Showcase at The Gypsy
Last night in Dallas so I had to make it count. I got to the Gypsy around 7.30 because doors on email confirmation said 8. Unfortch, after parking and getting cash, I walked in and Delta Spirit were already on their last two songs. But everyone was into it and after they were done playing a lot of people were commenting favorably about their set.
The Gypsy has two stages, usually you are either in the larger Ballroom (capacity 900) or in the smaller Tearoom (250). Tonight, it was opened up and they had the bands alternating stages so there was always a band on. Awesome. After a quick set change, the Tearoom was ready for the next band, Patrick Watson, a band from Canada. I never would have guessed they were from our neighbors to the north because they all looked like the hipster standing next to you at the Casbah. I really dug these guys. The lead singer had an interesting stage presence (by that I mean he either drank too much or didn’t take his meds), but was really engaging. He kinda had that Jeff Buckley style of singing....maybe Jeff Buckley meets the soundtrack to Nightmare Before Christmas? Totally a good set - I especially liked the set ender “Luscious Life”. I did buy the cd so I shall spin and let you guys know if the rest is any good.
Next up, I went into the Ballroom to check out a bit of Elvis Perkins. I had seen him open up for MMJ, so I wasn’t too keen on seeing again, but it was a good thing I went into the Ballroom as I ran into someone I had met at Good Records on Monday. (He works for some label - Universal maybe?) and was there to see the next band in the Tearoom, Tokyo Police Club. So we went back into the Tearoom after grabbing a Shiner (dude, it really is the only beer to drink when you are in the fine state of TX, stay away from the Lone Star, man.)
Um, yeah, Tokyo Police Club put on a great show. These guys have some chops and they are really young, so they are sure to get better as they go along. (You would hope.) I really enjoyed their set and would be glad to see them again sometime.
Next up was Cold War Kids in the Ballroom, which was obviously who the near capacity crowd was there to see. I think they sounded fine, but I am still not sure what the big fuss is. I think their best song was when they had a bunch of people from the other bands come out on stage with them. But yes, I did stick around for the obligatory set ending “Hang Me Up To Dry”, which was perfect. And that was all she wrote. Andrew Bird was next and that was a big fat yawn in my book so I make the trek back to the suburbs in record time.
And now I can finish packing and writing my weekly playlist post. I’ll check in with you guys before I leave for Cali manana.
