- This event has passed.
Free First Friday Concert feat. Electric Attitude & MODOC w/ Taz & Co. and Videoing
October 3, 2014 @ 8:00 pm - 11:55 pm
Grand Stafford Theater presents our Free First Friday Concert Series featuring rock/funk/disco, seven-piece group from Houston, ELECTRIC ATTITUDE joined by
ELECTRIC ATTITUDE
Only a city as eclectic as Houston, Texas, could generate a band as unique as Electric Attitude, 2011, 2012, and 2013 Houston Press Music Award winners for “Best Soul/Funk/R&B” act. Blake Shepard, Kwesi Sackey, and Jordan Bell formed the nucleus of the band in the summer of 2008, and as the thousands who have seen them perform since that time can testify, EA have the power to liven up any audience and turn any room into a dance-floor. Newcomers often walk away from EA shows as fans, and are left with the feeling that they’ve attended a great party. As Kwesi says, “Our goal is to make music that makes you feel good and sexy, and also makes you shake what you got!”
Unwilling to limit themselves creatively or be musically stereotyped, the members of Electric Attitude draw upon diverse influences including rock, blues, funk, soul, and disco, and fuse them into a new and exciting sonic mix. Jordan’s rhythmic, rocking guitar riffs spiral around Kwesi’s thick, danceable bass lines, while front-man Blake’s soulful and sultry vocals find the happy medium between Mick Jagger and Jack White.
With drummer Michael Hatter and James Murphy on saxophone, the energetic group maintains a schedule as relentless as their beats, and their commitment to putting everything they have into their performances has solidified their reputation as one of the tightest, most accomplished live acts in the city. In 2010, Electric Attitude garnered a lot of attention and strong reviews as they branched out to the Midwest on a 12-date “Breakdown and Shake Tour” in support of their popular 2009 EP, Laser Laser Laser Beams.
Electric Attitude have consistently added to their experience via double-bills with such high-caliber national and international acts as Bonobo, Dengue Fever, The Pharcyde, The Bright Light Social Hour, Galactic, Octopus Project, and Semi Precious Weapons (fresh off a sold-out tour with Lady Gaga). 2011 found the band winning their first Houston Press Music Award and playing to a packed house as the opener for 100 Monkeys on the Main Stage of House of Blues – Houston. EA kept the momentum rolling into 2012, further expanding their sound with the addition of Matthew Hartnett on trombone and Stephen Forse on trumpet, and taking home another trophy for “Best Soul/Funk/R&B” act.
Inspired by experiments with bass effects pedals and electronic instruments, specifically the EWI (Electronic Woodwind Instrument), Electric Attitude took to The Womb in Austin, Texas, to create new studio sounds for 2013. Fans who have been awaiting new recorded material are now being rewarded with the release of EA’s first full-length album, Skintight & Solid Gold, on the new Houston label, GR8-Heights Records. “With this album,” Blake says, “we are pushing beyond Laser Laser Laser Beams, adding horns and taking our music to the next level.”
Where will the days ahead lead Electric Attitude? For a group that thrives on the positive vibes of enthusiastic crowds and finds equal excitement in the recording studio, the future holds a million golden possibilities. For now, pick up Skintight & Solid Gold at your favorite record shop—or catch EA live—and get in on one of the best parties Houston has to offer.
Electric Attitude on Facebook | Electric Attitude on Twitter | Official Website
MODOC
Rock music may not hold the cultural sway it did in the days of Zeppelin or Hendrix, but don’t tell that to MODOC. Or tell them, sure, but embrace yourself for the clear-eyed defense of the genre coming your way. Like the Nashville trio’s contemporaries in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Queens of the Stone Age, and Band of Skulls, MODOC are weathering this cultural lull just fine, carrying the torch for the sort of gritty, swaggering rock music that topped the Billboard charts long before bedazzled pop tarts ever had a say. Indeed, the band’s self-titled debut, released in 2013, revs and hisses like a classic jet black Mustang speeding top-down on a desert highway — each explosive riff and anguished tale taking us miles away from the garage in which it was produced. Everyone from network music supervisors to tastemakers at Band of the Day and iTunes to festival promoters at Austin City Limits and Summerfest are taking notice too. At the same time, listeners across the U.S. and abroad are corralling around MODOC’s visceral sound with increasing fervor. It was only a matter of time considering the band’s name has increasingly been mentioned in the same breath as Nashville rock luminaries Jack White, The Black Keys, and Kings of Leon, among others. No, rock music isn’t dead, despite all critical lamenting to the contrary — it’s just hanging underground for a spell. And when it reemerges, MODOC will be waiting to give the people what they want, no gimmicks necessary.
MODOC on Facebook | MODOC on Twitter | Official Website
TAZ & COMPANY
Taz is no newcomer to the Bryan/College Station music culture as he’s performed shows and open mics since he began his college career at A&M. As a multi-instrumentalist, Taz’s lush harmonies and unique instrumentation have, over time, created a signature sound; a concoction of suave jazz, r&b, and almost anything else that can be played on six strings. His music can be described as electric and innovative, a blue fire pirouetting to be witnessed. This Friday he will be joined by fellow musicians Amy Westwick, David Johnson, and Brenton Kim to reinvent the craft of the acoustic experience. Using a wide variety of songs and instruments, this group will have you singing along to the classics.
VIDEOING
Videoing combines analog/digital sampling with guitars, synth, drums and alternately soaring stiletto chic vox to reimagine electropunk in the millenial dance age. Videoing, a music project from Austin, TX mixes hi-tech intentions with lo-fi cogs, gears and whistles, offering up a sound meant to be unique but familiar, gritty but smooth, driving but calm. Opting for unorthodox recording methods, videoing has shied away from strict studio settings and features tracks put down in bedrooms, kitchens, closets, and showers. The intended result is a variety of styles and feels ranging from post punk to anthem to dance to shoegaze to psych to math. The intended result is a variety of styles and feels ranging from post punk to anthem to dance to shoegaze to psych to math.