This co-headlining Austin Meade/Kody West tour was not what I was expecting when asked on Saturday night if I wanted to go to a “country show” at Backstage Bar and Billiards. It’s definitely not my usual scene, and I’ve never been to Texas, so forgive me if I get this all wrong.
Vegas local Brock Frabbiele, frontman for Go Bold opened with an acoustic set that surpasses all genre labels. Frabbiele quickly won over the crowd full of sparkly cowboy boots and trucker hats with songs like “What Doesn’t Kill Us,” “Happy Songs Suck,” and “All Grown Ups Are Pirates”. The set was an equal mix of songs that made you laugh and songs that made you want to cry, which was a fitting intro for the bands that followed, who I’m still having a hard time trying to describe.
There’s a good chance that it’s just my bias for all things Pacific Northwest (God, Seattle I miss you.), but as soon as Austin Meade took to the stage I got serious Kurt Cobain vibes. The long hair, neon colors and tattoos mixed with the soul wrenching lyrics of Creeps “Too many hours thinking what might happen if/ I die young before I accomplished/The things we had hoped for”, only solidified these feelings. Fans made their way to the front of the stage for a set that was heavy with songs off Meade’s latest album Black Sheep, which has more classic rock influences, but they still seemed to know all the words. They ended with “Happier Alone”, a song that is so catchy it’s been stuck in my head ever since and a Dua Lipa cover that I like better than the original. Meade really knows how to mix the best parts of each decade in a way that I’m sure we’ll see him on stage again soon!
Don’t tell anyone, but happening simultaneously just a wall away at Fremont Country Club, Strangelove -The Depeche Mode Experience was also playing. The LA based cover band performed for a packed but slightly different, slightly older crowd, but with just as much dancing and enthusiasm as Leo Luganskiy has on stage.
I might have been a little tipsy by the time Kody West played, but that’s only because I met so many people from Denton, TX in the crowd who came all the way to Vegas to support the Denton native. Also, they may have bought me a drink or two (thanks friends). West is touring in support of his latest album Overgrown. Coming to the stage a bit more subdued and romantic than Meade’s set, West reminds me of a modern day Lord Byron. Especially with lyrics heavy leaden with imagery of the Texas landscape. In “Ledges” he sang, “Here I stand on the edge of the ledge inside of me/ Searchin’ for a steady hand/ Here I stand in the land full of rocks in the valley/Oh I’m tryna be a better man”. Things got a little rowdy during a cover of the classic “Wish You Were Here” by Incubus, but it was quickly interrupted with a lively two-step, something I have never seen at BBB before! I would really love to see West do an all acoustic set in the future.
I’ve been listening to these bands since the show last weekend and Spotify really doesn’t do them justice. Do yourselves a favor and go see them live!
-Kristy Calhoun
Special thanks to Chris Kleinmeier for the photos! See more at https://www.instagram.com/chriskleinmeier/
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