Event: Free Week
Venue: Mohawk
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: 9 January 2016
Apparently there is a
tradition in Austin of booking a ton of local bands for free shows
during the first week of January, as this week is typically one of
the worst attended for concerts around the country. Somehow I'd
failed to catch wind of this in previous years, but I was well aware
of it this time, and I decided to make it to at least one of these
shows despite a busy week and minimal willingness to actually get out
of the house. (Apparently I too am guilty of reclusiveness at this
time of year, probably due to something about the January cold and
recovery from holiday excesses.) I ended up just going to this one
event, but there were solid lineups at venues all over town all week
long. The one I chose was sponsored by the consistently on-the-mark
people at Levitation,
which is perhaps why this lineup leaned so heavily psychedelic.
[Moving Panoramas.]
Next up was Christian
Bland & the Revelators, whose frontperson is best known as
the guitarist of The Black Angels. I'd heard enough about this band to be curious, but
I was getting disheartened by their frustrations to get the mix right
while soundchecking. When they finally got going, it was immediately
clear that the star of their show was their drummer, Bob Mustachio.
He was incredibly active, but he always played just the right thing.
His driving force brought most of the energy to the songs. Most of
the songs lived in a very old-school psychedelic rock space, like
they could have been made by a stoner psych band in 1968. The
deliberately retro keyboard, heavy reverb, and fuzzed-out haze all
spoke to a bygone era, for better or worse. This was reinforced by a
straightforward but solid take on Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam"
(although they confusingly ended with a cover of Buddy Holly's "Peggy
Sue", which has never been a favorite of mine).
Christian Bland himself
had a good guitar sound, but his voice was heavily effected for the
entire set, including when he was just chatting to the audience, so
he was rendered entirely incomprehensible. I could forgive that, but
unfortunately there was an even weaker link: the keyboard. Either the
instrument was simply out of tune or the keyboardist was just playing
poorly. In any case, it didn't help that the volume level of the
instrument varied greatly from note to note such that it was often
inaudible and then suddenly way too loud.
[Christian Bland & the Revelators.]
I took a break inside
to warm up and see Hidden Ritual. They had a sort of dark,
hazy post-punk vibe. The singer wore sunglasses and mumbled sparsely
into his microphone in a manner that was not particularly
enthralling. However, I was reasonably impressed by the bassist, as
he seemed to be driving most of the harmonic and rhythmic qualities
of the band. His sound was thick, punchy, and insistent. The rest of
the band seemed a bit cold and thin in comparison. The drummer was
apparently unmiked and nearly inaudible, and despite having the bass
drum lifted off the ground like another tom, his style seemed
constrained and unsophisticated. The keyboardist seemed particularly
odd and spent most of his time hunched over his instrument, engaged
in a ritual that did not seem to produce much actual sound. They
reminded me of the early, goth-minimalist style of early Cure
albums, but sadly without a comparable standard of songwriting.
[Hidden Ritual.]
Although I was excited
to see Ringo Deathstarr last year at Levitation, I ended up feeling like they weren't quite
what I was expecting. This time, they stayed a bit more in line with
the classic shoegaze sound of their studio recordings. However, they
again exhibited a heavy side that isn't entirely documented on record
– their thick, swirling energy often burst into an intense rock
passage with blazing, wild guitar solos. Their whole set was very
active and fun to watch. I liked the basslines and appreciated that
the bassist got more opportunities to sing, both on her own and
alongside the guitarist.
[Ringo Deathstarr.]
I may have seen Golden Dawn Arkestra twice last year, but they've rapidly become my
favorite Austin band. They bring such a strong and unmistakable vibe
to their shows that it's hard not to get wrapped up in it. They
manage to be incredibly funky, very danceable, thoroughly
psychedelic, and bizarrely mystical, all at once. At this show, I
counted thirteen members, and their configuration was different than
past concerts I'd seen. There was again a
keyboardist/vocalist/saxophonist and a
xylophonist/keyboardist/vocalist, but this time five horns players, a
bassist, one guitarist, two percussionists, and only two dancers.
There was a lot of movement on stage and it did seem like many
members switched roles and positions throughout the set. The whole
thing has a great upbeat, exuberant tone and I don't know how anyone
could resist their grooves. They have a wondrous mix of style and
substance. I eagerly await their debut full-length album.
[Golden Dawn Arkestra. Note bandleader Topaz McGarrigle climbing up the wall.]
Scores:
Moving Panoramas: B+
Christian Bland &
the Revelators: C+
Hidden Rituals: C-
Ringo Deathstarr: B+
Golden Dawn Arkestra: A