SXSW: Band of Thieves Strike a Solid Chord of Straight Up Rock & Roll!

While I am based in Los Angeles, my circle of friends stretch far and wide across the US– thankfully because unfortunately I was not able to get to South by Southwest despite all the invites, pleas and requests. (sigh).
However I was able to nail down a couple of friends to attend events at SXSW and one of them Alan Bendele (musician and more) was kind enough to hit a couple of shows and give me a couple of reviews to share with you.
I had previously interviewed BAND OF THIEVES almost a year ago in NYC and when I heard they were heading to SXSW, I definitely wanted Alan to hit that show– to hear them and get the “male” perspective on this hot new group with a serious ‘straight up” rock and roll presentation that has you booging around before you know it.
webvenue.jpg
Band of Thieves Habana Annex 708 E. 6th St. Wednesday, March 12, 2008 10:00 pm
When you live in Austin, you can look at South by Southwest a few ways. Either it’s a traffic-inducing drunken nightmare, or it’s a great chance to simultaneously indulge a love of music and a short attention span. Busloads of new bands hit the stages every hour up and down 6th Street, Austin’s answer to Bourbon and Beale. Sixth Street’s Habana Annex is where I caught Band of Thieves.
webrock.jpg
I had listened to a few of their songs, and I liked the straight-up rock approach well enough to be interested in seeing them–and rock they did. Tyler, the lead singer and band spokesperson makes a very strong impression. He shuffles, moves, spins and sings while the band delivers some very solid rock & roll licks. The audience was pretty sizable and most people were excited about the music and having a great time. From my perspective, the music was exciting, and it was “Rock and Roll,” with a tip of the hat to the Southern School. I’m all for that! There’s enough moody pablum out there, and I’m happy to see a resurgence in classic rock. I did get a surreal sense that the band’s persona and look was too seventies, almost as if the guys were in a movie about a seventies band. I was waiting for Ben Fong Torres to ask me for my Rolling Stone Article so he could fact-check it! These guys really live the lifestyle, though, and I honestly enjoyed the music.


webbot.jpg
I talked to Tyler after the show. He’s been around the music biz a bit, and it seems he’s come to a point where he just wants to make the music he loves. Tyler and cohorts are pretty secure in delivering decidedly southern-style rock from well north of the Mason-Dixon in New York, NY. Band of Thieves hopped in their van after the show and headed back to Manhattan, where they plan on recording their debut full-length album with Mikki James (Albert Hammond Jr., Thin Lizard Dawn).
Check out Band of Thieves on myspace.com at http://www.myspace.com/wearebandofthieves
Alan Bendele
Thanks to Alan Bendele for hitting the Habana Annex and Band of Thieves for me. We had a couple of conversations yesterday post event to talk about the session. Alan’s a musician (guitar and keyboards) who’s making musical headway in Austin. Thankfully his talents include writing a bit and we will be hearing from him again!!
Stevie Wilson

Subscribe to RSS headline updates
Powered by FeedBurner

© 2007 KBP Inc.

One thought on “SXSW: Band of Thieves Strike a Solid Chord of Straight Up Rock & Roll!

  1. I was at this show and I couldn’t agree more with this article! Once you got past the leather vests and mucho mustaches, you were in for a damn good dose of southern rock.

Comments are closed.