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We arrived at the Parish Room on Sunday night for the Band of Horses show, and found the venue packed, not suprisingly, full of eager fans. Band of Horses are one of those groups that pretty much tell you what to expect from them live on their albums; in this case, it's a marriage of slow, dreamy tunes with head-bobbing rock songs sprinkled in between.
Interesting, considering the fact that while "The Funeral" is easily the 'hit' on Everything All the Time and the one song that was able to shut the chatty crowd up for a few minutes, Band of Horses' sound is actually more low-key and sentimental. In other words, if you get a mix cd from a friend with "The Funeral" on it, understand that buying the cd won't buy you a set of songs like it. They come close, but as the show demonstrated, their niche and (seems like) their talent lays in the small details of songs like "The First Song" and "Part One".
Not to say that Band of Horses can't rock - they can. "The Funeral" was definitely a highlight of the show, and singer/guitarist Benjamin Bridwell playfully acknowledged the song as a mid-show treat for eager fans. After performing their cover of Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams," a fan yelled out "Private Eyes!", to which Bridwell replied, "Gosh, I don't know that one. I know this one though, maybe you do too," as he strummed the opening chords of "The Funeral".
Needless to say, that went over pretty well.
Ever apologetic for subjecting us to new material, Bridwell joked about their upcoming EP, "Which we think we'll call "'A Little Bit Real Quick' as opposed to 'Everything All the Time'." The new songs aren't rock anthems, but solid nonetheless. And as is the case with Band of Horses, these compositions are simple, gorgeous, and always enhanced by Bridwell's echoing vocals (even live) and on-stage charisma. We've seen plenty of bands who throw fits and stop shows in the middle of songs (ahem, Lovely Feather s) when the sound isn't perfect or an instrument goes haywire, but Band of Horses rocked through broken strings like it was no big deal and engaged the crowd with good-natured thankfulness. Refreshing, isn't it?
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$15 for a band which is on what I think is their first N.American tour is crazy. Especially when they still need to practice a little bit. But I'm not bitter about missing the show though. Nope. I'm not.
1. My ticket was only $10 (plus $2 service charge) when I bought it a week before the show.
2. I'm really glad to see Austinist call out Lovely Feathers for that bullshit they pulled last Tuesday @ Emos. I figured, since Austinist seemed to have a hard on for those guys, no one would ever mention what a bunch of douches they were at the Emos show because the sound wasn't perfect (newsflash: don't play Emos if you want good sound).
3. BOH wasn't as good as their album, but it was a fun show. Partially because of the equipment issues.
4. The crowd needs to shut the fuck up. If you're singing along, great. If you're the guy behind me for 15 minutes explaining how great Thom Yorke's new album is, shut up. If you're the guy who is with the Thom Yorke lover who says "Thom Yorke? He's the lead singer of some band, right? The Killers?" then you really need to shut the fuck up.
5. Those openers were pretty god awful, particularly Mt. Egypt who apparently have written the same 7 songs plus 1 song that is a Mazzy Star song. I would have thought the openers would be a bit more interesting from their mp3s, but you can't win them all.
6. The Parish needs to make their water tank not taste like dirt.
6 out of 10 stars.
I had a hard time trying to decide if I was being too critically of this band or if i was just spoiled from seeing Radiohead the previous two nights in Berkeley....I was spoiled. These guys basically played every song that they know through equipment problems, muddy sound and a crowd that would not stop chatting.(I just don't understand why someone would pay to go to a show and talk and hang out...I mean there are plenty of places downtown on a Sunday night with cheap drinks and a place to sit down.) I enjoyed their effort and thought that for being an inexperienced touring band they did well. They played a little rushed and Mr. Bridwell seemed to want to undercut his own songs which isn't needed. I look forward to catching them again the next time they roll through and after hearing the new songs I look forward to the new EP.
I'm really glad I was not the only person who thought the crowd was pretty shitty.
I'd hate to called overly critical and a snob again for not appreciating Austin's finest concert going patrons!
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