Last week I left the Misses at home, entered Houston’s usual hot and muggy air and headed on over to EaDo to experience my first concert since moving to Midtown last month. Animal Farmacy and Black Pistol Fire were set to play at Warehouse Live – a well-known arena of musical goodness I last visited on my 23rd birthday to see my favorite artist, Ben Folds, on the big stage.
Before the concert I met up with EaDoLife.com’s editor, Alec Lasar at Little Woodrow’s – which is on the other side of St E Street – to grab a couple of beers and talk about the bands… But our conversation took a turn when our bartender started to give some tastes of the 50 beers on tap. We couldn’t help laughing at our inability to describe what we were drinking… I tend to like darker beers which are slightly peppery, heavy on hops, deep and rewarding – which Woodrow’s has in spades.
The concert was playing in Warehouse Live’s smaller venue, The Green Room. The hardwood floors are warm with the steps of countless music lovers and the walls are covered in large pictures of famous musicians’ priceless moments captured forever while in the throes of their acts. Inside a few modern tables are scattered around near the bar, which on the left, with cozy booths on the right booths.
The first band of the night was Animal Farmacy, consisting of Houstonians Jeff McDonald on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Keith Polk on lead guitar and vocals, JP Conga on percussion, and Matt Berry on drums, Stephen Finley, who helps with their studio recording, played bass for them on the night. I spoke with the band as they huddled together in a booth – they’ve been a band for over a year and have played at various stages around Houston, though they prefer arenas.
Animal Farmacy’s musical style is heavy on guitar with pulsating supporting percussion. The lyrics are thoughtful, and I am reminded of a garage band, that’s well rehearsed. After their first song, a goateed guy in the crowd wearing a “F*ck ya’ll, I’m from Texas!” T-shirt yells out “You guys rock!” Nearly flushing, Jeff McDonald tells the crowd how much he loves them. They are best on their last song, Seed, when they not only sport their heavy electric sound, but give the music some room to breathe. Towards the end of the tune, they drop out and just leave lead guitar over percussion. They join in one by one and finish in a satisfying crescendo. Workmen-like, they finish, play no encore, and quickly clear their gear from the stage.
The second act and headliner of the night was Black Pistol Fire. BPF is a drums and guitar duo made up of Kevin McKeown and Eric Owen who are originally from Toronto but live in Austin. These guys have been friends since kindergarten, and you can tell because they share a bond that allows them to change pace, crashing through an energetic punk barrage into a soulful blues riff. After the show they tell me that because they share a strong bond, each show is largely improvised. The show of the night is bound to be different then the next show, or the last show, or their self-titled album. Black Pistol Fire has a second is in the works, an East Coast tour coming up and will be headlining the Austin City Limits Club de Ville Duo Showcase in September.
They have been compared to The Black Keys and The White Stripes, but tell me most of their musical influence comes from Credence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and (early) King of Leon. These guys must mainline Redbull before each performance, because their style is so upbeat and energetic. They can and do slow it down and let the music breathe, transitioning into a raunchy blues line. Even in the punk rock influenced songs, guitarist McKeown likes to sprinkle in blues chords for good measure, and the vocals blend nicely with the virtuosic supporting instruments.
An incredible show was given and the crowd was seriously into it! Drummer Owen performed shirtless, shoeless with a blur of limbs and hair as he rocked about drumming with everything he had. McKeown broke not one, but two strings during the set and still delivered a fantastic performance. If talent is a blunt piece of wood, these guys have obviously chiseled it through years of practice into a deadly sharp spear, which they use to hunt, kill, roast, and eat a hell of a good rock show.
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