Cary Brothers - Jammin Java - 8/9/07
This was my first time heading out to Jammin Java and I was not impressed. It took me forever to find the place and after many circles, I finally found the thing on the corner of a small strip mall, next to a Safeway. The main issue that I had with the place, was that there was no separation between the coffee part and the music part. If you weren't close enough to the stage, you could hear people carrying on and glasses clinking and it really took away from the experience.
I got there half way through the opening act, who was a solo artist named William Fitzsimmons. The guy had pretty cool banter, but his music left something to be desired. The best way to describe it, was emo folk music. Lots of very vapid lyrics, in sad songs, with moderately interesting chords being played along. I only got to catch the second half of the set, but that is what I got out of it.
The saving grace of the evening, was Stars of Track and Field. I was pretty excited to see them, after listening to their CD a bunch of times. Their set started a bit slow, but they really seemed to open up to the crowd after a couple of songs. From that point on, they had everyone laughing and it seemed like people really enjoyed them.
Playing some of their more well known songs such as "Arithmatik" and "In Bright Fire," the guys had the crowd singing along and dancing to the music. With the closing song "Movies of Antarctica," the guys were jumping off amps, dancing around and really giving the crowd something to remember them by. I hope next time they play at Black Cat or Rock and Roll Hotel, so that I can enjoy them more.
Last up, was Cary Brothers. I had heard some of his stuff on an episode of Scrubs and a couple of songs on his Myspace, but all had been solo projects. I was interested to see what a full band would do to his songs. Going into it, I didn't realize that most of his songs were girl songs. Meaning that the only people that were into the music, were female. Looking around at all of the annoyed male faces, pretty much everyone echoed my sentiments in wondering when it was going to be over.
The guy is definitely talented and I think he could go far, but I just wasn't in to it. My favorite song of his called "Blue Eyes," seemed to sound a lot worse with the full band. It's a very emotional and soulful ballad and it lost it's personal connection with the listener, when all of the extra instruments were added in. I may check him out the next time he comes to town solo, to see if it is an improvement.
Stars of Track and Field Pictures: Here
Cary Brothers Pictures: Here
Stars of Track and Field - Movies of Antarctica
Cary Brothers - Blue Eyes
I got there half way through the opening act, who was a solo artist named William Fitzsimmons. The guy had pretty cool banter, but his music left something to be desired. The best way to describe it, was emo folk music. Lots of very vapid lyrics, in sad songs, with moderately interesting chords being played along. I only got to catch the second half of the set, but that is what I got out of it.
The saving grace of the evening, was Stars of Track and Field. I was pretty excited to see them, after listening to their CD a bunch of times. Their set started a bit slow, but they really seemed to open up to the crowd after a couple of songs. From that point on, they had everyone laughing and it seemed like people really enjoyed them.Playing some of their more well known songs such as "Arithmatik" and "In Bright Fire," the guys had the crowd singing along and dancing to the music. With the closing song "Movies of Antarctica," the guys were jumping off amps, dancing around and really giving the crowd something to remember them by. I hope next time they play at Black Cat or Rock and Roll Hotel, so that I can enjoy them more.
Last up, was Cary Brothers. I had heard some of his stuff on an episode of Scrubs and a couple of songs on his Myspace, but all had been solo projects. I was interested to see what a full band would do to his songs. Going into it, I didn't realize that most of his songs were girl songs. Meaning that the only people that were into the music, were female. Looking around at all of the annoyed male faces, pretty much everyone echoed my sentiments in wondering when it was going to be over.The guy is definitely talented and I think he could go far, but I just wasn't in to it. My favorite song of his called "Blue Eyes," seemed to sound a lot worse with the full band. It's a very emotional and soulful ballad and it lost it's personal connection with the listener, when all of the extra instruments were added in. I may check him out the next time he comes to town solo, to see if it is an improvement.
Stars of Track and Field Pictures: Here
Cary Brothers Pictures: Here
Stars of Track and Field - Movies of Antarctica
Cary Brothers - Blue Eyes
Labels: Cary Brothers, Stars of Track and Field
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Analyzed by Chris on Thursday, August 16, 2007
2 Comments:
I caught Cary Brothers earlier this past month when he came up here with Stars of Track and Field and Priscilla Ahn. I wasn't really thrilled with Stars, but they had some good numbers. I've liked Cary's music for a while now, and really dug his first album, so I went into it with better expectations. *Shrug* I thought his run was great.
I was checking online to see what people were saying about the shows after having been twice on this tour - once visiting friends in Boston and last night back home in Austin. I have to say that while the Boston show was pretty good, the Austin show was amazing. Hopefully he will keep this band together because it's getting better and better. Reminded me of the first time I saw Coldplay on tour - though they actually sucked at first and were amazing only a few months later. I could tell that a lot of guys last night only came because their girlfriends wanted to go, but those guys were into it. Hopefully, that's a good sign of things to come. I'll definitely check him out again. - Pete
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