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If Bigelf was a sex act, lead singer and keyboardist Damon Fox says they would be 69, “you’re giving and receiving, it’s a good flow of pleasure.” On Friday the band was metaphorically in the alley bent over, giving it away like a boozed up skank. Fox jokes that the psychedlic rock group’s “gigantic surge of sexy wattage” was responsible for blowing the power – literally. As the band was mid-song, toward the end of their set, the power at the famously friendly Rusty Spur went out. It’s not the first time Bigelf has sucked a venue dry – Fox says they’ve blown the power out at the Viper Room, a venue in Sweden and about a dozen other times. It’s no surprise when you consider the amps needed to power a Vintage Hammond C3, a vintage melatron, a mini-moog, a Groupamster Echoplex and several other analog oddities.

Anyone close enough to feel the sound waves thrown from Bigelf’s stage can’t help but notice a delicately placed Yoda figure perched on top of the keys. The Yoda, “harnesses the evil forces,” says Fox who makes sure to keep the sci-fi zen master close at hand. Tonight, the band was almost without the Force. “We were leaving tonight to park the van and I didn’t have him… so I went back to open the trailer and get him out because I realized that tonight was going to be one of those specifically chaotic, heinous nights and I needed Yoda. Do or do not, there is no try.”

Fox and company are masters of their craft and paid some respect to Austin legend Rocky Erikson, name-checking the psych pioneer at the beginning of their set. Their epic brand of throwback rock conjures up the forcefulness of Sabbath with the cosmic possibilities of a Pink Floyd album. Once unleashed, the band plows through riff-heavy numbers that satisfied the South-by suits and superfans. When the power cut, Fox and beat up bassist Duffy Snowhill launched into the first bars of “War Pigs” and got some pumped up fan to sing Ozzy’s opening lines. Once the lights and power came back up to full capacity, Bigelf ripped into an extended rampage of sound with Fox playing the moog and Hammond simultaneously on either side of him, swaying back and like Samson trying to bring the temple down. While the Rusty Spur still stands, its safe to say those in attendance exited a changed people.

Words by Jacob Cottingham, photos by Mary Sledd

 

4.75 (4 votes)

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