Music (Free Press - Houston): Music with Jameson & Lone Star: Ume, Wild Moccasins, and News on the March Saturday 25 May 2024

Yea, for though tired, I marched seven stages and five parasangs to the Alabama Ice House. There verily did I bivouack with my friend from the North Eastern region. The provisions were many - Lone Star and Shiner were plentiful here - and after many discussion regarding bananas, Amsterdam, the largeness of Buckees 52Oz drinks, and other such pressing matters the soothsayers did infact suggest that the time had now long past for me to arrive at my destination at the allotted time. Nevertheless, after sacrificing one last Lone Star to the gods I proceeded to march four stages and two parasangs onwards to Numbers 2 for the Free Press Canned Food drive.

I arrived at my destination just in time to have missed The McKenzies which was quite vexing as their skills in producing enjoyable pop is heralded across much of this land. Yet all was not lost for News on The March, The Wild Moccasins, and American Sharks had yet to take the stage. Those in attendance were numerous but the encampment was so large as to render them tiny in comparison. Later that evening I would make my way to the Mink and, even though those gathered were no larger in number than those gathered here, the more proportional size of the venue to the crowd gave the impression of a vast throng. Here the effect was quite the opposite and once one put some distance between himself and those gathered their numbers seemed smaller within the cavernous surroundings. Regardless the crowd was just as enthusiastic as the one I could come to encounter shortly on Main and spirits were high.

News On The March came fourth onto the stage and there they did please many with their excellent vocal harmonies and impeccable guitar lines. These young Hoplites sung their paeans with great skill and enthusiasm causing many in the audience to holler and applaud their skill and artistry. It should be noted that they do favor Fender amps and thus their instruments of choice do jangle in a pleasing manner. Of note is one Austin Lloyd whose work on the Jaguar was particularly enjoyable. With his reverbed tone and extensive use of the tremolo bar he did, as it is often said, bring it on home particularly through the band's rousing crescendo. He and Joe Weber conferred a great benefit to the group with their dueling guitars. This was particularly notable as the played country swing lines and harmonies whilst the soundman found himself taxed by the soundsystem which mocked his attempts to right the issues with the cello. Theirs was a set deemed very pleasing the gods.

The Wild Moccasins though would not be usurped and they took the high ground on the stage with a youthful vitality that όλα τα οντα agreed to be right and good. With Cody Swann and Zahira Gutierrez leading the charge they did conjure uncontrollable dancing from those who did not take heed of the warnings and dared stand too close. Yea for the band did bounce and hop and no mere mortal could thusly resist. Particularly memorable was Spanish and Jazz where Andrew Ortiz's drums marched with Nick Cody's slithering bass and Andrew Lee's reverbed guitar laying forth a strong groove for Zahira's vocals whose rousing chorus pleased the gods more than 1,000 sacrificed she-goats. Yet, despite their mighty grooves, the end of the new morning's first hour lay a mere ten minutes away and text messages to Dunnock and Jeff regarding when Ume would take the stage had proved futile therefore it became prudent to take my leave of Numbers and march five stages and 3 parasangs to the Mink.

When I arrived, to my great dismay, Ume - though headlining - had been already laying waste to all those that stood in their path and, as I made my way to the front, Lauren did announce to all those gathered that this would be their last song. Normally this would have been quite dispiriting except that merely one Ume song is worth more than a full set from the fiercest of bands and, as fortune would have it, they performed an electrifying encore. Taking up the rear of the formation sat Jeff who, bathed in sweat, lay a beat that Heracles himself would envy while Eric, armed with a mere four strings, took the lowlands. At the fore stood Lauren wielding her Telecaster which many admired and feared. The renown of her skill on the axe is such across the lands that anyone who hears the smallest of runs immediately recognizes its source. This evening was no different and she thrashed in a violent blur on blonde hair as her fingers nimbly laid out runs of such fury that those gathered shouted helplessly in response to the force of the sound that was thrust upon their ears. Thus it was that with a mere three songs, Ume made the gods tremble in fear and only after seeing all before them laid to waste Lauren did approach the microphone and proclaim to those who remained standing a meek "thank you."

News On The March