Concert Review: The Rosebuds at The Parish

Concert Review: The Rosebuds at The Parish

Review by Annar Veröld. Photos by Kristie Bocanegra.

During the winter, scribbling notes about the sophisticated and spectacular lighting in The Parish was always one of the first things noted; now in the summertime, their air conditioning system has officially taken priority above all other things.The heat, the sweat, the humidity frizzing out your 6th-Street hair-- Oax, Other Lives, and The Rosebuds were a great reason to brave the Austin summer weather. Artists opening for Bon Iver or Peter Bjorn and John took the stage, fully deserving of every moment of the audience’s attention.
Oax is a relatively new band composed of Giorgio Angelini, who once played for The Rosebuds and Bishop Allen. Angelini also fronted a band called 1986 with Cully Symington (Okkervil River), returned to graduate school, and has returned to the music scene with Oax. Despite performing unannounced, Oax’s folk-rock (heavy on the rock) sound was a pleasant surprise.

“This is a song about a girl-- big surprise there-- and then we broke up,” Angelini introduced. He performed the catchy track,  “Love and Crashing”, with a vulnerable sincerity and tons of energy. Following, Oax performed “Liar, Cheap, Jerk”. With the new record having been released mid-June, and opening for Peter, Bjorn and John, with this momentum, we can certainly expect to see more of Oax in the near future.

As the stage resonated with euphoric sounds and steady chords, and the lights coated everything a tranquil, royal blue light, Other Lives emerged and began their performance with the heavily percussive and rhythmic track, “As I Lay My Head Down”.

“Landforms” was bone-chilling with falsetto voices that sounded like the callings of angels. The plethora of instruments, the emotional sentiment that resonates with the playful and whimsical cadence that pushes through the track was truly in place with the fantastic acoustics at The Parish.

Most of the tracks performed were from Other Lives’ latest album, Tamer Animals. The ghostly track “Dust Bowl III” and “Tamer Animals” showcased an array of talents carried by the musicians, illustrating vivid stories, beautiful orchestrations, and their undeniably alluring passion.    

Viscous blue light drowned the stage as the highly anticipated headliner, The Rosebuds, captured attention and hearts with “Go Ahead”, an indie-rock summer anthem, plagued with melancholy, but overflowing in beauty.
   
From their 2007 album, Night of the Furies, The Rosebuds performed “Cemetery Lungs” with unwavering energy, beneath bright pink and fuchsia lights. Also from Night of the Furies, one of the crowd favorites was clearly the upbeat and danceable indie-folk track, “Leaves Do Fall”.

Promoting their latest album, Loud Planes Fly Low-- released early June 2011-- The Rosebuds primarily performed tracks featured on that particular album, such as “Limitless Arms”, “Come Visit Me”, “Cover Ears”, and "Second Bird of Paradise". Loud Planes Fly Low, is the first album produced by The Rosebuds since front-musicians Kelly Crisp and Ivan Howard’s divorce. Staying together for the sake of music, this particular album exuded more humanity and vulnerability than anything The Rosebuds produced before. Every track overflows with sincerity and this cold desire for compassion, all while mustering a beacon of hope to make it to the end of the track. Such things resonate well through beautifully composed music and powerful artists.
 
The Rosebuds closed out with “Nice Fox”. The acoustic sound, the audience participation, the wholesomeness and touch of melancholy among the masses of people-- after capturing the hearts of the audience, The Rosebuds closed on an unforgettable note.

The evening echoed with the haunting, echoing sounds of Other Lives; the trailing trumpets, the crying violin, the beating tambourine and encompassing timpani, and the lonesome chords of longing and emotional turmoil beautiful orchestrated by The Rosebuds.

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(The Rosebuds performed at The Parish in Austin, Texas on June 24, 2011)