Caught up in the moment

So it happens, I totally missed a write up of a local performance. More damning is that it was the debut performance of another Austin original.

So here I am again at Stubb's ( http://stubbsaustin.com/ ). I said it in a previous post (http://livemusicinaustin.blogspot.com/2011/06/ponder-this.html ), I love this inside stage. Takes me back to the garage, basement shows I saw in my late teens, early twenties in New Orleans, La. Very dark inside with the exposed ceiling. Bar to the back and bathrooms tucked away in almost impossible to find locations, BUT understand this is better because it is Stubb's. Access to the outside for you smokers from a door just to the side of the stage, a solo pool table cordoned off in another room and most importantly an A_M_A_Z_I_N_G view from the balcony/restaurant above the stage. The stage is well lit and the sound is great.

The Roosevelts ( http://www.facebook.com/theroosevelts ) had their debut performance at Stubb's inside. The band is fronted and founded by James Mason and Jason Kloess, formerly of EPMB fame (and more recently the cover band The Good Nights.) Well, no more cover songs here. With a whole new set list of originals, this band is ready to break out and breakthrough! The Roosevelts have that definitive "Austin sound". If you are from around here you know the sound can't be described. If you are not from around then do some music searches on the web, you will find those Austin bands and you will hear and feel that Austin sound The Roosevlets most adeptly keep to. The band also employs the standard arrangement of rhythm and lead guitars, bass and drums keeping tempo, but the keys really pull it all together.


The Roosevelts have melodies and lyrics that are both fun and moving. You hear the songs and are instantly drawn into them like you've heard them before. You are singing the hook two bars in. By the end of the night you will have picked out your favorite tune and will look forward to seeing this band again. I managed to be the outlaw, and against the venues 'strict' "NO VIDEO" soup nazi command at the door, I did capture and record the majority of the show. Watching it afterwards, shows the brilliance these two young men posses. Not just in writing the music and weaving the stories, but in the fun they have on stage! My girlfriend has a stupid band/musician crush on the lead singer and managed to sit and watch all of the video clips like she was at the show AND she has already picked out her new favorite misery...a track about a lady in white or a white dress. Very cool story told in song form, listen for it when you go to a show! Nonetheless my point is that she DID NOT attend the performance, but was still captivated by it. My friends, that is some powerful shit for a new band!

All of these things went through my mind as I watched their performance again on video. It was a VERY large crowd draw for a debut performance. James and Jason can say they have a devoted following. This is not bewildering for a new band, but amazing and admirable.



p.s. - because I was so busy bootlegging the show, I didn't take any photos. So I had to pull stills from some of the video.

Laters