Until last week, my concert-going days seemed to be at some sort of standstill. However, in a 5 day period, my ears were graced (for the most part) by 9 bands performing live across Texas. Okay, they were only in two cities, but it seemed like a lot of traveling to me.

It all began on a blustery Wednesday afternoon when I was informed that Flyleaf (formerly Passerby) was playing a free show at Stubbs in Austin. Of course I opted to drive to the capital even though I had a test and two papers due the next day. The show was a precursor, possibly a practice for their upcoming “Fall Brawl” tour (with several obnoxious bands who I won’t mention). It was true to their roots (they recently signed with Octone, and I had not seen a show since), which was a welcome relief. They played pretty much their entire new album, and Lacey’s vocals were filled with both power and passion. There was even a signature “Pat-the-bassist-climbing-up-on-the-speakers-and-jumping-off” moment. And of course, many of their original fans were in attendance (because Austin is fairly close to their hometown of Temple), including guitar player Jared’s mother. It was, as always with them, a phenomenal show, and definitely worth the over 3 hours of driving done that night.

Thursday and Friday came and went without concerts. Saturday, however, is a different story. Saturday evening, I was able to attend the Stars/Death Cab for Cutie concert at Stubbs. It was outside in their huge “backyard” as opposed to the much smaller indoor Flyleaf show I had previously attended. Stars was the opener, and having never heard them before I had no idea what to expect. They were a fairly interesting Canadian band, complete with a horn and a violin. Amy Milan, the female lead vocalist paralleled the female members of the Polyphonic Spree with her rhythmic head toss and bizarre motions. The band was fairly entertaining, mostly because of their awkward movements and less because of their music. A majority of their songs dealt with sex (but hardly at all with love) and death. Their set seemed to drag a little, but perhaps because of the anxiety in the crowd for Death Cab to appear.