The Ballroom at the Taft Theater & The Features

Last night Wonder Boy and I went to the inaugural night of The Ballroom at the Taft Theater, ostensibly to watch J Roddy Walston and the Business. While we were parking, we saw Frank the Tank and Easy Breezy walking to the show. They were going for the same reason we were. The Features. And they were fabulous! So, a review in two parts.

The Ballroom at The Taft Theater
I’ve seen plenty of shows at The Taft Theater and I’ve always loved the romance of the building… the intimacy of the venue despite how many people it holds. With the recent closing of the Southgate House, The Taft is smart to be opening a smaller venue. There’s a need in this city for venues where smaller acts can play. Enter The Ballroom.

While the main theater at The Taft is grand, The Ballroom is a lot more VFW hall. The room is in the basement and looks cavernous. Fortunately, the acoustics are pretty great. And because it’s in The Taft, visitors get to enjoy nice bathrooms, which is a feature that few other concert halls in town can compete with.

I’ll be seeing another show at The Ballroom next month and am looking forward to it.

The Features
To begin, it’s worth pointing out that it would hard for me to acknowledge a bad Features show. But, if it was bad I would just tell people it was good. Because it was fabulous, I’ll let anyone and everyone know.

I was happy for The Features when they got included in the most recent Twilight soundtrack, but concerned about future shows. Last night there were lots of teens and the show. Fears realized. But in what I view as a funny F you, the song from the soundtrack was never played. Instead, they played and sang their butts off.

I’ve been seeing The Features play a little more than a show a year for about eight years now. When I saw them open for the Kings of Leon years ago, I knew I’d found my new favorite band. Last night I got to watch other people discover them. “This guy is awesome!” I heard one man say. When the show ended the couple next to Wonder Boy and I just kept exclaiming, “That was unbelievable!” Yes it was.