Portugal. The Man @ Fitzgerald’s

May 31, 2011 by Eggs

On a Saturday night, there are always plenty of options to choose from musically in our city of Houston. Hell, there were two solid shows at Fitzgerald’s that night alone. While I had the chance to check out the other one briefly (Wanda Jackson, who was awesome!), my choice performance of the evening was Portugal. The Man in the upstairs room at Fitz. This was my third showing from the Oregonians in a little over a year, including last year’s Warehouse Live performance and at Austin City Limits in the fall, so I was no stranger to what they were going to bring to the table live – a solid performance to a packed and sweaty room. The younger audience was much more apparent at this show, rather than the other two, mostly due to a growing radio presence, and the use of their songs in hit teen television programming. Usually it doesn’t bother me when the younger music aficionado’s of Houston join the ranks of us seasoned concert goer’s, but for this particular occasion it was a bit too much. Bringing their high-pitched vocals with them, the quieter songs of the evening, particularly during opener Telekinesis’ set, were all but ruined by the rumblings of the tweens. Thankfully, Portugal. The Man decided to play louder than usual that night, because they destroyed any chance of the kiddo’s conversing throughout the majority of their set. That, and eventually half of them got kicked out for drinking underage just in time for us to enjoy songs like “People Say,” “AKA M80 The Wolf” and a flawless cover of Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind.” All was perfect in the world when they closed their heavier than usual set with the rocker “Chicago,” one of my personal favorites of their growing cannon of songs. It was a great show overall, but would’ve been better if Fitz was 21 and over. Can’t win ‘em all!

Check out the rest of my smoke and laser-filled shots and peep the full setlist after the jump.

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The Avett Brothers @ Verizon Wireless Theater

May 26, 2011 by Eggs

This past Friday, The Avett Brothers, one of BOT’s favorites, made their way to Houston for a make-up show from last months cancellation due to a birth in the family. Well, they more than made up for it with a setlist that featured a wide array of their material from their entire catalog. While we didn’t get a chance to hear some staple songs like “Shame,” “The Perfect Space,” “Die Die Die” and “Weight Of Lies,” the show focused more on material that they rarely play along with some of their bigger songs from both Emotionalism and I and Love and You including “Laundry Room,” “Paranoia in B-Flat Major,” “Kick Drum Heart” and “Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise.” While these songs were all highlights, it was their older and rarer songs and covers like “Colorshow,” “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues” and show-closing “Down In The Valley To Pray” that were the true set standouts. The most memorable moment of the show was a cover of David Childress’ “Prettiest Thing” that was placed in between a sandwich of “When I Drink” and my favorite Avett song “Murder In The City.” Three acoustics in a row… not bad! I’ve now had the pleasure of seeing the Avett Brothers on numerous occasions, but this show was unlike any other. They’re not touring in support of any album, which gives them the opportunity to push the boundaries of song selection and placement, so this is a great time to catch them as you don’t know what you’ll get from the boys. I’m sure they’re working on a new album, which was proven by a few choice new tunes played that evening, so as soon as that drops expect shows to get a bit more standard. Until then, though, I’d highly recommend catching them live if you have the chance.

Check out my photographs of the show and the full setlist after the jump

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Railroad Revival Tour: Marfa

May 15, 2011 by Eggs

A few weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, I had the incredible opportunity to travel all the way to the other side of Texas, to the tiny town of Marfa, TX. The occasion had nothing to do with the holiday, but rather to be a part of a one of a kind event known as the Railroad Revival Tour. Making six stops from Oakland, CA all the way to New Orleans, a vintage train carried the likes of Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show throughout the American Southwest on a tour that highlighted collaboration amongst the groups above anything else. While the tour also stopped in Austin and New Orleans, much closer destinations than the rest, I opted to put my press request in for Marfa, a good ten hour road trip from Houston. I’d never been to West Texas, so I figured this was as good of a time as any, especially with the stacked list of performers slated to play. We packed our car, and drove off into the afternoon sun, a day before the show to ensure we’d make it on time. After a day gone by, we pulled into Marfa and headed straight towards the one and only bar in town.

Read more about the show after the jump

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Arcade Fire & Explosions In The Sky @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

May 9, 2011 by Eggs

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Arcade Fire, and it’s been even longer since they last stepped onto a stage in Houston, so this show was a long time coming. In the five years since I first saw the Canadian-based indie rock group, they have grown exponentially in size, won a Grammy for Album of the Year for their 2010 effort The Suburbs and are now touring sheds and headlining every major music festival in the world. Not bad for a group that was playing in some of Houston’s tiniest venues half a decade a go. Frontman Win Butler and his brother Will are both born and raised in The Woodlands, the town that surrounds the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, the monstrous outdoor venue that was well sold out for their Wednesday night return to town. The Suburbs is a concept album based on the city where the two brothers grew up, and on the final night of the tour before their last show at NOLA’s Jazz Fest, they returned to their hometown with the heavily-lauded album and a much more noticeable swagger than the last time they last strolled through the area. With a setlist that included a variance of their material, culling songs from all three albums, they blew one or three thousand minds on this particular evening – just not mine, completely. I’ve become seriously jaded the past few years with the amount of concerts I attend, and this show was in the middle of one of the best weeks of my life musically, so it takes a whole lot to blow me away. Don’t get me wrong, I loved everything about the concert, it just wasn’t one of the best shows I’ve ever seen like several of my friends and cohorts described it as after the performance. The encore was, however, one of the most solid one-two punches of any concert I’ve ever attended, starting the segment with their anthemic “Wake Up” and finishing with the best song off of the new album, the Regine Chassagne sung “Sprawl II.” I definitely left with a warm feeling in my tummy, but that might have been that flask of whiskey I finished off during the final notes of the show.

Openers Explosions In The Sky were really good also, yet I spent most of their set catching up with friends just outside the pavilion. While I could hear the entire set, I didn’t pay enough attention to warrant a full review. I did, however, take a whole bunch of shots from each band which you can find after the jump.

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