Last Friday, beloved Austin radio station KGSR hosted their 21st Anniversary party. With a line-up that included Dawes, Mat Kearney, Givers, and The Gourds, invited guests and contest winners filed into the Moody Theater at ACL Live for the celebration. I adore this venue. Although, I have to say it definitely functions better as a music venue than as a “party” setting. I’m sure those who were allowed upstairs where free Salt Lick BBQ was served would say otherwise. But I digress.
I walked into the venue in the middle of Givers’ first song. They were the band I was most excited to see. Both because I love them and because they were the only band I had yet to see live. They didn’t disappoint. I’m a sucker for bands with a multiple drum effect. The members, especially Tiffany Lamson, had super high energy and were a fun band to watch. I can’t wait to see a full set.
http://youtu.be/uCQY5MoogzE
Next up was Mat Kearney. If Im not mistaken, I’ve only seen this guy at radio shows. The thing I both love and hate about radio shows is that artists play short sets consisting primarily of the hits. Since I’m more a casual fan of Mat Kearney, this worked for me. He started with his first radio hit “Undeniable” and ended with a nice rendition of “Hey Mama.” That’s the song that got the, seemingly distracted, crowd moving. There were a few of us from DMX at the show and we got to chat it up a bit with Mat after the show. Nice guy.
The final slot of the night went to Dawes. A few years ago I saw the band at ACL Festival. I also caught their recent Waterloo Records in-store, featuring an acoustic set of three part harmony. Therefore, I was excited to see a more “normal” performance from the band. Man, Taylor Goldsmith can really command a crowd. The massive sing-a-long for “When My Times Comes” exemplifies this. I forgot how much I love that song.
Did I mention that Friday was my birthday? It was and the concert was definitely a nice present. For more from the show click HERE to see Brooklyn Vegan’s fancy pictures and video.
– Submitted by Jessica Reed, Social Media