Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Dry the River and Bowerbirds at Lincoln Hall

Wow. I'm a little behind on reviewing concerts (because I was traveling around in a van with my pals Moon Furies. Which was tons of fun.). Catch-up time!

Last Thursday, I got to see Dry the River and Bowerbirds at Lincoln Hall.
I chatted with a few members of UK band Dry the River before their show - also very enjoyable, since they have British accents. I'm a sucker for a good accent.
They played at SXSW, and said that Austin felt like a carnival. Apparently, they also played a cult-like private party in the suburbs of Austin. The host was wearing a robe and gold necklace - there were free tarot readings - shrines and crystals littered the house. Sounds like a blast!
They've been touring around the US with Bowerbirds in their own 40-foot RV.
I asked if they missed home.
"The road is my home," said Scott (bass), with a laugh. "I don't know what to do with myself when I get home."
Their influences are all over the board, depending on which band member you talk to. 70s prog-rock, country, post-rock, post-hardcore -
"And pretzels. I'm really into pretzels," one of them said. "We love salt. Salt's a big influence."

I asked them what three words describe their album.
"See us live," said Scott.
From the sounds of it, the Dry the River fellows really focus on making their live performance a separate entity. Performing live is what they're really passionate about, and they put a lot of effort into their shows.

Luckily, they don't just talk the talk.
Their show at Lincoln Hall was gorgeous. At one point, they stepped away from the microphones and went acoustic, singing out three-part vocal harmonies into the hushed crowd. The venue was startlingly quiet. This wasn't a get-drunk-and-yell concert. This was a close-your-eyes-and-listen-close concert. I love that. Beauty is what I search for in music, and Dry the River creates a beautiful space for the audience to enter and to experience what they have to share.

Bowerbirds was the icing on the cake of the evening for me. More low-key, beautiful music.  But honestly, I enjoyed Dry the River more.  They have that Something for me. Keep your ears on them.

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