Live music review: The Black Angels rocked the new Stable Hall in San Antonio last week
The Black Angels aren’t just a band. They’ve carved themselves out to be much more than just your average independent rock act. From being producers of Levitation Festival in Austin, each having their own side projects, and even producing records from up-and-coming bands, the psychedelic rock act’s career has become a coveted phenomenon whose following has expanded beyond the music itself. After announcing the lineup for Levitation 2024, a stint in Europe and the rest of the United States this Fall, The Black Angels headed to San Antonio to give their Central Texas fans a blueprint of what will come in their 20th year. The Black Angels have stayed plugged into the depths and hardliners of the indie scene, and their relevance and expertise in the underground music sphere have been an inspiring force due to their many years in the business. The Black Angels delivered a smoking set at Stable Hall on Friday, June 28 in San Antonio for their Texas fans, which saw Austin and local SATX supporters alike flocking to the new(ish) Stable Hall venue to witness a masterclass in Texas Psychedelia.
Daiistar stepped onstage to deliver the opening set at Stable Hall, a venue located in the city’s revamped Pearl District. Known for hosting acts in the vein of country and Americana, a night of psychedelia was due for the venue, putting the house sound system to the test for the walls of shoegaze madness and buzzing amps both acts pursue each live performance. Daiistar, fresh off a 40-show run in Europe, was in conditioned, tour form to make their homecoming show a memorable endeavor. “Star Starter,” which also starts off the Austin outfit’s debut Good Time, served as the kickoff to the set, showing frontman Alex Capistran being in electrifying form with his signature red bomber jacket helping shape the five-piece band’s psych gaze.
Daiistar is something of a local Austin supergroup, composed of a rhythm section of Annabelle Chairlegs members Nick Cornetti and Derek Strahan, while also recruiting Farmer’s Wife drummer Jaelyn Valero on percussion. Bassist Misti Hamrick took double duty on the Friday evening performance, also taking over bass/guitar/synth duties for The Black Angels during the headlining set.
The Black Angels took the stage next, appearing with Hamrick taking bass duties as the band opened with Death Song track, fan-favorite “Currency.” In light of recent world events, the tune has been a mainstay on the psych aficionados’ setlists, acknowledging their auras of paranoia about the progress of world preservation among both economic crises and the daily inhibition of the human outcome. Wilderness Of Mirrors cut “Make It Known” followed, showcasing the tribal sensibilities of drummer Stephanie Bailey, who has been an original member since the group’s formation in 2004. A few more songs passed, such as “Grab As Much As You Can” and “Deer-Ree-Shee,” off the breakout release Directions To See A Ghost. When the sophomore album cut concluded, the curtain onstage closed, creating a speck of confusion and utmost anticipation in the crowd.
When the Angels reappeared, a “Breakdown Set” commenced, showing members of The Black Angels ensemble with acoustic guitars and performing altered versions of songs like “Without A Trace,” “El Jardin,” and “Manipulation.” All of which showed the five-piece band sitting down on stools while frontman Alex Maas played the mellotron to accompany the stripped-back arrangements of tunes that had only before been heard as crushing fuzz fests. Guitarists Christian Bland and Jake Garcia still interlock like only a conditioned guitar duo can, making way for the manic howl from Maas that conveys an apocalyptic message of telling its audience to take action and heed each word that slashes through its reverberated layering.
When the Austin natives stowed away their acoustic guitars, the full-throttled mayhem continued with Passover lead single “Young Men Dead.” When the instrumentalists crashed in after the familiar ominous guitar intro, a restless crowd member decided it was time to open up the pit, an activity relatively unfamiliar for The Black Angels’ normally chill spectators. The classics continued with “The Sniper At The Gates Of Heaven,” making an ideal run of older cuts for the diehards in attendance. “Black Grease” came out of the cannon swinging, with Bland starting the heavy cut with sludgy enthusiasm. The pit continued until the main set concluded in a cacophony of molten instrumental madness, showing a cathartic homage to all the 60s rock n roll overlords they have held dear since their first forays into performing music.
When The Black Angels returned to the stage, yet another Directions cut appeared in the form of “Mission District.” A slow burner, the song started out with Bailey producing a hypnotic four-on-the-floor drumbeat, making for haunting vocals from Maas and droning bass from Hamrick as Garcia and Bland reentered with searing guitar lines that built the song into a smoldering catharsis. “Empires Falling” served as a fitting ending to the gig, a testament to the deteriorating state of world leadership and global peace alike. The Black Angels deliver cautionary tales, and it’s up to the world at large to be receptive to the warnings and dangers at hand. When the Austin quintet left the stage for the last time, there were vibes of a mission statement reasserted. Each return to the stage will leave fans wanting more.
The Black Angels head to Europe this Fall before embarking on a Fall U.S. tour leading up to Levitation Festival 2024 in Austin, where they will play the festival’s opening night at Red River Cultural District venue Stubb’s. Tickets can be found here.
Grab tickets for the Fall edition of Levitation Festival 2024 here: https://levitation.fm/
LISTEN TO THE BLACK ANGELS:
All photos by Case Cockrell
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