Hey, blogspot readers, after viewing rock art, it was time to rock! It was night two of the Chicago Roots Collective Festival held at Elbo Room. This local fest featured over 75 artists/bands rockin' both stages upstairs and downstairs at the same time. Saturday's lineup featured the lively rock pop/alternative (and more) groove by Cobalt & The Hired Guns. Opening the lineup was a rare acoustic performance by How Far To Austin. Slimming down from the usual full band to a trio (featuring Derek and Katie on vocals) this band performed lively acoustic versions of originals and covers (Proud Mary and Signed, Sealed, Delivered) as well as a rockin' cover of Cobalt's Of Summer. The highlight of HFTA's set was hearing an acoustic version of the title track, Goodnight Madison, off the upcoming CD. Though not hearing this song behind the full band, SouthSide enjoyed the soulful sound with the gentle yet energetic hooks ...plus there was depth and emotion heard within the vocals. This reviewer highly suggests rockin' out with this local band on December 3rd at Double Door during the Bluegrass and Blues Festival. For more information, visit http://www.howfartoaustin.com or http://www.myspace.com/howfartoaustin.
Cobalt and a lively stage of Hired Guns rocked the Elbo Room with a bang of energetic music. However it's not fair or wise to box this group of musicians as well as their music into one solid genre, blogspot readers. There was too much going on with Cobalt's rock sound from pop/alternative to a hint of bluegrass (off the steel guitar and harmonica) as well as an accordion and saxophone. This lively mix kept Cobalt's songs fun for this crowd to dance along with the band ...even though the band claims they're not having fun on stage. In actuality, they were especially while rockin' to their vibin' music. Performing hit favorites like You Left Your Sweater (a song about two favorite activities - drinking and sex ...plus sweaters), Of Summer and Rome, SouthSide enjoyed the heartwarming song about Tomlison's parents titled Ghost of the Road and the rockin', spicy cover version of How Far To Austin's Catalina which featured Derek (of HFTA) on vocals while Cobalt played backup band. This reviewer highly suggests checking out the lively rock performance of Cobalt & The Hired Guns when they rock The Hideout on Nov 27th. Not only will your ears have a blast but so will your feet groovin' to the energetic rhythm of the music. For more information, visit http://www.cobaltandthehiredguns.com or http://www.myspace.com/cobaltandthehireguns.
Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide
We'd like to check out Cobalt and the Hired Guns again, so it's good to know they've got more shows coming up soon. We performed with them last year (as ISB), and they had a pretty rockin' show. Lots of people were dancing to their set! These guys also won the $5,000 OurStage prize last year if memory serves! Nice job!
ReplyDeletePinto and the Bean