The Glass Family
Red Eyed Fly, Feb. 3
The curse of a benefit: $10 tickets mean the crowd’s lackluster and the energy level lower than a post-Thanksgiving conversation. Friday’s Dance Marathon benefit for the Dell Children’s Hospital was no different. Following a handful of emo teen acts, local fivepiece the Glass Family took the stage for a 15-minute soundcheck, which did little for pace. When Family head Michael Winningham finally led his troupe to Sleep Inside This Wheel (I Eat Records), opener “Stop Dead in Your Tracks” fortunately didn’t live up to its name. Like the band’s 2005 debut, “Stop Dead” is easy listening – pretty, calming, coercive. But the new album is old news. Readying the next one, “Killing the Muse” eschews straightforward indie rock for something bigger: U2 guitars and a huge drum sound. Wheel highlight “Swimming in Fiction” followed soon thereafter, winning over newbie fans. The evolution of this fivepiece has been a fast, vibrant one, and the new tracks predict it even further, but with Winningham finishing up with a new, slow, acoustic number, it was clear the Glass Family’s still as green as Martha’s thumb. Always end on a high note, especially if you’re not headlining the show. After all the kids had gone to bed, the Arm blistered through a succinct headlining slot somewhat disgruntled. Benefits just don’t hold the goodwill they once did, even if their aim is ailing children.
This article appears in February 10 • 2006.