Days before their show at the historic Cactus Theater, Zachary Sorrels and I had the pleasure of interviewing the Austin-based folk rock band Briscoe, comprised of Phillip Upton and Truett Heintzelman. We talked to them about the music community in Austin, what they’ve learned about live performances, and of course, Austin’s famous BBQ.
My excitement for the show grew, and by the time I set foot in the theater, I could hardly wait for the show to start. Not only was this my first concert to cover for KTXT, but it was also my first time in the Cactus Theater. The historic venue has been around since 1938 and has hosted acts such as Ray Wiley Hubbard, Don McLean, and Hayes Carll. On February 16th, Briscoe became the next band to grace the Cactus stage.
With no opener, Briscoe walked out on stage and opened with their song “When The Desert” off their debut album “West Of It All.” The song is a great track to open with – plenty of energy to get the crowd fired up for the show and set the tone for the evening. They continued on with a few more of their own songs, some slower, some more upbeat. The show wasn’t lacking energy by any means – the crowd was hollerin’ throughout their songs and was completely enthralled by the show – but as soon as they started their cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” the energy picked up tenfold. It should be noted that the crowd at this show was comprised of the widest age range I’ve seen at a show in Lubbock. Young kids were there with their parents, and people up into their 60s were also enjoying the show. Back to the song, though. This was a great cover, not only because it’s a great song, but because they made it their own. Phillip and Truett’s light, folksy voices differ from Cash’s gravely blues voice, but the song still worked perfectly, seemingly because of those very differences.
A few songs later and they did something that I’ve never seen a band do, but after this I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing it again. They took a brief intermission. In that time, I was able to head up to their merch stand, meet with some friends who were also at the show, and even snag a pretty cool hat. I found my seat again and was ready for the second half of the show. Briscoe came back out, this time with just Phillip and Truett, no backing band. They took the opportunity to play some of their slower, more intimate songs before bringing the rest of the band out and starting back up with their more upbeat tunes.
What happened next still blows me away. As they started to play their cover of The Beatles’ “Get Back,” one person rose to their feet, then a whole row, and before I knew it, almost everybody in the Cactus Theater was on their feet and singing along. It’s pretty rare for an act to get a seated venue on their feet, and it was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had at an intimate show like this. You could tell that Briscoe began to feed off the crowd’s energy, and they gave that energy right back to us, a marker of truly great performers. The crowed stayed standing for the rest of the show.
They closed out the show with a few sax-heavy songs, and came out for a few final songs as their encore. Phillip and Truett stuck around to converse with the crowd after the show, and I had the pleasure of introducing myself and putting a face to the name after our interview days before. Lubbock was the first stop on their tour, and they’ve since brought their show to Arizona and California, and will soon be hitting up more of the country in the coming months, bringing their unique folk-rock sound to lucky crowds who will no doubt have as much fun as I did at this show.
I’d like to give a special thanks to everyone at the Cactus Theater for hosting this show and always being great supporters of KTXT, and of course, to Briscoe for filling our Friday night with some good ole’ fashioned live music.
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