Family Band, PVT, Warpaint in Concert at The Loft in Dallas, 4/11/2011

[jonzr]

Much fun last night although we had to leave a little early b/c Mrs. Jonzr had to work early.  Damn poor timing but thems the breaks.

So, this was my first time at this particular venue.  It was in the same building as The Palladium where we saw Cake a few months back, but upstairs - hence the name.  And this was the most intimate setting for a concert I've seen in 20 years.  The stage was tiny, maybe a 12x12 space and the main viewing area was the size of a two car garage - about 20x20.  Sure, there was more space to the sides and plenty of other milling about space back by the bar and even an outside area which probably doubled the inside space.

First up was the Family Band, hailing from Brooklyn.  Having never heard of the other acts when the tickets were purchased, they were the reason I attended.  I stumbled upon them at emusic.com while browsing around for new stuff, their debut album, Miller's Path, blew me away.  Sorta folksy, haunting vocals, lap steel guitar, some nice lead guitar which, while subdued given the nature of the music, always threatens to break out and kick your arse.  They were a four-piece act.  The singer, frighteningly thin yet pretty Kim Krans occasionally strummed some rhythm guitar and her husband, Jonny Ollsin (former metal guitarist) played the leads.  The lap steel man played bass on those songs that required it and the drummer completed the quartet.

We stood less than ten feet from the front of the stage and took it in.  I enjoyed their set even if the bass was far too prominent in the mix.  But what can you do?  I'd love to see them perform a full set in a few years when they have more material.

After the show the band loaded out themselves, doubling as roadies while Kim sat at the back of the room at the merchandise table.  So hell, I went and spoke to her for a few minutes.  Very nice lady.  They're coming back through next month, opening for another act, I forget who.  Last night concluded their stint with Warpaint.

If you have a chance to catch this band then do it.  Will post some about PVT a.k.a. Pivot and Warpaint later.

[jonzr]

The next band was PVT.  I heard they were previously known as Pivot, but it turned out that the name was already in use by another band so they dropped the vowels.

PVT is a 3-man act, two of 'em are Aussies and one an Englishman.  The configuration was a drummer, a "keyboardist" who really appeared to be playing laptops, etc.  Hey wasn't playing so much as pushing buttons and occasionally whacking some object with a drumstick.  He did, however, lay down a cool bed of electronica which underpinned all their tunes.  The last guy was the vocalist who also played bass, guitar (primarily consisting of sounds with a ton of effects) and keyboards as needed.  After a few songs I really started to dig their vibe and really enjoyed the set.  The guys clearly enjoyed performing.  At one point the singer asked, while grinning, "How are y'all doing tonight?" with the emphasis on "y'all".  The tour had come up through Houston and Austin and he clearly amused himself using the new word.  During their last song a couple of guys sneaked on stage, grabbed a tambourine and shaker and joined in - then I realized they were the rhythm section of the Family Band just having a little fun their last night.

The music was certainly beat-oriented as evidenced by the people bopping up and down in the small crowd.  But PVT is primarily a rock/pop type of band.