This Saturday night found me at my personal favorite haunt in Deep Ellum, The Curtain Club.
Several bands were gracing the stage this night, and making it really cool was the fact that no band fit into the same genre, so it was going to be a very eclectic night.
The first band of then night was a band called Redline, and even though I got to the Curtain by about 9, I had missed practically all of the bands set. That’s what happens when they have six bands on a bill, they need to start them off early in the night.
I heard maybe their last song, and the trio was all right. They appeared to be younger, so they’re obviously not the most seasoned of musicians, but the song I heard wasn’t too bad.
The pace slowed down a little with the next band, but in a good way, as the acoustic duo, Right on Red, took the stage.
It had been a year or so since the last time I had seen the band, and they quickly reminded me of how great they are, opening their 35-minute set with a new song. Like many of their other tunes, it came across as a ballad, and a very good one at that. They followed with a song from their “Fast Track to Everywhere” EP, the upbeat song about moving on, “Golden Ticket”. “…I almost fell off my stool…” said vocalist, Ryan Gibbs, when the song was over. “…I was joking about that earlier, too. Saying, “I hope I don’t fall off the stool tonight.””. It was that occasional touch of humor that gave their show a relaxed feel, more like they were everybody’s best friend rather than a band being one hundred percent serious about the performance. It opened up a nice rapport between them and the fans, which isn’t something just every band does successfully. Soon, acoustic guitarist, Josh Franklin, started them on the next song, which was another new one to my ears. After finishing it, Ryan began another entertaining conversation, by first asking how many people planned to hook up with somebody here. “…I want to hook up with everyone here…” he said, adding he didn’t think he’d have time to. That also served as a fairly appropriate lead in to the song, “Diary”. “I think I made it in your diary today. I think I may have even gotten my own page…” he crooned on the chorus, with Josh adding some backing vocals in between each sentence. “Star Gazer”, which is another newer song, followed, and out of the handful of newer songs they played this night, this one stood out as the favorite of mine. “Hey, where’s Redline?!” Josh asked when the song was done, mentioning how great they were. But after calling them out, they seemed nowhere to be found. “…They bolted quick… And it’s not even a school night for them.” He joked. Afterwards, they did a rendition of the 4 Non Blondes classic, “What’s Going On?”, which sounded pretty spot on, and actually a little better than the original. That’s probably not the happiest song ever written, and they kept going with a similar song of theirs, “Stay”. “Alright, now that we’ve all slit our wrists…”, said Josh when that one was concluded, referring to the sad nature of the last couple of songs. They did one more song, and afterwards had time enough for one more, which was the final track from their EP, “Home”.
It was a great set they did, and their new material is every bit as good as their older stuff. Maybe even a little more so, as they sound a little tighter.
They have one last show this year, and it will be on December 31st at the Liquid Lounge in Dallas. Then, on January 5th, they’ll be up in Denton doing a gig at Andy’s Bar. And be sure to check out their EP in ITUNES.
Always the Alibi was on after them, and the turnaround time was pretty quick, since they had gotten most of their gear set up while Right on Red was doing the same. This wasn’t just another show for these Always the Alibi, though. No, this was the CD release show for their debut EP.
They kicked things off with the melodic, “Wave on the Sand”, which turns into a real powerhouse of a song, especially in the live setting where Richard Muenckler unleashes some thunderous beats on the drums. “What’s going on, Curtain Club?” asked singer and rhythm guitarist, Henry Coke, once that song came to an end. That was about all he had time to say, though, as lead guitarist, Kelly Panter, bassist, Evan Scates, and Richard had segued the final notes of that tune into the next one, “Edge of the World”. It was one of two newer songs that made its way into the setlist, and already you can hear a progression between it and the songs that make up their EP. And that’s saying a lot, because there are several stand out songs on their EP. Afterwards, they took a minute to tell everyone who they were, and noted that it was their CD release show, before they got back to it with their love song, “Beautiful Girl”. There were some boxes set up on stage, next to a couple of the monitors, and as the song wound down, Kelly hopped up on the one near him, and proceeded to lay down some sweet riffs. They again wound one song into the next, this time tackling the last song on the EP, “Dream”, which appropriately does have a dreamy quality to the music. To break up their set, they did a cover song here at the halfway mark, and Evan started them into Muse’s, “Time is Running Out”. I liked their rendition of the song the other time I had seen them live, but tonight, I firmly believe it was the best song they did. Henry’s voice is very different from Matthew Bellamy’s, but he still hit all of the falsetto parts with ease, and not only do they do the song justice, but I think they make it sound a little better, too. “This next song was featured on Hand Drawn Records Compilation One.” Kelly quickly said. I was excited to hear that, because the other time I saw them, this song was absent from the show, and it is one of my favorites of theirs. The song was “Turning the Pages”, and it was every bit as good live as what I’ve come to expect from the recorded version. Following it was “She’s Letting Go”, and then came another newer one, “Ain’t Another Girl”, which is so good it alone comes close to eclipsing their entire EP. Okay, maybe that’s just me, but either way you slice it, it’s a stellar track. Their 38-minute set was almost up, but they had one last song to do. “…This one is actually the title track from our EP…” said Henry. It’s also the lead track, and is titled, “We Are Waiting”. It’s more of an optimistic song, and plays like an anthem for the band. Take the second verse for example, “…It’s about time we left our mark and it’s about time we made it clear. It’s about time they understand that we demand they need to hear. Now we’re tired of being told that our cause is old that our hearts grew cold. And with the strength that we no longer lack, we’re on the attack, yeah, we’re bringing it back…”. It give the impression that they’re out to change something, and they will most likely succeed. Towards the end, they got some audience participation going, dividing the room in half, having one side chant, “Come on, come on, come on.” While the other side shouted, “You know, you know, you know.” They savored it for as long as they could, before getting back to the song and closing it out.
What a show this was. They were pretty good the other time I saw them on the smaller stage of the adjacent venue, the Liquid Lounge, but tonight they had really stepped it up. They appeared to be a much tighter entity, and while they all stayed mainly in their little sections on the stage, they still managed a powerful presence and had no trouble commanding the crowd.
I was blown away by it all, and this show served as definitive proof that you need to know the name, Always the Alibi.
As for their record, “We Are Waiting”, you can purchase it via two different outlets. One is of course, ITUNES, while the other is BANDCAMP. Do check it out. It’s almost 22-minutes of pure greatness, and if you like Indie Rock that has somewhat of a mainstream feel, though not to the point where the band loses their individuality, then you love these guys.
The remaining bands would be hard pressed to top that show, but I had no doubt it would probably happen, as The Raven Charter was set to take the stage next…
Review By Jordan
Hey, my name’s Jordan. I write concert reviews (though I prefer to call them overviews) of bands, predominately local Texas based groups. I began doing it just for fun when I got into the local music scene in early 2006. Then adopted the TME moniker in late 2008, and eventually began to take these blogs a little more seriously. I do them in a “play-by-play” format if you will, by running through the bands setlist, though I do add my own opinions as well. I know that’s an unconventional way of doing it, but that’s how I’ve always wanted to read concert reviews. http://themusicenthusiast.com/