Based on the number of tour vehicles, one might have guessed a double, double bill — the stripped-down staging indicated otherwise. For rock’s reigning duo, The Black Keys, seem capable of supporting their show out of a panel van, but bring a fleet of vehicles to ensure that their range of musical influences and interests could just as readily be brought out for display.
It was a night of mutual obsession with fun. packed the house on Tuesday night. The love affair between Nate Reuss and Houston was palpable from the onset of the show, admiration flowing back and forth from under the lights to the densely filled hall of Warehouse Live.
After an epic Friday night, you might think that one would want to rest on his laurels. You don’t know one very well.
Saturday would be all about Dr. Dog, the indie rock band out of the Philly area. First the excitement and the heavy rotation of their albums, then the in-store performance at Cactus Music, all of it leading up to a jam-packed (literally and musically) performance at Fitzgerald’s.
The Loop Scoop continues its tenuous Reality Bites references with Evan Dando’s latest incarnation of The Lemonheads making an appearance at Fitzgerald’s last Friday to a near-sellout, enthusiastic, relatively mature (for Fitz) crowd. Maintaining our reputation for loud conversations during quiet songs, didn’t appear to affect the reputationally-prickly Dando, who in fact was clearly enjoying the performance.
I’ve only ever heard good things about G. Love and Special Sauce concerts. When all you get is tales of positive experiences, getting your hopes up is a natural occurrence. As show time approached, you could find Richard and I tossing back song titles we hoped to hear and stories we hoped to make our loved ones jealous for missing out. After an energetic set filled with bass solos, blasting harmonicas, the occasional rapping break down and a four-song encore that included two cover songs, we had enough material to brag about for the coming year.
The show started the minute I walked in the door on Thursday night. The Docs had already said their hellos and were on their way into the first song while I was grabbing a beer from the bar. The first question popped into my head: Had I just walked into a surprise performance by Kings of Leon? That’s the world I have to accept as the current generation of rockers finds their way into a spotlight, they’ve been looking up to bands from my early adulthood.
When I saw that The Knux were coming to Houston, I immediately marked it on my calendar. They are one of those bands that I had instantly fallen in love with for no particular reason. An off-beat hip hop duo out of New Orleans with quirky lyrics and solid beats and riffs.
We walked into Fitzgerald’s just as Kids at the Bar started warming up the crowd with their set behind their laptop and mixers. The weather was turning colder, so only a few people were lingering on the upstairs patio. Either that, or there were an inordinate amount of fans under the smoking age present at the show. Or maybe my chosen minority is becoming increasingly extinct.
We dedicate this experience to our favorite place in the world, Mango Beach…
It was a fine, Monday night when the Loopster congregated for our weekly meeting. We cut it a little bit short because there was more important business to attend to: Continuing our massive amount of live music coverage. Alexander had his camera packed up and was excited to see Architecture in Helsinki after hearing rave reviews of their set at Fun Fun Fun Fest. Me? I’m always along for the ride.
“Hey, I think that’s the guy that signed my shirt last time… Grant!” says the insta-fan that attended the last Generationals show not-so-many moons ago. She somewhat implied that she wanted verification for her discovery, but before anybody could say a word she was approaching the spectacled half of the pop tandem.
