The Walkmen, Milo Greene & White Arrows @ Fitzgerald’s

Sep 26, 2012 by Eggs

The fall music season is in full swing, and with a bounty of festivals in our area fast approaching, I can almost smell the patchouli in the air. With the onslaught of festivals come tours, and the amount of bands hitting Houston is certainly swelling from our late summer drought. This last weekend served as somewhat of a kickoff to my favorite time of year when Fitzgerald’s hosted The Walkmen and Milo Greene upstairs and White Arrows down. There were several other great shows going on around town, so I was expecting it to be a bit under attended, but as soon as The Walkmen came on, the building was nearing capacity.

Read all about the show and check out some more pictures after the jump.

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Akron/Family & Hello Chief @ Fitzgerald’s

Sep 18, 2012 by Eggs

Akron/Family and local openers Hello Chief hit the upstairs stage at Fitzgerald’s to a smaller than usual crowd, but had no trouble keeping everyone that made it to the show fixated on what they were offering. I hadn’t seen Akron/Family since they hit Walter’s a few years back with Warpaint and local heroes Buxton, so I was excited to see what they had to offer after putting out a few new albums since then. Openers Hello Chief, from just down the road in Beaumont, I’d heard of before, but had never listened to or seen. I walked in a few songs into their set, and was very surprised at what was coming from the stage. A trio of kids, that I’m not sure could buy a drink yet, were pumping out some very experimental tunes that perfectly fit with what Akron/Family has released over the years. They were what Animal Collective should sound like. Akron/Family, while starting out pretty slow, put on one of the most intense performances I’ve ever seen. I loved every minute of their set, which saw them performing both on and off of the stage for a good 90 minutes. Playing both new music which they are now currently recording in El Paso, and adding several more classic cuts from earlier efforts, the trio effortlessly twisted and turned their way through quite an entertaining set of music. From what I heard that night, their new record should be pretty aggressive, and I couldn’t be happier at the thought of that.

I took a bunch of pictures of both bands that night, which you can find after the jump.

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Free Press Summer Fest 2012

Mar 5, 2012 by Eggs

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! The fine folks behind Houston’s annual music soirée, Free Press Summer Fest, have finally dropped the full line-up, and boy is it a doozy. Leading this year’s list of bands are bluegrass roots rockers The Avett Brothers, famed rapper and dope smoker Snoop Dogg, Texas country legend and equally famous dope smoker Willie Nelson, DJ extraordinaire Afrojack, bass heavy funksters Primus and a return from 2010 headliner The Flaming Lips who will be performing Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety. I’m pretty sure no-one saw such a strong list of entertainers heading to Eleanor Tinsley Park come June, but Omar, Jagi and all the other fine folks that work for both Free Press Houston and Pegstar have truly outdone themselves for their fourth year of the festival. Also playing the multiple stages over the course of June 2nd and 3rd are The Descendents, Major Lazer, Young The Giant, Portugal. The Man, Morris Day & The (mutha fuckin’) Time, Best Coast, Two Door Cinema Club, Turquoise Jeep, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Robert Ellis and a whole heaping helping of more great bands.

Check out the full kick-ass line-up after the jump!

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Reptar @ Fitzgerald’s

Mar 1, 2012 by Eggs

Last week, I headed up to Fitzgerald’s just in time to catch a headlining set from Athens, GA based indie dance group Reptar. They first came on to my radar last summer when I heard the lead single from their debut EP Oblangle Fizz Y’all, “Stuck In My ID.” They had that same Foster The People sound, but something told me I wouldn’t grow old of them immediately like I did with FtP. They came through Houston a few times in the past year, but I never had the chance to see them until I headed up to Fitz that night. I walked in right in time for “ID,” and danced my way through the entire rest of their set. They played their entire EP, as well as a host of new songs from their upcoming first full length LP, Body Faucet, set for a May 2012 release. While I’m not in love with the new album’s title, I’m certainly enamored with the content that will be released come May. They finished the set with a super high energy new track called “Sweet Sipping Soda” that left the crowd screaming for more, while not moving an inch away from the stage. They came back out for another tune, but you could tell they saved “Soda” for the end as the encore song didn’t carry near the energy as it did. While it seems as if the encore is slowly dying away in this day and age, this night they definitely deserved the call back.

I took a video of “Sweet Sipping Soda,” and a bunch more photos which you can find after the jump.

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