Wild Houston Music Festival Trumps Game of Thrones For Devoted Toadies and Beer Fans

For the last three years, Karbach has put on an epic music fest in the name — and by the name — of love. Thousands upon thousands of Houston music fans have descended on the beloved brewery for Love Street Music Fest.

Is there a better combination than live music and cold beer?

And Sunday’s festival was no exception. The promise of more than a dozen brews on tap — everything from the beloved Love Street to the seasonal Cherry Limemade Radler —and two performance stages showcasing up-and-comers and veterans alike was an irresistible siren call that would have even Odysseus climbing out of his binds.

It even drowned out the three words that have been on everyone’s lips all week: Game. Of. Thrones.

That’s right. Hundreds and hundreds of music lovers rocked out to Walk the Moon, shutting up and dancing even as the Game of Thrones series finale began.

They saw your pop culture zeitgeist, and they raised you guitar solos and serious pipes and showmanship.

Sure, the crowd had thinned out some by the time the hipster headliner took the stage by storm around 8 pm. The throngs were probably the strongest during the electric performance by Texas’ very own Toadies, an act on the tippy top of Karbach’s wish list.

Stellar performances from Walk the Moon, Toadies, Bishop Briggs, lovelytheband, VODI, slenderbodies, Wrestlers and Texican proved worthy of the love.

Fans ventured out to Love Street after last year’s deluge of a debacle, when the serious lineup — with everyone from Everclear to Bleachers to Cold War Kids — was washed away by a sudden Bayou City-style monsoon. This year, the weather wasn’t an issue.

For seasoned Texans, anyway. People were dressed for the summer sun, even though it became clear by 3-ish that not everyone had bothered with sunscreen.

But when else can Houstonians take fashion cues from Coachella?

Think tank tops, crop tops, Hawaiian shirts and straight-up one-piece swimsuits — which, truthfully, are not shirts, not even if you wear them beneath high-waisted shorts.

There were maxi dresses and mini dresses, jumpsuits and rompers. Sneakers, flip flops, even heels, and in one case, a woman wore a hot pink sheath with one silver, heeled sandal and one orthopedic boot, which absolutely was not what the doctor had ordered.

And then, the accessories, everything from sequined drawstring backpacks to clear plastic fanny packs worn with crop tops, therefore strapped snugly across bare skin. Imagine the sunburns.

Karbach was committed to festivalgoers’ comfort as much as their outfits. Mid-afternoon, volunteers started passing out the ultimate music fest memento: straw cowboy hats emblazoned with the Love Street logo.

Within 20 minutes, you could have mistaken the expansive festival set up as an open-air honky tonk, country through and through. People already sporting sunhats and baseball caps just couldn’t turn the offer down, and slung the freebies around their necks.

lovelytheband

Indie pop powerhouse lovelytheband kicked things off on Stage A, a cluster of Los Angeles natives with excruciatingly styled hair and positive vibes, speaking out about matters near and dear to them.

The vocalist sauntered out in sunglasses and an outfit that rivaled even the most boho-chic getups in the audience: a white wife-beater topped off with medium-wash overalls with one strap undone.

They dove right into their set, a welcome mixture of tongue-in-cheek tunes like “make you feel pretty,” all about a high-strung paramour, and therapeutic turns like “broken,” the Top 40 favorite that put them on the map.

Lowercase letters, big impact.

“Love Street — how we doin’?” vocalist Mitchy Collins called out to the gathered and growing crowd around 2 pm.

He leaned into the synth-heavy start of “i like the way.” It’s one of those vulnerable ones where the guy gets the girl because they’re both a little messed up. “Your crazy matches mine,” he sang, bouncing on his heels and gripping the mic.

Then, a jam about falling in love in the desert, plus a rendition of “change your mind,” the relative newcomers’ collab with DJ Dillon Francis.

Collins gave a grateful shout-out to the crew. Their flight out of Pensacola to Dallas was canceled on Saturday, so they’d seized the day, rented two mini-vans and driven over eight hours to make it to the gig on time.

Fans were feeling lovelythebands’ efforts from their debut album, but when it was time for a surprise cover, no one was disappointed. Collins belted out the iconic “Mr. Brightside,” with everyone getting on their feet, just like he asked.

The band used their platform for good several times over, using the setup “Maybe, I’m afraid” to raise awareness of political issues.

“We are in full support of LGBTQ rights. We are in full support of women’s rights. We just played in Alabama, where there’s really weird shit going on,” Collins said. “Men should never be making rules about women’s bodies.”

It all culminated in their ninth and final song, “broken.” The crowd swayed as the song picked up, before Collins even started singing. He let the audience know that if they felt broken or lonely themselves, asking for help isn’t weak. It’s the most courageous thing you could do.

The crowd cheered wildly before getting swept up into “i like that you’re broken, broken like me, maybe that makes me a fool.”

As good as lovelytheband was, they were just the appetizer when it came to what was headed to Stage A next. A mass of people jostled for position before the mega stage a little under two hours later.

Toadies

It was time for Toadies, the legendary Fort Worth rock outfit responsible for grunge anthem “Possum Kingdom.” A wider range of ages turned out to support the rockers, who were a little gray around the edges themselves, all decked out in black and white graphic tees.

The Toadies kicked things off with “Backslider,” vocalist Vaden Todd Lewis starting out in low intonations before escalating into full-blown, throat-scratching screaming.

The crowd was eating it up. The rock-grunge heroes hollered out their songs, a real treat for certain Millennials whose only exposure to that genre was afternoons playing Guitar Hero.

The chaotic energy continued with “Little Sin,” just enough biblical material to make you understand why mothers used to say rock music was the work of the devil. “Swinging your hips,” Lewis sang out, as concertgoers did just that.

The headbanging started early on in the 20-song set, but it was at full tilt by the fourth song, “I Came from the Water.”

Lewis kept the intensity going, pausing after “I come from” for the crowd to shout back “the water!” Then, it was all rapid fire “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahs” ringing out.

The hardcore singer addressed the crowd directly without so much of a hello or welcome as a “If you brought your ass with you, now’s the time to shake it,” as he launched into “Rattler’s Revival.”

As much as the crowd felt the music slamming from all sides, the Toadies kept their cool, screaming and howling and strumming and shredding, completely self-contained.

The crowd fully freaked out for “Possum Kingdom,” screaming along without actually trying to hit the notes, just aiming to capture the mood.

“That song opened a lot of doors for us. That’s pretty cool,” Lewis laughed. “And you all stuck with us. I get to show up for work and see you guys and drink beer. It’s f***** fantastic.”

A few songs later — their final one, in fact — it was the Toadies’ turn for an impressive cover. You could say they went in a different direction, with the veteran rockers choosing Screamin’ Jay Hawkins chilling “I Put A Spell On You.”

Lewis took his guitar off and stalked the stage, his almost-demonic voice slithering over “because you’re mine.” It was indeed enchanting, and a total foil to the Nina Simon’s popularized version.

Toadies rocked it for over an hour, but the set still felt too short. After they wrapped up the mesmerizing song, it was time to take a bow, and, in the guitarist’s case, even blow an out-of-place kiss to the crowd. It wasn’t the hardcore send-off anyone expected, but it somehow worked.

Bishop Briggs

Over an hour later, Bishop Briggs kept up that intensity, the firebrand owning the stage with her own take. For those of you who haven’t seen the British revivalist, who blends her indie rock with soul and hiphop in equal measure, she’s not what you’d expect.

The pint-sized owner of that booming voice looks for all the world like Carly Rae Jepsen in the midst of a teenage rebellion. With an oversized hoodie pushed up at the sleeves, bike shorts, tube socks and sneaks, the singer ran the stage, taking pauses to let out thank yous in a surprising soft-spoken whisper, running her hand over her close-cropped head.

Briggs’ special brand of rock-gospel, it was time for “Hallowed Ground,” tinged with spirituality and performed with what appeared to be her signature — she sprinted back and forth from one side of the stage to another, stopping only to set her feet squarely in the middle.

Then, she’d run in place, doing high knees that would even make a professional athlete raise an eyebrow. It was like the music was building up inside her, and the only way to get it out was this makeshift Rocky training montage.

For songs like the anthemic “White Flag,” Bishop Briggs would suddenly still and stare straight ahead into the far distance, as though she couldn’t even see the crowd. But even when she wasn’t getting those steps in, she’d end each song breathless from her voice soaring up and down.

After the exertion from “Hi-Lo (Hollow)” she even gasped. Still, her show was far from over. Bishop Briggs wanted to transition to the part of her set that showed her off as, when you stripped it all down, just a girl.

Her songs went from sweeping, philosophical lyrics to “My baby’s got a f****** up head, doesn’t matter ’cause he’s so damn good in bed,” in “Baby.”

Next, a song she hasn’t dubbed yet with a different theme entirely. “If you come up with a title, tweet me. I wrote this song about a guy I regret hooking up with. When I play this I hope it won’t upset me, but I know it will,” she laughed.

The takeaway? “I wish I didn’t get your name tattooed on my hear.”

We’d all been waiting for her most well-known and addictive” “Rock Me Like a River.” It had the whole crowd singing along with the fervor of a congregation.

Walk The Moon 

The last band of the night, the one who dared to step onto stage at the same time the fates of so many Starks were being decided on HBO, had an unexpected entrance.

Fog machines had been running the 20 minutes leading up to the show — rivaled only by the clouds of sweet-smelling vapor from the many Juuls in the crowd — and with good reason. It set the scene for the light show that was to come.

Beams of stark white light shone out, even though the sun still had time before it slipped down, ending the oppressive heat. Then, sound filled the speaker for a dramatic entrance. Walk The Moon couldn’t have picked a better intro. It might not translate well to the written word, but the crowd recognized it instantly, screaming their best approximation of the African chant.

“Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba, sithi uhm ingonvama!” Or, the opening lines to The Lion King’s “Circle of Life.”

The band members emerged from the blinding lights, lead singer Nicholas Petricca making the final appearance, with some striking, striped face paint evocative of the baboon Rafiki.

But it wasn’t exactly foreshadowing  — the evening was going to be a preview of one of the more anticipated movie of 2019. It was just the start.

Over the course of the set, Walk The Moon played nearly 20 of their top hits, from bops like “Shut Up and Dance With Me” to high-energy songs like “Timebomb.” Each and every one had the crowd dancing, and for the most part, filming. And then there was the curious cover, plus an electrifying guitar solo that veered into Led Zeppelin territory.

“Lisa Baby” kicked it off, these dancing kings showing off their considerable moves as they cried out “my baby is a dancing queen.”

The band was made up of three guitarists — one who doubled as keyboardist when the song called for it — a drummer and Petricca doubling as lead singer and synth keyboardist. He threw his whole body into it as his hands glided over the keys. He never stopped dancing, and it looked like he never had both feet on the stage at once at any given time.

Walk The Moon played off each other’s chemistry as they leapt into “Different Colors,” the crowd shouting out “This is why!” They vibed with the music lovers from start to finish.

The strongest reaction yet was to “One Foot,” a ballad of determination and, well, baby steps. The crowd joined Pitrecca leaping up and down as high as they could, feet not so much one in front of the other but completely off the ground, over and over again. The singer would point one, his pointer finger directly up for “one foot.” It was dramatic, backlit against the light filtered through the fog.

What followed caught everyone off guard. Synth eased into the night on the darkened stage, and Pitrecca called out softly. “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” was the choice, the gentle, smooth Talking Heads melody. It was just one of a night of stunning covers, but there was something about the calm that settled over the audience.

Some of the people actually sang along, drifting. Others swayed, but it was clear they had no clue what Walk The Moon was playing.

“Forever I wish we had written that song,” Pitrecca explained after the song ended for those who were too naive to recognize “Naive Melody.” He truly did the song justice, and it was an amazing set piece, even if people didn’t quite know what it was.

Two songs later, and the crowd knew exactly what they were in for. The opening chords to “Shut Up and Dance With Me” had everyone jamming out, bobbing heads and shimmying shoulders. Every time he shouted out “Shut up!” he’d fist pump. Pitrecca raced from each side of the stage as if thrown around by an unseen force.

Later, it was Walk The Moon’s turn to discuss women’s control over their own bodies. “This is a song about how sexy consent it!” the guitarist cried out before the sultry “Jenny.” The lyrics in question? “I said I’m not gonna take it from you, I’ll let you give it to me.”

Pitrecca took the change to thank Karbach, even if he struggled with pronunciation. Maybe he’d had one too many Love Streets or Hopadillos. “We want to thank Karbach! Kar-beck? Kar-bach, like the composer? Anyway, I want to say thank you!” he toasted.

Walk The Moon flew through “Kamikaze” and the ever-popular “Tightrope.” They played every song with such energy it felt like it could be the finale, keeping people guessing. But that honor went to “Headphones.”

Or so we thought. Walk The Moon left the stage long enough for disjointed chants of “One more song!” and “Encore!” to pick up. Then, they returned for not just “Portugal,” but the song that started it all — “Anna Sun.”

It was truly exhilarating, watching the longtime fans and their treasured band take it full circle.

But then, that’s just another day at Love Street.