Imagine getting to rub elbows with your favorite band, but in a stranger’s house with 50 other people you don’t know — that’s the general idea of a house show.
“To be honest, I always enjoy going to and playing house shows more,” said Kendal Fortson, lead singer of The William Tell Act. “It’s the closest thing to the original basement shows of punk and hardcore days. This is like an underground within an underground.”
Fortson’s band performs this Saturday at Gold Manor, along with bands Hour of the Wolf, I Call Fives, and Dead Hours. Far from being a professional concert venue like the Sunshine Theater or Journal Pavilion, Gold Manor is just a house owned by local Albuquerqueans. It doesn’t even have a stage.
“It’s literally people saying, ‘Come into my house.’” Fortson said. “We’re going to have some sweaty bands and sweaty kids having a good time.”
In the spirit of community, Fortson’s band will also trade merchandise for food to be donated to Food Not Bombs.
Because of Albuquerque’s small music scene, touring indie and punk bands would often skip the city, Fortson said. However, with the growth of the house party scene, musical artists like JDP and The Warriors are now willing to play in the Duke City.
“It can be very difficult in New Mexico to get some decent shows,” Fortson said. “In response to that, the youth in Albuquerque has really stepped in this kind of house show atmosphere. It’s almost like regular venues.”
House shows are also gaining popularity with certain bands who like to interact with the audience directly, Fortson said.
“The bands tend to keep coming through,” he said. “The bands get all the money from the door. Certain bands, every time they come through, they play a house show. Hour of the Wolf is one of the bands. … And they always get a really big showing.”
But some fans might find the intimacy to be too much. Local concertgoer and UNM student, Estevan Ramirez, said his experience at Gold Manor was uncomfortable.
“I went there, and tried to get in, but I couldn’t get in,” Ramirez said. “The sound was so loud that even with all the people you could hear the echo outside. I wish it was bigger.”
The house scene in Albuquerque continues to grow thanks to the efforts of underground promotion groups Subterranean Albuquerque and You Vandal Promotions, Fortson said. And as the house scene expands, it’s developing its own community.
“When you go to some of the bigger shows, you go there, you see the band, and you go home,” Fortson said. “At these kinds of shows you go there and you get to know people, and you make friends, and then you hear about other shows and hear about other events going on. It’s really a much more active scene. It is its own culture; it’s not just a venue.”
However, the success of a house show also depends on the band that’s playing, said another local concertgoer, David Cappy. With a band you’re familiar with, it might be better to see them at a larger venue, he said.
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“It just feels like a party to me where there happens to be music, although that’s why the party is happening,” he said.
Newcomers to the house show scene should expect a bit of good-natured teasing about their musical tastes from established members of the community, Fortson said. However, if newcomers are serious about the spirit of indie music, they will be accepted.
“I think at the end of the day, everybody realizes nobody is born liking Spaz (music),” he said. “Everyone has to develop and learn about music. I have seen a lot of people who are new, and a lot of people come and go. If someone is interested, and they are a friendly person, people are going to take to them like a duck to water.”
Fortson said perhaps the biggest advantage of a house show over a regular concert is the way it reduces the grandeur of rock ‘n’ roll stars and brings them back down to earth.
“If you’re into big theatrical rock it would take away from that (grandeur), but I would also say if that’s what you are into, this probably wouldn’t be your thing because punk and hardcore has always been about getting rid of the illusion of the rock star,” he said. “You’re right there with the band. House shows are the way to go to kind of tear down those walls. The bands and fans are of equal importance.”
*The William Tell Act
Gold Manor 2112 Gold Ave. SE
Oct. 23
7 p.m.
$7 entry fee*
