Those Darlins
Marc's Rock Blog
I walk outside to the patio at Old No. 2 and I see them.
They’re sitting in a corner, chatting the way strangers in a new -- maybe unfamiliar setting – do: quiet, huddled – almost conspiratorily.
They’re perfectly dishevelled, off-kilter wild, looking like characters out of a mix between a Jim Jarmusch and John Waters film, looking both fresh and having been through a month of hard nights -- and yet, somehow down home southern sweet.
They’re smirking.
And I see tattoos.
Instant three-way crush.
I’m able to introduce myself to two of the three female members of Those Darlins as Shapes Have Fangs tear it up: Singer/guitarist/bassist Kelley and baritone ukulele/bassist Nikki. They’re soft-spoken and sweet.
Charming.
And then, after Shapes, they get on stage.
Beautiful soulful sweet Oh Brother Where Art Thou? churchgoing blue grass harmonies that twist easily into a snarling, punk woman’s howl, then untwist just as easily back again. Sexy and dangerous and country cute balanced with a twenty-first century teen’s punk ironic sense of humor.
And when Jessi sings she croons.
And when Jessi sings she snarls.
A tornado of blue grass/country/folk/punk.
It’s mesmerizing.
They’re set is both sweet and sour. Raw. Definitely country garage.
And then there’s the shots.
Tequila – this is Laredo, after all.
There are many.
And the Darlins down them all. And by the end of the night, they’re falling, and tumbling, and laughing. And when they land on the floor, sometimes they don’t get up. They just stay there and play.
And I am grinning like an idiot.
I am having a blast.
And I think my three-way crush bloomed full out into raging, hormonal obsession.
Then the night ends.
I thank Kelley for an amazing show. And sweet, drunk-off-her-ass Kelley gives me a huge full-on hug and chats my ear off for a good three minutes, and that’s a full two and a half more than I deserve. Chatting with me like an old friend. Good, sweet drunk chat.
Then I say my goodbyes, and I step outside, and I’m still grinning, and then it hits me.
I’m still in Laredo.
I had forgotten.
Thanks B-Live boys.
What I’m listening to now: Lake Michigan by Rogue Wave
Blogger’s Note: Is it possible to love three southern women at once?
