Fair to Midland holds the platypus-rare distinction of sounding like pretty much no one else in rock music today. Consider a track such as the single "Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes," from the band's debut album, 2007's Fables From a Mayfly. There's a hushed moment of shuddering, medieval violin in the beginning—then the deluge of crashing, down-tuned power chords. It's heavy but not quite metal—and still far from anything that could be tagged "indie." It's creative and expansive, but blessedly way too song-oriented to fit the prog tag.
"I would like to be the band that's too heavy for the indie kids and not heavy enough for the metal kids and somehow manage to appeal to both crowds," frontman Darroh Sudderth says. "We're kind of a hard band to market. We [tour] with acts we don't necessarily belong with, and we try to have a broad spectrum of listeners...But we can't complain. We went into it knowing what we were getting into."
With the band currently back in North Texas and writing for its upcoming sophomore release, this one-off show will serve as a chance for the hometown boys-done-good to debut some of their newer material in a live setting—and a chance for the band to share a bill with some locals.
