Live Music Review: Part Time with Gary Wilson at Barracuda
Part Time rolled back into Austin to play Barracuda last Friday, this time joining forces with the legendary experimental music prodigy Gary Wilson. The ambitious tour started in Tucson, Arizona, passed through central Texas before heading out to the east coast and circling back to Denver to complete their summer run.
Gary Wilson along with his backing band “The Blind Dates”, set mood for the evening with a performance that was was nothing less than a theatrical masterpiece. The avant-garde artist threw himself on the floor at one point, playing around with half body mannequins all while covering himself in a plastic sheet. Witnessing his performance makes you understand why Wilson has garnered a cult following. The spectacular, art-rock performance was something that will certainly be hard to forget.
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By the time L.A.-based (and El Paso grown) act Part Time took the stage the crowd was fired up, religiously engaged. They kept chanting for more from the new wave / synth-pop act by the end of the show if that gives you any indication of how pumped the audience members were. The well rounded set began with an powerful rendition of My Jayme featured on the Gap Dream / Part Time – Split which led to hit after hit. For those who aren’t aware, the long-running band rarely plays their older, more popular tracks. For hardcore Part Time fans, Friday’s setlist was a gift.
When the band reached the middle of the performance, a technical issue lead to a second take of the track, “Before You Fall Apart”. The hiccup lead to memorable moment as George Montelongo (Nalgadas band) jumped on stage and quickly repaired the faulty audio connection. Although the first rendition had the audience singing along, band member David Loca was not satisfied with the truncated song and wanted to play it over because he loves playing the guitar solo. The second run through riled up the crowd who sang along even louder than the first time.
The show wrapped up with a tougher rendition of their hit “Living In Pretend (My Girl Imagination)” off of the 2011 release “What would you Say.'” Over the years the bands sound has evolved leading to a loyal following. Long live synth-pop! Check out the Instagram video of “Before You Fall Apart”.
All images by Mike Cosmic and Troy Alvarado.
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