Scenes From Last Night's Red Bull Sound Select Show at Three Links Featuring Baths.
It's weird: When the night's started and it's still pretty much light outside, things just don't feel right.
So the very start of last night's Red Bull Sound Select showcase at Three Links — the very start, which is to say the first three songs of Son of Stan's set, which kicked off right at 8:30 — felt a little off.
But Son of Stan is a rad band with a killer, off-beat dance-pop sound — Divorce Pop, the band's debut LP set for an October release, is great — and the early-arrivers to last night's four-band showcase eventually opened up to the band's set and the overall feel of the night.
And, just like that, the table was set for a night of electronic-indebted sonic offerings. And quite the table it was. Ice Eater followed Son of Stan with a raucous offering forever bordering on becoming unhinged, with the band adroitly reeling itself back in seemingly just in time, each and every time. These Machines are Winning's aesthetic was far sleeker; with the stage lights down and the three-piece band awash in their own visual projections, the band's set was at once sweeping and gloomy.
Really, this three-fer could've carried last night's offering all their own. And, to a degree, they did: Shortly after 10 p.m., the venue reached capacity. Out-of-town headline performer Baths was still about an hour or so away from kicking off its own set at that point.
No one seemed to mind the wait — credit those three excellent opening performances for that — and, when Baths finally did take to the stage, the two-piece, California-based project from Will Weisenfeld continued the digital feel of the night brilliantly, drenching the crowd in its own take on the wall-of-sound concept.
It was a good time, to say the least — definitely worth the $3 cost of admission, although that's perhaps not saying much. The below photos, courtesy of Karlo X. Ramos, perhaps say more in that regard.
Here's hoping last night's excellent vibes spill over into the we've curated next month's Sound Select offering, which will go down at Club Dada on Friday, September 20, and will feature Detroit-launched rapper-producer Black Milk's first show in Dallas since he moved here to town, plus opening sets from Blue the Misfit (of Brain Gang), Yung Nation, The Outfit TX and Sam Lao. Same as last night's offering there will be no advance ticket sales for this show; entry will cost $3 at the door, and attendance is guaranteed only on a first-come, first-served basis. We'll see you there.
All photos by Karlo X. Ramos.