Vagabond Collective’s Summer Series Finale: Live Review

Photo by Lukas Truckenbrod

Last Saturday night, I got my sweat on as I jumped between the indoor and patio stages at Vagabond Collective’s final Summer Nights series at Empire Control Room.  Drinks were flowing and the visuals were hypnotic as the vibed crowd enjoyed inspired sets from some of Austin’s finest musicians, visual artists, and lyricists.

Photo by Lukas Truckenbrod

Your correspondent’s night started at Empire for the beginning of Milezo’s set, with all amps cranked and pumping out sweet garage psych courtesy of dual lead singers, Blair and Sam.  The set was full of noisy bursts of well-timed feedback and spiraling delay.  The crowd was packed and already heating up the room.  I began noticing sweat forming on my cheeks as we reached a collective fury of cymbal crashes and peaking distortion.  Milezo was able to counter their noisy climaxes with sublime garage pop catchiness that grooved with lite-swagger.

Following Milezo’s set I went outside to the patio to catch SubKulture Patriots warming up into their own set.  Their politics-and-reefer charged set was rounded out by a few MCs: The Brain, Cap’n Kirk, HBZ (Boo Radley), and RuDi Devino.  Beats built on strong samples kept the outdoor vibe mellower than the rock and roll inside, a more intense ride.  The Patriots called for the audience to throw both hands in the air in an effort to recognize the current Ferguson, MO protestors’ struggles, and then asking everyone to “FUCK THE PO-LICE” being well-aware of the stage’s proximity to Austin’s police department.  Sweat levels were now reaching a dripping point.

Photo by Lukas Truckenbrod

I went back inside to see some good ole’ Shivery Shakes deliver a surfs up! set of pizza tunes.  Lead singer William Glossup donned his self-decidedly trademark stage sunglasses and jam out some slick solos amidst upbeat drumming from Marcus Haddon.  The group rounded out a smooth set with help from recent undeniably solid single, “Sidewalk Talk.”  All that surf was heating up my sweat to hot-pizza levels.

Photo by Lukas Truckenbrod

My final experience was watching burgeoning Austin indie-pop band Marmalakes, whose three vocalists Max Colonna (bass), Josh Halpern (drums), and Chase Weinacht (guitar) delivered an upbeat set of catchy, anthemic, hook-heavy, climactic jams.  The crowd was turnt up at this point and my brow was now doused.  Somehow, this was my first time seeing the ‘Lakes and I’ve now made it a personal mission to follow these guys as they play throughout our fair city.  The energy and smiles, propelled by Master of Percussion Halpern, were righteously accepted by the swooning audience at this final Vagabond Collective Summer Nights Series show.

All photos in this post © Lukas Truckenbrod & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.