Original Poste Date:  7/16/1o

by Tiney Ricciardi

Thursday night New York band iLL Pastel kicked off their first tour ever down in Deep Ellum at The Prophet Bar.  Formally known as the Gypsy Tea Room, the club lost business and credibility after the switch in ownership about three years ago.  I mean seriously, how can you compete with the Gypsy Tea Room?  Especially when the purchasers were the owners of the Christian bar The Door?  iLL Pastel provided the answer last night: a good band and a dedicated fan base.  When the band took the stage around 10 p.m., The Prophet Bar was packed with friends and family to the point it was almost immovable.

The four piece (put simply “three Jews and a Mormon”) played all three songs from their recently released demo and a handful of jams that have yet to be recorded.  There are two words that come to mind upon first listen to the demo: Brandon Boyd.  iLL Pastel is an amateur Incubus.  Only a little less crazy.  I know that sounds like a bold statement, but everything from the pace of each song to that hesitation right before the break down seemed as though it had been mastered through endless hours of watching live Incubus footage.  Did I mention that lead singer Oren Kadosh sounds like Brandon Boyd?  Most of iLL Pastel’s song covered the edgy rock wake of Incubus; something circa “Idiot Box.”  The band managed to mix it up with songs like “Green Makes Blue,” a more relaxed jam; something circa “Agoraphobia.”  They did it and they did it well.  We even got to see drummer Jonathan Dobin without his shirt (score!).

It’s a shame that the friends and family that came to see iLL Pastel didn’t stick around.  The Language Room, an indie rock band from Austin, performed a set list with sound somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age and Muse.  Their jams definitely had all 12 people left dancing.   Both bands are touring Texas with another band called Courrier for the rest of this month.  Check them out if you’re in any of these cities:

Friday, July 16 8:30 pm–Deans Credit Clothing (316 Main St, Houston, TX)

Saturday, July 17 8:30 pm–Schotzi’s (205 University Dr, College Station, TX)

Sunday, July 18 8:30 pm–Stubb’s Bar-B-Q (810 Red River, Austin, TX)

iLL Pastel

iLL Pastel

The Language Room