Friday night at Mohawk featured an epic six-band bill that occupied both the venue’s indoor and outdoor stages. Sometimes, live music reports feature the headliners and all but ignore opening acts. Since this bill was killer throughout and our team had plans to catch The Deer and Nightblooms across town later in the night, we decided to spotlight some of the opening bands at Mohawk.
As a long-time K Records fan, I’ve watched as Ruby Fray’s songs have moved from off-kilter, experimental number to full-on, psyched-out rock tunes. I first saw Ruby Fray years ago now at the Wardenclyffe Gallery just after she moved from the Northwest to Austin. Since then, the songs have evolved in texture and sound. Her second record came out this past year on K, and her maturation as a songwriter is evident. On Friday night, she commanded the room’s attention as the songs swelled from tense simmering to explosive shouts. As I walked through the venue just after the set, I found a couple of concertgoers crowded around the posted set times, enthusiastically inquiring, “Who was that?!” We expect Ruby Fray is a name you’ll hear more and more.
Outside, Indian Jewelry played in almost total darkness on Mohawk’s larger stage. The band powered through thundering psychedelic songs slathered in reverb and vocal effects. While some may find such a set less approachable than the more popular psych pop and garage rock formats, it’s nice to see a band tackle a direction with reckless abandon. Indian Jewelry generates furiously churning waves; you’ll find no tepid waters here.
Check out a few photos from these two bands below. All photographs © Bryan C. Parker & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open set in slideshow viewer.
