So, this past May I made a three day stand at the Richardson Wildflower Festival, and on that final day of the festival I came across the Dallas based rock outfit, 76. I saw them a few nights afterwards, when they performed at Renfield’s Corner. Then the band hit a dry spell with shows, not doing any I was aware of until last month, and I was bit sad I wasn’t able to make it to either of them. The, they got a couple more shows booked, one of which was a free one, right back at good ol’ Renfield’s Corner.

I arrived just in the nick of time, as the quartet was on stage doing one final, short sound check. Once they had finished it, and the “house speakers” were turned down, singer and guitarist, Terry Glaze, announced that they were 76, and then handed things over to lead guitarist, Brian Harris. He started the band off on a instrumental song that seemed to really embody the rock ‘n’ roll spirit, and despite me not liking instrumental stuff all that much, this was flat out killer. Once it was done, Terry mentioned that was just a warm up, and that now they were ready to start the real songs. “This one’s called Meat Head” he told everyone as they tore into the song. He announced the titles for most of the tunes they did this night, and as he said the next one was called “Try”, drummer, Taz Bentley, started them into the song by playing what else, a cowbell. It did sound pretty badass, and once it was over Taz patched it right into their next. “We were watching American Idol when we wrote this next song and we were like, “We want that. We just want to be famous!” said Terry in a hurried manner, but with quite a bit of excitement and enthusiasm. The song was “I Want to be Famous”, and upon finishing it, Brian and Terry took time to tune their guitars. As they did so, Terry took time to thank not only everyone for coming out, but also to Renfield’s for having them out again. He mentioned how much he liked the place, “…Because this is how I imagine Jimmy Page’s basement sounded.” Bassist, Kinley Wolfe, then said something into Terry’s ear. He then corrected himself, “I’m sorry, I imagine this is how heaven sounds. Which I imagine is like Jimmy Page’s basement.” He went on to say something about having people tied up down there, too, as Kinley just stared at him. “No one else does? I guess that’s just me then.” he said, before adding the next song was appropriately titled, “Another One”. Their following song was about hookers, “…’Cause really who doesn’t like hookers?” said Terry, as they began “East Coast Rose”. Out of everything they played this night, this song had the best intro out of them. The rhythm section of Kinley and Taz got it going, with some heavy, captivating notes. It went on a minute or more before Brian joined them, then Terry got into it, as they all shredded and rocked out, before he approached the mic and started singing. Afterwards, they continued the rhythm action as Brian and Terry left the stage, while Kinley rocked out a stellar bass solo, which ranged from some low-end notes that really resonated, to some high pitched ones that should have shattered every glass in the bar. Taz did join him for some brief moments here and there, but for the most part the spotlight belonged solely to Kinley. As he finished up, Terry and Brian returned from the booth they had seated themselves at, and they went into what I find to be my favorite 76 tune, and then did “Leave Me Alone”. “…When we were cutting that song, we wrote it about our ex-wife’s…” Terry quipped before they began that latter song. A new song came next, which they supposedly wrote just the night before after Terry had flown in for these shows. Now, I say “supposedly” because they song was amazing, and didn’t sound like it had just been put together the night before, nor did they perform it like it was, which I guess only shows the level of musicianship they have. They did another original, which I believe was titled “Don’t Know Why”, and then they decided they should do a tribute to the late Whitney Houston. Terry said it was a song by Pat Travers, and while I’m not familiar with his stuff, after looking at some of his song titles, I think it was “Snortin’ Whiskey, Drinkin’ Cocaine” that they covered. “…I know for a fact she loved that song, and listened to it before every show she did…” said Terry when they were finished. Some may say that’s a bit tasteless, but come on, it’s probably true, too. At this point, they had one final song left, and it closed out their 61 minute set.

The thing was, it didn’t even seem like they played that long. That’s just how quick it went by, as they fully engrossed me in their set.

I’d say the one thing I like most about these guys is the type of music they play, which highly resembles that of “classic rock” as it is now referred to. Sure, modern rock is good, and their stuff does have touches of it, but there’s just something about that older vibe that not only suits them, but they can pull it off perfectly. So, if you like that style of music too, you need to go see a 76 show. You know, whenever they do another one.