NX35 Music Conferette

Anticipation practically crackled in the air as a sold-out crowd waited for Neon Indian to take the stage at Rubber Gloves. As far as the fans were concerned, this was the show to see on closing night of NX35. Slowly, anticipation gave way to impatience. Neon Indian had technical troubles that weren't fixed until Neon Indian himself - Alan Palomo - borrowed a mixer from another band.

Finally, the music started. And all hell broke loose.

The crowd danced, clapped, screamed and invaded one another's personal space all in physical allegiance to the colorful indie pop Neon does with such finesse. Palomo calls his brand of music "acousmatic-tape-musice-pop."

That's about right. Live, Palomo performs with his band, drummer Jason Faries, guitarist Ronald Geirhart and keyboard player Leanne Macomber.

The crowd answered the steady, electronic beat with serious hip shakes, and they sang along with the live band on "Terminally Chill," a psychedelic, bubble-gum track from Psychic Chasms, Neon Indian's debut album.

"We're on our way to South By Southwest, but I gotta tell you, this weekend has been seriously amazing. This festival is incredible," Palomo told the crowd. "It's especially cool to be here at Rubber Gloves tonight, because this is really the first place we ever played as Neon Indian."

Since then, Neon Indian has performed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and on tour. After SXSW, Neon Indian will continue on a short southwest tour.

Gavin and Aaron were dogged by technical difficulties, but after bumming six AA batteries from two women in the audience, the duo know as Florene crashed into the ethers.

It was the closing NX35 showcase at Rubber Gloves, and Florene blipped, blorped and frrrzzzzed its way from the opening song to the closing, where a heavy electronic beat suggested that audience hearts take flight.

Melodies recalled the 1980s synth band OMD, and a secret ebb under the main lines of the music pricked our memories of Icelanic experimental band Sigur Ros.

Florene has the vim and vigor that keeps the house bumping. They put the brakes on only to punch the pedal to race off to a different atmosphere.

Matthew Gray of Writer croons "I'm a once, twice/three times you're out/kind of guy" at the Hyrdant on the closing night of NX35.

The Hydrant Cafe filled slowly Sunday night. But by the time the innovative souls of Writer started their first number, it was standing room only. It doesn't take long to get to that point in the intimate upstairs of The Hydrant, but Writer gathered a nice audience.

Fronted by Matthew Gray, the quintet performed a gorgeous set that was an ideal soundtrack for a soulful road trip. The band layered sounds on top of sounds as they approached the end of a number, and Jesse Chandler's flute and electronic offerings distinguished the music from top-tier adult contemporary fare.The band's drummer also took some risks with the rhythm.

Gray has caught the eyes of music lovers and critics for his work with Matthew And The Arrogant Sea, and rightly so. He goes deep without getting pretentious, and we love a man who isn't afraid to make music that could be called, well, pretty.

The Belgian-Dutch trio (pictured here with a guest on drums) didn't get the crowd it was worthy of Sunday night at Jupiter House Coffee in Denton. Nitzen Hoffmann (left) shredded the guitar with amped-up hard rock licks, while lead singer Bjorn Awouters (center) left his drum kit to play guitar. Bassist Robin Van Saaze chopped it hard for the whole set. Even though the crowd was small, the trio played like it was in a packed arena.

It was a paltry crowd that turn up at Jupiter House at about 9 p.m. Sunday night, the closing night of NX35.

That paltry crowd stood rooted in their spots, nodding in time with straight up hard rock by the Belgian-Dutch trio Drive Like Maria.

It was mostly because guitarist Nitzan Hoffman. Simply put, she shreds.

It wasn't long before a small crowd gathered outside the cafe, where they could smoke and watch. Drive Like Maria carried on as if it was playing to a packed arena.

The trio -- including drummer Bjorn Awouters - who happens to be a damn fine lead singer -- and bassist Robin van Saaz ripped confidently through a set that included "I'm on a Train," "Talk To Me" and "King of My Town." Awouters held forth on both drums and guitar, and rolled with the punch of a mic that went suddenly cold. (He just jumped to the nearest mic and carried on.)

Bjorn Awouters lent a strong and clear tenor to songs like "I'm on a Train" and "Talk to Me."

If you like hard rock that has a twinge of operatic sweep -- say Led Zeppelin, Queensryche, or even Guns & Roses circa "November Rain." But Drive Like Maria isn't a hair band knock-off. The trio cuts clean songs with razor sharp precision and rising action. Their songs always lead you somewhere.

The engine that gets you there, though, is Hoffman.

Nitzen Hoffmann shreds. The guitarist for Drive Like Maria drives the rising action of the band's hard rock.

There were some bright spots in the documentary, 40 Bands/80 minutes, a film dedicated to a Hollywood experiment to give bands two minutes to express their musical vision to the world. But mostly it was proof that if you wrap a dog pile in red cellophane, someone will buy it.

Photos by David Minton/Denton Record-Chronicle

Midlake did a moody, symphonic set Saturday night during the biggest concert of NX35 this year. The band, which is based in Denton, got a warm welcome from the crowd Saturday, March 13, 2010. Pictured, from left: Tim Smith on lead vocals, guitar and flute; MacKenzie Smith on drums; Eric Nichelson on guitar and vocals; Paul Alexander on bass; a guest on guitar (name couldn't be confirmed) and Eric Pulido on guitar.

Jeff Chandler (left) and Tim Smith played flute during Midlake's set at the Saturday, March 13, 2010 concert. Midlake played one of the most anticipated concerts at NX35 Music Conferette.

Midlake members Paul Alexander (left, bass), a guest guitarist (name couldn't be verified) and guitarist Eric Pulido (right) jammed during the band's concert during NX35.

Midlake's lead singer Tim Smith caught mid-strum during the band's homecoming set at the North Texas Fairgrounds. Originally planned for downtown Denton, Midlake's show was moved to the fairgrounds to accommodate crowds, which swelled when NX35 Music Conferette announced Midlake would be joined by The Flaming Lips.

All photos by David Minton/Denton Record-Chronicle

The Flaming Lips performed under a cloud of colored confetti Saturday, march 13, 2010 during NX35 Music Conferette.

The Flaming Lips' lead singer, Wayne Coyne, rolled over the NX35 audience Saturday night in his famous space bubble.

Against the huge, electronic screen that was the backdrop for the concert, Flaming Lips lead singer, Wayne Coyne, deflates the space bubble just after he's rolled across the audience. The band put on a spectacle during NX35 Music Conferette.

The Flaming Lips stage, casually called "the spaceship," shorted out twice in the first part of the show. Once the power was back on, the Oklahoma band put on a big, flashy show during NX35 Music Conferette.

Lead singer Wayne Coyne danced away from the audience, holding a streamer-bedecked baton.

The Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne strikes a pose on stage at the band's much-anticipated set during NX35 Music Conferette on Saturday night.

A fan hopes a handmade sign will catch the attention of the Flaming Lips, Wayne Coyne.

Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne grabbed a bullhorn during the band's set during the NX35 Music Conferette main event Saturday, March 13, 2010

The road crew for the Flaming Lips, decked out in orange, laugh and sing along under a shower of colored confetti.

Flaming Lips guitarist Stephen Drozd belts out some harmony during the concert.

In the last year house shows have exploded in Denton and in the Metroplex, said Michael Seman, who moderated a panel discussion Saturday afternoon at Sweetwater Grill & Tavern.

While Denton seemed sleepy at 1 p.m., a healthy group assembled at the downtown watering hole to hear what the panel - made up of a DJ, band and tour promoters, two house show organizers and bar owners. Seman guided the panel through two hours of analysis that predicted the continued growth of concerts in neighborhoods and continued adaptation by club owners.

"Last year was a banner year for house shows," said Seman, a Denton musician and an urban studies research associate. "There are acts like Neon Indian and Fergus & Geronimo who really got a lot of attention, and they got it pretty much without ever setting foot in a traditional venue."

Both acts were booked for the festival, and Neon Indian goes on at 11 p.m. at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.

Seman set the future's stage for the panel: the Dallas-Fort Worth area continues to mushroom along a curve that should carry the Metroplex into a population density that surpasses California's major cities. Gentrification of the downtown Denton might well happen, and over-developed housing communities could become the destination for Denton's college students, teens and adults who mean to make music.

"House shows are important," said Josh Baish, owner of Rubber Gloves. "There's no way around that. We've adopted some of the ideas from house shows. When we're booking local bands, we don't charge cover, which we think gets more people in the door. The only money we make is from alcohol sales. The idea is that if you let people in free, they'll by band merch and they'll drink."

Baish also said he attends house shows to scope out rising talent he can book at his club.

Panelist Jason Reichl is owner and operator of The Handsome Kitten, a house and venue in the Fair Park area in Dallas. Reichl said he's borrowed ideas from the clubs.

"We're really serious about our shows," he said. "We sell tickets, we stamp hands and we do as many all-ages shows as we can. We're really interested in giving under-aged kids a place to see music."

Panelist Charlie Hunter, the owner and operator of The Schoolhouse, a house show venue on Bolivar Street in Denton, said house show organizers have obstacles that clubs don't have.

"Neighbors, police, noise complaints and things like that," Hunter said. "When you do house shows it can bother the neighbors. My way of looking at it is that if a football stadium can do it then what's wrong with us doing it at 6 O' Clock at night? We love having the cops show up and try to shut us down. We stop for about five minutes and then just keep going."

Hunter and Seman said that the over-building in Denton's newer neighborhoods has given music fans a break.

"On the edge of town, I'm already seeing kids doing that," he said. "Out at Sherman Drive and 288, I'm seeing that. If you have four vacant houses on either side of you, you can set down a keg, set up a [public address system] and nobody knows your're there and you don't bother anyone."

Glen Farris, a local musician and a promoter for Spune Productions, said Spune is getting creative about booking venues in a region saturated with bands.

"We've never booked house shows, but he have booked non-traditional venues," Ferris said. "Last year I went to a lot of house shows to see new bands. We book museum shows. We've been doing shows at The Modern in Fort Worth for a while now, it's pretty interesting how that works when you're doing something in a space where people aren't really used to paying cover to see bands. You kind of have to train them on how that all works. It's harder to get people to go, you have to brand it really strong. But we have had touring bands contact us wanting to do non-bar shows. You set it up as a live theatre, because any amp you put in the room is really loud at the Modern."

Panelists agreed the the most effective way to get the word out about shows and events is social networking sites on the internet. Most of the panelists said they keep active accounts on Facebook.com and MySpace.com, interactive Web site networks that connect personal and professional pages. They also said they keep accounts with Twitter.com, a site that send very short announcements through cyberspace.

Michael Briggs, co-owner of Gutterth Productions, said about 70 percent of the users who reply to event and concert invitations sent through these sites show up at shows.

Panelists fielded questions from the audience about everything from smoking policies, clubs hosting free shows and paying bands a percentage of alcohol sales to staging shows at higher-capacity venues.

The panel ended with participants sharing the principles of band success: making good music; playing as much as possible in the early days; and being humble and conscientious along the way.

Midlake - Indie, alternative-acoustic music

Midlake is Tim Smith vocals), Eric Pulido and Eric Nichelson (guitars), Paul Alexander (bass) and McKenzie Smith (drums). The band's performance Saturday night at the North By 35 music Conferette has been highly-anticipated.

Midlake is probably Denton's most precious export at present. The longtime local band has spent several years establishing a reputation for serious, inventive songwriting across the country and overseas. After the album met critical and popular praise, the wait for Midlake's next big thing was on. That next big thing was The Courage of Others, from Bella Union Records.

Eric Pulido, a guitarist in the group, spoke with the Denton Record-Chronicle about the release, and about coming home for a short tour break to play North by 35 music Conferette in Denton.

Q. Sarah Jaffe toured with you, and she said Midlake commands a respectful audience. Do you agree?
A.The audiences were very respectful. They were very quiet and attentive, and they were the same way for Sarah. I would hope that anyone who pays money to see a show would pay attention. Luckily, yes, it seems that our audiences are there to listen. We've toured with bands before where the audience is obviously there to see the headliner, and they chat through your set. We were really happy with our audiences.

Q. There are track transitions on The Courage of Others that feel a tad like what was all the rage in England in the 1960s & 70s. It was labeled there as "God Rock" - I'm thinking bands like Quintessence, which would play energetic but somehow meditative music that would flow from one song to the next - their sets would be sort of like a long sonic landscape. Am I reaching here, or are there songs on the record that share connective tissue?
A. I do see a common thread in the songs, and throughout the record we looked at it as something that people could listen to front-to-back. Even though you lose some objectivity looking at it, we didn't do this record so there would be singles popping up. We wanted it to be complete.

Q. You guys are playing the Saturday NX35 showcase in Denton. After the tour, are you guys going to treat this as a homecoming bash of sorts, or will you being playing your music to the town where it was bred?
A. We're touring all year, and we'll be going on to South By Southwest [in Austin] right after we do this festival. But, no, yeah. We feel like it's a homecoming. We haven't played in Denton in a couple of years. We're excited to be back, excited for the festival and excited just to be part of it.

Q. Midlake seems like it's sort of a proud Denton band. Do the musicians plan to stay local?
A. I don't see us moving any time soon, especially as long as we're a band We have wives and homes and dogs and a couple of us have kids. We have friends. It wouldn't make sense for us to leave right now.

A pitch-perfect Sarah Jaffe had the sold-out crowd at Dan's Silverleaf wrapped around her little finger.

"We love you Sarah Jaffe!" a female voice screamed from the crowd.

"Sarah!" came another woman's shout.

"It's so good to be home, to be back here in Denton. I love you guys so much," Jaffe said. Before saying good night, Jaffe did an encore that punctuated the live show with a shot of grittier rock.

Each tune she served up from her debut album, Suburban Nature, had the audience spellbound - after a cry of recognition rose up at the opening notes. As each song trailed off, the audience screamed, whistled, clapped and stomped.

Jaffe's set was a meeting of pristine music and the spontaneous energy that comes only with the best live music. Jaffe was in perfect voice, and was complemented flawlessly by Becky Howard on the violin and Robert Gomez on guitar, accordion and a drum. Drummer Jeff Ryan drove the tempo like a heartbeat, sometimes hammering true and steady, and sometimes rushing. Howard and Gomez sang harmony.

Jaffe and her band make Americana for a new age. For all our techno convenience and immediacy, the urgency of the soul is as present as it ever was, and Jaffe shines a light on it, needles it with impunity. In "Born Again," Jaffe's lyrics wax D.H.Lawrence-ian. (Lawrence once said that human beings are born again into life when we awaken to both the laughter and "the never-ceasing murmur of pain" in humankind. You feel that consciousness and authenticity in Jaffe's script.)

Keep bringing it, Sarah. The truth goes down a little easier with verses that are so full of longing, and from a voice that bird-dogs our deepest secrets.

There was hardly a foot that could stop tapping. The people on the dance floor cast aside all inhibitions for the sake of pure, unadulterated joy. The patio was packed with barely enough room to stand and bounce to the mountain tunes pouring out of the mandolin, banjo, snare and stand-up base. The accordion and violin player's faces were contorted in ways that only lightning bolts of musical energy can create.

The Boxcar Bandit show at Sweetwater can be described as nothing less than religious for fans of the bluegrass genre. From classic bluegrass tunes to homegrown jams, the band played a show that could compete with such names as Old Crow Medicine Show and Yonder Mountain String Band.

The urban-rural feel that has been attributed to Denton has no better example than the people in cowboy hats dancing next to hippies and hipsters on the crowded Sweetwater Grill & Tavern patio. The end of each tune brought more than a cheer from the crowd; more like the enthusiastic death-by-bluegrass scream exhaled by Appalachia's deepest rooted families.

They couldn't get enough of it and if that was all they could stand in life, so be it. The fervor of the crowd was unrivaled by any show so far at the conferette. Fans of anything with a palpable soul and a living energy should look into Boxcar Bandits for a romping, roll-in-the-hay good time.

Heads got to thrashing and feet got to doing the pogo jump Friday night at the Boiler Room, where a fresh new Denton band was rocking as hard as possible.

There's no sugar in PVC Street Gang, an upstart that played a North By 35 Music Conferette showcase just before Record Hop took over in the lead-up to HEALTH. This street gang serves up a huge hunk of red meat, a little bloody.

The fast, banging drumming was just loud enough to muffle the lead singer's screams, and between the shrill squall of the guitar and thump of the base, the only PVC lyrics you could make out were "ATM smash and grab!"

The crowd - which got tighter and tighter as the Street Gang set continued - was appreciative of the mix of metal, hard rock and punk. But the band's vocals got static after a few songs, where the lead singer shrieked in what had to be an alto range. The front man sang notes. No doubt about that. But a little more range and more dynamics would be nice. As far as guitar chops, well, this trio has that in spades.

Screaming is the forte of the lead singer of PVC Street Gang.

After leading the POLYCORNS through a memorable set Thursday night at the Sweetwater Grill & Tavern NX35 showcase, the precocious Caleb Ian Campbell sneaked into Andy's Bar to get the Friday night showcase off to a soft but intense start.

It was just Campbell, his guitar and a kick drum he warned the crowd that he wasn't quite used to yet.

He rocked it pretty hard Thursday night at NX35, but at his solo show at Andy's Bar Friday, Campbell mellowed out and proved himself a precocious musician and songwriter in need of a good indie label.

The verdict: As the front man of the POLYCORNS, Campbell laid down surprising grooves and wrangled a surprising voice through a set that was a standout on Friday night. As a solo artist, Campbell showed just how much his piano skills influence his work on the guitar.

Campbell's guitar work hinted at shades of jazz, and a dash of Philip Glass in his songwriting. (Think of breaking a song in half, flipping one of the halves over and putting it all back together.) His songs, like "Fiddle Diddle" are a little haunting, but equally bright.

With this kind of ability and sense of adventure, why is Campbell and the POLYCORNS still unsigned?

No justice in that.

The crowd at Hailey's is less than excited with Fergus & Geronimo's show.

Though there set gets applause and cheers from the audience, it's seems that the praise is little more than the cheering of a home audience. The band's sound is well balanced; no instrument overpowers another, even with the bass sending vibrations throughout the booths.

Still the music is a little weak, like Weezer mixed with splashes of uninspired surf punk. There is a noticeable energy in the members of the group, but it feels suppressed at best, almost like getting shocked by a 9 volt battery; it's enough to make you start, but not to bring on real emotion. For an opening act, Fergus & Geronimo put on a good show, but as a headliner, they would have little appeal.

Spooky Folk put on a rousing show at Andy's on Day Two of North By 35 Music Conferette in Denton.

The lazy, almost drunken sound of their music kept heads and feet moving and elicited rambunctious cheers at the end of each song. The lead singer's mother floated around, taking photos of her son amid the smoky bar.

Spooky Folk puts on rousing performance at Andy's Bar

The band's sound was well balanced; a lot more folk than spook, the notes drifting form the violin weren't overpowered by the crashing symbols and compelling guitar riffs. The more sad songs definitely lived up to the name, haunting and beautiful in the way a well thought out jam can be.

Foot stomping and hand-clapping tunes give the audience something to hold onto. Their sound is a faint relative to Arcade Fire with tones of violin blended in. This is definitely a band worth seeing again.

Here are opening day photos from NX35.

Andrew Tinker did us a barn burner Thursday night at North By 35 Music Conferette.

But let's be fair: bassist Julia Adamy, guitarist Kelyn Crapp, and drummer George Tinker brought some gasoline of their own.

For a guy who has a degree in music theory, and who told us he wanted the degree to help him improve his notation skills, Andrew Tinker plays like a guy with a fire in his belly and a brain on red bull. There's no dull order in Andrew's performance. It's like all the chaos inside boiled out onto the keyboard and Tinker pounded it into something beautiful. This is music that sounds like inspiration, not notation.

Andrew Tinker and his band was one of the few acts we saw at the opening night of NX35 that had people wiggling, dancing and screaming. (Not that we could see all the acts; We couldn't make enough clones for that). Tinker moved from sunny pop to rip-snorting blues rock to a honky tonk-ish waltz with a wink, a smile and the sweat of his brow.

And here's the thing: He does it all will such conviction. For a little white guy (we hope Andrew will forgive us for the "little" part) Andrew Tinker has the soul of a gospel choir high on the spirit. He is a consummate showman. We have the video to prove it. (We'll let you know when we get it edited and posted.)

It doesn't hurt that Crapp can make the guitar wail, hum and clickity-clack. Adamy plays a tight bass, and she and Tinker turned out some of the snuggest harmonies we heard at banter. George Tinker kept up on the drums with nary a hitch.

MyDentonMusic.com took a turn with Andrew and declared: "This is what pop should strive to be."

Indeed.

One of the highlights of the opening night of North By 35 Music Conferette was bound to a tiny patio stage at Sweetwater Grill & Tavern Thursday.

The POLYCORNS.

Check them out. The band is worth the visit to MySpace. Shoot, the band is worth a lot more. Seriously. This three-piece packs a sonic wallop that'll leave you pleasantly dazed.

Let's start with the unabashed, unafraid Caleb Campbell, shall we? What's not to love about a vocalist who isn't afraid to experiment with his voice -- a growl here, some falsetto there (sweet, sweet falsetto this kid has) and a hiccupping chirp sneaked into a crazy-good bass riff.

Caleb Campbell, lead singer of the POLYCORNS, dealt a performance with fearless vocals Thursday night at Sweetwater Grill & Tavern.

Speaking of bass, Pablo Burrell can pluck and smack the bass with confidence, and his cat-and-mouse game with drummer Michael Minardi made mouths curl up at the corners Thursday night.

Put it all together, and you have a band that throbs with chemistry. The POLYCORNS aren't shy about experimenting, and they come up with a brand of Indie music that is surprising as it is right. When Campbell dumped the guitar for the keyboard on "In Fact," he bested LEN and all their stolen sunshine.

The POLYCORNS seem like the band has incubated in oxygen that the members of Muse would have killed for when they were slogging shows in the U.K.

If Campbell and company keep growing, well, there's a big limelight with their name on it.

Listen for yourself at http://www.myspace.com/thepolycorns

Sweetwater Grill & Tavern was nearly at capacity during the first night of North By 35 Music Conferette Thursday night.

Plenty of the folks jammed into the patio were there to see Doug Burr.

There was no introduction and no banter during Burr's set, which he shared with Glen Ferris to gorgeous effect.

But then it's just like Doug Burr to let the music do the talking. And talk it did, with Burr on guitar, harmonica and tambourine and Ferris backing him gently on bass, banjo and keyboard. Burr played some of the gems of his catalog -- "Should've Known" was more stirring live than the recording. With Burr and Ferris alone on stage with nothing but some Americana and an audience that could have be a little quieter, there was nowhere for the duo to hide.

Denton Americana artist Doug Burr (right) and Glen Ferris, doing what they do best at the Sweetwater Grill & Tavern Showcase Thursday night, the opening of NX35 Music Conferette.

But Burr writes music and lyrics that are honest. Sure, he and Farris rolled out the gloom that Burr does so well, but the redemption deep inside the tunes left a lump in our throats and a familiar ache in the chest.

Burr was on some lists of must-see acts of NX35 -- including our Denton's Top Five.

He and Farris delivered on the promise.

The Small Time Ruffians help break the champagne bottle on North By 35 Music Conferette 2010 at banter Thursday night.

The Denton-based quartet, led by guitarist and singer Aaron Petri and guitar, banjo and organist Joel Adair, breezed into its set. They swung through "Drunk Philosopher," a tune about a self-absorbed drinker, and "Dr. Langstrom's Dental Assistant," a bit about a guy who finds his dentist's assistant fetching. With its vocal stock on the underdeveloped side, the band relies on the juxtaposition of the music with absurd lyrics, so some of the band's oomph was lost in the muddy acoustics of banter.

Check the Small Time Ruffians out at http://www.myspace.com/smalltimeruffians

Small Time Ruffians grinned and picked their way through a set at banter during a NX35 showcase.