Khraungbin with an epic last night of their tour. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

We may as well call 2018 “The Year of Khruangbin”, it was a coming out party for the Texas trio (formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald Ray "DJ" Johnson Jr. on drums) as they ended their US tour in our fair city this past Saturday night. The band has been around for a couple years but this year they managed to put the world on notice. The trio brought their unique musical blends of genres to a sold out house and managed to turn the venue into their own dance party. Relying heavily on their influences of soul, funk, rock, hip hop, psychedelia, disco, and Thai influences, the band took us on a two hour musical journey. With the opening chords of “Bin Bin” to the last rousing applause of “Maria Tambien” that evoked an emotional response from the band as they laid their instruments down one last time for a well needed break, toss in one of the best instrumental mash-ups we have ever heard and it made for a magical December night at The Ogden. Opening the night was one of our favorites from SXSW this year The Marias, the LA band was a last minute opener and meshed well with their soul influenced roots that won the crowd over.

Words and Images- Robert Castro