Grand Champeens of Austin

I made it a point to see a show sometime during my weekend in Austin. I checked Pollstar on Friday and noticed that Emo’s was featuring a band called The Anniversary that night. I listened to the three mp3s on the band’s website and liked what I heard. It sounded like harmless emo-pop. I imagined the show wouldn’t be too thrilling, but at least it would be a show I could enjoy. Having not seen a show in several weeks, I was desperate for something to fill my music vacancy.

As my luck would have it, the two opening bands were much better than The Anniversary. First came Grand Champeen, who rocked. Their music was a mix of rock and pop with a tinge of alt-country. They displayed a good amount of intensity and general ‘fun-ness’ that was a breath of fresh air. The singer was especially energetic. He flailed about when the music took off and struggled to find his way back to the mic in time to sing. I thought he might hurt himself a couple times.

His vocal style was from the bottom of the throat and had a certain degree of grind (slightly Cobain-esque). The music was fast-paced and heavy but with an undeniable pop element. I liked them so much I just bought the cd from their distributor (as well as the new Deathray Davies album, who are on tour right now).

For another take on Grand Champeen, go here.

The second opening band was Cruiserweight, who I’ve seen like fourteen times but have consistently improved their show. The band sounded tight and Stella looked confident up there on Emo’s main stage. I won’t go into too much detail about their set, but suffice to say they've grown into a solid band.

Article Author: Particleman

Particleman listens to a lot of music and occasionally writes about it. He maintains a blog at Particleman.

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