Music lovers will be treated to a concert to be remembered, as five of Houston’s underground bands converge for one party at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5 at Mango’s, located at 403 Westheimer.
The show will include performances by local bands Darwin’s Finches, Somosuno, Clockpole, The Busy Kids and Fun Boys.
The show is advertised to be $5 at the door, but Joe Ortiz, a member of the band Clockpole, said there’s a good chance it will end up being free.
“We charged last time we had a show there, but people just kept walking in and we just said ‘forget it’,” Ortiz said. “It’s about the music. We want to have a good time.”
That carefree attitude and love for the music says everything about the concert’s style. As a collaborative effort between the bands, the concert will explore a wide range of sounds, stretching all the way from the more meat-and-potatoes rock of Darwin’s Finches to Clockpole’s more chaotic experimental fusion. The eclectic combination of genres that will perform at the concert bespeaks the hugely varied music culture that’s thriving in Houston.
“Houston’s music scene is the best it’s been in a decade,” said Nikki Seven, one of the lead members of The Busy Kids. “There’s a strong sense of community. It’s like being family. I’m in three bands, and everyone’s crossing over and helping each other out. It’s not a big scene, but it has a lot more love than others.”
The underground music scene here in Houston has been growing steadily in recent years, with shows like this popping up all around the city.
More often an excuse to have fun and appreciate music than generate profits, the shows are driven by a passion that the band members believe is lost in most popular music today.
“You look at bigger artists and people admire them because they write their own music,” said Austin Rhoads, the drummer for Darwin’s Finches. “Since when was writing your own music a big thing? It’s a factory. They find musicians that can play whatever the producers write. It’s selling an image, but we’re trying to be artists.”
Regardless of their approach to crafting their music, all the bands seem to agree that the show is much more about enjoying themselves than making money.
“These shows are like our version of religion. This is our mass. This is our way of connecting to other people,” said Fernando Alojandro, a guitarist and singer with Somosuno. “You can do so much with music.”
