10/9/09 - Hymns, OK Sweetheart

...at Hailey's. Not a show I would normally pick, but my Denton Cougar friend has a thang for the greasy long-hairs in Hymns, and she asked me to come along and keep her from embarrassing herself. Was also accompanied by the Princess and her strip-club-loving friends.

OK Sweetheart (Denton/San Fran (?)) was up first. Not bad (like I said, this wasn't exactly my pick). Great voice, some pleasant little tunes. The Princess thought she sounded like Norah Jones.

Hymns were up next. Blech. I seemed to enjoy them the first time I saw them, but this time, I just wasn't into it - way too jangly and Beatles-retready. But what was even worse than the band was the crowd. My gawd, i've never seen a crowd so unresponsive and unsupportive. After the first song, where all the guys in the band really made an effort to crank up the energy in the room, there was almost no response from the crowd. The lead guitarist even jokingly made a comment, like "Come on, I only heard two people clapping for that one". And when he tried to get everyone clapping along during the next song - crickets. It was embarrassing. Not sure what the deal was - I've never seen that happen, anywhere. These guys must've bad-mouthed denton at some point, or impregnated the mayor's daughter their last time thru town. Bizarre.

We split after that.

10/4/09 - Colour Revolt, Winston Audio, Sad Accordions

...at Hailey's.

The Sad Accordions, from Austin, started things off. Really dug these guys. Lead had beard that would make denton proud. Voice a tiny bit on the reedy side, but still quite pleasing. Some really beautiful, haunting folk-rock songs. Reminded me of Telegraph Canyon at times (a HUGE compliment).
Winston Audio (Atlanta) were next. Did not like them at ALL. Seemed like very generic modern rock, something you might've heard at Firewater. One of the Oak Ridge Boys on keys, either Milli or Vanilli on guitar. That is all.
Colour Revolt (Mississippi) headlined. Was a little concerned at first, as the first few songs featured the lead screaming quite annoyingly at us, but they settled down after that, and filled the rest of the set with some really incredible songs. The biggest thing they've got going for them is the amazing two-part harmony goin' on between the two leads, including some awesome falsetto. VERY well done - just gorgeous. Would definitely like to catch them again sometime.