Rock and roll is alive in Austin, Texas. Mohawk is the place to catch it. The club offered performances on both indoor and outdoor stages with slightly alternating set times between the two. The crowd grew throughout the evening, which ended with local dream pop act Black Books on the outdoor stage. Your correspondents have covered the outdoor portion of the evening. Additional reporting in this post provided by photographer and writer Madeline Harvey while I left for Holy Mountain.
Locals Little Radar opened our evening at the outdoor Mohawk stage with super tight alt-pop rock jams. Two guitars brimming with overdrive, plucky bass and sizable drumming were all matched with catchy melodies from lead singer and guitarist, Sean Hale. They maintained a moderate dose of swagger and balanced their set with slow burners and straight-up rock anthems. They had a few fans in the audience who were visibly excited to be seeing Little Radar on the big outdoor Mohawk stage. The early set time prevented too large of a crowd, but grew towards the end of the set.
Young Tongue followed with their hip indie tunes. Lead singer and guitarist Stuart Baker controlled the band, dictating the energy and building the crowd’s enthusiasm. The tunes are full of catchy melodies and dynamic percussion (and their trademark keg-inspired auxiliary percussion). Liz Baker provided the spirit for the band, meandering around on stage when her synth lines weren’t needed. They are a fun, young band with a good ear for quick musical changes and youthful energy that would fit well playing over the speakers at H&M or Urban Outfitters.
According to Madeline, “Grooving with a swaying crowd, Black Books played a set of cosmic quality – boundless, spacey, and enhanced by glimmers of light reflected off their disco ball. Black Books’ act intentionally, as noted by lead vocalist Ross Gilfillan, made the transition from songs slightly sanguine to subdued serenades as the synthesizer droned on into the night and dreaminess was osmotically absorbed by the audience. Black Books’ thoughtfully-constructed performance was nothing short of a smooth spaceship ride into genius psychedelia.”
All photos © Madeline Harvey & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
