Friday at Mohawk
There are a few Austin bands left on my list that I want to see, and Friday I headed down to The Mohawk to see one of them, The Ugly Beats. Shapes Have Fangs was first. I could hear them as I was driving by to park, and could tell already that I liked them. They were a lot like what I expected of The Ugly Beats, with 60's-ish melodies, clean guitars, and unison back-up vocals, often by all three supporting band members. The lead singer jumped around a bit, showing plenty of enthusiasm.
The Ugly Beats were everything I expected and I really enjoyed their show. I discovered them in my usual fashion, by catching a video on MEtv. They opened with that song that I was already familiar with, and that enabled me to get into the show immediately. I loved the keyboard sound, though I didn't catch what it was she was playing (it wasn't a Nord for once). She was smiling the whole show--so much so that for awhile I thought it might be a nervous smile, but I believe it was genuine. Very garage band sounding, with 60's style drum fills, clean and easy guitar chords, and unison back-up vocals. They were having a good time on stage with the band members often leaving their positions to go play next to another, share their mic, or other goofing off such as the keyboard player fingering the bass while the bass player strummed. For the last few songs they brought up a girl in a red dress and long boots to dance on stage. I seemed to be the only guy dancing for awhile, but my efforts were rewarded when a cute girl danced with me for a couple of songs. Some of their music was tricky with 7/8 measures and switching between rock and a waltz tempos, but I can pick up on these things quickly and still looked good dancing. I bought a CD and will buy their other one next time, I expect.
The Fleshtones from NY were the headlining band. One of their claims to fame is that they are the only 70's NYC punk band never to have an inactive year. Unfortunately, their show, while "wild and crazy," didn't feel spontaneous at all, as if it was totally rehearsed and had been done a million times. The guitar player was too much. His loud shirt was unbuttoned half way, he wore a flat cap, and had a goofy smile frozen on his face. I had to laugh due to the number of guitar kicks he did. I swear he did one every couple of measure during the first song. The lead singer duct taped his microphone to the stand--again, felt totally planned. He talked about SXSW too much for someone in a band that wasn't there. Most of the audience seemed to be into it, but I did find a few people that shared my feelings. My theory that night was that this is what happens when you've replaced everyone in the band a dozen times. A member quits and you replace them with someone that sounds and/or looks something like them. However, something is missing. Eventually you end up with a fuzzy copy of a copy of the original, exciting band. I didn't stay for the whole thing and headed over to LJ's.
The Ugly Beats were everything I expected and I really enjoyed their show. I discovered them in my usual fashion, by catching a video on MEtv. They opened with that song that I was already familiar with, and that enabled me to get into the show immediately. I loved the keyboard sound, though I didn't catch what it was she was playing (it wasn't a Nord for once). She was smiling the whole show--so much so that for awhile I thought it might be a nervous smile, but I believe it was genuine. Very garage band sounding, with 60's style drum fills, clean and easy guitar chords, and unison back-up vocals. They were having a good time on stage with the band members often leaving their positions to go play next to another, share their mic, or other goofing off such as the keyboard player fingering the bass while the bass player strummed. For the last few songs they brought up a girl in a red dress and long boots to dance on stage. I seemed to be the only guy dancing for awhile, but my efforts were rewarded when a cute girl danced with me for a couple of songs. Some of their music was tricky with 7/8 measures and switching between rock and a waltz tempos, but I can pick up on these things quickly and still looked good dancing. I bought a CD and will buy their other one next time, I expect.
The Fleshtones from NY were the headlining band. One of their claims to fame is that they are the only 70's NYC punk band never to have an inactive year. Unfortunately, their show, while "wild and crazy," didn't feel spontaneous at all, as if it was totally rehearsed and had been done a million times. The guitar player was too much. His loud shirt was unbuttoned half way, he wore a flat cap, and had a goofy smile frozen on his face. I had to laugh due to the number of guitar kicks he did. I swear he did one every couple of measure during the first song. The lead singer duct taped his microphone to the stand--again, felt totally planned. He talked about SXSW too much for someone in a band that wasn't there. Most of the audience seemed to be into it, but I did find a few people that shared my feelings. My theory that night was that this is what happens when you've replaced everyone in the band a dozen times. A member quits and you replace them with someone that sounds and/or looks something like them. However, something is missing. Eventually you end up with a fuzzy copy of a copy of the original, exciting band. I didn't stay for the whole thing and headed over to LJ's.
Labels: music
posted by PlaysByEar at 6:30 PM
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