Empire Control Room hosted the Daybender party this past Saturday, taking on a dual role as part of Weekender Austin and as the release celebration for Punctum Records‘ Taft and Little Lo‘s split 7-inch vinyl, as if the bill wasn’t stellarly expansive enough. Regretfully, I wasn’t unable to make it out at the party’s onset and, in turn, missed a few personal favorites, including ever-funky Holiday Mountain. Thankfully I caught the last few hours and soaked in the sunshine of the wonderfully SXSW-reminiscent afternoon.
I roll up to the doors of Empire Control Room and head inside, only to find a crowd of people jamming to the energetic and dynamic Dallas duo Ishi, who fills the room with positivity through their electronic dance music, fusing soul, funk, and techno influences to construct a performance art-esque set of true innovation. Due to the concurrency of the indoor and outdoor shows, I move outside to see Pure X in all their hazy, dark-pop glory that morphs the tent into a venerable womb as we collectively develop and grow, dreamy bass and falsetto our umbilical cord.
Fifteen minutes fly by, as the typical mingling ensures, and suddenly Marmalakes is on stage, unapologetically amping the tent right back up with their praised and emotive indie-folk-pop songs, crisply rocking out while extracting dance moves from even the most reserved audience members. As I make my way back into the AC, a strange phenomenon occurs and my face begins melting: a tell-tale symptom indicative of exposure to the infectious music of Walker Lukens. Backed by five-piece band The Side Arms, Walker Lukens makes brilliant use of his loop pedal and gives indie blues-rock and acid twist to which the crowd unitedly swoon, closing out our night and leaving our brains pleasantly a-tinglin’.
Though quite bummed I missed over half of the performances, I’m grateful for not only what we could make, but also for the mere fact that events like this exist. We live in a world – ahem, a city – where nine stupendous artists choose to come together and put on a show in the middle of a Saturday, all in support of one another. With the prevalence and concentration of music in Austin, it can sometimes be easy to overlook the true beauty of it all and mistake it for the norm, but it’s just not the norm, man. It’s Austin, and it’s gold.
