 "Photo: Karl McDonald")
In less than a year, the Black Lips have progressed from packing South by Southwest house parties to squeezing kids like canned sardines into the inside of Emo's. The Black Lips finally gave their audience a little breathing room at the Emo's outdoor location Saturday night.
Austin was well-represented by The Strange Boys' Dylan-infused '60s garage music and White Denim's manic, repetitive riffs before the Black Lips stepped up to the plate. The boys from Atlanta delivered a set consisting mostly of material from their two most recent albums without straying much from the set list of their last appearance in Austin back in October.
Fortunately, the band became much more active as they progressed through the night. Shades of the live mayhem for which the band made its name began to shine through when playing old favorites like "Fairy Stories" and "Stranger" - a far cry from opening song "I Saw a Ghost." The Black Lips certainly haven't forgotten where they come from - a cover of "Too Much in Love" by friends and tour mates King Khan & BBQ was a welcome addition to the set - but the same self-destructive energy wasn't present with several hundred people packed into a venue.
The era of urine-soaked, vomit-stained, on-stage catastrophes may be over now that the band has graduated to sizeable venues, but if the constant tumbling of bodies that made up the front and center of the crowd is any indication, they're still capable of putting on a competent, albeit predictable, show.
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