Austin Doom-Wop band, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, plays a sold out show at Houston’s White Oak Music Hall. They were joined by locals Warlung and Leather Church.
It’s Saturday night in Houston and the city’s doom lovers are making their way to White Oak Music Hall for a night of riotous rock music. A line formed as audience members patiently wait for the doors to be opened. Everyone heading upstairs immediately upon entrance to claim their spot.
First up is Houston’s Leather Church, a thrash metal homage with driving riffs and gritty vocals. As Leather Church makes their way through their set the crowd grows increasingly excited. By the end of their set, the audience chanted for an encore, sufficiently ready for the next opener.
The second performance of the night comes from Houston’s psychedelic doom band, Warlung. The crowd erupts as Warlung takes the stage, their opening song drenching the audience in their stoner doom sound. The band pulls influence from the likes of Black Sabbath and The Sword. The audience can’t seem to get enough as the plenty of circle pits and headbanging proved.
Finally, once the audience is revved up it’s time for Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol to take the stage. Hailing from Austin, Texas and delivering the kind of riffs that are so thick and meaty the listener could sink their teeth into them, the band is a totally unique experience. With a nod to the freak nature of bands like Primus combined with the heavy grit of Pantera, RBBP’s sound comes alive on the stage and the audience erupts with it.
As they start with “Body Bag” off their latest album Big Dumb Riffs, the audience begins thrashing and moshing. Everyone loses their mind, the crowd packing in tighter and tighter as the merciless, growling riffs demand them to. The night becomes a relentless endurance test as RBBP goes through their set. Tracks played mostly consisted of 2 minute long songs where the entire thing is an aggressive breakdown.
When it’s time to go home the crowd resists, begging for an encore for the third time that night. Everyone is drenched in sweat, tired yet buzzing from the evening, the result of a sold out room that rocked hard for nearly 3 hours straight. When audience members eventually make their way outside the venue, they’re singing Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol’s songs to each other, trying to hold on to an unforgettable night of music.
I’m a photographer born and raised in Houston. Music has been a huge part of my life since I was a teenager, I love attending local shows and supporting the Houston music scene. If I’m not at a show I’m probably making my own music, hanging out with my cat, or binge watching RuPaul’s Drag Race.
