Not Your Typical Local Band

Last night, I went out with one of my *very few* girlfriends, Amy (webmistress of Anticipate.org) to see an Austin-based musical group called Schrodinger's Cat at a club called The Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas. First of all... when I think of a local band... I always imagine a garage type band... one lead singer, a guy on drums, a guy on bass guitar, and another on guitar... and together they sing grungy, alternative, geekish type music that ends up sounding like every other local band. But I read a bit about Schrodinger's Cat before I went so I wouldn't be totally lost, and found out they were an A Capella group, meaning they sing generally without any instruments. So... what I expected was to see some choir boys singing showtunes and all that goody goody stuff. :P



The reason I initially went to see them specifically out of all the other local bands, is because I went to junior high and a little bit of high school with one of the guys in the group, Jackson. His twin brother (whom I dated for a whole week in Jr. High) used to be in the group, too, but quit to go back to school and finish his degree. Both of them were involved in orchestra with me, choir (I think), and kept themselves pretty busy with other sorts of school and non-school related activities. They moved away to San Antonio around our sophomore year... and I never expected to hear anything else of them. So needless to say, when I heard they became part of some musical band, I was pretty amazed, but in a way not too shocked. I had to see just how good they were. I got a chance to talk to Jackson before the show started, and he autographed an old polaroid I had of him, his brother, me, and some friends. Gawd, that was a long time ago (the early 90's).

Well to make a long story short... they are AWESOME! Their main talent stems from being able to reproduce most instrumental sounds with their mouths, hands, and feet. Not a single instrument, except for using the harmonica for a millisecond to set the musical key. Yes... it's similar to the Bobby McFerrin: Don't Worry Be Happy type thing... but with a twist. More guys, even funkier music, and a *ton* of energy. They do lots of covers, but have some of their own original stuff, too. It looks like really tiring work especially when you start seeing big sweaty handprints on their shirts where they've been slapping all night. The concert started at 9:30 and ended around 12:15am... we got back to Fort Worth after about an hour drive (Dallas city streets are a confusing mess) and Amy dropped me off at home -- needless to say, she didn't get much sleep last night and had to go to work the next morning *sowwy Amy* :P. Anyway... if they ever stop by your town, I totally recommend you check them out. If you want, you should listen to their 2001 version of Prince's "When Doves Cry"... but I'd have to say it's much more exciting seeing them live. :) Oh, and next year you might be able to catch them on TV in a Kit Kat commercial, too! Schrodinger's Cat is coming back to Dallas @ Gypsy Tea Room on Aug. 29th, and this time I'm going to drag Chris there. :)