Sunday night was quite a rare sight. Toro y Moi brought out a huge crowd to Low Brows along with Braids, Cloud Nothings, and local faves the DA. After that show there was a free show at Black Market with Japanese rockers, Zoobombs.

Apples and I, in total slacker fashion, were tardy to the party and missed The DA and Cloud Nothings. I did buy a pretty awesome Cloud Nothings picture disc though. I’m sad we missed them after listening to the excellent two song 7 inch.

The first band we saw was Braids. The front woman seemed pretty happy to see such a good turnout. The band was fairly mellow. The music had a floating sound with soft airy female vocals. It may not have been the most visually entertaining band to watch but the sound was delightful to my ears.

Toro y Moi got up on stage and got the crowd bopping as everyone’s ass-es were bunched up together on the ground floor. The young singer/keyboardist makes all the music himself but has a touring band to help him deliver his musical styling. He mixes a lot of new technology and makes it sound organic and lo-fi. I can see why they’re generating so much buzz.

After Toro y Moi everyone started jay walking their way over to Black Market with a fuck Mondays attitude and a strong lust for rock and roll. This was the second time catching the band and this performance had way more energy and didn’t just sound like one long jam session. The band is polished and in tune with each other. The guitarist/singer definitely has a strong rock star air and is quite the showman. It is something we don’t see much of anymore. The Zoobombs played a genuinely good set.

El Paso’s indie scene is always hit or miss. Yesterday was definitely a big hit. I actually saw what I thought was extinct in the scene…a long line and it wasn’t for the bathroom, it must have been the moon.

by Derek reyes

photographs by Apples