You know I decide to tell myself, “Hey you're broke as fuck and could stand to take a few shows off,” so I did and then what happens this week I decide to just go to something like 3 shows in one week because yeah fuck it why not and GOD FUCKING DAMN did this week deliver so here's an abridged account of some of the bands I saw over the past few day's with some very terribly taken photos and links to all their Facebook Pages in the titles because that's easier than posting a bunch of audio clips.
So the first two shows I saw were at the lovely Record bar which in all honesty may be one of my favorite concert venues in this damn city with a wonderful atmosphere, a good staff, and some great booking choices this place is just phenomenal.
The first show I saw was on the 12th and it was a bit of a SXSW launch show for some bands and I manged to catch the first 3 before deciding I had to leave because of work obligations and at this show I saw:
These guy's were interesting a Blue Grass harmony focused bundle of energy that made some very catchy little tunes and upon re-listening really do have some great harmonies. I couldn't really say too much because it's been a couple of day's and my mind is pretty fried but I do remember talking to some of these guy's and finding them to be some nice people along with some really good voices I'd recommend them to anyone who's a fan of a more country or blue grass sound.
I've written about these guy's before and had a great time seeing them even though they had the unfortunate task of being followed by two mind blowingly great sets so I've had a hard time articulating just how god damn good these guy's are and this show they just kind of continued that trend of being a surprisingly bad ass fucking live show.
They provide a real energy and tone that just kind of are like a scene in a movie of the coolest rock band on the planet playing and their chemistry and onstage banter is pretty on point with them providing a very natural vibe to an effortlessly great performance that's been pretty consistent when compared to the first time I saw them so yeah this bands a bit of a hidden gem and still pleasantly great.
It's been a minute since I've seen these guy's and covered them here on Sam's Song of the Day and since the last time I saw them and a couple of line up changes they've some how managed to actually really grow pretty substantially with a new drummer that was a fucking machine just pounding away and while they didn't have a bass player they managed to still deliver on the various quality cuts that Bad Seed as an album presents and in some cases are playing significantly tighter on all fronts than what's actually recorded with this show maybe being the most on point I've seen them play and there's a song they've been testing around called Other Team that was just a brutally exceptional tune and them doing a 3 part harmony with the drummer really was quite bad ass and I can only hope they record it soon because I'd really like people to hear just how good it really is.
A couple of day's later I continued my yearly tradition of seeing an exceptional show on national PI day by seeing what may be in contention for the single best god damn show I've seen this year when I saw B R O T H E R, The Griswolds and DREAMERS.
What's funny is I saw these guy's almost exactly one year ago from this show because I saw them play on St. Patrick's day and I can't lie in one year they have just grown exponentially and this show was just a crazy fucking example of that growth because this set was just the tightest and best I've seen this band play ever.
They completely had the crowd sold on them and managed to really hold their own and I really got a sense that they really are starting to get a sound to them that's more than just a Kansas City 1975 and I can only hope they put out a record soon because they really are proving why I've followed them for a year now.
This band knows and anyone who has followed this blog that I fucking adore this band and This Album Does Not Exist is an exceptional record and this show was for all intense purposes just pure fucking unadulterated magic in it's purest form and while I didn't get a set list or get to say too much to all of them they delivered in a way that left me speechless and just wanting more. This band is just a captivating and energetic show that worked over the packed crowd quite well and had me jumping like a little school girl at points as I sang along with every song and felt the same surge of pure joy as they ended their set with Wolves which after almost 2 years now still hits me as hard as it ever has.
Can this band just headline a tour already and do that album front to back that'd be so fucking cool.
So I haven't seen this band since they opened Buzz Beachball in 2015 and my fucking god did they go places since then right from the start this band had the whole venue hooked and at the end every one and their mother was just completely blown away at a band that in only a few years has just managed to become one of the best god damn show's you'll ever see.
They have a Glass Animals vibe in how they know how to craft incredibly groovy tunes that make bodies move and they craft some infectiously catchy and easy to sing along chorus' that at points all they needed to do was hold the microphone at the crowd and have everyone in attendance sing the songs for them and that stage was hardly able to contain them because they were all sorts of either interacting with the front row the whole time taking phones and giving people hella dope snapchat stories or just jumping into the crowd all together which was fucking awesome.
This band was special and this show was just pure magic from beginning to end from all the bands involved and even now day's later typing this up I'm still just baffled by the quality of what was done this night.
3 day's later after getting my mind thoroughly blown at this record bar show to celebrate St Patrick's day I figured I'd go to a free show up here in Power and Light to see Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, Atlas Genius, and Night Riots. Also I have to make note that this show unusually went completely on schedule and was over and done with before 11 pm which was actually pretty nice if not kind of odd to see a show go so smooth so I'd have to say good job to all the people who worked this night and sadly this year I didn't get a single set list which was a bummer but hey you win some you lose some but onto the set reviews.
These guy's were really a solid set with a lot of energy that got the crowd really pumped and ready for the nights festivities and in about 30 minutes they really made me think a lot better about them then I did going in and hearing a small snipped of some Kendrick Lamar along with them doing all sorts of cool things with some drums and the whole band basically running a train on a drum set this show was amusing and most certainly will have me on the look out the next time they come to town.
(not pictured them running a train on a drum set but close enough)
I'd been following this band for a few years now and finally getting to see them I was very happy their set was filled with some super tightly grooved tunes that went on for a while and managed to really impress especially their interesting but bad ass choice to cover Dead or Alive's, “You Spin me round,” which was fucking awesome and their rendition of Tears for Fears, “Everybody wants to Rule the World,” was pretty fucking dope to but for me the real highlight of their set was the ever so REM tinged If So which is still as great now as it was the first time I heard it a couple of years ago. These guy's were fucking dope and they've really just kind of managed to carve out a real niche for themselves.
SO I thought the Griswolds had a crowd at the palm of their hands so did Mr. McMahon here who put on a show that for lack of a better way to describe it felt like 2005 didn't stop because almost everyone around me was jumping, singing, and completely losing their shit as this guy brought 90 solid minutes of piano based awesome and an energy that was just infectious with plenty of his new songs holding up very nicely live and the only real callbacks to years past being a fucking spectacular rendition of Dark Blue and Woke up in a Car along with an interestingly stripped back cover of Empire of the Sun's Walking in a Dream this guy has been doing this since 98 and it feels like he hasn't missed a beat.
This show was fucking great but in all honesty 3 shows in a week is pretty tiring and while I liked all the sets I saw by this point I think I got all I could really handle so forgive the fact that this article is kind of sloppy and rushed because this was a lot to take in and write up about for you guy's.
OH and because I never do this here's a few pics of me with Night Riots and Atlus Genius
Obviously I'm so good at this whole taking pictures with people thing aren't I?
No comments:
Post a Comment