It’s was cold and wet, and in Austin and for most of us who live a glutenous life of live music opportunities on a 7 day diet, it might be an easy excuse to not go out on a Thursday night. For the few, and what I would imagine to be committed fans, that did venture to Stubb’s last night, a performance that many of us scour the dirty venues in the dark of night 365 days a year, took place.  Alan Sparhawk has made his reputation crafting music that challenges the listener with a tempo and simple structure that works against what most find listenable. He’s most know for his project Low. What Sparhawk has achieved with his newest formation Retribution Gospel Choir is quite the contradiction.  Rich lyrically and pushing the sonic envelope with his guitar skills, Sparhawk along with Steve Garrington on bass and Eric Pollard on drums delivered what was one of the most impressive live performances that I have seen in years. For an artist that has a catalog that runs so deep, Sparhawk seems fueled and possessed by his lyrics, living every note and every line as passionately as the minute that you would think that each came to him.

And to top it off, after the blistering performance that Sparhawk delivered, he directly went into business mode, selling merch from the side of the stage. You wanna make a living playing music? Take a lesson from this man…..

And catch this band on tour……

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 11:33 am and is filed under recommended, touring news.