Originally, I planned to venture to The Grotto for a rap show. Not wanting to deal with accessibility issues, I opted to head downtown to check out Queen City Music Hall, a newer venue in Fort Worth. I paid my five dollars and descended the elevator to the music hall, which, is pretty much a dance club with a stage. The dance floor still lays in the middle, and plush velvet chairs line the back walls with random bar tables and stools through out the floor area.
Jessie Frye Band led the lineup for the night. She and her band rocked out. She swayed, shimmied and swung her hair back and forth, charismatically engaging the audience at the right moments. With the music, it felt seductive. And the music soared up and down with hooks, melodies and inventive lead guitar solos. The drummer and bassist both looked like they were having fun. In a way, the band feels like what Pat Benetar would sound like today.
Olivine… Jessie Frye led with enthusiasm and rock and then two of Olivine’s guitarists start their set with three straight acoustic songs, sucking energy right out of the room. It didn’t help that the front man kept trying to engage the audience between songs. It felt forced. Also, I kept thinking, “So, Dashboard Confessional’s coming back.” I wanted to stay long enough to see and hear what they were like as a full band, plugged in, and I got Fall Out Boy. Nasally pop punk.
I left.
Queen City had an interesting crowd–parents, random clubbers attempting to take self pics while stupidly drunk, suit types (one of which looked like Al Pacino in Scarface, minus the machine gun and cocaine). The sound was great and no accessibility issues at all.
