Concert Review: Cowboy Mouth at Antone’s

Cowboy Mouth and Tiffany Pollack & Co. channeled the riotous spirit of New Orleans rock and roll blues at Antone’s on Oct. 19th.

Written by Kaileen Rooks

Photo courtesy of Nikki Hedrick

“The name of the band is?”

Known for their cult following, energetic performances, and carpe diem attitude, Cowboy Mouth never fail to paint the town red, no matter the city they play. The lead singer and drummer Fred LeBlanc describes the band’s performances as a “rock and roll orgasm.” Those who attend these spirited exaltations of spontaneity and merriment can concur. As one fan put it, Cowboy Mouth shows are “Southern gospel religious experiences without the religion.” The band took to the stage at 9:30 p.m., following their fellow bayou-hailing blues opener, Tiffany Pollack & Co., who enlivened the crowd with her twangy vocals and witty one-liners. 

Kicking off with crowd favorite “Light It On Fire” from their album Are You With Me?, LeBlanc peppered in encouragement for the audience to get as loud and rowdy as they possibly could. True to form, Cowboy Mouth started off their set with extreme zeal, as LeBlanc demolished his drumsticks and scream-sang into the mic. 

The first few riffs of their next track were welcomed with gasps of excitement as they launched into the sarcastic and vulgar lyrics of “Tell The Girl.” Leblanc’s slamming of the drums pounded through the speakers, shaking the floor and supporting his commands to “Tell the girl you’re sorry / For being such an–” where the audience erupted in a resounding “ASSHOLE.” Increasing the already rambunctious pace, the band then began the raucous “Love of My Life” to a similarly enthusiastic audience response. A track guaranteed to raise hell, the banging of drums and boisterous solos from the guitar players galvanized their audience into a full-on frenzy of rock and roll fever.   

Signaled by LeBlanc’s signature ad-libs, John Thomas Griffith — guitarist and a founding member of the band — ushered in the opening verse of “Everybody Loves Jill.” The band’s Austin audience did not disappoint when it came time for the decade-old tradition of throwing red spoons at the band as soon as Griffith shouts the lyrics “With her favorite red SPOON!” Taming down the set (as tame as a Cowboy Mouth set can be, anyway), the lilting piano and gentle acoustic guitar of “Take Me Back to New Orleans” weaved their way through the crowd and lulled them into a gentle sway. LeBlanc’s yearning pleas to return to his beloved home amid a failing relationship pulled the audience into a notably quiet yet incredibly tender moment of connection. 

Sticking with their relatively calmer tone, newest member Frank Grocholski (aka Frankie G) tore into the beginning riffs of “Disconnected.” The sardonic yet strangely hopeful track, bolstered by the pounding bassline of Brian “Bruiser” Broussard, asserts that there’s no way out of the confusion of life. The best response is to just “let go.” The band members took advantage of this brief calm interlude to sing LeBlanc happy birthday, with the help of the audience, before ramping up the set once again with “Walk Among The Angels.” Sung by John Griffith, this track entails a heavily Christian religious sentiment, which shifted the mood of the audience to one of serene, heartful appreciation for the music and the sentiment, a contrast to the usual rough-and-tumble vibe of Cowboy Mouth shows.

Though the acoustic guitar opening lulled the audience into a false sense of relaxation initially, this next track excited and touched the crowd, leading them to hug and dance with the strangers near them. “How Do You Tell Someone?” is a lamentation of a fading love and a divergence from the usually joyous tone of Cowboy Mouth’s music. Nonetheless, its catchy lyrics and LeBlanc’s steady, jaunty drumming fired up the audience until the whole venue was singing along. Following this somber tone, the singer’s soft, slightly gravelly vocals carried into “The Avenue,” another ode to New Orleans and their plans to “Grow old on the Avenue.” Despite the general rowdy aura of the band, their gentle and heartfelt side continually came through when singing the praises of their hometown. 

Before the next track, LeBlanc gave one of his well-known monologues, pushing the audience to release their inhibitions and live in the moment. Following this pep talk, Leblanc began the first few beats of crowd-favorite “I Believe,” an uncharacteristically mellow song for the band. Despite its unorthodox sonics, it still radiated the free-spirited message and fervent, carefree joy that permeates their discography. The Cowboy Mouth frontman once again spurred the audience to loosen up as they belted, “I believe in the power of love,” in tandem with the band members.

A tribute to their punk-rock influences, the next track was “China” by the Red Rockers, sung by former member of the New Orleans punk band, John Griffith. They followed this throwback up with their popular, delightfully unruly cover of “Iko Iko,” which tells the story of the conflict between two groups of Mardi Gras Indians. Cowboy Mouth finished their set with the chart-topping “Jenny Says.” Once again beginning the tune with a build-up by LeBlanc, who asked the audience to remember that they were at a Cowboy Mouth show and that there was “no better place to be than right here, right now.” Raising the anticipation with a slowly crescendoing drum beat, the New Orleans native slowly asked the audience to “go completely crazy” before crashing into the opening beats of the track, breaking multiple drumsticks in the process. The audience erupted into a cathartic mayhem of dancing, jumping, and screaming as if they were possessed. “Let it go, let it go, let it go,” shouted LeBlanc, continuing to ask more and more energy out of the audience and matching them neck and neck in pure ardor. Griffith entered into a vigorous guitar solo, followed by the iconic bridge, including the t-shirt-worthy line “My name is Cain / And I am now unable.”     

LeBlanc finished off the show by once again asking the audience, “The name of the band is?” to receive a collective, forceful reply of “Cowboy Mouth!” The audience was left winded and sweaty but deliciously exhilarated. Cowboy Mouth, as always, provided the audience with the cathartic, passionate ecstasy of momentarily stepping away from your mind and reality, but above all, having a damn good time.