Thursday at NX35: Farris, Folmer, RTB2 and more
I think it's safe to label the first day of NX35 a success. Last night's showcases brought impressive crowds to most of the venues around the Square -- I read a tweet from @NX35 that said five of the eight venues were at capacity at one point. A big improvement over last year's inaugural fest, where I attended more than one showcase with only a handful of audience members.
Program in hand after the relatively painless check-in (you pick up wristbands in the same place as the Bucks Burnett 8-Track exhibit, so there's no reason not to check that out), I felt a little too restless to stay in one place for long, so I ended up hopping around a lot.
Had dinner with a friend to the sounds of singer-songwriter Glen Farris at Sweetwater. He's an excellent if a little subdued performer, so the moments he shined were the ones in which folks in the back weren't yapping too loudly. He ended his set with a veh nice cover of Nico's "These Days," dedicated to his roommate. We're glad she could make it.
Next up was singer Jenn Gooch at the Hydrant, a coffee shop that feels more like the loft of that friend that you hate because he always stumbles on the best real estate. Gooch played her banjo and performed a raw but compelling brand of bluegrass. She was a little like an unrehearsed Alison Krauss. I liked it. I also liked that the Hydrant had $1 coffee.
Managed to pop into J&J's basement for a few minutes of Burywood, a band that had been moved from its original venue, the unexpectedly shut down Texas 8 Ball. Didn't matta -- J&Js' healthy crowd ate up the band's rock-ier tunes.
Couldn't even get in the door at Jupiter House, which was at capacity for the Sabra Laval show. Her dulcet tones, set to a full band, could be heard quite clearly out front, though.
Had more luck getting into Dan's Silverleaf, which soon after became just as packed. Why? RTB2 was playing, close to a year after its rapturous performance at the fest last year. And the duo had several copies of the recording of that show to give away last night. I'd imagine they weren't left with any copies, considering the enthusiastic reactions from the crowd to "When Hammer Hits Stone" and "Wire to the Walls." As usual, singer Ryan Thomas Becker had an abundance of energy. He kept moving too quickly and losing his guitar strap, finally tossing the entire guitar onto the stage floor with a laugh. Thank God he picked it back up.
Ended my night back at the Hydrant, where Daniel Folmer had some fun with his band members by forcing them to choose which songs to play. They picked a few upbeat (or upbeat for Folmer, at least) ones to match the sound-activated disco lights turned on for the show. We had to laugh when Folmer sarcastically thanked NX35 for providing a sound guy (there was none, so he relied on the sound advice of a few audience members when tweaking the knobs).
That was Thursday. See you up there tonight, yes? If not, feel free to follow me tweets.
P.S. -- Find photos and more recaps over at the Denton Record-Chronicle's No Fold blog. They're covering the fest like gangbusters.
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