Hospitality and Eleanor Friedberger at Frank

With all of the festival hub-bub this weekend it's easy to overlook some of the other quality events going on in Austin. Especially when said events take place in a gourmet hot dog restaurant in the warehouse district. Well Bloggy-faithful, I'm here to point you in the right direction, which isn't to say those festivals are the wrong direction, this is just another choice for you. Hospitality have released an indie-pop confection of a record that have been on repeat at Bloggy-HQ throughout most of the year. I had the chance to see them during SXSW this year and they truly delivered. Their songs have great melodies and you'll find yourself humming them for days after listening. In a live setting they sound even better than on the record. The vocals are on point and the band is a cohesive, well-rehearsed unit. As far as the venue is concerned, Frank actually has great sound, especially when you consider it's a restaurant. However, it is a cramped little space and you will have to wade through the crowd and squeeze by the stage if you need to use the bathroom so, don't drink too much. Tickets are quite reasonable at around $12 and look on the bright-side, you won't have to deal with 6th St. on a Saturday night.


Hospitality - Friends of Friends video via YouTube


The ticket site lists Eleanor Friedberger as the headliner tomorrow night, which shouldn't surprise me since she has been around a lot longer and she played after Hospitality at the Merge Records showcase during SXSW. Her set is a lot quieter and more intimate than what you will hear from Hospitality. She performs solo, just herself and a guitar. Here lyrics are intimate, clever, coy and occasionally bitter and biting. During her SXSW set she informed the audience that she was going to play quietly so that they would be quiet. I would expect she'll try the same thing at Frank tomorrow night and I hope that it works. As I mentioned, Frank is an intimate performance space and when someone is talking it is very disruptive to the performer and the audience. The performer can plainly see the audience so I wouldn't be too surprised if Friedberger called people out.


Eleanor Friedberger - I Won't Fall Apart on You Tonight video via YouTube