This might be absurd, even blasphemous, but Austin's Bright Light Social Hour might just be one of the best Tampa bands on the market right now. [Text by Andrew, photos by Phil.]
Put down the torches and pitchforks. I’ll explain.
Since the group’s first stop here at New World Brewery in November 2010, Bright Light has gone through a rapid and visible transformation, from tiny blip on the Tampa music radar to one of the most sought-after bands in the area. Following regular appearances that included packed headlining sets at Tropical Heatwave and Antiwarpt Music Fest, Bright Light has amassed a Tampa following that many burgeoning artists would foam at the mouth for.
Popularity, schmopularity right? Any mildly marketable band could accomplish such a feat if they played their cards right. This is true. But, The Bright Light Social Hour have one important thing going for them — they’re good, like, really fucking good.
Their sold-out show at Skipper’s Smokehouse on Saturday night worked to hammer this sentiment home. BLSH’s mustachioed display of Southern-bred rock and soul couldn’t have felt more at home nestled within the worn, woody confines of the Skipperdome. The Austin foursome pillaged through the highlight tracks of their first and surprisingly only, LP, The Bright Light Social Hour.
A Bright Light live performance is a two-pronged attack. Just watching this crew of mop-haired monsters abuse both the stage and their instrumentation is a pretty awesome spectacle in its own right … but then you realize that these guys can really play. If the days of guitar rock and solos are over, Bright Light didn’t get the memo. 'Jam band' would be too lofty of a descriptor, but when they want to give a song the extended solo treatment, their chops are pretty incredible. Aside from numerous fret-blazing guitar solos at the hand of guitarist Curtis Roush, Bright Light’s encore, a cover of “Young Man Blues,” featured solo spots where each member showed off some impressive mastery of their respective tools.
That’s not to say they don’t work well as a unit though. Songs like “Garden of the Gods” and “Rhubarb Jam” work as epic sonic journeys, with each member of the band contributing just enough to create something truly greater than the sum of its parts.
Maybe we’ll eventually grow tired of them, maybe they’ll hit the big time and only solemnly visit when they’re at the Ampitheatre opening for the Kings of Leon. Or maybe this is just the beginning of a slow burning love affair between BLSH and us Tampa folk. All I know is that for now, it just feels so terribly right calling Bright Light Social Hour a great Tampa band.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2012.