Isaac Slade of The Fray at the Frank Erwin Center photo by staff photographer jeff barringer |
The Fray
Hometown: Denver, Co.
http://www.thefray.net/
The Fray Concert Photos
Monday, January 29, 2007
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
also:
MuteMath
Moondog called to remind about this gig, and I want to thank him for helping me get the credentials to shoot this. Austin's Frank Erwin Center, known locally as the "Superdrum" or the Special Events Center, is the home to the University of Texas basketball program and, with a capacity of over 20,000 is the largest venue in Austin.
I got a close look at it when I registered for my U.T. classes as a freshman. The paint was still relatively fresh, Ronald Reagan was still president, and the lines of students wandering through its halls seemed endless. Over the years have seen an untold number of performances from both the cheap seats in the nosebleed section, all the way down to front row on the floor. Some of the bands I 've seen there include AC/DC (with Brian Jones), Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Genesis , Rush, Yes, Neil Young, the Moody Blues, Van Halen, and a host of other acts throughout the seventies, eighties, and nineties.
I'd never been behind the scenes for any of the SEC events, and it was good to get a guided tour from UT's publicity department as we were ushered into, around, and through the venue. I could swear we passed the same maintenance guy three times on the way to the stage. For this show, we would actually be escorted from shooting location to shooting location by UT staff who got us through the various levels of security, which is nice because I'm getting pretty tired of fighting my way to the stage every time.
Paul Meany of MuteMath Does a Headstand at the Frank Erwin Center photo by staff photographer jeff barringer |
We were allowed to shoot the whole set of the first band MuteMath out of New Orleans, which was better than I expected or anticipated. MuteMath is fronted by Paul Meany, whose vocal pitch leads me to think he is Sting's long lost love child. They played a great little set that can only be described as frenetic. Paul spent all night bounding around the stage, leapfrogging the piano, doing headstands on the piano. Later after kicking over his drum kit, and then dancing on the table himself, percussionist Darren King dove into the crowd, closing their set. It looked like it was all Greg Hill on guitars and Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas on bass could do to stay out of their band mates' way.
A variety of influences were apparent, from alternative metal and industrial to jazz and electronic. Their sound is complex, with interesting juxtapositions of sounds and rhythms, in almost an Incubus sort of way, but with a different flavor. Very distinctive and unique, which I really really like.
Darren King of MuteMath on drums & piano at the Frank Erwin Center photo by staff photographer jeff barringer |
These guys are a blast to watch perform live, and it would be great to see them on a double bill with someone like Drums & Tuba, in a smaller venue with a more tuned-in audience. I might get that chance, too ,as they are coming back to play SXSW 2007 in March, according to their MySpace page. I hope they bring that weird instrument Paul brought out at the end. I still have no idea what it is. Kudos to MuteMath for their most excellent use of technology on the web. MuteMath actually has some video diary footage of this specific show you can check out on
Youtube.
Dave Welsh of The Fray at the Frank Erwin Center photo by staff photographer jeff barringer |
We only got to shoot and stay for the first three songs of headliner The Fray, so my review as such will be pretty brief. This is a band my mother would like, and judging by the numbers of mothers in the audience who brought their pre-teen children to the show, other mothers apparently agree. Very much in the realm of Coldplay and to a lesser extent U2 and Radiohead, the Fray sounded exactly like their recordings, very clean, very mellow, very safe and non-threatening. I think in this regard XTC's Andy Partridge's comments in our interview regarding Coldplay being "aural wallpaper" are certainly applicable.
I would much rather see parents bringing their kids to see someone like the Fray than, say, any of the boy bands of the last 20 years, or god forbid Britney Spears or the Simpson girls, but if you're looking for a band that's going to push the envelope musically, you're at the wrong show. To be fair, I only got to see the band for three songs, so for all I know, after I left they brought out chainsaws and bit the heads off of bats. I just don't think so. I did come home and listen to "Over My Head (Cable Car)," "How To Save A Life," and "Clocks" a couple of times .
The Fray at the Frank Erwin Center - photo by staff photographer jeff barringer
|