Vaden Todd Lewis of the Burden Brothers at Stubb's photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The Burden Brothers
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
http://www.theburdenbrothers.com
Burden Brothers Concert Photos
Friday, April 27th, 2007
Stubb's Bar-B-Q (Austin, Texas)
Also:
Riverboat Gamblers
Bar-B-Q for dinner two nights in a row? How could I resist when the first night's entertainment was George Thorogood, followed the second night by Dallas' Burden Brothers?
I had tried to catch the Burden Brothers show when they played Antone's a few months back, but the show had sold out and I couldn't talk my way in. This time I was lucky enough to hook up with the band's management early and they set me up with a pair of tickets and a photo pass.
Wanting to put the second ticket to good use I invited a long time friend and noted Austin drummer Dennis Bruhn (the Recliners, Flex, the Whores, Da Da Curve, Dukes of Simpleton, etc.) to come. He had mentioned a few months back that he'd wanted to check out the Burden Brothers when they came to town and it was sort of a happy coincidence.
Mike Wiebe of the Riverboat Gamblers photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
Opening the show were Denton transplants the Riverboat Gamblers. Waiting for the show to start, I was able to chat with lead guitarist Fadi el-Assad (aka Freddy Castro) about the show, their '06 tour with X and the Rollins Band, and their move to Austin. They loved touring with X and Rollins but felt that it was a weird tour with co-headliners instead of the usual single headliner, and that it had a different vibe. Fadi said they love living here Austin and think relocating here was a great decision, allowing them to play at lots of great local venues like Stubb's and Emo's.
The Riverboat Gamblers show itself was a thrashy, loud, buzzy experience. With frontman Mike Wiebe throwing himself around the stage, it's no wonder he's ended up in the ER after more than one performance. He damn near whacked me with his mic stand a half dozen times, and more than once I turned around from shooting one of the other band members to find him inches from my face, straddling the photo pit. It was all I could do to keep the camera pointed in his direction, hope the autofocus was working, pray, and spray, clicking the shutter as fast as I could. These guys have lots of energy and excitement onstage, and they sounded good to me, but Dennis standing far in the back said they didn't get a very good mix. Unfortunately the combination of the all the stage movement and a so-so light mix (from a photography perspective, not enough white lights, too many colors) left me with only a few usable photos from their set.
The Burden Brothers performing at Stubb's photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
Mix problems went on to dog the Burden Brothers' set as well. I experienced these myself firsthand, though the band appeared to be unaware.
Sitting in the photo pit for the first three songs of their set, I was busy taking pictures when, halfway through the first song, I realized Vaden was singing but I couldn't hear a word. I confirmed with the security guard and caught the attention of a guitar tech offstage, pointing to Vaden's mic and making a slashing sign across the throat. He pointed to the big monitors to the sides of the stage and indicated that all the vocals were coming through there and it was not a problem to the audience. Audience members in the front row, seeing my hand signals to the tech and his response yelled and waved frantically that they too could hear no vocals.
Convinced that I had done my best to alert them and remedy the issue, I went back to snapping pictures. It was only after I finished my three songs and headed back into the crowd that I could finally hear the recognizable snarl of Vaden's that accounts for all those Toadies songs on my iPod. Despite the rough mix, the Burden Brothers performed well and the crowd enjoyed themselves, as did Dennis and I. I look forward to seeing them again next time they come back to town.
The Burden Brothers performing at Stubb's photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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