Waiting for the 8 p.m. slot at Emo's Jr., a man asked me whether I had ever heard Funeral Party before. He wasn't surprised when I said no, but assured me that in a year this band will be big. Halfway through the set he raised his eyebrows at me in a little non-verbal "I told you so." I was almost too engaged in the performance to see it.
After briefly introducing themselves (their name is Funeral Party, they're from LA) the band proceeded to both figuratively and literally tear up the stage. Post-punk, hardcore, or whatever you want to call it, Funeral Party's bass-driven songs and fiery vocals had even the fairly jaded-looking crowd moving. The slightly built Chad Elliot makes a charismatic frontman; he leaned precariously over the stage with the mic stand, and hovering over the crowd before eventually jumping down and walking into it. The finale was mind-blowing; the drummer punched his sticks through the head of his floor tom and pushed it over, then kicked over the bass drum while the Elliot was standing on it, sending him crashing into the rest of the kit.
Apparently, this band has already risen from borrowing instruments to play underground shows in East LA backyards to destroying them at the end of a single show. The crowd was a bit sparse at Emo's Jr. (perhaps
because former tour-mates Yelle had drawn an enormous crowd to Emo's main room), but I hope that Funeral Party's SXSW show brings one step closer to the exposure they deserve, if only as an unmissable live band. Keep your eyes open for their upcoming album (recorded at the Mars Volta Studio in LA) to be released in April, and definitely check them out live, even if you are not normally a fan of the genre.
