Band: Ola Podrida
Venue: Andy's Bar & Grill
Time: 11:30 pm
The Flaming Lips weren't the only band making its Denton debut at this year's NX35. Austin's Ola Podrida, led by Dallas native David Wingo, took this opportunity to show the somewhat distracted and talkative audience what they have been missing out on.
While Wingo and the crew seemed to battle some technical issues with the sound at Andy's, Wingo's voice was every bit as warm as his wooly beard appeared to be. The brand of country-tinged folk-rock that was on display was a bit more adventurous than many other current purveyors of the similar middle road of music that isn't quite country, yet isn't quite balls-to-the-wall rock, either.
The slight genre confusion was heightened a tad when Wingo busted out his banjo and strummed it more as one would strum a rhythm guitar instead of picking on the instrument in a more traditional way. Post-Folk? Twang-Core? Who knows what to technically term it; either way, Ola Podrida's material translated well from record to the stage.
Drawing almost exclusively from the band's latest album, Belly of the Lion, the eight-song set flowed quite nicely. "Your Father's Basement" possessed more punch than the studio version, and the show ended with an absolutely satisfying flourish as a propulsive version of "Cindy" completed the introduction of Ola Podrida to Denton.
