Five hours and 8,000 bottles of Lone Star after the doors opened, Houston’s favorite sons Indian Jewelry finally took the stage for the first show of the new tour. I guess these guys can afford to be a little late. I mean,We Are Free is putting out their album Free Gold, everyone’s talking about them and the front man has one hell of a “Don’t mess with Texas” moustache. They come in, two members short of the usual five, with electronics draped in the flag of Texas, and proceed to nail some ears to the wall.
Judging from the line-up that night this town can really make some noise. But somehow the Jewelry stands alone, producing a brand of loud that is at the same time veiled and in-your-face, never seeming to do anything gimmicky or for the wrong reasons. From what I hear the live set is pretty unpredictable. Songs blended into each other, turned into drones, jumped upside down, spit on the floor.
Occasionally a fourth person would join from the crowd, banging on those drums along with everyone else. Then he would politely step back down.
Highlights of the night included some dudes in skinny jeans dancing together to “Yo Momma’s on the Crack Rock” and an incredibly drunk chick getting on stage and making out with the guitarist of one of the openers. The same chick, incidentally, who kept stepping on my feet.
By the time Indian Jewelry was done it was 2:30 in the morning (the doors opened at 8). No one even stuck around to listen to the final speech, plugging the album and the tour and whateverthehell he was saying, it was kind of hard to make out since his mic was still on reverb. The audience just b-lined down the stairs to go out in the Texas night and smoke cigarettes till dawn. How’s that for hometown pride, eh?
I bet they’ll get a better reception at Cake Shop.
