On Nov. 27th, Woxy started the kickoff of their Local Residency Series with up and coming bands Tigercity of Brooklyn, NY, the Austin homegrown band The Tunnels, and Neon Indian of Austin, the headliner for the evening. The show took place inside of Stubbs – a legendary venue of the Austin music scene.

Neon Indian wasn’t the most brilliant of performances but nonetheless provided hard-hitting beats and high-toned vocals that managed to get people moving. The band is another of Alan Palomo’s tuneful channels. Perhaps you’ve heard of a few other bands he is responsible for such as Ghosthustler and the side project Vega, in which Palomo does revamped 80’s music. Neon Indian is a well-rounded venture for Palomo...there are still a lot of electronics but this time he is joined on stage with Ronald Gierhart (guitar, vocals), Jason Faries (drums), and Leanne Macomber (keyboard).

Either the 80’s just will not die and have returned to haunt us in gruesome zombie fashion  –or they have been reborn to get us off our ass and back on the dance floor! Take it however it comes but just remember, with decent bands such as Neon Indian comes terrible pop garbage we’ll have to endure along with them. Speaking of terrible pop garbage, Tigercity couldn’t have been any more defining of the term  – and yet, they fit right in with the crowd. The lead singer sounded like someone castrated him long ago and the fact of the matter is – if we wanted to hear an effeminate man voice we have as much Steve Perry as we can ask for already, and no one even asked for it. To add to this band's cacophony set up, the guitarist couldn’t figure out whether he wanted to do Jimmy Buffet riffs or solos from Def Leopard albums. He continued to do both intermittently and sadly it was somehow captivating. The only good thing Tigercity had going for it was the drummer – he had talent, pizzazz, and a great outfit. The outfit went along perfectly with the early 80’s afro hairdo he was sporting, circa Miami Vice. But seeing this band more than once would be like going a second time to karaoke night with your coworkers – who knows, it might be fun, but not advisable.

The band that just didn’t fit with this line up was The Tunnels. They are a raw, basic in form, and a talented group of musicians. They were a cross between Brian Jonestown Massacre and Lou Reed/Velvet Underground in the early days. The purity of the lead singer was charming with every introduction of the band between songs – ‘Hi, we’re The Tunnels, thank you for having us.’  Thank you, for providing the music and bringing a real vibe to the stage for the evening. The Tunnels did a Hank Williams cover, Lost Highway, and their rendition was flawless in delivery. This isn’t to say this band was ideal because they had imperfections of their own but they weren’t going for exactness. They were just trying to play a few songs and enjoy themselves on stage. That’s commendable enough.

All in all, Neon Indian is a decent band with a lot of potential. It’ll be interesting to watch them progress. Palomo definitely has a long career ahead of him and we would be lucky to have him producing other musicians' albums, as he obviously knows a thing or two about rhythm and beats. If you feel the urge to dance, catch these guys at their next show, and they will provide the 80’s strutting tunes for all you dance floor zombies. Check it!

By Favian Rodriguez