If you have been on YouTube recently, you can't not come across another Lady Gaga cover song.Most are terrible amatuer attempts at YouTube fame, but occasionally some are pretty good. The last one I posted was from indie singer-songwriter, Lissie. She had a band and guitar for that one.
This one is just a voice and a piano. It comes from one of my favorite pop-punk bands, The Material. Some may have caught them on MTV a few years ago or maybe even played their songs on the video game Rock Band. I saw them at The Red Eyed Fly in 2008 and have followed them ever since. The video above is lead singer Colleen and Jon (who normally plays guitar) on piano. It just goes to show, everyone goes Gaga for Lady Gaga.
We got to Stubb's early enough to hang out, get a drink, and catch up with The Material. I got the scoop on the other bands on the tour from Colleen (lead singer for The Material) as I was unfamiliar with them. I figured she would know since she was on the road with them and played shows together for the past couple of months. She had nothing but good things to say, which I expected because she is probably friends with them all by now.
She told me that they had to get a local band to fill in as Run Doris Run wasn't in Austin for some reason. They were on the tour myspace, flyers, etc. So, local Dub Raggae Ska band, Subrosa Union, was the fourth band on the bill. They are completely different from the other pop/power pop band on the tour, but they won many members of the crowd over none the less.
The first band to go on was And Then There Was You from Miami, Florida. There is no doubt in my mind that they were heavily influenced by Fall Out Boy, as many new young bands are. They had the shag hair to th side with bangs, skinny jeans, Vans slip ons, the whole works. Now I cringe when I see bands that look this way most of the time. I strongly dislike that kind of super pop punk or power pop, whatever its called. It's the kind of music that Aleternative Press covers and you see on Warped Tour now. However, these dudes weren't that bad.
A couple of things I can't say about And Then There Was You is that they lack energy or that they are stuck on themselves. They even did a Helmet cover, which was both cool and unexpected. I am not going as far as to say I would buy their CD, but their live show was good. They lead singer(Steven) had a good voice, not emo or girly at all. They also had a really good drummer, noticeably good. Being that it was a small show, everyone got to talk to all the bands and they were cool guys. I got an interesting lesson in the Miami scene from their bassist, Eddie.
Following them was my favorite band on The Everlasting Sound Tour, The Material. Having seen them at my mom's house two days earlier (true story), they knew I was coming. Their lead singer Colleen was a little sick with sore throat as I saw her drinking hot tea all night before they went on. The Material still sounded good despite her sore throat and performed all their songs on their current self titled EP. This time around there were more people in attendance than there was at their show I caught in July. Several young ladies up front knew the words and were singing along. I think they all have girl crushes on Colleen.
Their set was great as always but short. That wasn't as big of a deal to me as them not performing their One Republic cover of Apologize. I can totally understand why they don't, as they probably don't want to be known as a "cover band". The thing is though, it is what got them many new fans from their performance on MTV2. It is on their myspace, so click on the link I set up to their myspace to check it out. I would love to hear The Material do it live one day. Other than that, I can't say anything bad about this band. I think they will have a breakout 2009.
After The Material was done, Blameshift (another band new to me) went on. All I knew of Blameshift was what Colleen (The Material) told me earlier, that they had a guy and girl lead singer. They also had that "power pop/pop punk" look, but they looked around my age (late 20s) so I was less skeptical about them. I know, that's very age-ist of me.
After checking their set out, I bought a Blameshift CD. Ok so I bought it before they went on as I was talked into it by lead singer, Jenny Mann. I also used that as an opportunity to take this picture. Blameshift was good live. I liked them. The whole tag team lead singer thing works for them and thier show is also very high energy. There were no annoying screams or nasaly voices. The Sirens Are Set was the song that stood out to me the most. Their set seemed to go pretty fast as all their songs are pretty uptempo. Anyone who likes this genre will love Blameshift. Even if you don't usually listen to this style, check them out anyway as they are worthy of your ear time. Don't be like me and let their look detur you from listening.
All in all, this was a good showcase of good up and coming bands. I once again ventured out of my usual realm of hip hop and hard rock. I also thing that had this tour come through Austin on a weekend, there would have been a better turnout. There was maybe 35 people at Stubb's that were not band members or crew. There was also members from local bands She Craves and one guy from The Riddlin Kids in the house. They were all there to see The Material, as was I originally. I leave you with a clip of the show, this one from And Then There Was You.
Oh yeah. Today one of my favorite new bands, The Material, came to my house to hand deliver a CD I ordered last week. True story. If you follow lead singer Colleen on Twitter, it is there on her list of "tweets". I am still in shock that they came to the door. I just hope I didn't disappoint them by not being some screaming, freaked out teenager. I am sure they didn't expect some 28 year old dude they already met once before. I even blogged about them in April. Check my blog archive.
They said they were staying nearby where my mom lives after their van was giving them some sort of trouble. My mom's is where I send most of my mail as I move a lot. It is just easier to send everything her way and pick it up when I visit. It was funny because I just happened to be there at that moment Thursday evening when they rang the doorbell. Personally I would have just mailed it, but it just goes to show they are much cooler(and nicer) they are than me.
The Material are in Texas for the Texas leg of the Everlasting Sound Tour with bands Blameshift, Run Doris Run and And Then There Was You. I am honestly not familiar with the other bands, but will be come Monday. I will get my moneys worth alone with The Material either way. That's right. Monday night at Stubb's (indoor) you can catch The Everlasting Sound Tour for about ten bucks. Yup, that's all. The Material always seem to come to Austin on odd days. The last time they were here was at The Red Eyed Fly on a random Tuesday night. That is where I took this picture below with lead singer, Colleen D'Agustino.
Remember in my blog intro when I said I rarely watch MTV2? Well, last summer they got me when they had this Mountain Dew sponsored battle of the bands. It was the first time in a long time that I actually was glued to MTV2. I enjoyed watching something that was actually about new music. Well, as good as the groups that made it on to the show were, the only group I remember was the runner up. The runner up was this San Diego, California based group called "The Material". What caught my attention was their awesome cover of One Republic's "Apologize".
I know what my friends are going to say already when they see the video and The Material's Myspace page. I have a female lead singer fixation of some sort. Sure that's part of it, but not the selling point. The band or individual artist has to be talented and cool. Being backed by a good band helps too. The Material has all of that,what the industry refers to as "it".
Colleen, the lead singer, has a great voice. Its sweet enough for your girlfriend to like but rock enough not to suck. Her voice is perfect for the pop rock genre they fall under. With songs such as "The Truth About Reality" and "Moving to Seattle" , they are hard and edgy enough for them not to be labeled a guilty pleasure. I think my man card can stay in my wallet for now. I mean if it is cool enough for me to dig Paramore or Cruiserweight, then I can dig The Material with no problems. If I were a music director or producer of a CW show, I would have used a song of theirs already on Smallville or a One Tree Hill episode already. The Material has the perfect sound for those audiences. Now that the fact that I know that may be grounds for revoking my man card.
This summer my wish to see The Material live will come true. They will be playing at The Red Eyed Fly on Red River with my friends The Banner Year. I am not sure who else is on the bill with them yet. They are scheduled for Tuesday, July 22nd and are the in the middle of the bill somewhere so people will have to show up early to catch them. It will no doubt be one of the best middle bill bands you will ever get to see. Fellas take your lady. Hopefully they perform their cover of "Apologize". After all, it is what got my attention in the first place. MTV2 owes them a thanks for that because I always seem to pass that channel by 99% of the time.
Anyway, I wanted to conclude this blog by sharing their video they viraled around on a Myspace bulletin. Check them out, comment, and show them some much deserved love or hate. If you are hearing of them for the time, you're welcome. That's what this blog is for.
Ian is a graduate of Round Rock High School and attended St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. In 2008 he joined the team at Double Stereo (formerly CD Fuse) as their Blog editor where he reviewed concerts, albums, and did interviews for the popular music site.In January 2009, he became the Editor in Chief for Austin Vida. In 2010, with the help of some of his most talented friends, he launched Red River Noise. "Ian's Music Blog" is also one of the few blogs selected to be a Do512 All-Star.
On any given night of the week he can be found in downtown Austin on 6th Street and the Red River live music district.
