Waking Ashland/Sherwood Concert Review
Waking Ashland/Sherwood Show @ JavaJazz, Houston, 2/19
What better way to find shelter from the cold -- at least by Texas standards -- weather than some smokin’ hot tunes? I’ve seen Waking Ashland play Java Jazz twice before, and the venue has a new, and better location since the last show I caught there. The warm-up act was the Pilots, a young-looking band I’d never heard before, but they made a quick impression, particularly their drummer, whose rat-a-tat snare work and overall chops were commented on by a few crowd members I overheard. Their sound wandered somewhere between run-of-the-mill emo and some sort of Franz-esque rock vibe that’s hard to really describe. Nothing amazing, but not bad either.
Discover America came next, packing a unique sound that’s rather hard to pin down into a one-word genre. If forced to name it, I’d say something like “laid back, retro-lounge-rock with some electronic pop influence”. Frontman/guitarst Chris Staples took turns with the bassist at noodling around on a snyth keyboard used for some ear-grabbing notes and a few electronic beats and samples. I’d heard their CD, but their live show made a fan out of me.
Next up was Quietdrive, another young group from Minnesota. Their songs on Purevolume had a pretty typical pop/punk/emo ring to them, but something about their live performance was too catchy to not tap a foot or nod a head to the beat. The frontman played an electric violin on their closing song, which built to an impressive, melodic and dramatic crescendo.
The modest crowd of 40 or so then huddled toward the stage a bit more tightly, and Sherwood came on. I expected to be in the minority of fans familiar with Sherwood, but to my surprise, a very large percentage knew their lyrics well. This made the “crowd participation” parts of a few Sherwood favorites all the more enjoyable. The guys put on a very warm, friendly and engaging show, including the crowd in a few sing-a-longs and clap-a-longs. Mikey the keyboardist was clearly having fun throughout his performance-full of herky-jerky dance moves and tambourine tossing. The Sherwood crew seemed like truly, genuinely nice guys, the kind the girls in the front row probably dream about taking home to mom. If you don’t believe me, ask the soccer mom next to me who was singing along with every word of each song.
Waking Ashland closed out the night well with their piano-driven rock set. With Sherwood’s drummer doing double duty and filling in while the band seeks a new drummer, Waking Ashland cruised through several of their songs from their debut album, Composure. They also treated the crowd to a new song called “Tortoise and the Hare” before closing with their crowd-favorite single “I Am For You.” Frontman Jonathan Jones kept things fun and relaxed throughout the show. He may be no Chris Martin just yet, but he and I did discuss what fruit he should name his first child after while hanging out at Starbucks before the show. If Waking Ashland ever becomes the next Coldplay, expect Banana Jones to not be far around the corner. You’ve been warned.
[Photos & Review by Tim Hallila]
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