Toadies End Year with Fantastic Dallas Show
Toadies - Andrew Sherman
ARTISTS - Toadies - Local H - Riverboat Gamblers
VENUE - The Factory DE
CITY - Dallas, TX
PHOTOS Andrew Sherman - Recap Amy Stacy
Toadies played their last show of 2023 at The Factory Deep Ellum on Saturday night, ending a fantastic four night Texas run. Toadies fans are hyper-loyal and were clearly there for this tight quartet's hypnotic brand of rock-your-ass-off sound. The excitement was palpable, everyone buzzing in cheerful anticipation of one of their favorite home-grown bands.
The Riverboat Gamblers opened with an insane amount of energy and number of guitars (3 guitars, in a punk band). Singer Mike Wiebe really kicked ass with charisma and crowd work, further hyping an audience who were already thrilled to be there. If the opening band's job is to get the crowd hyped out of their minds and throwing jazz hands, this band is the one.
Local H followed up by punching us directly in our faces with their music. Scott Lucas leads this unconventionl yet cohesive duo with a powerful sound and energy. The crowd shouted right along, demonstrating their love for this band. Local H closed with their amazing version of "Wolf Like Me" by TV on the Radio -- so damned good, leaving the audience in a rockin' lycanthropic feeding frenzy for the headliners.
Toadies are rock and roll personified by crunchy ear-worm guitar riffs, overlaid with plaintive, haunting vocals, bound together by a tight rhythm line in lockstep -- one is absolutely compelled to fist-pump, stomp and sing along with this beloved Fort Worth, Texas band. A testament to Toadies' fandom, Vaden Todd Lewis announced intent to play songs from an album yet to be released -- not only was this a crowd-pleaser, their fans already knew the words to a future release and were gleefully singing along.
Seeing Toadies live makes their appeal so obvious, how they became ingrained in pop culture and continue to draw enthusiastic crowds still, decades later after they first came from the water. For we all know, "That weren't no easy thing. It's more than nature." It's like their destiny -- all callbacks to their beloved opening song, "I Come From the Water", but it fits them perfectly, the same way Toadies fit Texas.
