The Converse Rubber Tracks Live Sponsored shows have  had names such as Yeasayer and Curren$y to Boston, viagra for low admission and hot artists, these tickets sell at lightning speed. These shows are apart of a musical series that showcases artists that have recorded at the Converse Rubber Tracks Studio. Previous shows have been 18+ shows, but surprisingly, for this Monday’s The Black Angels show at The Sinclair, it was 16+. Fortunately for anyone who listens to The Black Angels, this lowered age range was highly unnecessary, as fans of a much older generation gathered at The Sinclair to enjoy the finely aged psychedelic music stylings of this legendary Austin rock group, as well psych rock legend Roky Erickson.

The night began with an interesting performance from Jamaica Plain based rock band Viva Viva. Viva Viva’s lead singer Chris Warren has a compellingly interesting face, as he played he furrowed his brow and would alternate rapidly between scrunching his thin lipped mouth into a pout or stretching it into a wide smile. It was fortunate for Viva Viva that their lead singer was so engaging, both in physical mannerisms as well as in entertaining mannerisms, he began the set by softly introducing the band to the crowd, and ending with a playful, “You guys didn’t come here to see us”. For while all members demonstrated excellent instrumental and passionate playing ability, Viva Viva’s set was nothing out of the rock and roll ordinary. All of their songs followed the same format, beginning softly and then building up speed to lapse into a chorus of pounding guitars and simple chant filled lyrics.

The lyrical content was textbook rock and roll, as they sang songs about the long arm of the law, paper thin girls with cocaine addictions, and of course rock and roll itself. I would hasten myself to be too harsh on them, for it is understandably very hard to compete and open for the pioneers of the psychedelic rock scene, and they were clearly very excited to be performing and had a handful of personal fans and friends in the audience, which made for a cheerful and fun atmosphere for the beginning of the night.

Following Viva Viva was the acclaimed Roky Erickson. The large and grey bearded Erickson gingerly approached the microphone and hoisted a fittingly wide cerulean blue guitar over his shoulder. He moved extremely calmly and slowly for the amount of cheering and applause that erupted from the crowd upon his entrance. Erickson co-founded one of the first psych rock bands, The 13th Floor Elevators , and in doing so encountered many hardships with law enforcement (similar to that of which Viva Viva sang of in their songs), the most notorious was the incident in 1969, where Erickson was arrested for possession of a single marijuana joint and pleaded insanity to avoid a potential ten year prison sentence. He was sent to the Austin State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, where he was subject to electroshock therapy. It was amazing to be in the sheer presence of Erickson and to be able to witness the man in the flesh who was not only able to survive such astonishing obstacles, but is also talented and resilient enough to channel all of that pain into a musical performance, exhibited throughout his set, but notably in the rousing conclusion with his hit ‘Two Headed Dog’. It was also especially touching to see the wide variety of Erickson’s following that filled the Sinclair to the brim, such as the elderly trio of two elderly women and an elderly man, who had shoulder length grey hair, an impressively long grey beard and wore round glasses standing on the mezzanine, and the group of people in their twenties donned in 80s hair metal apparel: black leather jackets with spikes, brightly colored wigs and red lipstick. We often forgot or are unaware of the amazing and frequently tumultuous lives that musicians lead, and we should remember to appreciate and remain curious about the fascinating stories that inspire the songs. If you’re interested in learning more about Erickson’s story, you can catch the documentary of his life, ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’, which is available to stream on Netflix.

The Black Angels took the stage with the crowd still reveling in psychedelic buzz from Erickson’s set. These Austinites are one of the more current and active members of the psych rock scene, as they curate Austin Psych Fest every spring. The Black Angels began their set by projecting one of the first of many gorgeous, trippy projections against the stage, this first one was of red, yellow, and blue paint splatters, which began as dots and slowly began to bloom and expand, to the backdrop of a haunting and melancholically slow folk blues ballad. As the band came onto the stage and picked up their instruments, the girl next to me turned to me, grinned and said, “So it begins.”

Indeed, the Black Angels set had an acidic ‘trip’ like feel – lead vocalist Alex Maas’s dark and raw voice in conjunction with the drone like fuzz guitar chords, heavy bass, piercing staccato drums and haunting organ accents, created harrowing and spiraling songs. The songs were dizzying and hypnotizing, the sharp drums kept a steady, constant beat, and the choruses, while complex, retained a repetitive format, so that you became engulfed in the repetitive trancelike chant of the song. As the crowd was older than that at most mosh filled basement garage rock shows, there was little to no moshing and instead, the crowd moved in a slow and contended head bob and sway, contributing further to the dazed and mesmeric feel. While it is very nice and all not to be jostled and sweaty, this also seemed to dictate The Black Angels playing, as their set was more subdued and thoughtful, and at times a bit monotonous. This slightly restrained style was unfortunately that of which the dark and heavy ‘Evil Things’ was performed, it seemed to be played at a much slower tempo than on album, which I felt failed to do justice to the fuzz filled guitar choruses of the song. When envisioning The Black Angels performing live, I imagined a bit more variation in the songs, and perhaps the volume and the energy of the band turned up maybe two or okay, twenty decibels more, but maybe this is my generational gap speaking, as my twenty year old self could be saddled with an impossibly high excitement threshold after prolonged exposure to a constant battery of social media, bright lights and dubstep. But all in all, The Black Angels did deliver a gnarly set true to their psych-rock style, even if it aired more on the mellowed and stoned side.