Last week, Spoon played a surprise tour kickoff show at small East Austin club Hotel Vegas. The headliner for the night was Sweet Spirit. I wrote about Spoon’s show last week and have been on a Spoon kick ever since. The night took me back to my earliest days of discovering music in Austin circa 2001, and the nostalgia has kept me invigorated and inspired for the last several days. In light of all this, I didn’t feel it was right to detract from how magical the night was by questioning the band’s actions. And, admittedly, I don’t know all the factors that went into the show’s organization. However, here, in a post focusing on new Austin band Sweet Spirit, I feel I have to address a puzzling reality.
Since Spoon must have possessed the ultimate say-so on who played when, I’m not sure why they didn’t insist that Sweet Spirit played before them, offering their fans a chance to experience a younger local act. Of course, no one should expect someone else to do something for them, and the opportunity to share a poster and be in conversation with Spoon shouldn’t be scoffed at. Still, it seems to me like the thing to do would be to make sure your audience also saw the act you shared a bill with, especially since the crowd stood waiting from around 8:30 until 10:00–plenty of time for Sweet Spirit to play a set. I’m sure a few fans stuck around, but it was hard to ignore Sweet Spirit frontwoman Sabrina Ellis’ statement as she shielded her eyes from the stage lights and peered out into the crowd: “It’s awesome to see all my friends here after Spoon’s friends left.”
Indeed, those who hung around to catch the set were the true rock ‘n’ roll fans–the die-hard local music devotees who show up every week, mid-week to see bands pouring their heart and soul into creating music. Sabrina Ellis deserves our attention and devotion. She also fronts power pop act A Giant Dog and formerly fronted Bobby Jealousy before forming Sweet Spirit, her newest musical project. This new band bears similar elements to her preceding endeavors; it’s a rock band with plenty of grit and energy, but the band seems to have a little more soul and lean more toward classic rock riffs. Certainly, the recorded sounds of the future will lend a greater understanding of Sweet Spirit’s aims and ethos. For the time being, it’s safe to say that Ellis is likely Austin’s most charismatic frontwoman and that Sweet Spirit’s live show packs enormous punch. Sweet Spirit’s show last Tuesday showcased these qualities as Ellis danced unabashedly as her and her band kicked out powerful and raw rock jams.
If you stuck around, you likely saw that Spoon, like many other band that garner top praise and dominate the spotlight, isn’t the only band making outstanding music in Austin–a truth that I know holds up in cities across the nation. Spoon is a great rock band, and they’ve released some classic albums. In part, they helped to put Austin on the map, but Austin’s music community continues to thrive for many other reasons, and it’s vital that we hold sacred hardworking bands alongside those who’ve made it. For your own sake and for the sake of Austin music, we hope you were among those who stuck around. If not, you have another chance to see them soon. The band plays an incredible bill at Cheer Up Charlies on June 8th for Marmalakes tour homecoming show along with Grape St. and Genuine Leather. It’s a powerhouse bill, and we advise attending.
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