Austin – Monday night felt like SXSW 2009 all over again when I cruised into town to see two of my favorites from the festival earlier this year. When I heard they’d be coming through again I was ecstatic to have a chance to see them play longer than 35 minutes each.
Allow me to set the scene for you: Emo’s is a partially outdoor venue. The stage area and the space directly in front of it has a roof, but the rest of the venue does not. This is Texas, so it was at least 90 degrees F outside, despite it being late in the evening. This means it was HOT AND MISERABLE. To be honest, I was concerned our Euro-based entertainment for the evening was going to have an issue with that, but they seemed to just ignore it. So was it worth sweating and soaking through my clothes just standing there watching? Yes.
Ida Maria came on first; I learned beforehand that while she is Norwegian, everyone in her band is Swedish. Curious, it sounds like a band from LA having a New Yorker rhythm section or something. Whatever works, though. She was not quite as animated and stage dominating as the previous time I saw her due to the aforementioned heat – definitely can’t blame her for that, though. She tore through basically her entire album and the crowd loved it. She introduced my personal favorite “Forgive Me” by explaining “This is a song about an arsehole”, something I’m sure almost everyone there could relate to. Apologies for not having a better photo to post. Emo’s has terrible lighting to begin with and when they don’t bother to use what they have, it’s anything but ideal for amateurs like myself. After her set she parked herself at the merch booth and was chatting with fans and signing CD’s and posters, which was really cool and appreciated by fans.
Glasvegas thankfully started their set on time (sorry, I have a day job and don’t actually live in Austin proper), I glanced behind me and saw that the club was packed and people were PUMPED to see them, including myself. Nobody seemed to mind the heat, I know I was too busy trying not to scratch the growing number of mosquito bites on my legs. Drummer Caroline McKay took her spot standing behind the drums as usual, something I always find to be interesting to watch. They jumped right into the set hitting things off with the hit single “Geraldine”, which easily gets the Most Lovely Lyrics award from me. Swoontastic. Singer James Allan’s long sleeved shirt lasted about 3/4 of a song, removing it revealed his usual black muscle tank; this time adorned with a sparkly version of the Adidas logo. Nice touch. They played for a full hour but it seemed like twenty minutes, I don’t think I will ever be able to get enough of this band. The music just sweeps over and through you and it’s impossible to not be swept away with it. I am really excited for them to eventually stop touring and record a second album after what must be an amazing 2009 for them.
Something I feel I should point out is that I could not go to sleep when I got home, even though I had to be up in 5 hours and was physically exhausted and dehydrated from sweating so much. I couldn’t get all the songs I had heard throughout the night out of my head. I think this speaks volumes for the music these artists write. It matters and affects people. So go see them already!