Houston Press Music Awards Showcase – Recap

I nearly stayed home. That would have been an incredible (but sadly, in character) mistake). From the sounds to the sidewalk to the people to the brink, one of the best Sundays I can remember (photos online here). My afternoon got started at 4 PM at Ultra, who played host to God’s Temple of Family Deliverance.

God’s Temple of Family Deliverance – 4pm @ Ultra
Oil does not exist underground in big cavernous pools. Though we see it this way in cartoons, it’s actually is packed into the pores of rocks under fantastic pressure, trying desperately to reach the surface, but is trapped by a shale. Once the seal is punctured by a drill-bit thousands of feet underground, the pressure the oil is under causes it to rush upwards with tremendous force. When done improperly, a reservoir the size of Kentucky might attempt to barrel out of a single hole with fantastic consequences for the eyes and ears.

This is how I view God’s Temple of Family Deliverance; as a black broth whose sound fills a room and bores itself into the tiniest crevices of the walls looking to escape and equalize the pressure. They are tuned down to the Pliocene. They are mightier than their instruments. But, I don’t want to give the impression that they are uncontrolled or undisciplined. They are not a sonic Spindletop, with sounds flailing about wildly and uselessly, moving from curiosity to bore-inspiring in the course of a few minutes.

There is a discipline. There is a science. There is a massive floating platform in the cold North Sea, controlling the resource, bringing it to market in an orderly (though not uninspiring) fashion. A platform moored in 20 foot seas where once only Vikings dared sail.

Comparisons to Pelican are likely as common as they are incorrect. This Norse Tanker stops and turns on a dime. Nothing is let to hang overboard, and the blast of their Graben winds never lets up. What a way to start the day.


The Watermarks – 5 pm @ The Speakeasy
I like these guys. They have a great, if not too conspicuously identifiable, sound. Drum machines, bass, guitar and all the trimmings. Besides, how can you not smile when someone covers The Crystals “Then He Kissed Me.” This group will only get better. The club being insufferably stuffy and hot, I slipped out once the set was over. Guilty as hell.


VIP Lounge @ The Rice Hotel
Wow, did I stay here waaaay longer than I intended. When I should have been seeing meowCifer and Spain Colored Orange, I instead had some free drinks and food, and hung out with some folks. Hell, I even ran into Dustin Jones’ younger sister.


The Rhinestone Life – 8pm @ The 12 Spot
Packed. Couldn’t even get in the front door. So instead, I was stuck with the best seat in the house – outside looking in through the window. I could hear great, and I had a bands-eye view of the club (not to mention elbow room). Every note of soul in my body might last up to 25 or 27 seconds into one of their sets; so much heart with so much head and so so much sex. I’m not going to ramble on and on about how good friends blow my mind, cause that’s lame. But they do.


Slim Thug/Bun B/Devin the Dude – 9pm @ Verizon Wireless
At this point in the evening, I had descended into silliness. But fortunately I was not alone. With $10 margarita yard in hand, entourage in effect, and three short and sweet rap sets on the stage, the evening winded down. I don’t know if I was supposed to know all of those songs or none of them – but I shook my ass and watched out for falling hipsters regardless. I have to say that the turn-out at this show was most disappointing. Hip-Hop is, really, the only scene in Houston that is big nationally, but you wouldn’t have known it last night. All things being equal, though, it was nice to have the room to get down.