Live Review: One Lone Car, Radiant, and Calhoun at Lola’s (December 12)

by Brenna Rushing

A Friday night show at Lola’s always seems like a good time, whether it’s a big time band or a few local acts. This week it was One Lone Car, Radiant and Calhoun taking the stage.

One Lone Car is an indie rock band out of St. Louis, Missouri. They are a rather pretty band, with each member sporting their own rock haircut and fitting outfit. OLC was the opener for the night, and they did a good job of getting the audience excited for the evening. Frontman Aaron Kellim’s voice blends well with the bands catchy tracks. He gets on the keyboard throughout the show, changing up the sound to give a little variety. It’s reminiscent of Something Corporate; take out the happy-go-lucky lyrics and put in a little more roughness and you’ve got One Lone Car.

After what seemed like an eternity (sound checks are getting longer and longer these days), Radiant came on next. The Dallas locals have a strong following in Ft. Worth, making the show even livelier. “Nobody Knows” was played early on, which gave the crowd a familiar song to sing to. Radiant has their loud moments, but for the most part they have a calm and smooth rock sound. They write around the vocals, giving a lot of room for Levi’s voice. This could be bad for some bands, but his voice can stand its own and they correlate the different parts well. Drummer Daniel Hopkins, also a part of the Burning Hotels, has an interesting set of transparent drums. They definitely stole my attention, but I had to pull away from the shiny objects.

“The Way You Make Me Feel” channels Rufus Wainwrights’ voice with Wilco’s chords and style. “Golden Hour” stands out as one of their only ballads of the night, helping show their variety of perspectives and capabilities with a slow track. As the set wore on the songs started to sound similar, making me realize how great Levi was on the piano and what that did for their songs.

The infamous Calhoun stole the stage shortly after. They started as a side project stemming from other bands such as Flickerstick and Valve, but the group rapidly gained a life of its own. Singer Tim Locke seals the group together with his dazzling array of vocals and talent for story telling in their songs. The drums scream attention in “These Are the Dead Days,” which is definitely one of their best songs. Each verse has a meaning and every chorus brings in a different chapter of their range. “Apocalyspe” had a lot of varying beats and chords, causing a dancing reaction in the crowd. Halfway through, Tim had to hush the crowds’ requests for songs telling everyone they would get to them with a big grin.

Their set brought almost the whole bar to the front of the stage giving the room an electric buzz of energy. For their last song (before the demanded encore,) they played a quick remake of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” Not bad for a not-so-classic-rock band, I must say. They closed with a satisfied sigh from the audience, proving even though they don’t tour regularly they can still pull one off whenever necessary.