Last week we got wind via Twitter that Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights were going to be putting on a free show at Vickery Park.  I had never been to a live show at Vickery, much less was I even aware that Vickery ever put on live music, and being  just down the street from my place, I was intrigued enough to roll up there even on my lonesome.  I had heard some good buzz about these guys and was interested to check them out.  Find all of my poor (due to a very dark stage) shots of the show here; find the full review plus sample MP3 after the jump. 

As I mentioned, I had never been to a live music show at Vickery Park and could not, for the life of me, imagine what to expect, as I had been there many times to just hang out, but had never seen a stage or setup at all.  It turns out they removed all the tables and chairs (and booths!) from the main room and set the stage up along the angled back wall.  They left a couple of tables in the main area along the glass windows, which turned out to be a bit of a hangup – I can understand if they simply had nowhere to put these tables, but they do eat up quite a bit of the useable crowd space, and for the opener, nobody dared stand in front of those tables for fear of blocking the individuals seated at the tables’ view.  Thankfully the owner, Matt, finally ushered the standing crowd in front of those tables in time for the headliner.  Also, for being so new to the live music game (hosted first gig in February, I believe), the sound was excellent.  I could have stood the mix to be a little more lead vocal heavy, but everything sounded pretty good.  Matt also informed me via e-mail that although there aren’t regular plans to bring bands in, that will definitely not be the last time, so keep an eye and ear out (plus JT&NL alluded that they would be back soon)!  Now, on to the music.

The first band on the bill was We Are Villians out of Denton.  They seemed like a very earnest band – really giving things a good effort.  They’re halfway scream rock, halfway smoky rock blues; when they trended towards the blues rock elements, I tended to like them a lot more than their more hardcore stuff as it had a much more complete sound.  I think if they work on toning up the vocals a little towards more singing and less getting by with somewhat unfocused screaming, I think these guys could be onto something.  Next up was Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights.

I have to say I really enjoyed their set.  They have a very Black Crowes-y sound to them – soulful vocals over classic rock riffs and organs.  Plenty of classic rock type elements, but more standardized than, say, Tapes ‘N Tapes, with plenty of bluesy parts sandwiched in as well.  Their original stuff did sound a bit standard to me and would like to see a little more creativity or risk taking in the songwriting, as it were.  As they stand now, pretty much their entire set will maybe remind you of….some…..rock band.  Their music, approach, and arrangements have a distinct familiarity, almost like they are emulating the type of rock from, say, Let It Bleed.  It’s good stuff, I just want the songs to go in a new direction more often than it seems to at this point.

They played a good deal of original songs, but threw in two notable covers.  First (which they initially said was their “only cover”) was a fantastic version of Honky Tonk Woman.  Their backing vocalist – the woman – is absolutely wonderful.  She was belting out this song and I would have loved to see the band use her in a mor prominent role in the future, if possible.  She just sounds great.  Later in the show, they broke out a cover of Hendrix’s Cross Town Traffic, which was definitely carried by more excellent vocal performances.  So, one cover?  Or two covers?  Eh, hard to keep track these days, Mr. Tyler.

Bottom line is the band had the (pretty young) crowd moving and singing along with every song the whole show.  Smallish stage seemed a little cramped for such a well-populated act, but that didn’t slow the band down and definitely didn’t hurt their energy.  Plus, with the audience being so close to the band, nobody could help but party.  I look forward to hearing more from these guys and seeing more at Vickery Park.  Nice job all around!

JT and the Northern Lights – Time for Love – From