Stop Motion music video for O Conqueror's song Fake Love by Christophe Thockler.

There’s a lot of talent in the band, and really, how many acts have you seen that have four members who are highly capable singers? The band keeps fairly busy, and has a show at Adair’s in Dallas on September 22nd. On the 29th they will be at Lola’s in Fort Worth. Then in October you can catch them at the Lake Highlands Octoberfest on the 6th. On the 13th they will be at The Gin Mill in Dallas, and they’ll be back at Adair’s on the 27th. Then, on November 10th, you can see them at Tolbert’s in Grapevine. You can also check out both their records in ITUNES. It was back over to the secondary stage, where the former Dentonites but current Austin based band, Cartwright, was set to take the stage. Out of ever band that played this day, they were the only ones whom I flat out did not like. One song their singer and guitarist, Ben Russell, said was about a time he “…took too much LSD and called my mom to talk about it…”. I mention that because for this show he looked like he had taken too much LSD, and appeared almost totally out of it. Couple that with his inability to sing well, and you got a performance that was very lackluster. Their only saving grace was the fact that the other instrumentalists brought a lot to the table. Nick Cornetti was a machine on the drums, and they keyboard that Joe Cornetti played was very audible, which surprised me, since most of the times keys tend to be an underlying instrument, and he made some killer sounds on it. If you would be interested to check out their music, you can do so HERE. Back over on the main stage, Sixteen Deluxe stood at the ready, and once they got a brief little introduction, they were ready to embark on a 37 minute long set. This was a far cry from their set last night, and much like I said about that show, this one, too, had its positives and negatives. The only negative was that I found it difficult to hear vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Carrie Clark, for most of their songs. On the other hand, there was nothing restricting them this afternoon, so they were able to give it their all. After their first song, they went straight into “Over and Over”. Yeah, their psychedelic/dreamy sound was coming through a lot better today, and was quite good. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the bulk of their material, so I can’t elaborate a whole lot, but it was a very enjoyable set, and I often found myself liking each song more than the one before. Here and there they stopped and had a few words with the audience, while others then powered through, bleeding the songs into one another. At the tail end, they did a song titled, “Large Animal Clinic”, before saying that they had one more left. I believe Carrie who started “Idea”, with the rest of the band joining in when Steven Hall smashed down on the drums. It’s a very well written song, with some soaring guitar lines from Chris "Frenchie" Smith, and they landed a good hook with that one, “…Now things are changing for you, yeah. Looks like she got an idea…”. I mentioned there was nothing restricting them this show, well that made for a stellar performance. “Frenchie” could shred pretty hard. At one point he even jumped up on an amp and rocked out for a bit before leaping off of it. Carrie could play pretty well, too, while bassist, Jeff Copas, had a nice style of rocking out on his bass. It was a very fun performance, too. Carrie often wore a smile, and you could tell they were all enjoying being up there performing. In case you missed my review of the acoustic night of the Dia De Los Toadies, I’ll tell you again how to find their music and such. You can get their albums on their BANDCAMP PAGE at the “name your own price” (so potentially free) and you can also pick up “Emits Showers of Sparks” and “Year One” in iTunes. They also have a gig next month at ND in Austin on October 6th. I like these guys, and hope to see them again sometime. As we started to walk back to the other stage, I heard the next band getting ready to start. “We’re called The Phuss, and we’re going to play some Rock ‘N’ Roll music for you.” said Joshua Fleming. It had been awhile since I last saw this North Texas based Punk Rock outfit, and what better way to begin the Rock “N” Roll they spoke of than with “Strike You Down”. Drummer, Trey Alfaro, started them into it, and pretty soon the band was full steam ahead with what was one of the strongest sets of the day. That song had barely ended when Josh started strumming his guitar, kicking off “Something to Die For”. Afterwards, they kept on going with “One for Now Three for Later”, which has a nice, although brief bass solo from Forrest Barton. The trio tore back into it after that, and Josh screamed out the chorus, “Sometimes I feel like a double standard, she feels she’s chasing a ghost…”. Before their next song, they looked at one another, shouted out something, then tore into “Stupid Girl”. It was a sensational onslaught of rock they were delivering, and still showed no signs of letting up as they brought it right into another song, which I believe was “You Ought to Know”. After that, they finally took a break, and Josh began to talk about their new album, how it was produced by Vaden Todd Lewis and what it was like working with an idol of his to help craft some of the songs we were now hearing. He then asked everyone to move in closer, because, as he said, “Today’s my god damn birthday…” That was a good enough reason for the crowd, who moved as close as possible, and were now so tightly packed that no one had their own “personal space”. This dedication surprised me, in a way. I know The Phuss plays quite often, and has started branching out here in the Austin area, but everyone seemed to be captivated by them, as well as singing along to every song. I guess they do have a loyal following down in this area, and that is pretty cool. They got back to it with “The Romantic”, which was a standout in their set, and then did the downright gritty, “Bleed”. After one more song, it was already time to wrap things up, and Josh asked a very important question. “Who all’s going to church tomorrow!?” He went into a short speech, if memory serves me correctly he likened this event to church, and then Trey set a steady beat on the drums, juggling the drumsticks in a way, as he tapped one of the pieces of his kit, caught one stick as he tossed the other in the air, and repeated it. It’s really something to behold when you’re watching it first hand, and you could feel everyone’s excitement mounting while he did this intro for “Preacher Preacher”, which would end their 32 minute set. There is no question, this was the best Phuss show I’ve seen to date. Josh’s voice was crystal clear this afternoon. Not sure what caused it, because the sound systems at the other venues I’ve seen them at are very great, but that has been my only compliant with these guys from time to time, so with that taken care of, there was nothing to hinder them. They may well be the hardest rocking trio in the Lone Star State, and definitely were at the Whitewater Amphitheater this day. Like I said, these guys keep busy, and have shows in Dallas on September 22nd at The Foundry. September 27th at The Basement in Fort Worth. September 28th at Andy’s in Denton. September 29th at The Warehouse in Fort Worth. October 5th at Eskimo Joe’s in Stillwater, Oklahoma. After a stop at Club Girabaldis in Milwaukee, WI on October 7th, they will be back in New York for a string of shows. October 14th at Trash Bar, the 16th at Bowery Electric and the 17th at Bar Machless, all of which are in NYC. Then they have special Halloween gig at Rubber Gloves in Denton on the 27th where they will cover songs from Alkaline Trio. Also, don’t forget to check out their SELF-TITLED record in iTunes. There’s nine songs on it, and not a one of them are bad. When I turned around after they finished, I saw a familiar face of someone I didn’t expect to see, Casey Hess (of Descender). Chatted with him for a few minutes, and by that time the next band on the main stage had just embarked on their set. It was the Riverboat Gamblers, a band I’ve listened to many times over the years, and have never been able to get into. From what I heard, they received nothing but rave reviews, but I was always at a loss as to why, because what music of theirs I listened to (granted, this was a few years back) I just didn’t think sounded good. Maybe this live show would better, though… (Also, I want to go ahead and note I did my best to piece together as much of their set as possible, and there is certainly the possibility that it’s not 100% accurate.) When we got over to the main stage, they were halfway through “Bite My Tongue”. It would seem all the fans of TRBG had done something I had not, and the was seen one of their shows. As soon as I laid my eyes on the band I was blown away by their raw and brash stage show, with guitarists, Fadi El-Assad and Ian MacDougall, bassist, Rob Marchant, and drummer, Sam Keir, tearing it up. And then you had vocalist, Mike Wiebe, who was running around the stage like a madman. I believe it was after that song that Mike quickly said the band formed in Denton, but has since relocated to Austin. “…I’ll talk more about that later, though, and why this is such a cool show for me…” he told the audience, before they ripped into “Save You”, then fired up another immediately after the final chords had been played, then did the same thing once again when that song was finished. They stopped, but only long enough for Mike to say the next song was titled “Soliloquy”, another one from their new record, then brought it right into their next tune. After that was when Mike mentioned why this day was extra special for him. He mentioned how cool it was that The Phuss had played just before them, but mostly he was excited that Brutal Juice (who would perform later) was playing this festival, saying he used to go see them a lot and that they were the band who made him think, “I want to do that!” They then dove into another song, which possible was “Loser Neck”, and it was during this song where things got very interesting. There’s a fence on stage right, to separate the backstage area, and while performing, Mike ran over and jumped up on the fence. You could tell he had to work at maintaining his balance, but he did so just fine as he surveyed the crowd. Then came the question of getting down, and why do something simple like climbing back down the fence that now had him at least five feet higher than the stage. Dos Equis was a sponsor of this event, and they had some flags hanging on either side of the stage. Mike grabbed one and tested it somewhat, before grabbing hold of it and using it to lower him back down to the stage, and as he did so, it snapped. By this time they were on to another song, so he stood there, holding the flag and waving it around, before someone finally removed it so it wouldn’t loosely hang there. After finishing that song, Sam started them into “Eviction Notice”, and despite them still having a few songs left, I thought it was a good one to go ahead and start winding down with (if you can call it that, because these guys never once slowed their pace.) “Comedians” was a very good song, and started one final onslaught, as they didn’t take a break from here on out. Things picked back up to their borderline Punk/Rock sound with “What's What” and “Rattle Me Bones”, both of which come from the “Something to Crow About record, and then they got to the final song of their 42 minute set. “Don't Bury Me... I'm Still Not Dead Yet” seemed to be an appropriate way to end the show, like their time might have been up for now, but things were far from being over. Talk about winning me over. The Riverboat Gamblers did exactly that, and even upon revisiting their music, I have found myself more fond of it (though I would say their three most recent releases are better than those that precede them.) There is no question that the live show is where it’s at with these guys. This was one of the most high-energy performances I have had the pleasure of seeing and I felt there was a real sense of urgency to it. Each of them are excellent on their own, and together they make a very well oiled machine, which I thought was demonstrated well on some of the songs where Ian, Fadi and Rob would sing a line, with Mike tackling the next one and so on. Point is, they are in perfect synch with each other. They’ll be hitting the road in October with shows all along the east coast, and you can find their full tour dates HERE. Go see them if you get the chance, because I know that whenever they play the North Texas area again, I won’t even think about missing the show. Oh, and don’t forget to check out their music in iTunes. The Soldier Thread was up next on the Biergarten Stage, and I made it over there just as guitarist, Todd Abels, and keyboard player, Justin McHugh, finished up the intro for the first song of their 27 minute set, “No Parachute”. As it faded out, Drew Vandiver laid into the drums, setting up “Part Of You”. Vocalist, Patricia Lynn, switched up a few lines of that song from how they are on the recorded version. For example, after a part of the second verse, “…I’m just a passenger…”, which was sang in a normal tone, she raised her voice, adding a fiery element to it, as she belted out, “…My heart is going up in flames.”, before getting to the wonderful chorus, “I would like to satisfy you. But I know better know, oh, I could never be enough for you…”. They paused for a moment as Patricia once again told everyone who they were and where they were from (Austin), since their audience had grown, but was sadly still lacking from what it should have been (I’ve actually seen them have bigger, more engaged crowds in Dallas). After that, they did another song from their latest EP, “Would It Kill You?”. By the time they started “Matador” a few more people had come up and danced along to the lively song, which was followed with a non-album track, “Heartbeat”. They were practically done with the song when I guess the amps blew a fuse or something got unplugged, and you could barely hear the guitar, keys, or vocals, as they finished out the tune and looked at each other, appearing to be a state of disbelief. Stuff like this happens, and even though they got the issue fixed rather quickly, it was still unfortunate. A few people shouted that they needed to improvise, and for a minute, I thought maybe it would come down to them needing to do an acoustic-ish song. They jumped back into it with the single from “The Bull” EP, “Pretty Bones”, and then brought things down a little with the song that proceeds it on the record, “For You”. “This is our last song.” Patricia told everyone. The set seemed to be on the short side, at least it passed by super quick, even with those few minutes where nothing happened, but they had at least been able to hit the highlights, and left everyone with one final staple song, “Anybody”. It was a very good set, and I personally found it nice to have another chance to see the band, rather than waiting for them to get back to Dallas again. And on some levels, this was the best show I’ve seen them do. It’s also worth pointing out that they are still lacking a bass player, yet I really don’t think it impacts their show. If anything, it makes the keys a little more audible. So for now, they’re getting along just fine without a complete rhythm section. The band has a few albums & singles you can buy, and can find all of them in iTunes by going HERE. I can’t find any of their tour dates at the moment, but I’m sure they will have some more sooner or later, so keep a check on their Facebook page to see if they’ll be coming to an area near you. “So, I just got to talk to Page Hamilton…” That was what the MC said once most of the people had gathered over by the main stage. He went on to say that the next band, Helmet, had started in the 80’s, broken up for awhile, but where now back together, and have been touring with the Toadies on and off this year. I knew absolutely nothing about the band, hadn’t heard their music and had no clue what to expect. “Unsung” began their set, and progression of that songs intro is pretty killer, with the drums and getting layered over each other, before Page Hamilton and Dan Beeman rocked out some awesome chords on their guitars. So, I liked the music, and once Page started singing the first line, “Your contribution left unnoticed some. Association with an image…”, I realized he had a pretty good voice. At least it was going to be an enjoyable show. One of the bands newer songs, “So Long”, came next, and with eighteen years in between these first two songs of the set, they didn’t seem to have changed much. The music still has a raw, gritty sound to it, and Page’s voice really hasn’t changed too much. They pulled out a couple tracks from their 1994 album, “Betty”, the first of which I think was “I Know”, while the other was “Speechless” a got a little set up. Page said it was one fans requested a lot, “But we didn’t really do it, ‘cause I’d forget the lyrics to it a lot…” he said, being rather candid in my opinion. “…But we’ve actually rehearsed it now…” he added, saying they’ve been having fun doing it. They wound it right into “See You Dead”, and subsequently segued it directly into the next tune. It was obvious the band likes their older material more (and I’m sure their fans feel the same way), because “White City” was one of the only other new songs that found its way into the setlist. I did my best to piece together what they did, but the next couple of songs I’m at a loss out, though they bled one right in to the other, and one featured a rocking little solo from Page. Afterwards, he said they had another song from their ’94 that they had been “…having some fun with…”, which was “Overrated”. After another song, they did the heavy, “Smart”, which has some real gruff borderline screams, then let loose with “In the Meantime”. They had gotten a very long set in relation to the other bands, though it didn’t seem like it (except to my legs, which were starting to tire already), but now Page said they had one last song, and “Milquetoast” ended their 55 minutes on stage. They were another band whom you could tell was really having a blast up there, I guess in part since this was a one-off show for them. At one point, I think around the time he introduced the band, he said the Toadies had been great at working around their (Helmet’s) schedule as far as touring went. They had evidently taken a break earlier in the year when (I believe) their bassist, Dave Case, needed to be home when his child was born, and where currently doing the same for drummer, Kyle Stevenson. But if their drummer was away, how could they do this show you might be asking? Well, the brother of guitarist, Dan, had learned all the drum parts just for this one show and had flown down here to Texas with them to perform. So for very good reason Page asked everyone to give it up for Pete Beeman. I have to say, that guy slayed it on the drums, and had they not mentioned that, I would have assumed he was the full-time drummer. Pretty good band, pretty good show, and I don’t know how much it really pertains to their set, but during it, there were some buzzards circling overhead. Now, how many concert venues are there where you can see something like that? On October 18th Helmet will be back on the road with the Toadies for their west coast tour, and you can find all their tour dates HERE. Also, check out their records in iTunes. After they finished, the guy who was the MC of sorts walked back out on the stage. “I haven’t said this in about five years, but you need to get over to the other stage NOW to see Brutal Juice…” Brutal Juice. I’ve heard of them, but by the time I got into the local music scene, they had come on gone. But they do, do the occasional reunion show once a year or so, and that was the case for this event. I was intrigued to see what their show would be like after all the good things I’ve heard. Their live show was impressive, just at the end of their first song their singer did a headstand and held it for at least half a minute. Now that’s something you don’t see every day, and it was pretty impressive. But that’s where I have some mixed feelings on the band. From the performance aspect, they are a beast not to be trifled with, and if they are this good now, I wonder what they must have been like when they were going full throttle back in the day. However, the vocals weren’t really my thing and were closer to the screaming side of things then I care for. Two of the five guys acted as their lead vocalists, one of whom was also a guitarist, and while he was singing the other guy rocked out furiously to the music. After a few songs, I decided I didn’t have to see them and went to get a bite to eat. Speaking of that, I want to say, when you have an all day event of this scale, you NEED to be properly stocked when it comes to concessions and such. I say this because after waiting in line for ten to fifteen minutes to get something to eat, I was informed the only things they had left where fries and cheese quesadillas, none of which sounded to appealing to me at the time. Like I said, for a day long concert like this, you need to make sure you have enough supplies to make the other items on your menu, such as nachos, corndogs, etc. It was ridiculous, and honestly, I got a little peeved by this. So, after wasted time in line, I returned to the smaller stage where Brutal Juice was about to finish up. “Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered…” they softly sang, which sounded like a perfect line to use in a horror movie. It grew louder before they tore into the song, which was a very heavy rock/thrash song and consisted of that one line being repeated. As simple as it sounds, it was a good tune, and I was surprised that, that ended up being the end of their set, and they suddenly thanked everybody and began to tear down their gear. I can’t say I’ll try to see this band again, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to check them out. They were alright, and if they sound like they might interest you, go see ‘em whenever they do another reunion show. It was getting closer, and now there was just one band on the main stage before the Toadies. They were the most interesting band of the day, and also one of the handful who did not hail from Texas. They were Mariachi El Bronx, and they had come all the way from Los Angeles. Most of the band was on stage, but they still lacked a few of their eight members, who were still putting on their outfits for the show. Their singer started a little speech, part of which was something like, “…We will unleash a fury of sexual torrent, the likes of which the world has never seen…”. That sounded exciting, and had me looking even more forward to seeing what their live show was going to be like. The remaining members soon walked on stage, and the band consisted of a couple guys who played trumpet, a violinist, an acoustic bassist, an acoustic guitarists, a drummer (who didn’t not have a full drum kit), and of course, their vocalist. Their 52 minute long show began with “48 Roses”. As their name suggests, they have a mariachi sound, and that song is a prime example of it, with all the instruments working brilliantly together, each one having its own distinct moment where it shines. I liked the start they got off to, but over the course of the next few songs, I never felt it take off, and found myself wondering if maybe they were one of those bands who is just better on the albums than they are live. That’s not to say songs like “Litigation” weren’t good, but they obviously lacked the loud, attention grabbing music that all the rock bands had. “This song’s about starting over.” said their singer before they started “Great Provider”. “Holy” came next, and if my memory serves me correctly, it was the song where their singer went into a very detailed intro for it, talking about how a pale horse could be seen approaching in the distance, and on him was an even paler rider. He eventually said the rider was the guitarist, who then started them in on the song. So far, the show had been good, but I just didn’t feel enthralled by it like I thought I would. Then they started on an upswing with “Slave Labor”, which was followed by what has become my favorite song of the bands, and according to what their singer said, it was the first song they wrote as a band, “Cell Mates”. He soon started with the first line of the song, “In my defense, these prison walls, they couldn’t hold anything in at all…”. It only got better with the infectious “Norteno Lights”, and the line, “…I walk the street, by chance we meet. This twist of fate is crueler than it seems…”, will stay with you long after they have left the stage. All shreds of doubt I did have had been washed away at this point, and next they did “Silver or Lead”. An instrumental song followed, I believe it was “Mariachi El Bronx”, and during the next four plus minutes, their singer introduced every member of the band. The song lets everyone have their own moment, and that was when he’d say who they were (my apologizes to the band, because I don’t remember who filled what position.) I also think it’s worth noting that when the drummer was introduced, it was asked he get an extra round of applause for standing up, because he lacked a stool, and performed the entire show on his feet. They started to wind things up with “Revolution Girls”, while “Clown Powder” ended up being their final song of the night. A lot people seemed to want more, and while it would have been nice, I was satisfied with that ending. Then Vaden Todd Lewis walked on stage and grabbed a mic. “Do y’all want Mariachi El Bronx to do one more song!?” The crowd resounded with near unanimous cheering and applause. And really, how can you say no to one of the guys who created the festival that you are performing at. They went back to their instruments rather hesitantly, and I saw their violinist ask their singer, “What do we play?” They quickly settled on one. “This song is called My Brother the Gun.” their singer said, and that song really would be the end of their performance. They were yet another band who appeared to truly love being up there, and it was evident throughout the show. Once their singer said how good it was to not be playing a club, instead being out in the open air on this “beautiful day”. Another he said they had gotten a lot of big opportunities in the U.S. and even the world, noting that none of that would have been possible without their fans. While yet another time he mentioned that this was proof that you can create whatever type of music you desire and people who embrace it. After that first handful of songs, they really picked up, and I they lived up to what I thought their live show would be like. They really do capture the essence of a mariachi band and have crafted some outstanding songs. And no disrespect to the other members, but I feel what really sets the songs off is the voice of their singer. The only negative thing I can think to say is that the word “motherfucker” was used a little too much. I’ve said stuff like this before about other bands, and I again want to reiterate that I am NOT a prude, and no, cussing does not offend me and it’s nothing I don’t say numerous times throughout the day. But after the fifteenth time of, “Make some motherfucking noise for us!”, I feel it begins to slowly diminish the bands professionalism, and really, I think the crowd can only hear that so much. Again, I’m not saying to any band don’t cuss, but just don’t repeat the same phrase over and over again throughout the set.