A ferocious blue dragon leaps out from the wall, its piercing yellow eyes shining like lanterns in the dark cave-like room. Figures twist and shriek in its gaping mouth as they are consumed by the endless fire within the monster’s stomach. And just two feet in front of this scene, a band — surrounded by dancing lights — performs for a small crowd April 9.
The venue for the show was Ruins, a Mexican cocktail bar in the heart of Deep Ellum emblazoned with art on every surface. Past a cozy seating area for patrons to enjoy drinks and appetizers lies the bar’s performance hall, the Limbo Room. The hall is covered from floor to ceiling in art of saints, demons and damned souls, the contrast melting into a purgatory befitting of its name.
As my friend and I finished the last of our $10 chips and guacamole, the Limbo Room’s sound system played a cover of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” in high enough quality that I worried I had missed the entrance of the live band. My fears were assuaged when the first act, Florida-based band The Retrograde, walked onstage and tested their equipment, tuning and partially jamming along to the pre-show number. The music cut out and the band launched directly into “Sometimes,” the lead from their most recent EP “No Sleep on Adams Street.”
From their first notes, the bandmates’ hip thrusts and playful exchanged glances demonstrated a clear fraternity with each other and mastery of their material. They almost seemed to play in a bubble that the dozen or so of us present at the concert’s start just happened to stumble in on, but even so, I could tell I was in for a good ride.
From “Sometimes,” the band transitioned into “I Need A Little,” a song which left me unable to think anything but, “Goddamn, this boy can play.” While the recorded version’s guitarwork is already impressive, the runs were magnitudes more dramatic live, and the band took more liberties in letting the guitar do whatever the players felt called to do. This was a constant throughout the concert: the band had truly mastered their instruments and knew how to push each one to its fullest.
As the last chords rang out, singer and lead guitarist Joe Fox greeted the audience with, “Dallas, Texas, we feeling good?” The beer and watermelon vape-scented audience responded with cheers at a volume that far exceeded its small size. Any worries I had about not fitting in because of my blue jeans and UTD-branded T-shirt were washed away when I saw that they matched almost perfectly with Fox’s own washed-out jeans and red Florida State University tee. The band, currently on their “We’re Not in Florida Anymore” tour, mentioned multiple times this was their first excursion to Dallas.
From here, they swept cleanly between a few songs, including “It’s Alright,” “Dirty Daisy” and “Closer to Somewhere,” all off their 2024 album “That’s the Spirit!” At the first notes of “Closer to Somewhere,” Fox clasped the microphone and softened his vocals, adopting a more yearning tone than he’d had for the previous entries. This, in addition to making the lyrics more intelligible compared to the other rock vocalizations, went miles in selling the story of the song. His voice transformed him seamlessly into an underdog protagonist in a desperate last attempt at making love work.
The exchange at the end of the song perfectly encapsulated The Retrograde’s earnest, yet distinctly music-first energy. “Thank you for coming out to support live music,” Fox told the audience as the final chords wound down. “Now I’m going to shut the fuck up and play guitar.”
The band played through the next few songs with a frenetic energy that rebounded off every corner of the performance hall. Fox bounced around the stage, belting out lyrics and strumming chords so intensely that he started to lose himself in the beat. Rhythm guitarist Cade Pickering alternated between laying down melodies on his guitar and gliding over frets as each song demanded it, ensuring the rhythm never let up. Song transitions were rife with fake-out endings and intense guitar and drum fills flowing into the next tune, the energy up and burning through the audience like an inferno let loose from the maws of a dragon.
A couple more songs brought the band to “Olivia,” a high-energy number which gathered the most people to sing along, and has a story and style directly comparable to ’80’s Billboard hit “Jenny.” While all their original work is heavily inspired by rock classics, this song betrayed the most influence.
The homage to rock-and-roll hits of years past continued through to their penultimate song of the night, a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On.” The cover wholly passed for an original work through stylistic decisions the band had made in playing, melding the band’s more sophisticated guitarwork with the original track’s classic rock sound. The Retrograde bills themselves as a rock-and-roll band with influence from Led Zeppelin, The Black Crowes, Wings, The Strokes, and Jet, and it earnestly comes through in their work. And as the last notes of their final song played out, that essence of rock that I rarely hear nowadays stuck with me.
Throughout all their songs, the band made a point to play differently from the track’s studio version. They allowed the guitars more freedom and drummer Carson Degner more solos. The songs stretched longer as the band jammed up on the stage. In playing with each other — Fox at points getting so close to Pickering or bassist Josiah Pye that they could have been playing each other’s instruments — or in the way they took cues from the bobbing of heads, their unity was evident. They admired each other’s skill and trusted each other’s judgement, and that admiration and trust was well deserved.
While this intimacy didn’t shut the audience out, the band seemed almost nervous to actively invite them in. Every comment to the crowd was addressed “Dallas, Texas,” overly formal for a few dozen people at a bar in Deep Ellum. There wasn’t much in the way of banter with the crowd. They really just seemed there to shut the fuck up and play, but they were damn good at that.
Pump Action took the stage after a brief intermission. Comprising the second half of the two-band tour, the band was originally from Miami but had recently relocated to Nashville. Their entrance was led by lead singer Spencer Ford in a white T-shirt interrupted by a chevron strap leading to a shiny golden guitar. Guitarist Trent Jones, bassist Poppy Geoghan and drummer Jack Dratch followed him.
Their sound was more R&B to The Retrograde’s rock, and Pump Action was able to extend the familiarity The Retrograde found in each other to the audience. The band was comfortable dancing on the stage and Ford in particular was comfortable bantering with the audience. During one song, he taught the audience how to sing along and was playfully less than impressed by the crowd’s musical skill.
Pump Action brought out more people to the show, as evidenced both by the larger crowd and the number of the crowd attesting to seeing multiple of their shows. While The Retrograde’s songs got some humming by the chorus, a significant portion of the audience could sing along to Pump Action’s songs. After they wrapped up their set, the audience started a chant demanding, “One more.” This prompted Ford to mutter, “Fine,” and the band returned to the stage they had only half-heartedly begun to leave. Their encore was “Leave My Girl Alone,” which brought out the most voices from the crowd.
After the show, my friend and I frantically escaped from the venue to avoid getting wrapped up in paying another $10 for more chips and guac. But setting the guac expenses aside, the show was easily worth it at $16 a ticket. And as we emerged from the warm stomach of the dragon’s lair, I was grateful for the acts — treasures seemingly of a bygone era — I had been fortunate enough to bear witness to.
