"I Want You To Party" Mango's July 4, 2011
Mango's could have been drastically more packed for its 24-band Fourth of July "I Want You To Party" extravaganza if not for the meddling neighbors and the red and blue. We arrived at 2:30 p.m. and watched the crowd straggle in from the blistering heat. Originally, two stages were set up, one inside and one outside. After Gnome Chomsky played at 2 p.m., Mantis gathered up an intrigued, weight-shifting crowd outside.
Unfortunately for us, the set lasted about as long as it took for them to set up - the soulful, piano-based quartet led by Nicholas Greer had to cut their set short only three songs in because of the cops. Seriously, who makes a noise complaint on Independence Day?
Mango's back-door neighbor, of course. During the waiting period when no one knew what to do and just sat around outside, we got to hear a lot of stories about ye olden days before there were huge high-rises behind the venue. But in a matter of minutes, promoter Eric Dean managed to get in touch with the kind people at Numbers and move the outdoor bands inside across the street instead.
We figured it would be a good time to walk back to our apartment and hang until things picked back up. Maybe it was the sudden venue change, or maybe everyone in Houston was out of town or watching fireworks, but when we came back around 7 p.m., there seemed to be less people than there were at the hottest time of the day.
Even Jeremiah, the faithful and energetic Mango's doorman, was slumped over his wristband table.
