94% of the time, if you say to me, “Hey, I’ve got an extra (free) ticket to this show, do you want to go with me?”, I will say yes, even if I have never previously heard of the band. I like live music and I like discovering new bands, and most of the people who are in the position to offer me a free pass to a show played by a band I’ve never heard of know my taste well enough to have a good idea of what I will or won’t enjoy. (6% exceptions: bands I have never seen live but know I don’t enjoy recorded, bands I have seen live and know I don’t enjoy live, nights when I am too tired to move, nights when I’d rather go watch baseball.) I know everybody doesn’t feel this way — most people want to see bands they know and love, which I understand, because I always want to see those bands, too, but if the choice is between free live music I’ve never heard before and sitting on the couch watching Simpsons reruns, music always wins.

So yesterday, when J. texted me to ask if I wanted to go see Futurebirds with him, I said yes without thinking about it, particularly. I knew he was really into their debut EP, I knew I was sulking because Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings had sold out (and was out of my price range) and Josh Ritter was out of my price range and seated and I hadn’t managed to score a photo pass for it anyway, so why not go see a show at the 506 that’s likely to have a smaller audience and let me move around to shoot more than anything else the Triangle was offering? Plus it was free, and I hadn’t seen J. since February, so yes; of course yes.

Futurebirds hail from Athens, Georgia — as do so many bands I love — and my immediate reaction to learning this was, wait, they have a pedal steel player from Athens who isn’t Matt Stoessel? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?¹. My second reaction, once they blasted into their first song, was sudden and intense bowling-over. Their sound isn’t one that I’m completely unfamiliar with — I’d compare it closest to the sweet Southern indie pop of the Ginger Envelope, another Athens band who nobody but me’s ever heard of, but that’s not even a perfect comparison, either, because the Ginger Envelope is more low-key than Futurebirds were — but Futurebirds makes that sound in a raucous way that almost looks out of control until their tight musicianship reins it back in right at the end of songs that wrap up neatly and perfectly.

Six guys, with four who swapped instruments — pedal steel and bass appear to be held down firmly by their respective players, which is understandable; pedal steel players, not interchangeable with other instrumentalists, mostly — and their sound teeters between rock and indie pop and, in the spots where the banjo and the pedal steel sing up over the rest of the band, enough roots that they’d hold down a stage fine in Bristol. Think Fleet Foxes, maybe, but more upbeat, or Band of Horses in some of their more high tempo joyful moments. High energy pop-rock that’s just unique enough, just off center enough to be captivating. And they’re just so much fun to watch, charming and wild and almost too many for a tiny stage like the 506’s.

I couldn’t tell you what songs they played, but I can tell you that after one set, I’m incredibly excited for the full length they’re releasing on Autumn Tone Records later this year. Futurebirds are dynamic on stage — always fun to come home with photos that are mostly a smear of guitar player — and dynamic in music, and they’re a band that’s going somewhere. Hopefully that somewhere will bring them through the Triangle regularly, because I’d love to see them again with a better familiarity with their music. Also, they were super nice guys.

(Bands from Athens are the only bands I’ve found who are willing to let the steel sing up over the rest of the music, instead of using it as sonic texture. What’s up with that? Not a complaint; a compliment, a curiosity. Is it Stoessel’s playing and influence? Because if you have a steel player that good, you really shouldn’t bury him, and the Ginger Envelope never does. I didn’t catch Futurebirds’ steel player’s name, but he was also excellent, and I’ve made a study of good and bad pedal steel playing over the years, trufax.)

They’ve got two more weeks of dates with Jessica Lea Mayfield — whose set last night I didn’t stay for, but who I can vouch is utterly marvelous live, having seen her previously — and Birmingham’s the Dexateens hook up with them for the last few dates on the run. Now that’s a powerhouse tour: I can’t think of three more high energy bands that don’t sound much alike but who will compliment the hell out of each other one after another on stage. A little bummed that the Dexateens weren’t part of last night’s lineup, actually; it’s been two years since I’ve seen them and I miss them a lot.

So was it a better night than staying home to watch Simpsons reruns? Yeah, it was — much better a night than watching Simpsons reruns. And that’s really all I ever ask from going in to a show blind about the bands; when I get more, like I did last night, it’s just a bonus.

1: I thought every band from Athens who needed pedal steel just automatically called Stoessel up. If you google his name and see how many bands he plays with, you would not question this assumption of mine.