Collin Herring and Airline at the Cavern April 5, 2008

I showed up a little late for Collin's set, but have seen him play before. The last show I saw him play was at Opening Bell in the South Side building. During that show he played solo and went through about fifteen songs, new and old. At that show I purchased his old album, The Other Side of Kindness, as well as picking up his not yet released new album called Past Life Crashing. I thoroughly enjoyed both albums, but was quickly drawn more toward the more recent one. So in hearing he was coming back to Dallas (since he now resides in Austin), I decided to check him out again, hoping to know more songs and hopefully see other band members in tow.

As I said before, I showed up late to his set and as I walked up to the Cavern to pay my cover, could hear none other than one of my favorite songs off his old record. I was quickly intrigued to also hear the pedal steel being played. After reading a very in depth article about Collin, I found out he had battled with stints of alcoholism and was curious to see if that changed his music any. Very quickly I noticed the passion he writes intertwined in his songs. Most people can tell when an artist simply writes something they think people will like as opposed to something they feel, and you can hear the feeling in Collin's voice.

I only got to hear a few of his songs. He went back and forth from old and new. His band mate (pretty sure his father) was doing simply harmonization and never once drowned Collin out. At one point after tuning his guitar, Collin said, "it's not in the right key, but oh well". He pulls comedy into his shows usually bantering himself more than anything. Both musicians had a clear view of their instruments and played them well. As his set came to an end, I felt myself wishing I had made it earlier to see the whole thing, but know soon enough he should make his way back to Dallas, and I will make plans to get there to have the whole Collin experience.

After Collin played, Airline set up. There are things that I tend to notice when at shows, that most people do not. This one being the loudness of the background music while they were having their sound check. I couldn't imagine even hearing through their monitors to even know if it sounded good or not. I have seen Airline play a few times and each time I am even more impressed by the different stuff they bring to the stage. I am used to seeing lead singer and bassist, Robbie, with a collared shirt and tie, but this night he simply wore a polo.

At this show particular I found it hard to switch from one artist to the next, as opposed to their different styles. Collin played more quietly, obviously since he didn't have a drummer, and Airline brought their usual flare with their keyboard player and drummer who is not afraid to play hard. One thing I was not so happy about was the keyboard player's cockiness. He called out Collin in his mic about how he had called the group Airliner. Which to me seemed tactless. But once I realized that I should not listen to a word he says, the show was pretty good. Robbie's voice was crisp, as always, and they brought some new songs to the show that I had not heard yet. They truly looked like they were having fun on stage, which is nice for the audience to see, like Robbie playing with the keyboard player's mic, and the guitar player putting his back to Robbie's. Their sound is more rock, but some songs were softer. I really enjoyed their new song "She's Wasted". And like with Collin, I was surprised to see the set end, especially since they do a great cover of the Cold War Kids song, "Hang Me Out to Dry", which they didn't play. But the night as a whole was full of talent, minus the group of girls who decided to stand in front of our table.

Check out these two bands:
Collin Herring: http://www.myspace.com/collinherringmusic
Airline: http://www.myspace.com/airlinemusic