Friday night the New York City-based “future rock” group Outernational performed a headlining show at Lambert’s. Outernational is a band that sings about social issues and musically merges eclectic sounds to create their own. Think Gogol Bordello meets The Clash with a Latino twist. On tour in support of their new Tom Morello-produced EP, Future Rock, the band performed a high energy show to a small diverse crowd.
A few attendees appeared to be hardcore fans who were able to sing along word for word. The others, mostly female to my surprise, were stereotypical Second Streeters: well-dressed and enthusiastic partiers. Despite probably not knowing who or what they were listening to, whether it was in English or Spanish, everyone stayed throughout the whole show and seemed to have had a good time.
It was great to see a group who must have known they were performing to crowd that was not familiar with them and still bring their live performance “A” game. I can’t help but wonder what this show could have been like if it were on the East Side or at a Red River venue. Lambert’s is a great venue but not a place where a band like Outernational would find an audience that would develop into hardcore fans.