A Slick Witch’s Keepsake at the Railyard

By Kyle Halligan-Duffy 

Music Journalist 

What do you get when you mix wispy dream pop with pop funk and heavy shoegaze? You have a good time at The Railyard that’s what! Last weekend the bar and grill hosted Austin natives Keepsake, the San Marcos home team Slick, and Witches Exist who have returned to Hays to showcase their new EP “shelter in the cocoon” with F.U.N.S producing the show. The night was filled with amazing soundscapes, fun dance tunes and the crowd jumping to the beats while having good drinks and great food.  

The show openers Keepsake, a shoegaze/dreampop band, kicked the concert off well with incredible vocals, fuzzy guitars and the occasional upbeat song giving off a The Cure–esque feel. The lead for the band showed off their pink flowered guitar and wealth of pedals for that chorus sound and floored the crowd with resounding vibrato vocals. The rest of the band did not disappoint either. Adding texture to the setlist, the lead guitars, bass and drums resonated through the air and entranced the audience with solid guitar solos, rhythms that switched from sibilance filled cymbal work to mixed meter dance beats and a bassist that filled the spaces in between perfectly. Keepsake is also planning to record soon, so watch for new singles. 

The hometown heroes, Slick, came up next. The pop-funk, R&B band gave the crowd many an upbeat tune with jumping bass, vamping keys and featured some fantastic guitar solos. Slicks lead stole the show in more ways than one. With a witty stage presence and soulful singing, it was hard for the audience to not have a good time. But even with a charismatic lead, the rest of the band kept up without issue. Keys gave a performance to be proud of, bass played filthiest funk grooves, guitar was solid as a rock, and drums gave near falsetto vocals while keeping beat with a busted wrist. With a surprise encore cover of “Me and Your Mama”, Slick left the stage for our headliner but not without letting us know that they are also planning to record soon with their original song “Elevated” taking top billing.  

Homecoming headliners, Witches Exist, took the stage last creating incredible noisy shoegaze with both heavy and upbeat songs, the band gave the crowd a huge helping of their EP “shelter in the cocoon” in a no pause playback live session. The first two songs, including “Tacomex” from their 2023 album Crashing, started off the set strong with heavy riffs, deliberate, banging drums, and crazy synth workings. The latter half of the set was nearly all dedicated to the new EP, but it did not disappoint. Trying a faster paced, jumpy sound, songs like the EP’s namesake “shelter in the cocoon,” have bands like The Strokes and more post-punk ideas in mind while tracks like “I could not find it” fit more at home with the rest of the Witches Exist discography. This show showcased an evolving group that may have already broken that cocoon’s mold and a bright future ahead them. 

Special shout out to F.U.N.S producing that was perfectly on point and The Railyard for providing the utmost in service and menu items that were plentiful and delicious. Slick’s Keyboardist Adream recommends loaded fries if you find yourself there on another eventful Saturday like this.