Ghostland Observatory are a guaranteed dance party. When I heard they were going to be rolling through town I sent emails out to all the crew to see who wanted to check ’em out and get down. It was pretty funny because my friend Mollie was so excited that she did the same thing with a group of her friends as well.
The word was obviously out that this show at the Echo was the place to be. We rolled up just in time to catch Restaurant, a band from Texas that consists of a makeshift drum kit and a wailer on a beat up acoustic guitar. They had the crowd sucked in and people were gathering close to the stage to watch as parts of drumsticks went flying and a raw form of country rock was blasting from the soul.
Earlier in the day I checked out some Bodies of Water tracks on myspace and was quite impressed. They seemed to have a stripped down Polyphonic Spree sound in their songs. Once I saw them on stage, a Mama’s and Papa’s vibe was apparent as well. The parts that were ON were great. With all four members of the band playing instruments and singing at the same time, there were a few moments where the harmonies didn’t match up exactly, which slightly took away from their joyous performance.
The place was packed for Ghostland Observatory. I’m not sure if it was actually sold out but there wasn’t much empty room in the club. What works so well for this Austin, Texas duo is that they don’t just rely on one schtick. Aaron Behrens, the all-too-sexy frontman not only puts on a dance show while crooning over side kick Thomas Turner’s electro beats, but he also grabs his axe from time to time and grinds over Thomas’ organic drum beats. I just found this kick ass quote from a DT Weekend interview, We want to make a living making crazy tripped-out shit that we like.” Doesn’t that make you want to check these guys out?
The place was getting down, especially all the females lined up right in front of the stage. I kept moving around to groove in different spots and feel out the crowd. The highlight of the night was “Sad Sad City.” It reminded me of seeing them at Austin City Limits a few weeks before. They had the whole crowd shaking it there as well. It was awesome to be on stage dancing and looking out over the sea of people dancing and nodding their heads in the hot sun. It might not be up for that long but you can check out some of that performance on Blue Room while it lasts.
I ran down the street to fire up Bessita and pull her right out front to sling some cream after the show. It was a blast having so much of the crew together and seeing everyone having such a good time. The ice cream was a perfect capper to the memorable night.
