Concert review: Oso Closo CD release party at Hailey’s in Denton (September 4)

by Daniel Forrester of My Denton Music

Just a little info on CD Release shows: They are great for bands, a finite celebration of the unveiling of finished art reached through hard work and sacrifice. Oso Closo's new album Today is Beauty's Birthday is a follow-up to 2007's Rest. I will begin by stating that the entire night featured an awesome lineup; Fatty Lumpkin opened, with smooth and funky locals Backside Pick providing direct support for Oso Closo.

Hailey's was packed. There had to be more than 350 people in all, either swaying on the dance floor or going back and forth from the dance floor to the (never-ending) line at the bar. Long blue and white streamers over the floor at the front of the stage made the projector visual effects interesting, and gave me flashbacks of Radiohead's 2007 light rig. Fatty Lumpkin, out of Dallas, opened the show with a fat funk instrumental heavily laced with improvisation. It was a bit hard to tell when they changed songs, but Fatty Lumpkin is great about changing the groove. They tend to favor weaving songs together by playing improvised transitions into structured tunes, and the result is jam packed set. I think they stopped once. After an island-y tune called "Breakdown" (which is on their demo) they went into a New Orleans-infused cover called "Hey Pocky Way," a strutting Meters tune. The next song featured Ben Bohorquez (Tenor Sax) and Nick Wlodarczyk (Trombone) of Backside Pick sitting in on horns. They closed the set with a jam on their original Latin influenced "True Romance," which is also on their demo.

Backside Pick is a hell of a production. Every member in the band is well trained, extremely, on their instrument, and Rocky Ottley's songwriting and arranging leaves plenty of room for funked-out solos. Backside Pick is what you might get if Jamiroquai, Little Feat, Donald Fagan, and Tina Turner all had a little bit too much champagne and had a musically-gifted baby together. Cul sec! Backside Pick was founded in 2006 by front man Rocky Ottley and is comprised of a handful of UNT jazz majors and super freaks.

Since their humble beginnings, they have released two full length albums and toured constantly, hitting the Southeast, West Coast, and even Costa Rica. They have had quite a busy year, and this show marked the end of their summer tour, which focused on the continental Southeast. They were picked by the Dallas Observer as "The Best Soul / R'n'B Band of 2009." On Friday night, the band was incredible, and featured a full 11 piece line-up. The rhythm section was composed of Mike Hodges (drums), Matt Dixon (percussion), Nick Groesch (keys), Justin Stanton (keys), the versatile Cooper Appelt (bass), and the fearless front man Rocky Ottley covered the guitar and lead vocals. Adding very fine touches to the evening were backup singers Melissa Macmillan and Candice Washburn. Adding monstrous horn lines and powerful solos were the horns: Ben Bohorquez on sax, Nick Wlodarczyk on trombone, and Mike Shields on trumpet. They opened the show with the catchy "All Night Long," and went into a set that featured songs from both of their albums, and did a fine job of showcasing the musicians. Other highlights were the raw bass solo in "Sweet Thang," and the smooth and funky "Diamonds and Pearls." It has been proven. Backside is a powerhouse of a dance band. Both Backside Pick and Fatty Lumpkin's next Denton appearance will be on October 3 at Hailey's.

Oso Closo has been a Denton favorite for years. With the release of their second album, Today is Beauty's Birthday, they have demonstrated that they have what it takes to write seamless and powerful but original rock ballads.

The Hailey's show marked the first date of their tour in support of their second full length release. Their tour dates include a full Texas run and a nice Midwest run. They opened the show with the title track Today is Beauty's Birthday, an instrumental overture featuring a 23-piece band. Yes. A 23-piece band fit on the stage at Hailey's. It was pretty amazing to hear and see live. The 23 pieces included five-piece Oso Closo, Shawn Martin (of Snarky Puppy) on keys, a full horn section and a full string section. They then went into "Anywhere You Want To," a powerful ballad. Adrian Hulet's contemplative vocals were full of power and emotion. Since shaving off his beard that undoubtedly reminded fans of ZZ Top, he hasn't lost any soul. As they played through their album, they slowly serenaded the crowd into a buzzed slumber of love — for indie rock.

Chris McQueen is an amazing lead guitarist. When he's not shredding hardcore jazz fusion with Snarky Puppy, he's independently rocking socks off with Oso Closo. Of course, rhythm guitarist Danny Garcia is part of the reason he sounds so good. With bassist Andy Rogers and drummer Ryan Jacobi, Garcia holds down the rhythm section with Hulet on piano. Shawn Martin also provided some nice leads with his Moog. Overall, their performance of the new album didn't make it seem new at all. They looked and sounded like they had been playing this material for years. I guess that is due to good writing. After they played the last song on the album, the soulful "What Do You See," the band performed some of their classic tunes — "The Ruiner" and "Sheila" off of their debut album Rest. They also played some weird song about a burrito. It was great. Apparently I am not the only to think that. They are the winners of Chipotle's national contest that called for bands to send in videos with their original music describing the Chipotle burrito experience. Their winning entry will have their burrito featured on the menu (ex: The Oso Closo Burrito) and $10,000. When I checked out Oso Closo's submission, I was surprised. It was really cool. Chris McQueen's solo has an element in it that reminds me of the guitar work of Steely Dan.

As for what to expect from Oso Closo in the coming weeks and months, they will be touring and promoting their album, and probably eating a Chipotle burrito here and there (they also get free Chipotle for a year). Their next Denton show will be September 17 at the Boiler Room.