Portland’s Dandy Warhols performed free acoustic show at Good Records in Dallas

by Teresa Gubbins

Portland, Ore. indie-rock band the Dandy Warhols stopped at the Granada Theater on Tuesday night, part of their tour to promote their latest CD, The Dandy Warhols Are Sound, which came out on July 14.

But prior to the Granada show, two of the band's four members visited Good Records on Greenville Avenue in Dallas where they gave a free acoustic performance.

An audience of about 100 people lined up among the stacks of CDs to see Brent De Boer and Courtney Taylor-Taylor do seven songs, which they said came from their side-project CD called The Dutch Masters.

The set ran from old Dandy Warhols tracks to Beatles covers, which seemed appropriate not only because the Dandy Warhols embrace the kind of flawless harmonies the Beatles popularized, but also because there's Beatles buzz thanks to the release of a videogame; Good Records had Beatles posters on the wall, and a Beatles movie running on the projection screens before the performance began.

One of the great things about the Dandy Warhols is their ability to take something as iconic as a Beatles song and make it their own.

They opened with a cover of the Beatles' "All My Loving," followed by a rendition of their own "We Used To Be Friends," from their 2003 release, Welcome to the Monkey House -- quintessential Dandy with its easygoing tempo, pleasing harmonies, and mesmerizing personality.

As Taylor-Taylor reached for a guitar pick, he shared his aversion to all things plastic.

"I really dislike plastic things," he said. "But I can tolerate them for music -- the highest purpose."

He and De Boer perched on stools, both wearing pointy boots, tight jeans, and white T-shirts, both bathed in the setting sun that beamed in through the record store's front door. Taylor-Taylor is a quintessential rock frontman with both the feral physique and charisma required for the role. What elevates him from other more primal specimens is his intelligence; he has an active wit and a conspiratorial manner that makes you feel like you're in on the joke, whatever the joke might be.

He also has a broad vocal range, shifting during their cover of Brian Jonestown Massacre's "Stars" from sultry to vulnerable to forceful and commanding.

Their cover of the Rolling Stones' "(This Could Be) The Last Time" was almost unrecognizable. Their arrangement was so different with the opening lines "I told you once and I told you twice, You never listen to my advice" chanted so slowly and purposefully, it almost provoked a chill.

For more candid photos of the band, go here.

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