Outdoor Show brings Escovedo, other artists to campus
Rice's own outdoor show, sponsored annually by KTRU, has become one of the last of its kind, bringing a talented and extremely varied group of musicians to Houston every year.
Last year's outdoor show drew a crowd of over one thousand Houston music fans, and this year's will be even bigger.
Overall, this year's outdoor show features a great variety of talented artists -- there should be something to appeal to everyone. Each group will play for about 45 minutes.
And if you can't stick around and guzzle beer and munch on snacks from Willy's for nine hours, you can pick a few acts that sound interesting and check 'em out.
Silver City Trading Post (12 p.m.) The first act of the day is a new group comprised of members of local and not-so-local bands like Wheat, Woody's Jukebox, Dyn@mutt, Gut Logic and Lynyrd's Innards.
Rumor has it that it is a country band "trying to rediscover their Texas roots" in the vein of older, more traditional country singers like Hank Williams and Willie Nelson.
Lump (12:45 p.m.) Lump, a New Orleans-based group, fits fairly closely to the progressive rock mold -- odd time signatures, an occasionally jazzy improvisational style and the feeling that most of the songs are pieced together from lots of different and not necessarily related parts.
Lump adds a funk/jazz feel to the whole mess; this style seems to work well. Sax fans may be interested to note that Lump's sax player, Ben Ellman, is also a member of the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars.
Voice of Eye (2 p.m.) Probably the most unconventional act of the afternoon, one cannot exactly defineVoice of Eye as a rock band.
Instead, the two members of the group utilize various instruments, many of which they made themselves, to manipulate sound and create a kind of experimental, percussive, meditative music that the industry has labeled "ambient."
There's nothing techno or dance-like about this, however -- the liner notes of their latest album, Vespers , claim that "no synthesizers were used in the creation of this music."
Voice of Eye creates aural landscapes of a sort, evoking all kinds of images through the use of tribal drumming, ethereal wind instruments, rhythmic patterns and even silence.
de Schmog (3 p.m.) A favorite of the local Houston scene, de Schmog plays an odd kind of upbeat pop. The band throws in a heavy funk influence, as well as a lot of energy, and this live energy has made de Schmog one of the most popular bands in town.
Slaphappy (4 p.m.) These guys are the young, promising and hardworking "little brothers" of Houston ska maniacs The Suspects.
Ska is one of the fastest growing musical genres in the Houston scene. After seeing Slaphappy perform, you'll understand why.
Bob (5 p.m.) Bob is tough to pin down. On its debut, Complex Organism Blues , the band travels all over the indie-rock map, jumping from surf-style rock on one track to punk on the next. This Atlanta band does it all well, too.
Death Valley (6:15 p.m.) With the current surf-rock "boom," it's difficult to find surf music that sounds truly unique; after a while, it all sounds pretty much like Dick Dale, and while that's not a bad thing, it's not terribly original.
Death Valley, one of the most innovative surf bands around, comes from Texas and has taken surf rock out past its boundaries with Spanish-tinged melodies and Ennio Morricone themes.
Alejandro Escovedo (7:30 p.m.) Austin-based musician Alejandro Escovedo is definitely the most well-known act of the outdoor show this year.
His last release, Thirteen Years , blends all kinds of styles. The majority of the album is heavily folk-sounding, but he also rocks out on a few tracks. At times, he tears loose with wild boogie guitar that would make Stevie Ray Vaughn dance for joy in his grave.
The beautiful poetry of Escovedo's lyrics brings to mind Elvis Costello, and the lyrics' story-like nature is reminiscent of Springsteen, although Escovedo has a down-to-earth style all his own.
Escovedo has definitely become an accomplished "roots" artist, and was recently awarded Musician of the Year at the Austin Music Awards.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 31, 1995 issue.
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