Five Reasons The Main Street Block Party Worked
Photos by Jim Bricker Lady In Red: Tontons singer Asli Omar
Were you there? You might want to look for yourself in this slideshow of crowd shots. Be sure to also check out the pics of the bands.
Around 9 p.m. Saturday, Rocks Off was walking out of Tacos A Go-Go and ran into Main Street Block Party organizer Eric Dean on the corner in front of the Continental Club, and he told us he had just broken even. This was before any of the evening's real main events, and by about 10 p.m. the wristband line stretched outside the Mink all the way past the entrance of the Big Top.
Besides the inevitable delays and a few instances of scheduling three-card monte, everything seemed to go pretty smoothly Saturday. The only real question was whether or not the indie-heavy lineup could pack the Continental.
Unfortunately for bands like Baton Rouge's teeth-gnashing Twin Killers, it didn't look like it early on, but the club began filling up around the time CC regulars the Small Sounds opened with a lovely Waterboys-esque tune, and was wall to wall for keyboard-heavy Austin New Wavers The Black & White Years and Houston's own Ton Tons.
All in all, Rocks Off would say Dean's little midwinter experiment has to be counted a success, especially for a first-time festival with no clear headliner. Here, in our estimation, are a few simple reasons why.
1. It was indoors. The weather turned out to be perfect Saturday, but it was pretty frigid, so it was nice to not be stuck standing around shivering at an outdoor stage.
Beware the Flute: Finnegan at the Big Top
2. It was compact. Not only were all the venues mere steps away from each other, so were Tacos A Go-Go and the Continental's two barbecue stands. The fried catfish was especially delicious.
3. It was well-timed. With all due respect to NOFX, Slim Thug & Z-Ro, and the One Mic anniversary party - several of whose performers did double duty at the Block Party - the organizers had the good sense to schedule the Block Party smack in the middle of the winter concert doldrums. Besides (further) brightening up the live-music schedule for Houstonians, this also meant that the several groups from out of town who might not otherwise have been available were good to go.
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