The Octopus Project & Diagonals @ Warehouse Live

Austin-based quintet Diagonals took the stage shortly after our arrival and began their musical attack with a jangly number featuring driving guitar riffs and cathedral keys. I had some trouble hearing the vocals, but overall the band's sound was promising. As I took in the next couple of songs, I felt that the keys work sounded a bit too familiar and I worried that the rest of the set would offer more of the same. With the start of their fourth song, however, they careened in a different direction and filled Warehouse's studio space with a sense of foreboding, then swelled into arching instrumentation - it was at this point that the Diagonals really started to come together onstage. The vocals improved, and more layers seemed to suddenly appear in their sound.

Some patrons apparently didn't agree: I noticed a couple sitting - sitting, I tell you! - on the ground front and center (!), just under lead singer Steve Garcia's nose. Sitting! I felt the whole world starting to tilt like it does when I'm about to get uncontrollably angry, and I forced myself to calm down. Look: I don't care if your feet were tired, or you were experiencing waves of nausea, or if you suddenly grew a bunion - you just don't do that! Go sit at the bar or find an open couch or take your disrespectful ass home. But please don't plop yourself on the floor like a big wad of p-cheese and contribute to the awful reputation Houston already has among touring bands. Thank you.

Anyway: Diagonals continued along their set trajectory, launching into a more uptempo piece that garnered the best crowd response yet. I especially enjoyed the song they played just before their set closer; its pulsing Middle Eastern vibe made it a clear standout in their show. Overall, it was an appealing performance from this budding group of Austinites. At times I felt energy was a bit lacking from their presence, but they made up for this by providing a solid sample of their musical abilities. I'd definitely check them out again - although the keyboardist probably won't be sporting those teeny-weeny gym shorts next time I see them. Word is that he and the drummer had a bet going; if the drummer wore the shorts at every gig, the keyboardist had to wear them the last night.

The Octopus Project began arranging their stage set-up, which included a projection screen and ghostly rabid rabbit coverings for two amp stacks. I'm a sucker for visual stimuli, so this was promising. When they'd finished with sound check, the Austin-based indietronica quartet wasted no time whipping the Warehouse crowd into a frenzy - they immediately started ripping it up onstage. The drums were particularly kicking on their opening song, and all four band members exuded a level of energy that they maintained throughout the show. If watching the band's music-making dance moves wasn't enough for you, you could focus instead on the images displayed on the screen behind them. Trains, kaleidoscopes, mouths, rabbits, bats, sewing machines - what did it all mean? No idea, but at times it was almost hypnotic.

About five songs in, The Octopus Project invited the Diagonals to join them onstage. Not to act as guest musicians, however; instead, they served as back-up dancers. They happily hopped around with an effervescence that left me wondering why they hadn't injected more of that into their performance. The audience ate it up, many joining in the jubilant jumping. Several show-goers invited themselves to the onstage party, and it soon started to look like Bassnectar's set at Rothbury. The crowd at Warehouse was already noticeably jazzed up prior to the Diagonals dance-in, but the enthusiasm level rose a few notches during the rhapsodic guest spot.

Take note: The Octopus Project's Yvonne Lambert is an absolute monster on the theremin. Her work on this ever-intriguing instrument was definitely a highlight of the show. It's fun to watch the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne dabble with the theremin during performances, but these dalliances simply don't stack up to the masterpieces Lambert coaxes out of the device. I wasn't really prepared for that going into the show, and it was an incredibly pleasant surprise. Plus, she was wearing a rad dress. This girl just rocks.

The Octopus Project took us to outer space and back, delivering dancefloor-ready grooves and intricate beats along the way. I especially dug set closer "Truck" - it's one of my favorites from their most recent full-length, Hello, Avalanche, and it shone live. This was without a doubt one of the most satisfying shows we've caught in Houston in recent memory, and the Octopus Project have just rocketed to the top our our ACL must-see list. Check out this band.

Diagonals

The Octopus Project

Cereal's rating: 8.34879/10 Crunchberries. Delicious, danceable, damn good show.

We've got more photos of The Octopus Project and Diagonals on our Flickr account, and more videos on our YouTube channel.

--Cereal