Sideshow Tramps, Buxton @ Continental Club

Submitted by eggs on Thu, 10/16/2008 - 00:42.

Friday night was full of music in Houston, something that has happened only rarely over the past few months. We had already attended Cat Power's show at Warehouse Live earlier in the evening, but were by no means finished, as we still had a full night of music ahead of us. Local favorites Sideshow Tramps and current in-town buzz-makers Buxton descended upon the dingy Continental Club to share a few sets with a host of their fans.

Read about the show after the jump

Hypothetically, this show was set to work marvelously. Sideshow Tramps' brand of bluegrass-infused garage rock is the perfect match-up for Buxton's indie folk rock. Many times in the past, Cereal and I have made comments about how much we'd like to see these two bands perform together. As we walked in during Buxton's first song, we soon realized that it didn't work as well as we originally thought it would. Sideshow Tramps command a rowdy group of fans, while Buxton's simple melodies and quieter songs call for a more observant crowd. But this Friday night crowd was packed with people wanting to dance, so Buxton's set didn't receive the attention that it should have. Those that were watching were treated to a remarkable set of music. Buxton, as always, were at their very best. Their skillful instrumentation adds so much to the intelligently penned, but sometimes almost harrowing, lyrics of lead singer Sergio Trevino. We were treated to several new songs over the course of Buxton's short set, but the true highlight of the evening was their singalong "Mane Of Gold" followed closely by the rambunctious, mandolin-heavy "Westward" that finished their set right when the crowd was starting to get into it. They didn't play for that long, but what we did hear served as a nice preview for their next day's set at the Westheimer Block Party.

Buxton

Sideshow Tramps have been a Houston mainstay for quite some time now. After changing their name from RX Medicine Show and recording their debut album, they truly cemented a nice little niche for themselves in Houston's music scene. Their style of music transitions from fast-paced bluegrass to klezmer style gypsy-punk to mid-90's Seattle grunge in a matter of minutes, while always keeping it upbeat enough for their fans to work up a sweat on the dance floor. Ever keen to invite random guests to perform with them, the night found both Umbrella Man accordion player Robert Rodriguez and local chanteuse Kam performing on a slew of songs including an inspired version of Blind Willie Johnson's "John The Revelator," as well as their own "Tramps and Freaks." Demonstrating that they know how to make the best out of any situation, three of the four Tramps took to the floor for an acoustic rendition of "When The Saints Go Marching In" while some amplifier issues were attended to on stage.

Sideshow Tramps

The Tramps' set was standard fare for them, but I felt that they didn't bring as much energy to it as I've seen from them in the past. Perhaps it's just that I'm still too attached to their Monday night residency shows at Helio's when it was still Helio's. Those performances always proved to be full of dancing, sweating and overall good times. Like Buxton, we were expecting to catch what the Sideshow Tramps had to offer at the Block Party the next day, so we decided to head out after the long night of music. We had planned on stopping by The Mink to see what Monotonix were getting themselves into, but we forwent that idea for the comfort of our own home. We did hear the next day that the Monotonix show was pretty crazy, but oh well, I'm sure that we'll catch them somewhere down the road.

For an amazing set of music that was played to the wrong crowd, I give Buxton 8.2/10 yolks.

Buxton - "Westward"