Walking into the Aztec Theatre on September 15th, I knew I’d be experiencing a great show but man, the performance that Durand Jones & The Indications put on completely blew past any expectation I could have ever had.
I first saw them briefly at ACL Fest back in 2021, where they were playing the T-Mobile stage at 3pm a.k.a. the absolute peak of insufferable Texas heat which is undoubtedly the most insufferably hot part of the weekend.
I barely survived for 15 minutes.
This time, thankfully, I survived them as they played indoors with the AC flowing like the wind at the Aztec. The energy in this room was the most unbelievable thing, as it really served as a true hometown show for Durand Jones and the crowd gave them the perfect hometown love all night.
The concert kicked off with an amazing opener, the Psychodelics. They had this neo-soul sound that was wildly infused with psychedelic funk music, and they were just insane.
Their frontman Cameron Wescott was insane, hitting these long and aggressive notes, and their last song had the whole band going into an equally insane extended jam that left everyone in attendance wanting more.
A special quality about Durand Jones & The Indications is the way Durand and co-lead vocalist/drummer Aaron Frazier trade off on vocals. They’ve got very different vocal styles, with Durand having a deeply soulful tone to his voice while Aaron contrasts it beautifully with a falsetto smoothness to his.
They both perfectly achieve the signature groovy sound that the band goes for, which was the sound heard from them on their new album that they’re touring, Flowers, one of the year’s best.
They touched on a few of the album’s songs in their setlist but they also pulled out a lot of their deep cuts from their earlier times as a group.
They shared stories about their beginnings in San Antonio, including the time they appeared at the Friends of Sound record store, and they followed by playing songs they had out from that time, really taking fans on a personal journey through their discography.
It was a journey full of soul, dancing and some of the most joyful energy I’ve ever felt at a concert. I’m so happy that soul is making its way back into the spotlight as the world we live in truly needs it more than ever and Durand Jones & The Indications is doing just that by leading the way.
