Hanson does Antone’s – 9/22/11

All of my musical adoration can be traced back to a Hanson concert put on at Sea World San Antonio. This blog, my current musical obsessions, even my musically borne relationship with my boyfriend — none of these things would have existed if it hadn’t been for a trio from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I fell in love with Hanson when I was in middle school. They had just come out with their seventh (yes — seventh) album, This Time Around, which, in terms of new material, was the follow-up to their breakout hit, Middle of Nowhere. The brothers were headed to San Antonio, Texas, touring in support of This Time Around, and I was an overall-and-Doc-Marten-wearing, hair-braiding, brace-faced kid ready for my first concert experience ever.

I remember starting out sitting at the back of the venue, up on a grassy field with my mom, munching on a very expensive slice of pizza and very concerned there would be some kind of stage rush. Although the venue filled up, we ended up wandering down close to the stage, dancing quietly off to the left, and the live concert experience and the brothers’ musicianship hooked me then and there.

Now, the guys are releasing immaculate pop records on their own independent label. They’ve got their own families, but after all these years, their brotherly love has held strong enough to keep on keepin’ on. I think one of my favorite things about Hanson is that they love and perform for their fans, above all. They still play their hit single “Mmmbop” at shows, and they don’t sound tired when they do it — their voices are richer, but they sing it with as much heart as they used to. Now, they also get to fill their set lists with eight albums’ worth of material, the latest being the fun and peppy Shout It Out.

I think one of the most amazing things about Hanson is that they have survived coming-of-age in front of all of us. A number of years ago, when I told friends and family I still loved Hanson, they would roll their eyes at me and ask if that was a guilty pleasure. But I assured them there was never any guilt I felt enjoying the group’s lovely pop songs, and now, people seem to have come full circle, respecting Hanson’s career and allowing themselves to embrace the band’s positive attitudes and upbeat sounds.

The last time I saw Hanson was when they came through Austin on their The Walk Tour, during which they’d gather groups of people before their show to raise awareness about poverty and AIDS in Africa. The experience was a far cry from Sea World San Antonio — I was a young adult hanging out in a venue with a bar by myself. Hanson, however, was just as enthusiastic and wonderful as always. I expect nothing less when they play Antone’s.

Growing up with Austin City Limits – 2011 Reviewed

Growing up adoring live music is a strange thing. All of us have to come to terms with aging, and I am by no means old — I’m only 24, well aware of how much more youth is laid out in front of me. But even though it’s six years until my thirties and that’s even so young in modern times, I feel like every year that passes, my live music experience is tweaked enough to make me notice that I’m growing.

Austin City Limits has so often been the backdrop of my slow and steady coming-of-age, that my experience with the festival, the fans, the weather, the bands and the music itself shifts all the time. I remember my first Austin City Limits festival in 2005, when I was just starting to find out exactly how much I was in love with music. I focused more on meeting my heros, spending a lot of time at the Waterloo tent, getting signatures and goofing around with Tristan Prettyman, Rachael Yamagata and the Blues Travelers — I’ll never forget John Popper spouting off to me in French and kissing my bandaged-from-rowing-tryouts hands. 2006 was a huge turning point, where I totally lost myself during Muse’s set, moshing just a little and sweating like it was detox therapy. My tastes were splintering off in a thousand directions, and ACL catered to that beautifully. I was always the one to camp out for artists, to dance with reckless abandon and spend the whole day in a field with strangers. I’d never care that I was attending the festival alone, because I’d inevitably make new friends sitting around on the grass.

Now here we are, at the festival’s 10-year reunion and what was my sixth time attending (would-be seventh, if it hadn’t been for my broken ankle ’09 debacle), and it’s a completely different ballgame for me. First of all, I’m not a student anymore. This means I had to work for a better part of Friday — I managed to take off three hours and make the shows I was dying to see, but was still a bit bummed not to catch morning gigs and make a day of it. I also find that I don’t enjoy the festival as much when I’m by my lonesome. I can (and will) still go it alone when it means making a performance by my favorites, but if I’m with people I love and they want to move back in the crowd a bit, I’ll tend to oblige. I feel the physical taxation of festivals a lot more now, too. I used to just get sick after a weekend of rocking out, but this year was the first where I felt I was coming close to fainting. Finally, I find myself a little more jaded by my surrounding festival-goers — I’m more easily annoyed, and a little more judgmental of the very young kids I see wandering around the festival grounds. When I catch myself being a grump, I try to remind myself of being that girl or boy, and having that experience. And sometimes, I’ll still meet people who remind me of how awesome festival-goers tend to be.

Of course, it’s not all grouchiness and disillusion. With my age, I have fallen in love with far more bands, and even more genres that allow me to enjoy more bands. I have also fallen in love with more people, and get to see festivals through their eyes, too. Just because it’s different doesn’t make it worse, and even though it’s harder to get the same detox high that I regularly felt when I was younger, when it hits now, it is euphoric.

Austin City Limits Festival 2011 – Who to See

I have been excited about this year’s Austin City Limits Festival for a while, but the giddiness just hit me on Sunday. It is indeed that time of year where Zilker Park closes to lazy weekends with your dog to make way for tall white tents, towering stages and tons and tons of your favorite bands. My all-time top two will both be performing this weekend, so I’m more than ready for it all. Mostly, I’m excited to stumble upon some new bands I’ve never heard before – there are quite a few that could fill some empty spaces in my schedule. For now, I will recommend the bands I feel secure in signing off on. Below, you’ll get a song and a snippet about who I think you should see. Drink tons of water, reapply that sunscreen, and rock out with abandon.

Baby’s First Showcase – A Night of Rock at Frank

This little blog is proud to announce to its fabulous readers that tonight at Frank, we will be presenting our first showcase of music. I realize for any football fans out there, today signifies the beginning of the NFL season, and I respect that. But I humbly ask that if you head to Frank or anywhere else to get your game on, you come for your nightcap with three incredible local bands and me.

First up, Ethan Kennedy will wrap you in his gorgeous melodies and prodigious guitar solos. I’ve watched Ethan progress over the past 3+ years, and been amazed by the volume of brilliance that seems to pour out of him. My fingers are crossed for a “Bonnie Mae’s Blues and Greens” throwback, but I’ll be pleased with whatever he gives us.

Next up, the Soapbox Spellbinders will melt your mind with the sounds of their rocking. This trio is just starting out, but they grabbed my attention from their rehearsal sessions alone, as they combined classic tunes in an effortless mash-up of awesome. The guys are slowly becoming veterans of the stage, bringing their unique brand of blues rock that teeters on a pop rock fringe to your ears — and don’t be surprised if you find you just have to move your feet to their grooves.

Finally, Leatherbag will close out the night with folk rock, heavy on the rock. These guys have been headlining shows around Austin for a long time now, and they’ve honed their sound over that time to craft catchy tunes that bring to mind the Wallflowers, if the Wallflowers had grown out of their decidedly 90s sound and gone in the direct Jakob Dylan did on his own. I’m thrilled to have this band on our lineup.

I hope to see many of you tonight. Make sure you say hello if you attend!

Tim Kasher at the Mohawk – Reviewed

Photo by Jess Ewald

I walked into the Mohawk to see Tim Kasher, expecting that I would have a solid, cathartic cry about how growing up is more complicated than I was prepared for. Instead, I found myself smiling and laughing through most of his set, because — spoiler alert! — Tim Kasher is a funny, engaging and personably nerdy frontman. This brooding dude put up on a pedestal by so many emo kids has a wicked sense of humor, taking his shows from the potential “woe-is-me” fest that they could be, and making them, instead, enjoyably self-deprecating. Before seeing him live, I admired Tim for his brutal honesty and clever, cutthroat way with words. After, I had totally fallen for his quick wit and grain-of-salt attitude. Don’t get me wrong — Kasher feels and believes in what he’s singing. But he presents it all in this way that seems to shrug, “Now do with that what you will.” In Austin’s case, we devoured it.

Tim Kasher tonight! at the Mohawk

Photo by Jess Ewald

“When I was young I believed in love/But hey, I also believed in God…./I believe in a suburban heaven.” As this line from “There Must Be Something I’ve Lost” will tell you, you’re not going to be in for sweetness and light at Tim Kasher’s show tonight. No, if you’re standing next to me at the Mohawk this evening, you’ll be in for a melancholy take on growing up and getting old. But sometimes, wallowing a little in the downside of freedom and responsibility can feel pretty good — especially when you’re wallowing with a room full of people. And there’s no better bandleader for the lost and mournful than Saddle Creek’s Kasher.

Tim is probably best known as the frontman for Cursive, one of Omaha, Nebraska’s big success stories. He also helmed The Good Life, Cursive’s more melodic red-headed stepchild. Through all of these projects, Kasher has written brutally honest songs deconstructing some of modern America’s most sacred institutions — especially marriage. His recent solo album, The Game of Monogamy, is all about this expected union and the pressures so many of us feel. “I don’t want a kid and I can’t keep being one,” Kasher wails on “A Grown Man.” He continues on in the album reminiscing about more hopeful times, ranting with jealousy of younger men and wondering if he’s obsolete. Much like LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Kasher is clearly struggling with adulthood, but unlike Murphy, who seems to shrug his shoulders and power through, Kasher seems to be thrashing around in his music, both restrained and bursting at the seems, fighting with all of his power to maintain his Peter Pan place in the world.

More than flailing adolescent tantrums, though, Kasher’s music takes this energy and uses it to question and criticize the norms we’ve come to take for granted. Should married life be expected of everyone? Are we all supposed to be parents? Must there always come a time where we stop struggling and just settle? Is there anything wrong with that, anyway? This is the kind of brooding music that I love — the stuff that makes me think. And Kasher makes it even better, too, by writing varied, interesting, catchy and surprising songs to wrap his questions in.

So perhaps we’ll all participate in a little wallowing tomorrow. But it won’t be thoughtless. On the contrary, we’ll all be scratching our heads and wondering where we’re headed — and where we want to be headed. And that’s not a bad direction to take.

Tim Kasher and his band play at the Mohawk tonight, with Milk Thistle and Aficionados opening. Doors at 9PM, music at 10PM.