Puddleglum Music

Archive for July, 2011

Very seldom have I been able to see a band more than once and never in the same year.  Emery, however, returned to San Antonio, this time playing The White Rabbit.  The venue actually had two stages in two separate areas, which allowed them to have a band playing while the next was setting up.  Since the three bands we came to see were all in the main room, we stayed there, but technically there were something like 8 or 9 bands playing that night.  I’m not sure how much I like that kind of setup.  I can understand giving people something to watch in between sets, but because the sets were in separate rooms, we didn’t want to miss any of Hawkboy, Oh, Sleeper, or Emery.

I was completely unfamiliar with any of the local bands that played, and now that it’s a month gone I’ve mostly forgotten them.  Instead, let’s get to the main shows of the night.

Hawkboy was amazing the second time around, and because I was more familiar with their music, I was able to just enjoy the set.  I am very interested to see this band continue as their music is incredibly creative.

Oh, Sleeper was a band that we had heard of years ago and had meant to follow up on, but for some reason we never got around to it.  They were really good live, and I look forward to seeing them again some time.

Emery was just as amazing this time as they were in March.  I love being able to see these guys live.

Kerosene Halo is a project by Mike Roe (The 77s) and Derri Daugherty (The Choir), both of whom are also in the Lost Dogs.  The music of Kerosene Halo focuses on the basics: voice, melody and harmony, and sparse but effective instrumentation.  The combination of Mike and Roe sharing vocals reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel, and like the best folk music, each song has a story at its heart.  Hearing the stories behind the songs is almost as important as the music itself, and that’s really the best thing about seeing these guys live.  Well, that and getting to see great musicians do their thing.

This show, part of Come and Live‘s Arrows are Deadly missional tour, was much different than most of the shows I go to.  Instead of taking place at a bar, club, or other performance space, this (free) show was at Metanoya Church (Facebook, Twitter), just north of downtown San Antonio.  As such, the show was much more ministry focused; a large group of the people there were part of a street team that ministers to this area of San Antonio.  Their enthusiasm was amazing, as you can see in this video during White Collar Sideshow’s sound check:

First up was Levi the Poet (Twitter).  Jen and I thought this might be a band we hadn’t heard of, but instead Levi is actually a poet.  His performance was passionate, and his poetry touched on the reality of living by faith in a faithless world.

Next was White Collar Sideshow (Myspace, Twitter).  Their ministry focuses on the problems of addiction (especially porn addiction) and the impact that has upon the family.  T.D. Benton, the creator and frontman of WCS, explained how the idea came from his own personal experience.  Their music is very percussion heavy, with Benton and The Pig on drums, and The Faceless Woman (played by Benton’s wife) on bass.  At this show they also had two people in gas masks, one playing keyboard and the other (the Bentons’ son) on steel barrel.  Each song was accompanied by short videos that illustrate the message.

After WCS, The Ember Days performed an ambient worship set.  Their music is very contemplative and relaxing.  If the whole show were viewed as a normal Sunday-morning service, The Ember Days provided the worship set after the message, and I think that is kind of a neat idea.

Between Showbread and the Ember Days, Chad Johnson (founder of Come and Live) shared about the ministry and also prayed with the crowd.  I would really suggest that if you’re at all interested, check out Come and Live’s website.  They have free music (including WCS, The Ember Days, and Showbread) for download (and these are full EPs and albums, not just single tracks), and their ministry is based on a real-world, inclusive message rather than the insular, ignore-the-world type message of many churches.

Finally, Showbread performed an amazing set that included material from all of their albums.  Their performance of “Dead by Dawn” was incredible, and I continue to be impressed by these guys as their music grows

I’m really behind in posting about shows the past few months, so I’m not going to go into any great details about these.  Instead, here’s some slideshows of pictures and a few quick words about each.  This show was at Jack’s Bar in San Antonio, 18 March 2011.

Hawkboy blew us away and instantly became one of our favorite new bands.

To Speak of Wolves was another new band to us.  Their new(ish) frontman, Gage, had a great presence and kept the energy up.

Emery was the band we came to see, and they did not disappoint.  The crowd was with them the whole time, and the acoustic set was beautiful.