There wasn’t a whole lot going on in Deep Ellum this night, at least not a whole lot that interested me. But then Club Dada got a nice little Rock show together, and one of the bands on the bill was Descender. I try my best to never miss a Descender show, and since it had been a few months since I last saw them, I of course had to go.
Opening up the show was a band called Midnight Movie, who, sadly, I can find absolutely nothing about online. They put on a great 41-minute set, though. At times their music had a Surf Rock sound to it. It was very subtle, but it was there from time to time, and sounded cool. However, their sound had a more dominant Rootsy flare to it. They did something like ten to twelve songs, which seemed like a surprising amount for an opening band, but I have no complaints, seeing as I thoroughly enjoyed every one.
Their music is a little more unique from most Dallas bands I’m familiar with, and standing apart from everyone else is never a bad thing. Also, their singer had a really great voice with a nice range to it. I really hope I can find more out about them sometime (i.e. a website) because I would like to see another show sometime in the future. Who knows, maybe I’ll stumble across them at another concert down the road.
Descender was up next, and it was refreshing to learn they had switched up their setlist, as they opened with a newer one, “Slow and Gold”. With its softer, yet percussion heavy intro, it made for stellar opener, kind of warming you up for what was to come, before getting right down to it and showing you firsthand. Yeah, it was killer. As it faded out, singer and guitarist, Casey Hess, as well as lead guitarist, Jeff Gruber, and bassist, Zack Busby, kept some of the notes going, which faded to more of a mangled feedback sound. They drew it out several seconds before Duncan Black started beating on the drums and got “Hats Off To Your Reflection” underway. It was nice that the opening song had been changed, but this one is a perfect fit as the second song, and if you aren’t engaged in the performance yet, it’s bound to finish reeling you in. “We’re called Descender…” said Casey, officially announcing who they were to anyone who might not have known. He then went on, “We’re from The Colony High School. This is our second gig, minus the backyard gig, and we’re nervous as hell.” He said stuff similar to that at several other shows, and it’s still just as funny to me now as it has been the other times. Then the conversation turned a little awkward as he set up the next one, saying it was about “…Summer, fucking and dead people. Not fucking dead people…” he clarified…
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/
