’ drum set, which took up a lot of the space at the front of the stage. They didn’t act like it was much of a hindrance, though, as Jonny  ripped into it, while primary drummer, Paul O’Brien, was seemingly inches behind him, also delivering some hefty beats, which led into “Gone”. That song is always a great one to get started with, but they seemed to be putting more effort into it than usual (which I didn’t think was even possible). Perhaps it was because after being on the road for a while, they were glad to be back in their home state, where every show they did was essentially a hometown show. After all, they’ve been cutting their teeth in the clubs in this area for the better part of a decade, and had several fans singing right along with every word, which I’m sure just added full to the fire. They finished that tune much like it began, with some more epic, aggressive drumming, until Mark Vollelunga suddenly took the spotlight with his roaring guitar riffs of the brief instrumental number, “Under The Eyes of Selene”. Unfortunately, he was stuck on far stage right, out of the way from where I stood and it wasn’t easy to see him, but that was one point of their set where I made sure to give him my full attention. It quickly gave way to the song it’s a prelude to, “Sixty Second Affair”, and while it is the oldest song they currently do (it’s from their ’05 album “Save You/Save Me”), it’s also one of the most forceful of their set. “…Through all the tears, these wasted years, my phoenix fears in you rise again…” Jonny sang, spacing the words just far enough apart to add a real gravity to them. It, too, ended with some duel drumming, and after announcing to everyone who they were, they pulled out one of their new songs, which surprisingly enough was the only new one of their set. I believe the song is called “Friendly Fire”, and you know you’ve seen a band a lot when you can sing (mostly) along to a song solely from hearing it at their past shows. The audience seemed really into this one, and how could you not feel the adrenaline rush while Jonny shouted/sang the chorus, “I’ll keep breaking, breaking, breaking your pride… Until you realize you are no J-J-J-Jesus Christ…” (Note: Those lyrics could be wrong, but that is what I hear at least.) Thus far it had been a very abbreviated NoMO set, but there were two things that I knew would be staples, one which would come later, and the other was their little bass trick. After walking into Tree’s this night, I saw and talked with Mark for a bit, who casually said, “Oh, we worked up a new bass line.” “Cool.” I thought, thinking it would be pretty much the same old thing… It wasn’t. The rod that holds the bass was placed in the wrought iron case that surrounds Jonnys’ drums, Daniel Oliver put his bass in the holster and, with the bass facing the crowd, proceed to play some notes while standing beside it. It was cool, and while Dan was doing that, Jonny was manning the pedal board for the bass, adding some effects to it, while Paul kept some beats going throughout it. It started getting good when Mark stood on stage left of the bass, also plucking at some strings, but that was all still similar to what is done at every Nothing More show. As much of a spectacle as it is, I still was under the assumption I knew where it was going. A few minutes into it and they suddenly both jumped back, as Dan swung the rod holding the bass, sending it spinning around, before stopping with the bass now straight up in the air, but upside down. Jonny then joined them, standing on his bass drum, while Dan stood on a, I’ll call it a small step ladder to reach the bass, and while Mark and Dan held down the stings, Jonny played the bass by using some drumsticks. I should also note they kept the notes from it in perfect synch with the beats Paul was churning out at times, before spinning the bass in a complete 360 a few times, then finishing the piece. Not only was it the highlight of their set, but it was the highlight of the entire night. I also loved it because I had gotten used to the old piece they did, and while it still dazzled me, it felt fantastic getting to watch it through brand new eyes for the first time in a VERY long time. (Note: Check out that action for yourself in THIS video.) By the time they finished that, they were down to their last song, which was the fan favorite, “Salem”. They weren’t done blowing the crowds minds just yet, and near the end both Dan and Mark grabbed some toms, moving towards center stage, while Jonny spun around, playing those two drums as well as his kit. It was a little different from what they usually do, simply because they didn’t have room on stage to go all out, but it still awed. And is the song wound down, they even got the audience to shout the chorus, “Burn the witch!”, back at them repeatedly, concluding their 26-minute long set.

Being completely objective, Nothing More was hands down the best band on the bill. Every band this night had different degrees of passion, but with Mark, Jonny, Dan and Paul, their passion bleeds through every single second of their time on stage, putting it on display for all to see, which makes it very easy to see that this is what they love doing. Hell, it’s obvious it’s what they were born to do.

To me, that’s what always makes them so enjoyable, and I didn’t see any of the other acts leave it all on the stage like they did.

You can find their records in ITUNES, and they also have a few shows coming up, starting with April 24th at the Lizard Lounge in Wichita, Kansas. The 26th they’ll be at Click’s in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the following night you can see them at Rock ‘n’ Blues in Covington, Louisiana. Oh, and be back at Trees on June 21st. Why? Because that’s the day they’ll be doing a Dallas CD release show for their new album.

You usually don’t think of an opening act topping the headliner, especially when the headlining band is comprised of veteran musicians, all of whom have been playing for at least two decades if not longer, but Nothing More did in my opinion, and I doubted that they could be topped.

Now it was time for Adrenaline Mob, who is of course a super group featuring Mike Portnoy, Russell Allen, Mike Orlando, and John Moyer. They had definitely brought the people out this Sunday night, and it was next to impossible to even move around in front of the stage.

Perhaps I’m being a little too finicky, but I felt too much time passed before the band finally took the stage, at which point what excitement I was feeling had turned into just wanting them to hurry up and just get it over with.

Let me explain. A stagehand issued a reminder that video recording was not allowed during the show. That was said after the sound check was pretty much complete, which I took as meaning the band was going to start in mere minutes. Instead, no less than fifteen minutes passed, and then the bands intro song started. It wasn’t just one song, though, and part of another followed it, before suddenly stopping as the curtain opened and the band members descended the stairs from the green room.

I was probably the only person there who felt this way, but at this point I was fed up with waiting and felt like they had stretched things out too long. I realize it might not have even been the bands felt, but regardless, that process should have been sped up a bit.

They played practically everything from their 2012 debut album, “Omerta”, kicking off their 70+-minute long set with “Psychosane”. It was great song and a good opener, and upon finishing it, Mike P. hopped up from his stool, standing on his massive drum kit and surveying the crowd. It was a cool moment to say the least. The fans were pulled further in with “Feelin’ Me”, where Mike O. and John raced around the stage, and while performing his guitar solo, Mike held it so the fans could see as his fingers danced up and down the fret board. “Down to the Floor” was my personal favorite song of theirs, but by the time it was over, I was starting to feel like it was the same old song and dance. The songs were sounding fairly similar to me, and they all had crazy guitar solos in them. I thought maybe they were free styling the live versions of the songs at first, which would have been fine, but after listening to their recorded music, I learned the songs are like that, which gives the impression that the solos are there for the purpose of being flashy and showing off. This was also the third song that after finishing, Mike P. again jumped atop his drum kit. I’ve never seen any drummer to that, and it really was cool the first time, but to repeatedly do it, especially so close together, it makes it lose appeal, and rather quickly at that. They did a couple more original songs, which were “Angel Sky” and “Indifferent”, and after the latter Russell turned things over to Mike Portnoy, who talked with the fans for a few minutes. One thing he did was call attention to his drum tech, who slowly stood up from behind the drum riser. “…Did anybody see my first ever show in Dallas twenty years ago?” he asked, informing everyone that this guy set up his kit then, and has stuck with him for all these years. It turned out it was the tech’s birthday, and at the request of Mike everyone sang happy birthday to him. Soon after, Mike got to talking about their newest EP, “Coverta”, saying that each night they had been playing different covers from it, and also mentioned that Tree’s was the first ever venue to get the Adrenaline Mob “hat trick”, or in other words is the only venue in a city to host them three times. When they got back to the music, Mike O. started them in on a very Metal rendition of the Heart classic, “Barracuda”. It was a good cover, but I felt they more just put their own spin on it, rather than taking it and making it completely their own. That was the only cover they did at this point, returning to their original stuff with “Believe Me” and the fast paced “Hit the Wall”. Once they finished it, some acoustic guitars were brought out for Russell and Mike, while John and Mike P. left their posts, retreating up the stairs. Before their next song, Russell told a detailed story about his son, and how one day he and his wife realized something seemed off about him, and after taking him to the doctor found out he had autism. That’s what their next song was about, and he said he wanted to write a song that was meaningful and dealt with something real, which was when “All On the Line” was born. It was a very moving song, and the acoustic beginning made sure the words carried the weight they deserved. That’s not to say it was lessened when Mike P. and John rejoined them, though, turning it into a full-blown rock song. After ditching the acoustic guitars, they got back to the specialty, loud Metal, by cranking out “Come Undone”, while the lead track from “Omerta”, “Undaunted”, ended the main set.

By this point, they had played about thirty minutes longer than I would have liked, and I had pretty much checked out at this point, but of course, an encore was coming…

Mike Orlando walked back out on stage first, but no one else followed. The stage belonged to him for a minute or two as he shredded on his axe, doing a guitar solo that everybody ate up. Soon, his band mates joined him on stage, for an encore that was all covers. Led Zeppelin’s “The Lemon Song” was first up, which was were Russell showed his vocal chords do have some range to them, singing in more of a soulful/bluesy voice, rather than the one tone yell he had used for the majority of their other songs. They had a special guest join them on their next song, and John left the stage, turning the bass duty over to Rex Brown, best known from being with Pantera. He helped them tear it up on Van Halen’s “Romeo Delight” and he’s got some serious chops, slapping the bass and rocking out the riffs with ease. John came back out on stage when it was finished, and after they all thanked Rex for helping them out, they closed their show with the song that I believe was the first one they ever covered as a band, “The Mob Rules” by Black Sabbath, which, given the band’s name, is an appropriate track for them to cover.

That was that, and I was glad it was finally over.

I said it earlier and I’ll say it again, I felt like a vast majority of their material (covers included) sounded pretty much the same. As seen on that cover song, Russell is capable of an extraordinary range, but they never really explored that, and instead he maintained pretty much the same deep tone on every single song, to the point it got rather monotonous. I also felt that both Mike’s were a little too flashy. There’s beauty in subtlety, and while Mr. Portnoy did get a little better about not always standing on his kit at the end of each song, he still did it too close together at times. Make people wait for it, instead of having fans (or at least me) thinking, “Oh, cool, he’s doing that again.”

Then you have Mr. Orlando, who did a guitar solo during every single song (covers included), and it didn’t sound like they were thrown in there, but rather that the entire song was built around the solos. Again, there’s beauty in subtlety, and if you do a solo of any type (bass, drums, guitar, etc.) during every single song, it quickly becomes overkill. Besides, personally, some of my favorite guitarists are the one who strum with precision and ease, only cutting loose and shredding periodically, instead of going all-out all the time.

I want to point out I’m not at all questioning their musicianship. I know many drummers who cite Mike Portnoy as one of their biggest influences, and after seeing him live, I can see why. About the same can be said about Mike Orlando, and despite what my thoughts were, there’s no way you cannot think he is one of the best guitarists of this era.

And even though my statements speak to the contrary and are my personal thoughts, being totally objective, I have to say they succeed at putting on an entertaining show.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering why I’ve neglected John Moyer, it’s because out of the whole bunch I thought he was the most well rounded. His talent was impressive, but never over the top, and he just had a good aura about him.

The band’s current tour may be over, but I believe they will be tackling the West Coast in the near future (keep an eye on their TOUR DATES page), and to purchase their music, head over to ITUNES.

Well, the local openers were by far the best in my opinion, and as much as I hated paying $20 to get into a show, Nothing More, Son of Swan, Awake in Theory and Thrown made it more than worth it.

Why not make the last of my two and a half days in Austin the longest day of all? That way I could cram in as much live music as possible before heading back to Dallas.

So, instead of heading downtown in the early afternoon like the previous days, my dad and I journeyed down there in the late morning, arriving at Whole Foods shortly after eleven.

Yes, that is the Whole Foods store that sells natural and organic foods, and on the rooftop of the store (which was a nice patio area that even had a small playground area for kids) Quantum Collective and Amazon MP3 were presenting a showcase dubbed the Southwest Invasion.

It was an odd setting for a concert, but hey, whatever works.

The bands had started even earlier than when my dad and I arrived, and stumbled across a gem of a band from Echo Park, California, named Rainbow Jackson. They were essentially done, only having a few songs left to do, but what I heard was sensational.

They are self-described as scuzzed-up power pop, and while that is accurate, they could just as easily be considered rock ‘n’ roll. There was also somewhat of a dreamy quality added to it by Sam Dagger and Chad Carlisle, the lead guitarist and singer and rhythm guitarist, respectively, giving a slight 60’s vibe to the music. And speaking of Chad, he has an amazing set of pipes. Just an all around incredible voice.

I wish I had been able to see more of the bands set, or even another show or two they undoubtedly played while here in Austin.

They have an EP and a single available on their BANDCAMP PAGE, and I should mention both are free to get, so go download them.

The Royalty was up next, and after hearing many good things about this El Paso, Texas based band, I was excited to finally get to see a show.

Their brief 19-minute long set focused entirely on their 2012 full-length, “Lovers”, and they began with “Other Boys”. That song (and their music in general) also had a dreamy quality to it, only in the indie rock vein, and came courtesy largely of keyboard player, Daniel Marin. Fitting perfectly with it was the sweet and even soulful voice of singer, Nicole Boudreau, as she sang about a love gone by. Things got pushed a little closer to the rock realm with “Say the Word”, and allowed guitarist, Jesus Apodaca, bassist, Mike Hernandez, and drummer, Joel Quintana, to get more into it and rock out, while Nicoles’ voice soared on the chorus, “Just say the word and I would never leave, I would never leave you…” “This next song is called I Want You.” Nicole said, which was about the extent of the talking she did, aside from announcing who they were, as they had to rush through their set. After that catchy, up-tempo number, they did “Please Lie”, which is a genius blend of multiple more nostalgic styles of music, with a bit of a modern twist. I would have loved if they could have played an additional twenty minutes, because I was really caught up in the music, but by now their time was almost up, and as Jesus and Mike swapped out instruments, Nicole set up their final song, which was their single, “Bartender”, which arguable was the best song of their set.

Even with a short set, the band still lived up to what praise I had heard, as well as my expectations just from listening to the music.

They are unlike anything else I’ve heard, and while it could be easy to say they’re simply a pop band upon first listen, they’re really much more complex. As it says on their bio on Facebook, some of their influences are the “…girl-groups of the Motown and Spector era…” which is evident, and predominantly is manifested in Nicoles’ unique voice. It’s not just the range she has that is remarkable, but the fact that she can have a soulful quality to her singing when needed, or can even fit into that Motown genre with ease.

They’re a very talented group, whose already got some good accomplishments under their belt, including having their music featured on numerous television shows, and with a show and sound like this, I imagine that momentum will only continue. So go see them now, while they’re still relatively unknown, and you can catch them in a more intimate setting.

They don’t have any tour dates on the books right now, but just keep an eye open, and check out both of their albums in either ITUNES or BANDCAMP.

After them was one of the bigger name acts playing this day party, and that was Casey Crescenzo and his group of touring musicians, collectively known as The Dear Hunter.

They got the same 19-minute long set, but as long as their songs are, they only got to play a handful of tracks, most coming from various EP’s in the Color Spectrum collection, like “Echo”, from the “Orange” EP. It worked well as an opening song, starting off slow, but quickly gaining speed, with the best moment being the instrumental break, where Casey and his five band mates, two other guitarists, a bassist and drummer, got to cut loose, and even with the tight conditions on stage, still managed to rock out. They wound it seamlessly into their next song with some mangled guitar notes that lasted for a bit, before their drummer started in, giving the song more body and revealing it to be the final track from the “Yellow” EP, “Misplaced Devotion”. It raised the already high mood exponentially, and that’s something a great band would do, start the listener off at one place, then bring them up more. Also, the harmonies on that song, as Casey and a few of the other musicians shouted, “Ooooohhhhh” repeatedly, were to die for. The oldest (and longest) song the rock/indie/progressive outfit did was “The Pimp and the Priest”, before concluding things with “Home”, which seemed like it was written to be a closing song, and provided a great ending to this brief little set where all the songs seemed to tell a small piece of a larger story.

I wouldn’t say I had actually seen a The Dear Hunter show before, but I had caught the last bit of his set last year when the band toured with Anthony Green, and since then I had been eager to see the band. I still am actually, at least a full set from them. Part of me know even regrets coming to Austin on Thursday, and wishes I had stayed in Dallas to see the headlining show that TDH did that night. But I digress…

Though short, they still put on a phenomenal performance. Caseys’ voice sounds every bit is amazing live as it does on the recordings, and that, along with his ability to pen songs that tell a story, are the two best things the band has going for them. And when you combine those with their lively performance, you get something that’s out of this world.

They recently released their latest album, “Migrant”, which they’ve been touring in support of. A few dates remain on the current tour, and can be found HERE. I hope more will be added sometime, too, and if they are, hopefully they’ll come back through Dallas. Speaking of the record, you can buy it HERE, along with their many other releases.

I had thoroughly enjoyed all those bands I’d seen here so far, but the one I was most excited to see was Erin Austin, who is probably better known by her stage moniker, OK Sweetheart.

The title track of her 2011 debut, “Home”, opened her and her bands set. It’s a infectious little tune, and during parts of it they had almost everyone clapping right along with the drumbeats, and that audience participation made things all the more fun. “Traitor” was another track from that album that made it into their abbreviated set, with Erin crooning out the lyrics, “…I keep on smiling at it all, ‘cause I’ve got something that they don’t, and wouldn’t you like to know what is…”, while banging away at the keys on her piano. They followed it with “You Let Me Down”, which is one of the best examples of the bands self-described “heartbreak pop” sound and is chock-full of emotion, then moved on to one of their many new songs, which I believe was titled “Looking”. It was really good, however I was more partial to the next and final song of their 17-minute long set, “Come Back to Me”. Erin left her piano for that one, and asked everyone to clap along to the beat for the duration of it, which she also did. It was a very solid song, and is just one more of her newer songs that has now become a favorite of mine.

There were many others I would have liked to have heard this day, too, if only they had, had the time for it. Still, it was a great set they did, and out of all the bands I saw here on top of Whole Foods, they were my personal favorite.

The touring musicians that playing alongside her were some of the best I’ve seen in OK Sweetheart, out of the few times I have seen them live. The guitarist, bassist and drummer all had good stage presence and were just great musicians. As for Erin, I’ve said this (or at least something similar to it) each time I’ve seen her and I still stick by it, she is one of the best vocalists out there, and not just in the female vocalist category, either. Her voice is heavenly, yet there’s a real force to it that will capture your attention from the first word, and keep you fascinated right up until the end of the last song.

You can find the “Home” album in ITUNES, plus a live recording of one of their newer songs “If You Let It”, which is a gorgeous, amazing song.

Afterwards, we headed towards Downtown Austin, where the majority of the action was.

The specific destination was a newer venue called Amped, which featured stages both upstairs and downstairs, and the Red Gorilla Music Festival had filled both stages with some great talent. It was here (and downstairs) that the Seattle, Washington based act, The Local Strangers, were playing.

When talking about another band I saw while down in Austin, I mentioned Noisetrade.com, and that website was also responsible for me coming across this band.

They were already playing by time we got there, but I did see the final 30-minutes of their show.

The duo of Aubrey Zoli and Matt Hart, both of whom sang and he played an acoustic guitar, were finishing up one song, then announced their next one was “Mr. Blackberry”, from their 2012 full-length, “Left for Better”. It was a short song, but was utterly astounding. Matt really utilized his guitar, using it to add a slight percussion effect to it, while Aubrey killed it with her strong, undeniable voice. “…This next song’s called Partner in Crime” Matt said, as they brought things down a little. With this more folksy song you stated to see all the layers the band has, though, as they alternated between who sang, and even harmonized at times giving the song a lovely layer, making it one of the most beautiful songs of their set. In setting up their next song, Aubrey mentioned that the day before they had played it in a church and it was little awkward. “…You’ll understand when you here it…” she said, as Matt began “Devil and a Stiff Drink”. I’m they sure they did feel a bit odd playing that song in a house of God, especially with the lyrics, some of which are, “…I don’t need no savior, don’t wanna be saved, don’t need no holy roller telling me just how I gotta behave. Just give me my Devil and a good stiff drink…” That doesn’t mean it’s not a fantastic song, though, and another good one was “Give Up the Ghost”, which transitioned the show into a slight somber mood. “Uptown” brought things back up, though, and even on this stripped down version the song still had a certain peaceful quality to it, which was only enhanced by the upbeat tone Matt had while singing. They came across as being very personable, talking to the meager crowd in between every song, and now they added a bit of a storyteller’s vibe to the show. Matt mentioned the next one was written by Aubrey, after she started watching the TV show Breaking Bad, catching up on all five seasons of the series in just a short span of time. As they said, “…It’s a lot to take in…” It was a really great song that will hopefully make it onto their next record someday, and it was also the last original one they did. In setting up their final song, they mentioned they have a full-band back in Seattle and that they do a cover of a Patty Griffin song, which is what they closed with. That song was “Forgiveness”, and they did a beautiful rendition of it.

I was truly surprised by this band, mainly because with only one instrument, and that being an acoustic instrument no less, they managed to be almost every bit as loud as a full blown electric group.

The best part however, was definitely the Americana/Folk brand of music they played and the vast range it had in every aspect, and how they could be doing a stunning song with some harmonies one moment, and then switch gears to something that really packed a punch. Switching it up like that ensured that they never got monotonous and always kept the attention of the crowd… Well, that and the stellar voices each Matt and Aubrey possessed.

You can find both of their records in either ITUNES or BANDCAMP, so give them a listen. They also have some shows coming up, so check out their TOUR DATES for a complete list.

The Heart of Texas Rockfest was the next destination, mainly because if I didn’t have anything listed at a specific time, why not go there and see who was playing. And the band setting up on stage was one I had seen Thursday after first getting down here, Love and a .38.

Singer, Ryan Hudson, started the Los Angeles based bands set with a joke, saying they were about to do a show of nothing but “Freebird”. Danny Excess then launched the band into “Shots at Sunset”, while Ryan thrashed about to the music before having to start singing. His voice was a little (or a lot) worse for wear compared to the other day, especially on the chorus, “Lights at midnight, halfway home…”, where he almost fell completely flat. I can’t fault him, after all, a song or two in he mentioned they had done “a million shows” in four days. “…At least it feels like it.” He added. Unfortunately, that’s a side effect of playing multiple shows in a day, and after seeing them the other night, I know what they’re capable of when they’re at one hundred percent. “”This next song is called Lovely Lies.” He said, as his band mates edged into the killer rock song. “…This next song is our most Texas song…” he announced after they finished the last song, then looked at the rest of the band to see if they agreed. “It’s not really about Texas…” he clarified, “…But it’s our most Texas song…” The song was “Just a Woman”, and Domo Domaracki helped get it going, with the almost bluesy notes he cranked out on his guitar. They followed it with their all out rock song “Rock ‘n Lola”, which really allowed bassist, Justin Emord, and Danny to let loose and roam about the stage and shredding on their instruments. With that, their short 21-minute set was almost up, but not before their cover of a rock classic. “…I know it’s night, but we’re gonna do this song anyway, just because it’s fun…’ Ryan stated, segueing them into “Sunglasses at Night”, which they do a great cover of, even with Ryan having an off day.

Honestly, no, they weren’t as good this time around as the other show of theirs I had caught, and I think I made the reason for that clear. But despite being his voice being shot, Ryan still acted like a professional frontman, and gave it his all singing, not trying to half-ass it or anything. And regardless, music wise, they still sounded excellent.

You can find the EP they have in ITUNES, along with enough singles to make another EP. And one of those singles is “Sunglasses at Night”.

As soon as they finished, it was on to Peckerheads, where Civil Twilight was getting ready to play a set.

Despite the band being a fairly big name act, I hadn’t even heard of them until seeing they were playing another free show down here, then decided to catch this one at Peckerheads instead.

The four-piece band, who originated from Cape Town, South Africa, was still setting up when we got there, and had amassed quite the crowd, all of whom seemed eager for the band to start.

They began their 25-minute long set with the explosive “Soldier”, and I liked how it eased you in. Kevin Dailey’s keyboard playing and the notes guitarist, Andrew McKellar, churned out, while soft, were more than enough to reel you in. It was the chorus where the song suddenly sprang to live, though, as singer and bassist, Steven McKellar, shouted, “…I don’t stop ‘til the end of the show I don’t stop ‘til my country says so I don’t know why I raise this hell I’m just a soldier, fighting for someone else…” The craftsmanship that went into the song was very noticeable live, and I loved the nice ebb and flow it had, which kept you fascinated throughout it. To say I was hooked would be an understatement. They slowed things down a little with another track from their self-titled album, Trouble”. It was on that one where the band, and in particular Steven’s voice, reminded me a lot of U2 and their frontman, Bono. It didn’t come across like they were trying to emulate that band, but regardless, that’s not a bad group to sound like. Steven set up their next song, saying that a fan had requested it, and went into a little speech about how when someone does request a song, a band should play it, because that’s such a huge compliment that someone does know the song and likes it so much. That was the gist of it, anyway, and earned Civil Twilight a lot of respect in my book. I’ve seen and heard stories of other bands who cuss at fans for requesting a song, so it’s nice to see a band that appreciates their fans enough that they’ll honor a request. The song was “Quiet In My Town”, which was the longest and most beautiful song of their set. “Today I heard that someone left this earth, that someone disappeared, left no mark here. Today I heard that someone just got up and left himself lying on the ground…” crooned Steven, who had switched out to a guitar for this song, or at least part of it. The somber mood it set conveyed the sadness perfectly, and was even beautiful in a sense, before transitioning into a full-scale rock song, when Steven got his bass back and Richard Wouters began pounding out the beats on the drums. The band wrote something else when they did that song, and it truly is a masterpiece. That brought them to the final song of their set, and saw Steven take over the keyboard duties, while Kevin got his bass in order to do “Letters From the Sky”. What really set this song off was Andrew playing his guitar with a bow, like how a violinist does, adding a pretty texture to the song, which also started out rather tranquil, but eventually became a force to be reckoned with.

That was it, and they started working to get their gear off stage, while some fans screamed, “But you have to play River!” The guys shrugged it off at first, but then looked at the sound guy, like they might do it if they had time. “I’m sorry, we’re out of time.” Steven informed the audience, and he seemed very genuine with that, seeming sorry that they couldn’t do this other song so many people wanted to hear.

I’m perfectly happy with what they did, though, and while more would have been nice, it was an amazing set they did nonetheless.

What I enjoyed most about them was how each song tells an actual story. There’s true depth and meaning to their music, which sadly doesn’t always seem to be a key factor in music these days.

They have a few festival shows happening this summer, one of which will be in Chattanooga, Tennessee in June, and the other will take place in July in Cincinnati, Ohio. Check out their TOUR DATES page for full info, and also head over to ITUNES and check out their two records.

As soon as they finished it was down the stairs and out the doors, making our way to The Dizzy Rooster where a Chicago based band, Hessler, was scheduled to be just starting.

They were indeed in full swing, and there were plenty of other people who wanted to see the band as well, making it hard to even push through the crowd to get back to where the stage was.

After finishing up the song they were on, they announced the next one was “Kamikazi”, which comes from their debut EP, “Bad Blood”. The slick guitar notes and rapid, loud drumbeats at the start made it an easy song to headbang to, but they really kicked it up several notches once Lariyah Daniels started singing. She, guitarists, Igz Kincaid and Frankie Sripada, and bassist, Erik Michael, ran all over the stage, not letting the tight, close conditions on stage restrict them in the least. That made it quickly apparent that the live show was where these guys excelled and that this was going to be an assault on all the senses. After powering through another song, they moved on to the darker, “Confessions”. There seemed to be a little more grit, piss and vinegar in Lariyah’s singing on this song than the others, especially on the last verse, “…Come to me, come to me, deadly sins. Raise your glass and let’s see who wins. I am my own God and I know it well, I forgive you father and I’ll see you in hell…” “This one’s called Taste the Lips.” Lariyah said, shortly after finishing the last song, as they kept things moving right along with another adrenaline pumping hard rock/metal song. Igz and Frankie had been adding some backing vocals periodically throughout those previous songs, but now Igz assumed more of the lead role on “Wicked World”. His voice was better than I was expecting, but the best part I thought was the way his voice intertwined with Lariyahs’ on this more co-sung track. “Rising Sign” was one of their most exhilarating songs of their set, and also featured one of the coolest and most memorable things I’ve ever seen a band do. Frankie and Igz took the center stage for some guitar solos, but they didn’t do it in the ordinary way. Each moved their guitar to their back, then each bent over, interlocking in a way. The way they did it, Frankie was facing the drum kit and Igz the crowd, and he played Frankie’s guitar like that, before they did a 180 so Frankie was facing the audience, doing a solo on Igzs’ guitar. Once they brought that song to an end, they did another from their EP, “Windy City Wild Child”, before concluding, I think, with “Last Alive” Or at least the crowd thought they were concluding the show. “Do y’all want to hear one more?!” Igz screamed, which was greeted with a good deal of fanfare, but the sound guy didn’t seem to approve. “Y’all need to make it quick.” He said. They did, and Igz screamed out the title of this last song, which was “Shark Attack”, and truly was the best way to end this memorable 36-minute long set.

I mentioned in my review of the previous night that one band put on the best overall show I saw down here in Austin, but Hessler by far put on the most vigorous performance. Like I said, they still managed to tear it up, despite the small stage, and there were even a few moments where Igz stood on a barrel that sit in front of the stage, rocking out a solo, and Lariyah did the same thing during another song.

Their stage presence and energy was out of this world and they were unrelenting with it. Definitely one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen.

The only thing with their set was I had a lot of trouble hearing the vocals, which were overpowered by all the instruments. I could understand bit and pieces, but I would have loved the show even more if they had really been audible.

Go, check out the band. You can find both of their albums and a single in ITUNES. Also, they will apparently be playing one day of Rocklahoma in Pryor, OK in late May. So if you plan on attending, check out Hessler. And for all their dates, go HERE.

Waterloo Records was the next stop, and getting there required walking several blocks west, arriving there about ten minutes after five.

Dawes was scheduled to start at five, and sure enough were already into their set. The parking lot outside of Waterloo was packed, though, and a spot with a good view of the stage was next to impossible to find, which resulted in not having a view of this Americana/Folk band.

“My Way Back Home” was the first song I heard them do, and was a good introduction to the band. I’d heard of them, but had never listened to their stuff before this, so I didn’t really know what they sounded like, but after hearing it, I loved it. They have the perfect Alt/Country/Americana/Folk sound, and Taylor Goldsmiths’ voice was built to sing it, as was demonstrated on their next song, “Someone Will”, from their newest album. They followed it with the final song from the “Nothing Is Wrong” album, “A Little Bit of Everything”, whose lyrics make you take pause and think about life, at least it did for me, and is one of the best story songs I’ve heard in a long time. “Fire Away” came next, and was unexpectedly the last song of their set, and upon finishing it Taylor apologized, simply saying they had evidently ran out of time. Thing was, he seemed as shocked as the fans were.

Especially after hearing them I was hoping for a little longer set than that, but what a taste this was. I’m definitely now a Dawes fan, and hopefully will be able to check out their show at Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas on June 1st, as part of the KXT Summer Cut concert, which will feature a ton of other awesome bands, both national and local Dallas bands. Dawes will also be on tour in support of their new album, so check out their TOUR DATES for  list of where they’ll be. You can also of course find all of their records in ITUNES.

Now it was time to make the hike back to downtown to start winding down this day…

(Check out the remaining post about my SXSW experience, which will be posted on April 19th.)

How often do I see an arena sized rock band? Not often at all, yet this night I found myself back at the American Airlines Center in Dallas for the second time in less than a year. The British rockers Muse were stopping by on their tour for the “2nd Law” album, and after hearing nothing but great things about their live show, I was looking forward to seeing it for myself… And seeing if they really did live up to all the hype.

Opening up for them was the Los Angeles based rock outfit known as Dead Sara, another band I’d heard some pretty positive things about.

Shortly before 7:30 the lights went out, as the four band members walked on stage and assumed their positions. From the nosebleed section they looked no bigger than ants, and it was hard to tell everything that was going on, but the cheap seats were the most affordable thing for me.

Anyway, they surprised me by opening their 34-minute long set with the final track on their self-titled record, “Sorry for it All”. “This song is not for you, it’s for everything I wish to be…” sang frontwoman, Emily Armstrong, her voice ringing out and enveloping the three level, 21,000+ capacity venue. Even when drummer, Sean Friday, guitarist, Siouxsie Medley, and bassist, Chris Null, brought the song roaring to life, the main focal point was still Emilys’ voice, which cut right to the bone. That slower song surprised me a little, but it ended up just being a warm-up, and the gritty rock ‘n’ roll was about to start, as Emily walked over and grabbed a guitar, segueing things almost directly into “Test On My Patience”. There was a dramatic shift from the gorgeousness of the first song, giving way to some pure, unadulterated rock sounds, and there was little downtime between that and the next song, as Chris cranked out a little bass solo, during which Sean joined him a little. They wound that right into the newest single from their 2012 record, “Lemon Scent”. Things really got serious here, with Emily snarling on the pre-chorus, “You’re not cut out for this, you’ve got that lemon scent. Fuck your instincts, everything you do is for somebody else…” Even as far removed from the stage as I was, I could still feel the intensity and aggressiveness of that track, and it was matched in their performance, particularly when Emily fell to her knees, then laid down on her back while she shredded out her guitar solo. It’s hard to get more rock ‘n’ roll than that. They, or rather Emily, briefly talked to the audience here and there, and during this little break she mentioned that they were glad to be back in Dallas, and that the least time they were here they performed at the storied venue known as Trees. “…That was one of the best shows we’ve ever done as a band…” she said, making me regret even more that I didn’t force myself to go to that show. The lull of the show came in the form of “Face to Face”, but they raised it back up with a newer song they churned out, “Blue Was the Feeling for You”. It was a pretty solid one, and was a mixture of both of the bands sides, having its softer, almost bluesy sound at times, while at other points Siouxsie, Sean and Chris were going full-throttle, and in the meantime Emilys’ voice was occasionally fluctuating between some pretty high register notes, to a gnarly scream.  They had, had my undivided attention for awhile now, and were reeling me further in with each song, when all of a sudden, they were on their last one for the night. Of course their closer was their lead single, “Weatherman”. Towards the end of it, Emily, who had ditched her guitar a song or two before, climbed up on one of the cabinets (bass or guitar, I couldn’t tell) and stood there for a few moments before leaping off it, ending the show in stupendous fashion.

To say my mind was blown would be an understatement, and I really wasn’t expecting that from the opening act.

I think everyone could agree a strong, energetic live show is something every band needs to really make an impression, and Dead Sara put on one of the most dynamic live shows I’ve seen. And I can only imagine what the experience was like for those standing down in the pit area, getting to see every little detail of it.

And it wasn’t just that, it was the presence they created. They worked the crowd, and if everyone in the AAC wasn’t enthralled by the performance, they certainly should have been.

Then you have the set of pipes that Emily possesses. She’s capable of an amazing range, hitting some high notes that sound near operatic at times, yet can scream well enough she could put the singers of even the best punk acts to shame. Because of that, I think it’s fair to say she has one of the best voices in the current mainstream music industry.

I’ll definitely be seeing them again, and hopefully before they really hit the big time, they do some more shows at more intimate venues like Trees, because I’d love to see them in a setting like that, where I can better enjoy the show. I could easily see them headlining arenas, though. The potential is more than there, they just need to grow their fan base some more.

Check out their albums in ITUNES, and whenever they do hit the road again, you’ll be able to find the dates on their OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

After that, I really did wonder how Muse would stack up against that, and I was about to find out…

The apparently sold out venue (I couldn’t see an empty seat in the house, while there were probably close to a thousand people down on the floor standing) erupted in cheers and applause when the lights dimmed, but it was still going to be several more minutes before the real show got underway.

Instead of the band coming right out and getting down to business, a pyramid of screens descended from their stage, completely covering the drum riser from where I sat. There were at least several dozen screens, all of which then projected a small portion of the post apocalypticesque video for the “The 2nd Law: Isolated System”, while the song played over the PA system.

Usually stuff like that fails to impress me, because I personally find it to be a distraction from the actual performance, but I can’t of any other way to put it than saying this was pretty damn cool.

Nearly five minutes later, while the song faded out, singer and guitarist, Matthew Bellamy, bassist, Chris Wolstenholme, and drummer, Dominic Howard, took the stage to much fanfare, and ripped right into the lead track from “The 2nd Law”, “Supremacy”. I had wondered about Matthews’ voice and if any “studio magic” was used on it, and I quickly found out it really was all him. He’s got a real rich voice, and can change things up at the drop of a hat, going from singing “…The time, it has come to destroy…” in his more normal register, before suddenly wailing the next line, “Your supremacy…”. They did a lot of cuts from their 2012 record, but of course they had to include some of their older hits, too, like the 2006 track, “Supermassive Black Hole”. Their stage was utilized again during that song, and when singing the song title, those same words quickly scrolled from right to left across the panels on the back of the stage. They kept their set primarily about the music, doing very little taking aside from the basics, like thanking everyone for coming out, and soon after that last song, Dominic launched them into the more dancy, “Panic Station”. Yeah, it was a big change of pace from what they had done thus far, and even from the remainder of their set, but I liked that. It shows that Muse isn’t pigeonholing themselves solely into the alt/rock genre Besides, they pull of that song and vibe incredibly well. They got back into rock mode with a song from the album that first made me a fan, 2009’s “The Resistance”. In fact, they did what is essentially the title track, “Resistance”, and everyone shouted with excitement when one of their touring members began the notes on the keyboard. It was a highlight of their set, and stood out as a mixture of beauty and in your face rock, with the former coming in on the verses (both musically and lyrically), and the latter on each chorus. “Hysteria” was one of a few songs they did from the “Absolution” record, but they tacked on a little something special at the end of it. Matthew walked out onto a smaller part of the stage where the fans (and security guards) were gathered. A stage hand then ran out to where he was and placed a cowboy hat on his head, as he proceeded to play “The Star Spangled Banner” on his axe. It sounded awesome, and the fans ate it up. “Knights of Cydonia” was next on the setlist, and gave the trio a chance to just rock out for a few minutes, giving the lengthy intro to the song. It was then you got to see what stellar musicianship Chris, Dominic and Matthew all have, and watching them attack their respective instruments like that made for one of the best moments of the show. There had been so much going on, it could have been easy to miss the piano that seemed to magically appear on stage, and now it was time to put it to use. Dominic busted into what ended up being a killer drum solo, and near the end of it Chris added some light bass notes to the mix, and as they were doing that, Matthew seated himself behind the piano. They wound all that right into another track from “The 2nd Law”, “Explorers”. That more ballad type of song brought things way down, but not enough to kill the atmosphere they had already created, and wasn’t a bad song choice by any means. They knew not to keep things at that level for very long though and picked things back up with “Follow Me”, during which Matthew acted solely as a frontman, not using the either the guitar or piano. Not having to be stationed in front of a mic made all the difference, allowing him to roam about the stage, walking towards the front to engage the fans there, and even on either side of it, where it jutted out towards some of the fans in their seats. Also later on in the show when he again just had to worry about holding the microphone, he made his way all around the stage, climbing up on the back ledge at one side, then walking down the stairs on the other. There was even one point where he left the stage completely and, under heavy guard, walked through small sections of the audience. Matthew used the piano again for their next song, as they treated everyone to a very rare song. “…I think this might be the first time we’ve ever even played this in Dallas…” said Matthew, after announcing it was the first song on their first ever record. I doubt anyone who came to this show was expecting to hear “Sunburn”, yet here they were doing this old gem. Oddly enough, despite being over ten years old, that song is still on par with the material they’ve written for their last couple of records. Point is, how many bands first release starts out at that high-grade quality and stays consistent for over a decade? I don’t think there are many. They exploded back into rock mode with “Liquid State”, before doing another one from “The 2nd Law”, the simple yet catchy, “Madness”. It seemed that by now the set was probably on its last leg, and they affirmed that with a fan favorite. They didn’t go right into, though, rather they played a few seconds of “House of the Rising Sun” as an intro, before Chris was suddenly left alone doing a bass solo, and everyone roared with excitement as they realized it was “Time is Running Out”. “Sing it for me, Dallas!” shouted Matthew, wanting to get some crowd participation, and right on cue, everyone picked up where he left off. “…Bury it, I won’t let you bury it. I won’t let you smother it. I won’t let you murder it…” the crowd said in perfect unison, before Matthew took back over on the chorus. In my personal opinion, that was the best song of the night, due to its sheer grit, however everyone also seemed to really enjoy “Undisclosed Desires”. Their pyramid of screens (which had been used throughout their set) again descended. Appearing on it this time was a roulette wheel of sorts, with a few different song titles appearing in the spaces that would traditionally be numbers. The ball spun around for what seemed like forever, before eventually settling in a spot that read “Stockholm Syndrome”, and no sooner did it land then the group tore into the track. I know I said that about “Time Is Running Out”, but man, this was a real knockout song, too. “The 2nd Law: Unsustainable” might not have required much singing, but it was heavy on the effects, specifically smoke, which suddenly spewed upwards from multiple points on the front floor of the stage, all synched perfect to the music at the very beginning. As it wound down, the pyramid was let down one final time, engulfing the drum riser, though Dominic’s silhouette was occasionally shown on the screens. They eased into the song, but soon enough it became evident that it was “Uprising”, which wrapped up their 89-minute long set. Matthews’ voice rang out on the chorus, “They will not force us, and they will stop degrading us, and they will not control us. We will be victorious, so come on.”, making it into a real anthem, and a message I bet everyone could get behind. They extended the outro of it, really cutting loose, jamming and rocking out, which gave it the grand finale everyone had surely been expecting.

Afterwards, many people began to leave, while others shouted for one more. Four minutes passed, and I began to wonder if an encore would even happen, and right then, the lights again went out as the guys of Muse retook the stage.

After again thanking everyone for coming out, they kicked off the 9-minute long encore with “Starlight”. As politically charged as many of their songs are, that song gave the show a more happy, upbeat vibe, which I didn’t even know was needed until they churned it out. They weren’t quite finished yet, though, and had one last offering from “The 2nd Law”, “Survival”, and much like the main set, it served as an epic way to close things out.

“Thank you, Dallas. We’ll see you all again, whenever we come back.” Matthew said while surveying the crowd, before joining his band mates in heading backstage, while all the fans hurried out themselves.

I had heard that Muse put on one of the best live arena shows of this current age, and after witnessing it first hand, I’d have to agree.

It wasn’t just the music and their performance, it was the visuals and lights. 99% of the time, I hate when bands use that stuff. I find it subtracts from the show and that most bands that use projections hide behind them. Instead, I prefer bands like Dead Sara, who put it all out there and make the show entirely about their performance.

The lights and visuals that Muse used just enhanced the overall experience, though. And it really was an experience. The lights were dazzling, shining back and forth, intertwining with one another, and at other times the lights waved up and down over the crowd. It made for an incredible hour and thirty-eight minutes, and the show was something that will stick with me for a very long time.

If you’ve never seen Muse live, you must go check them out next time they come through your area. I know I’ll be seeing them whenever they get back to Dallas. Hell, I might even try to check out the shows in the immediate surrounding markets.

If you don’t own their music, purchase it in ITUNES. You can also find all their tour dates on their OFFICIAL WEBSITE. They have shows booked through September all over the world (including a few remaining dates in the U.S.)

Now, here’s the one thing I dislike about arena shows; You (the fan) lack the intimacy with the artist. Yeah, I know if I had dropped enough money I could have been standing down on the floor, getting a good view of everything, but money is an object. Out of the over five hundred local concerts I’ve attended over the last seven years, I’ve realized that’s what I like most about them. You can get up close and personal with the bands. It’s not even about the band being your “little secret” to me. I don’t care how many people are fans of a band or even out at the show, it’s purely about seeing a band on a decent sized stage and getting up close and personal with them. That’s part of why I don’t see arena rock shows all that often, and why I’ll probably never make a real habit of it. Only on rare occasions, like when Muse stops by.

Austin may be the host city for SXSW, but how many cities host pre SXSW concerts? Not many. In fact, while a band might do a “SXSW Tour”, it’s only the three major music cities in North Texas that get to host a real pre show, just the day before the bands head down to the state capitol.

Well, this night The Prophet Bar in Dallas was hosting such a show, with several touring acts stopping through, while a couple local acts were on the bill to round it out.

Up first was a band from New York, Northern Faces, who sadly, I did not see. I just couldn’t get out there early enough (I think the show began a little after seven).

I heard great things however, and after listening to some stuff from their debut EP, “Southern Places”, they do sound pretty amazing. Really wish I had seen them, but hopefully they’ll get back through Dallas sometime before next year’s SXSW.

When I did arrive the second band, the McKinney based Lantic, was almost all set to play.

They didn’t do much for me. Their singer’s voice was pretty bland in my opinion, which was actually my chief complaint. On the positive side, though, the bands bassist, was nothing short of outstanding. He was the entire show and put on a spectacular performance, slapping the bass like a madman. He was far more energetic than his other band mates, and had my full attention for the duration of their set.

Following them was another touring act, this one from Lawrence, Kansas. They went by the unique name of Cowboy Indian Bear, and with a more offbeat name like that, I was curious about what my ears were about to hear.

With the opening number of their 36-minute set, they established themselves as being a tight quartet, often getting some ethereal harmonies going, which occasionally included keyboardist, Katlyn Conroy, bassist, Martinez Hillard, and drummer, Beau Bruns, joining singer and guitarist, CJ Calhoun, to create some beautiful music. After that song, they mentioned how glad they were to be back in Dallas and how much they like the city. A brief dialogue started between them and the crowd, and something was said prompting Martinez to ask what county they were in, and he planned to give it a shout out. “Dallas.” Someone said. “Seriously? This is Dallas county, named after the city? That’s cool…” he said, giving props to the county. That then led them to their next song and single from their upcoming “Live Old, Die Young” record, “Does Anybody See You Out?”. It’s a gorgeous little song, with a bit of a haunting quality to it, specifically on the bridge, “…I’ll grind you up and spit you out…”, which gets repeated for a good minute or so. By the end of that, I was fully captivated by the band, and they moved on to their next one, which CJ said was titled “Jennifer”. It has a very strong drum bed, something I don’t always pay much attention do, but it builds at steady rate, and truly is the backbone of the song. They followed it with another song, which I think might have come from their first album, “Each Other All the Time”, and afterwards prepared for their next song. They chatted with the crowd a lot during the downtime between songs, and now Katlyn said they hadn’t planned to talk this much, and rather focus on playing as many songs as possible. It worked out well, though, and made them come across as being pretty personable. They tackled a few more songs from their new album, like “Seventeen”, portions of which were sung by both CJ and Katlyn, whose voices mixed together marvelously. I believe it was “Let It Down” that they did next, before switching things up for their last song, which was more percussion based, and had CJ adding some extra beats on a tom.

Cowboy Indian Bear left me thoroughly impressed. They have a solid indie/rock sound, and the multiple harmonies add an entrancing layer to their music. I know that is becoming a big thing in music now, but they don’t sound like they’re doing simply to conform or “fit in”, rather like that’s the direction their evolution has taken them. And speaking of evolution, there is a huge difference between their first record and this new one. They sound much slicker and more polished now, and at one point in the show Katlyn mentioned that they’ve spent the last three years crafting “Live Old, Die Young”. It’s believable, too, ‘cause you can tell a lot of time and effort was put into writing those song.

And in regards to the harmonies, every member has a great voice and is more than capable of singing lead on their own, so combined they made the band a force to be reckoned with.

Their calendar is pretty empty at the moment, but they do have a gig lined up in Brooklyn, New York on May 2nd at Cameo Gallery. And be sure to check out their records in ITUNES. “Live Old, Die Young” won’t officially drop until April I believe, however they were selling advanced copies on this tour. It’s worth the money, trust me.

Baskery followed them, and the trio of sisters had flown here all the way from Stockholm, Sweden.

Their set up was pretty minimal compared to the other acts, with Greta Bondesson sitting at center stage, surrounded by a few basic pieces of a drum kit, like a small bass drum, a tom, and I believe a snare, while a tambourine was rigged to pedal she could step on to play it. Sunniva Bondesson stood over on stage left, guitar in hand, and Stella Bondesson used an instrument you don’t see a whole lot of, and upright bass. I’m pretty certain they opened with a song from their “New Friends” album, “Shame and Dance”. They finished it, and the applause from the crowd quickly started. Everyone seemed pretty taken by their style of folk rock, as well they should have. And I know that if I hadn’t already been in front of the stage, I would have felt compelled to move up there after that tune. They talked with the audience for a second afterwards, and I think it was Sunniva who asked, “…Where is you all?…” One of her sisters then had a little fun with the comment, correcting her, “It’s where are you people.” They deserve props though, ‘cause for English not to be their first language, they spoke it very well, and there was no real language barrier anyone, the audience or the band, had to get through. Even their accents, while noticeable, weren’t all that thick, and disappeared completely when they sang. Sunniva then switched out her acoustic guitar for an electric, as they got ready to do a newer song from their forthcoming album, “The Shadow”. They did another song from it, which they said was about a plane crash, and while on the subject of planes, they asked everyone if they were afraid a plane crashing into one of the buildings, which they had been talking about, marveling at how tall some of them were. “…It’s a miracle that they don’t…” Sunniva said, before they moved onto “The Big Flow”.  For a trio that lacked the “traditional” full band set up, these girls had already delivered an intense show, and they stepped things up even more with another track off the “New Friends” album, “Throw a Bone”. The three voices intertwined beautifully with one another, often dancing around each other, with one singing the lead, and the other two adding the backing vocals, which were every bit as strong as the lead. Upon finishing it, they mentioned that they were on their way to SXSW, also pointing out that this was the first show they had ever done in Dallas, and they were glad they could play on a more obscure night and still have an audience to play to. They offered up another catchy new one with “The No No”, which they said was a little bit of “Swedish soul”, and sadly, that brought them to the final song they had in their 36-minute long set, but not before talking with the crowd a little more. They shouted the other bands, naming Exit 380. “…I think that’s the name of our hotel.” Sunniva said, cracking a joke that no one really seemed to get. She noticed this and pointed out that no one was getting their Swedish sense of humor. “…I’m saying we’re staying with the guys tonight…” she said. They also revealed they have that stereotypical idea of Texas, by saying that when they think of Dallas, they think cowboy hats. You can’t blame ‘em, even people in other parts of the U.S. think Texas is nothing but farmland where everyone rides horses around, but that couldn’t be more further from the truth. “…It’s good to see Dallas has its funky areas, too…” Greta said. They then set up their final song, which they said was about their hometown and called “Out-of-Towner”. Now I wouldn’t have minded hearing a lot more music from their “Fall Among Thieves” record, but out of all the songs on it, I’m glad that was the one they chose to play. They started it with an amazing soulful intro, which was a mix of harmonies and Sunniva passionately belting out a line from the song, all of which was done a cappella. They then fired up the guitar, banjo and bass and ripped into the song, bringing their set to a fiery finish.

What a show. I had listened to their music after seeing they were on this bill and instantly became a fan, and live they were everything I thought they would be and then some.

These sisters are a well oiled machine, and I’d bet that family bond helps make them a little tighter than most bands. Each one has a superb voice, yet they all sound similar enough to one another that it’s not some drastic change when they switch up who’s doing the singing. And despite the instruments being scaled back in comparison to other bands, I guarantee you that these ladies makes just as much noise as a five-piece rock outfit does.

Check out their older album, “Fall Among Thieves”, and be on the lookout for their new record sometime this year. After hearing a few of the cuts from it, I’m rather excited to hear the full thing. You can also find a list of all their upcoming shows on their OFFICIAL WEBSITE, and if you live in Europe, they may be coming to a town near you this May through August.

Closing out the night was the bigger name hometown act, Fort Worth’s, Exit 380. Sure, I had just seen the band a few weeks before this, but I don’t see them nearly as much as I would like, so I was looking forward to seeing them again. Plus, they had dusted off some of their more rock tunes at that other show, and this one was going to showcase the bands current country sound.

As usual, their set began with the lead track from the “Townies” record, “Run For The Gold”, whose lyrics conjure images of a time long gone. Before their next tune, vocalist, Dustin Blocker, mentioned how much he enjoyed playing with touring bands. “…It’s like I was saying earlier, these bands wouldn’t be driving all the way from New York, or even flying overseas, if they weren’t good…” he said. I had never really thought of it in that sense until he made that comment to me earlier when we were talking, but that’s a very valid point. And come to think of it, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a bad touring act. Aaron Borden then started them into their next song, “Daddy Was A Freight Train”, by picking away at his lap steel guitar. Thus far it was just like the previous show I had seen, not that I’m complaining about that. I noticed the difference with the third song though, and I believe it was before that one that Blocker pointed out to everyone that they were going to be playing folk songs that told some little stories. He then busted out one of his harmonicas, playing it briefly, before he sang the opening line of “Little Trip” at the same instance that Jody McCauley came in on the drums. It was all done very precisely, making them out to be a very tight band, which they in fact are. Jeremy Hutchison switched out to an acoustic guitar for the next song, “Soul Burning Train”, and at the chorus, when it really takes off, it undeniable becomes one of the best songs in their arsenal. In the break between it and the next tune, Blocker talked about this odd Sunday night gig. “…Sunday night, who knew it was so much different from Saturday night…” he said. They moved on, and Jeremy busted out his mandolin for a few songs. The first was my absolute favorite newer song of theirs, “Missy Gardner”. “The old train depot was vacant of people. Their cars must have drove them away. But Sue is still standing with feet firmly planted, until my return she will stay…” Blocker softly sang on the more tranquil song. The lyrics are the best part of it, and while a lot of their songs do tell stories, I think it tells the best, or at least it’s the one I’m most drawn to. A track of theirs that was featured on a Hand Drawn Records compilation CD came next, but not after a little, shall we say, “mishap”. Aaron began his part on the electric guitar, but Blocker quickly pulled the plug on it all together, pointing out that he thought the guitar was in the wrong key. “…You can’t argue this…” he said, pointing at his harmonica, and even playing it again to make sure the guitar didn’t match up with. They tried it again after Aaron made some quick adjustments, and this time they were good to go on “A Song About Us”. “This next song is called Where Do We Go From Here?” Said Blocker, segueing them into another slower song, which still has a tight rhythm section supplied by Jon Hutchison on bass and Jody. While Jeremy swapped back to his electric guitar, Blocker brought up the fact that this was a school night, and made a remark that, that was something he hadn’t had to worry about in quite some time. He and Aaron then had a conversation, mostly off mic, but you could hear Blocker recalling his college days, then sounding like he was in disbelief that, that had already been about ten years ago. That banter gave the show a slight comedic element, even if that wasn’t the intention, and at least made me laugh a bit. At this point, it sounded like they switched the remaining two songs of their 40-minute set around, opting to do another one I was hoping for right then, and that was “Cajun Rock (A Violent Man)”. Live, it’s one of the more intense things they currently do, but it pales in comparison to an older gem of theirs that concluded their set. They went all electric for “Quid Pro Quo”, and even though the crowd had thinned out at this point, you could still feel the energy jump tenfold as they tore into the song, and it was an incredible note to end on.

As much as I liked the last show of theirs I saw, I missed hearing some of these folksy tunes, but I didn’t realize exactly how much until I heard them live this night. Sure, I like their rock stuff from years ago and would love to hear some of those back in the setlist one day, but all the songs on “Townies” make it one of the best albums Exit 380 has released over their nearly 14 year career. And even with the somewhat slower music, they still manage to keep their live shows rocking, and they should easily hold your interest.

So go ahead and check out their music for yourself in either ITUNES or BANDCAMP. The next few shows they have include a trip to Austin on April 27th, where they’ll perform at Maggie Mae’s. Then on May 11th they’ll be doing a hometown gig at The Wild Rooster in Fort Worth.

This was an incredible night of music, and those two touring acts I caught alone made it worth it, while Exit 380 was just the icing on the cake. In fact, this show was so great I chose to go to it over staying at home and watching The Walking Dead… That’s saying something.

Oh, and in just a few short days after this, I, too, would travel down to Austin to see what all the fuss about SXSW is about.