Concerts: This Will Destroy You at Mohawk in Austin, Texas (12/17)

I wish I could say only positive things about this show...

I'll start from the beginning.


I show up at the venue (Mohawk) at around 19:00. The outdoor stage was getting set up, so I just lounged around for a while. I got to meet Mark, the guy that came all the way from Tampa, Florida (a 1130 mile, 17 hour drive) just to see this show. Good conversation was had.

The first band comes up, Tactics. First word out of my mouth: Wow. I hadn't seen an opening band that was that good in a while. Typically the first opening artist is a fairly average, local, sometimes starting off band. These guys were local and were starting off (that was their first live appearance), but they were far from average. I will be listening to them a lot.

The second act was Pompeii. They were really enjoyable to watch, very energetic. I felt bad for them, though. Things weren't going their way. The bass kept cutting in and out.

When The Eastern Sea started setting up I noticed the trumpet. I started to get excited. The last show I saw that incorporated a trumpet was Do Make Say Think. I absolutely love trumpets. The music was a bit slower pace than I expected, but once I got over that I was thoroughly enjoying them.
The support guitarist was all over the place and fun to watch. The lead singer was having problems with his tuner (of which someone in the crowd is now a proud owner of). They interacted with the crowd a few times and did something that I thought was really neat, they had different parts of the crowd clapping different beats during one of their songs.

And then the reason why I drove 12 hours (a combination of 7 hours of driving and 5 hours of generally dicking around) This Will Destroy You. I hate to say negative things, but man, it took everything within me to not walk out. Don't get me wrong, TWDY is a phenomenal band, but there was a major audio issue... the speakers were pumping out an obscene amount of bass. Through the whole set you couldn't hear guitars, just bass. The last show I went to was Bonobo, a trip-hop artist, and he had DJs as his opening artists. That entire show had a stupidly awesome amount of bass. So, I can usually handle a lot of bass. But last night was to the point to where it was actually mildly painful. Sadly, I cannot truly say that I saw This Will Destroy You.

So, I have now made a personal goal to see TWDY again. I know they are mind-blowing live, everyone keeps telling me.


Concerning the audio problems, everyone gets those days where nothing goes right. I kind of wish that day wasn't a day I drove several hours to see a certain band, but eh, "shit happens." The venue is really cool, though. Aesthetically, it's probably one of my favourites. Aside from the audio issue, there is one problem... midnight curfew. I'm not sure if that's a venue thing or an Austin thing or the community they're situated around, but that's just... weird.
I hope to, some day, see another show at Mohawk, hopefully a day when there will be minimal technical difficulties.


I just want to add some props given to Vagabond for the show. While there were some technical difficulties, it was still all for a good cause (proceeds donated to Red Cross).


Tactics
[Bandcamp] [Facebook] [Myspace]

Pompeii
[Last.fm] [Facebook] [Myspace] [Website] [YouTube]

The Eastern Sea
[Last.fm] [Facebook] [Myspace] [Website]

This Will Destroy You
[Last.fm] [Facebook] [Myspace]

Mohawk
[Facebook] [Myspace] [Website]

Vagabond Collective
[Facebook] [Facebook 2] [Myspace] [Website]