![]() ![]() Luckily, for close to an hour Thursday night, the performance space – though still broom-closet-sized and cattle-chute-cramped – became the very definition of “Cool in Motion.” Thank Dallas-founded, Houston-based alt-metal heroes Narrow Head. ![]() Empire Control Room was going to be the dankest, most sweltering place festivalgoers would be expected to lodge their slowly melting bodies. Narrow Head (Photo by Wayne Lim) Narrow Head Returns with Cool Moments of ClarityĮven before entering, the hot air acoustics were immediately obvious. Finally, as the closing scintillations of final transmission “Stars Will Fall” trailed off and the quartet left behind an empty stage washed in red, the crowd erupted further into unanswered demands for an encore. ![]() In a strange juxtaposition against the drowsy, droning riff of penultimate song “Echo, Bravo,” one fan somehow managed to crowd surf while festivalgoers cheered. Mostly unspeaking, the fourpiece hardly addressed the crowd, with the drawling, whispered vocals of founding members Clay Parton and Canaan Dove Amber only sparsely wafting atop gently growling atmospherics over 64 minutes. Perhaps an awkward crash landing, the opening minutes found them standing in complete darkness, then blinded by stage lights, then clumsily stalling through six minutes of technical difficulties following set opener “The Twins / Romantica.” Yet when the fuzzy, fluctuating riff of “Orbitron” kicked in, gravity’s pull seemed to loosen, as heads swayed back and forth while phones floated into the air. No matter the introduction, the Californian space rockers’ sold-out Texas debut proved a long-awaited cosmic landing for Thursday attendees at Empire Garage. While some may remember Duster’s late Nineties origins and subsequent disappearance into oblivion for 18 years, others – myself included – found a portal into the slowcore band’s discography through TikTok, where the tender lo-fi strums of 1998’s “Inside Out” soundtrack overly dramatic poetry and late-night ruminations. Duster (Photo by Wayne Lim) Duster’s Cosmic Texas Landing ![]()
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