Virtually Home

I was on my way down to Dallas, having scheduled an interview and three days of non-stop rock'n'roll in Austin, which I was unwilling to be deterred from, despite the onset of a horrendous upper respiratory infection. Luckily for me, Bright Eyes was also on their way to the festival and stopped through Dallas to play a Thursday night show at the Palladium on the last night First Aid Kit was sharing their stage. First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo made up of sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg. They're 21 and 18 respectively, and have been recording for four years already. Their music is harmony-heavy and their lyrics thoughtful (and in English, in case you were wondering where I'd picked up Swedish). Johanna sings the main vocals and plays a guitar while Klara usually takes the harmonies and accompanies Johanna with a harp or a keyboard. They played the show in nearly-matching black 'N Sync and Spice Girls t-shirts, circa '99, which you shouldn't take as a...

Tim Kasher is a genius. An often overshadowed genius, as Omaha-based frontmen go, but one who's been around for a long time, involved with such now-defunct Saddle Creek legends as Commander Venus and Slowdown Virgina, as well as still-rocking bands Cursive and The Good Life. When I heard Tim Kasher's solo tour was swinging through Oklahoma City, I bought a ticket in advance. Way in advance. I must have been the only one, because no one showed up early. The attendance was so sparse for the first few hours of the show that I was worried no one was coming. An small venue is a beautiful thing, an audience of ten kind of a sad state of affairs. A lot of people showed up late, after the two openers, which was good for the atmosphere and somewhat disappointing in terms of the pre-show ritual. After a pleasantly folksy opening set by a soon-to-be-married local duo called O Fidelis, my ears were made to ring for three consecutive days by a New York band called Aficionado, whose per...