Review: Mobley and Burning Hotels set funky Where House ablaze

It's September in Funkytown, and while the weather is cooling off, the Where House, an unexpectedly popular nonbar venue in an industrial building right on the tracks, is heating up.

For the big shows, sure, one expects to find a monster crowd. The recent three-day Rock Assembly packed them in to dangerous levels. But this was just a weekend show with some great local bands, in an old warehouse, and a crowd most bar owners would kill for.

The venue, despite its growing popularity, is not losing any of its charm. The substantial main room and the eclectic indoor and outdoor spaces just ooze cool and that party-in-an-abandoned-building style. Tracks run right through the back yard, and everybody cheers when a train rolls through.

Inside, Austin's Mobley and Fort Worth's Burning Hotels took the stage Saturday.

Mobley announced itself as a rock 'n' roll act, but I really don't think that covers it. The band has a seriously cool light show (and most light shows really annoy me), some strong synth grooves, and both acoustic and electronic beats.

The band consists of Anthony Watkins II (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tim Shelburne (bass, keyboards) and Sergio Trejos (drums). Watkins rallied the crowd, and I found myself pushed back against the bass bins to the left of the stage, right under a monitor showing videos in sync with the music. At one point in the show, Watkins made his way out into the middle of the crowd and persuaded the whole audience to sit around him. His Taylor acoustic guitar was crowd-surfed out to him from the stage, and we had a kind of bizarre campfire song session on the concrete floor.

Up next were Burning Hotels, somewhat of a local-music legend.

The band consists of Chance Morgan (guitar, vocals, keyboard), Matt Mooty (guitar, vocals), Mike Ratliff (drums) and Marley Whistler (bass). To describe Burning Hotels simply as a pop band doesn't do them justice. They bring back memories of pop bands of the '80s, with a bit of post-punk and new wave thrown in, but they shift gears to something a little harder-edged and frantic with ease.

The vocals are clean and harmonious, the guitar work hyperactive, and the synths have a nice vintage vibe. (The band uses a Roland Juno-6, one of my all-time favorites.)

Morgan's stage presence is wonderfully spastic -- he vibrates around and knocks over drum mikes throughout the evening. Ratliff's drumming was some of the most precise and exciting I've witnessed in ages. I found myself focused on the drums throughout much of the show.

The Hotels finished their set with the crowd demanding more.

The Where House is quickly moving from a "that'll never work" kind of venue to an iconic and integral part of the Funkytown music scene. It breaks all the rules, and yet it gets something terribly right. Despite being in a not-so-great part of town and having little parking and no sign, it is packing people in and creating a community of loyal supporters.

The real soul of music in the Fort isn't on Seventh Street. It isn't on Berry. It's right where the train tracks cross Hemphill. Just park your car and follow the music.

Online: www.mobleytheband.com

www.burninghotels.net