Houston Calling

REVIEW: The Futureheads live at Rhythm Room

March 24th, 2005 · No Comments

The Futureheads
Rhythm Room, Houston, 3.16.05

Typically, attendance for a mid-week show in Houston is sparse at best. But last Wednesday night’s show at Rhythm Room featuring The Futureheads, Shout Out Louds, and The High Speed Scene brought out the crowds, who were treated to a great night of modern rock.

Openers The High Speed Scene played a short set of their So Cal pop-punk rock. Their album was released this week on Interscope. But it was Sweden’s Shout Out Louds that really won the crowd over — within a few songs of their set, any skepticism the crowd held onto was discarded for rabid fanaticism. And with good reason. Each band member plays with frenzied adandon, and it was easy to tell that any of the players could easily play in any band — their talent was obvious. The band’s new two-song EP was recently released and is available via iTunes. It was a great set.

As expected though, it was England’s The Futureheads that the crowd wanted to see. Their show was energetic and exciting, and the sound was as good live as it is on the album. Even with all of the songs’ rapid breaks, the band never missed a beat.

They opened the show with the album’s first track, “Le Garage,” and continued with an strong set that included most of the band’s The Jam and Gang of Four-inspired debut album and a new song or two. The best songs of the night were “Robot,” “Decent Days and Nights,” “Alms,” and “Trying Not To Think About Time.”

Their cover of Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” (which has garnered the band plenty of press in the past few months) was preceeded by a contest in which the band split the crowd in half for a singalong. The way each of the band members worked the crowd and interacted with each other added to the band’s effectiveness onstage. Instead of stereotypical jaded rock star poses, the band seemed genuinely happy and surprised to see a roomful of fans. It was refreshing to see a band actually having fun with each other (and the fans) during a set. I highly recommend The Futureheads’ album, and if you can catch the band live in your town, make a point of doing so.

You can visit The Futureheads online. Also check out The High Speed Scene and Shout Out Louds.

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Tags: Music