By Stefny! at the Disco
Due to unfortunate weather in Houston the night before, Austin’s Historic Scoot Inn ended up being the first show of Real Estate‘s Infinite Jangle Tour on Friday night. And what a show it was!
While Houston dealt with high wind, rains, and possible tornadoes, Austin had perfect weather.
The Ridgewood, NJ natives were supported by opening band Water From Your Eyes who played an electrifying 9-song set, ending with a rendition of their song “Quotations” that the master recording cannot do justice.
Right about 9:00pm, Real Estate appeared, opening the set with the track that also opens their latest album Daniel, “Somebody New.” The band did a great job of composing a setlist that spread their entire discography, including a song they said was “about as old as the first time we played here” in 2008. One band member (I believe keyboardist Matt Kallman) remarked that there may be kids in attendance younger than that. Singer/guitarist Martin Courtney took great offense to this comment.
There were some technical difficulties throughout their set, none of which were the fault of the band, but they handled them in stride. The stage lights went completely dark two or three separate times, leaving the band in a visual void. I could see Scoot Inn staff running around by the stage trying to solve the problem(s) each time.
In addition to the lighting issue, as is wont to happen in an outdoor show, the band were intimately visited by bugs. They said they were beetles (and made a LOT of Beatles jokes) but I can neither confirm nor deny as I did not share this affliction. But they did at least get into bass player Alex Bleeker’s shirt, Matt’s keyboard, and supposedly also Martin’s pants. 👀
Close to the middle of their 20-song set (17 songs and 3 encores), they played the tune that really transformed me from a casual Real Estate enjoyer to a fan: “Water Underground.” Eagle-eyed KOOP readers may remember my review of the video from back in December, but it was even better live. And I don’t know what kind of subliminal messaging they embedded in that song, but it’s been in my head for 5 straight months now. Sure, other songs come in every once in a while, but it always reverts back to “WU.”
The band ended with a blistering performance of their 2011 track “All The Same” which clocks in at 7:21 on the record, but from my perception lasted at least like 25 minutes (obvious exaggeration there, but it was super long).
Overall, this show was an excellent night of jangly indie tunes and laughs from Real Estate (seriously, they were so funny) and a solid and fitting opening set from Water From Your Eyes. Next time either roll through town, you know where to find me.
Full setlist:
