Feel Good Fest at Radio/East

Resound has been fucking nailing it with shows. Their tickets are still somewhat affordable (remember the days when tickets were 10 or 25 dollars though) and they have a list of venues and festivals that they partner with that keeps me checking their site. Most of the time, I am paying over thirty dollars a ticket, because inflation, but I recently had the chance to snag a great deal for this event. I was eyeing it because of the family rock group, Infinity Song, was in the lineup. And this was one of the first TikTok viral songs that made me realize the youth are making good music.

By getting the ticket in advance, there was a two for the price of one deal, allowing me to take a bestie and for us to get back to those event prices of our youth. Since we are two olds, we checked the event page and arrived unfashionably early, we were a hour ahead of time. So we killed time drinking our sugary corporate coffee drinks that we had picked up along the way, eyeing the food trucks that would be closed by the time we left. We should have eaten before we shuffled our way in!

Being there so early we had time to drink and snag a spot to the left side of the stage where there are tables and chairs. This allowed us to creep on those trickling in and to discovery if we were okay or would hate the other bands performing before Infinity Song.

Before talking about the bands, I want to talk about what the event was for. Feel Good Fest wasn’t just a random assortment of weird rock bands with a distinct sound, it was put together by the SIMS Foundation here in Austin to bring awareness to their services and to raise money. They are a nonprofit organization that has been around for over 25 years and are part of the legacy around a local musician who died after a struggle with their mental health. His father, along with a group of others, started the organization with the aim of offering mental health services to the Austin musical community. They are beloved for a reason and they really stepped it up during Covid.

In between the sets, they had people with the organization, and other local musicians, talk about the importance and impact of their work. Feel Good Fest is an apt name, as the vibes were positive even when talking about real world issues like mental stability and having resources to do something about it. You can tell there is a passion not just in the music that they selected, but in the work that they are doing. Which is needed in this dumpster fire of a world.

But before there was Infinity Song, there were other acts. 

The special guest was an artist performing under their name Elijah Delgado. From Austin, this is an upcoming young artist that I heard things about but hadn’t had a chance to listen to before this show. Let me tell you that has changed. It is hit or miss with opening acts, I feel most are a miss for me or not memorable enough to dig into. Not this performance, from the first song we were like who is this guy (but in a good way). Moving to the songs that feel comfortable in its sound, even if it was the first time hearing it. His music has mass appeal, it is rock for sure but with the melodic pop sound that draws more people in than it turns away. He plays with a full band, even though you know that it is his music and songs that are being performed, and there is still harmony in the accompanying sound in the guitars and drums. You can tell they rehearse together and know their set. This was still in May, so the heat was not stifling and the band seemed so perfect under an endless blue sky, a beautiful backdrop of epic proportions. 

They were followed by a crowd favorite Cigarettes @ Sunset. They are an Appalachian rock band from North Carolina that has embraced and/or created the genre Possum Rock. Although they weren’t my thing, because of their t-shirt designs I still ended up snagging one since I couldn’t turn down a skeleton smoking a cigarette. This is a four piece band that incorporates a violin and is fronted by Garrett Dellinger. He has a country voice that fits the music, there is a bit of a rasp that must come from dialect and smoking, it lends itself to concept. He also shared his personal struggles and tied it into the songs that he was singing, which razed his base into a supportive frenzy, he reciprocated the love by doing some crowd work, very much felt like an Elvis moment. 

And then it was time for Infinity Song! I have been listening to their records nonstop, even going so far to pre-add the new album. The way these sibling harmonize, I was like there are too good to be true. And I was wrong. This Brooklyn group is amazing live. They fucking brought my friend to tears, okay he is an emo boy forever at heart, but still. They have the voices of heavenly choir, each one an angel (not just the one name Angel). They do Fleetwood Mac covers to perfection, they have sassy songs that sound like it was a classic ripped from the seventies, and the way they can play a guitar. I am hoping the backing band is also part of their family, because once again they have a theme that they are selling so well. Right now there are four that are performing together: Abraham, Angel, Israel and Momo Boyd. I believe it was Israel on the electric guitar, but for sure Momo was on the acoustic. The only negative thing I have to say is that no family should be this talented and musically inclined. I would see they perform live, again and again.

The last performer of the night was Night Cap, but our drinks and lack of food made us skedaddle and try to find the nearest Whataburger, so I can’t tell you what they were like. Just a typical end to a show, you can tell we got home before midnight since I did not end up scarfing down any of their taquitos.

Cobrah at Radio/East

Oh shit, here I am posting about the Rebel Ragers Tour like I didn’t shake my tits at Cobrah just weeks after lamenting about how I felt so alone at the Peaches show.

This performance was her first time in our city and was part of the Torn tour for her debut album by the same name. As my friend and I joked when I mentioned that I was catching the Peaches and Cobrah shows this year, this is part of my maiden mother crone worship that will be completed if I can snag a Madonna one before the year is out. Otherwise I think we will be stuck in this sexually regressed timeline, I am sorry for my failures if I don’t cum (bad sexual pun intended) through.

Let us start with one my biggest anxieties about leaving the house: the drive and struggle to find parking. My husband had been to this venue once before, so I avalanched him with questions he could not answer because he is a straight man who does not have my level of anxiety in all the same things. He made it seem like I could get parking near the site, but I couldn’t because this show was sold out and I took my sweet time getting there.

Driving wise it is in what I think of as the warehouse corporate district, my old job Progressive is in the area along with other sprawling office buildings with dedicated parking lots that may be tow happy, so down the street forced to parallel park did I go.

This is a coffee spot with food trucks and trees and seating for their daytime business, that can then convert to a popping night spot with an outdoor stage that will not piss off the neighbors (cause they are keeping office hours). While brilliant, it would be harder to get here if you are depending on the inconsistent public transportation that we have in Austin.

Another thing I want to mention is that it is a beautiful and open location, but the main area that will be used as the stage and dance floor is gravel and reminiscent of an unfinished Texas backyard - meaning that it is not heel friendly. Get sturdy shoes and maybe look into the terrain if you have mobility concerns.

Moving onto the next thing that shakes my nerves, how was it being at a sold out show solo?

This was a happening crowd that represented the Austin queer community, much like Peaches it was very compressed and packed in close to the stage. I was able to secure a good side spot near a couple of guys who were outgoing and drunk enough that they had to chat it up with those around them, my awkward self included. I am half deaf from youthful bad decisions, and with the earplugs I wear at concerts now I could only hear every other thing but their kindness and looking out for those around them made a difference. When I popped a squat because my old knees could not carry my stick legs anymore, one of them dropped down ready to sober me up or pull me out of a heat stroke. I had to make my apologies if I scared them, but fucking good on them for being aware of the messes around them.

Before we talk about her outfits, the clothing and kindness from the crowd was skanky and pure. This was a show that dressed to impress.

I did worry about Cobrah though with the lighting and Texas heat, she was wearing flesh toned lingerie with a mesh long sleeve body suit. It had to be stifling being overtly sexy while sweating your tits off, or at least that is what I think whenever it is still nineties degrees at night and I am wearing a tiny little outfit that is sliding off my body with my sweat.

Her set design was sleek and at times appears to be a bedroom on a pedestal. Like Peaches, she was accompanied by two dancers, these being brunette ladies that were also in their chonies that showed off how cut their bodies were as they rolled in timed to the beats. It would seem that she was "singing” more to a track than other performers I have seen, but this is a show that is more about the production. It has the pulsating lights and the pounding bass, I imagine it is hard to hit the moans or words with the same breathy tone as she incorporates hairography that may result in an occupational injury.

Much like the venue, there is a trade off when it comes to aesthetics. These things are not the worst downsides to encounter, just things that need to be considered.

Overall the show was amazing, one in which she was able to play most of her works because her songs are short and her catalog right now consists of EPs and this album. So of course I wanted more, which I think is was she wants and needs from her audience.

“Dog” has been on repeat since, and is the perfect compliment to my movie of the summer, Pillion.