Concert review: The Octopus Project at Lola’s

Saturday I headed out to see Gollay and Somebody’s Darling at the Magnolia Motor Lounge. But there wasn’t a parking space within walking distance of the place. After circling the block about a dozen times (I really like Gollay) I headed back across Seventh to see what was happening at Lola’s.

When I got to Lola’s and made my way inside, Def Rain was finishing up their set. (We told you about Def Rain last year.) I was really sorry I had made those last 10 trips around the block — I dig them.

The band, featuring Ashley Cromeens of Record Hop fame on vocals and Theresia Munywoki and Grant Ring on electronics , performed with some freaky lights and masks and some killer electronic music. I only got to hear part of a song; I was sad to see the set end.

The mighty Jon Teague of Pinkish Black was running sound. Teague is a big star, but occasionally he does these kind of jobs to keep in touch with the little people — and we are better for it.

Up next we had New Fumes, a psychedelic IDM solo act from Daniel Huffman (guitar, vocals, electronics). The music was trippy, engaging and creative. The crowd was digging it, and pressed up against the stage. I especially liked the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Closing out the night we had the Octopus Project, featuring Josh Lambert (guitar), Toto Miranda (drums), Yvonne Lambert (theremin, keyboard) and Lauren Gurgiolo (guitar). Mostly. There was some switching back and forth between the Lamberts, who can keep up?

The Octopus Project is an indie-experimental group out of Austin, and while they had a similar trippy vibe as the other acts, this was a full band with a driving rhythm section and someone who actually knows how to do something musical with a theremin. We had a great light show and cool video effects behind the stage (when the projector was working), but the band was fun to watch without all that.

The crowd had been building all night, and they were really feeling it. It was a pretty solid mass of humanity in front of the stage.

When the band left, the audience didn’t budge an inch. They stood there, demanding an encore — and the Octopus Project came back on stage and gave it to them.

One of the great things about living in Funkytown is that any day of the week, any direction you go, you can find a good live band or three.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 5:57 AM with the headline "Concert review: The Octopus Project at Lola’s."