Chronicles of an Austin breakout: Black Pumas return to C-Boys where their journey began

On a chilly evening on the second of November — or as Black Pumas fans might think of it, “Oct. 33” — Austin’s rock ‘n’ soul sensation returned to the tiny South Austin club where it all began to celebrate last week's release of their new album, "Chronicles of a Diamond."

With no advance tickets available, fans brought camp chairs and lined up for hours hoping to catch the band that has thrilled audiences around the world. It was $30 at the door at C-Boy's Heart and Soul, the 150-capacity room that launched their meteoric rise. Black Pumas were scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. By 6 p.m., a long line snaked down South Congress and around the corner onto Johanna Street by Magnolia Cafe.

Inside the club, fans could buy vinyl copies of the new album, T-shirts with the new album graphic on the front and “Back to where it all started 11/2/23” emblazoned on the back, and custom show posters designed by event producer KUTX 98.9 FM. (The show was broadcast live by the station on YouTube and streamed online in the NPR Live Sessions player.)

The club hit capacity shortly after the doors opened to the general public at 7 p.m. But when the band started to play a little after 8, bar staff threw open the door so a group of die-hards who didn’t leave could watch the show from the sidewalk. ACL Radio DJ Andy Langer captured a picture of them joyously cheering and joining in the love fest as the Pumas cleansed the spirits of the crowd with tight laced harmonies, psychedelic riffs and muscular guitar.

From the archives: 'The sky's the limit' with debut album, Black Pumas take flight

How much love was in the room? After each song, deafening cheers shook the venue. Fans who sang along to early hits like “Black Moon Rising” also knew all the words to new tracks like “Mrs. Postman.” Strangers, sardined together, vibed like old homies.

“Eric (Burton) and I started this in 2017. We didn’t have a plan. We didn’t even know we were going to be a band, but we emailed some music to Steve (Wertheimer) from C-Boy’s,” Adrian Quesada, the band’s guitarist and producer said near the end of the show. “He might have heard one or two songs and he was like, ‘Whenever you guys want to play.’”

The band played a nine-week residency at the club in early 2018. By the time they wrapped the final gig on March 29 — an ecstatic happening with a vibe that was equal parts boozy weekend kickoff bash and revival meeting — record labels were clamoring to sign the Pumas.

From the archives: Grammy-nominated Black Pumas perform on Congress Avenue

Five years later, they returned with precision and intuition forged from years spent living in hotel rooms and buses as they lifted hearts and moved masses around the globe. Mixing together songs from their first album with tracks from the new release, the seven-piece unit was impossibly tight.

Eric Burton, always a commanding frontman, has grown into a true rock star without losing his preacher’s soul. He guided us from the club to the pulpit and back again. During the spoken word breakdown on the new album’s lead single “More Than a Love Song,” he coaxed us to “fly together.” We’ll “fly on ‘til we get to other side,” he said.

As sweet harmonies from back-up singers Spice and Lauren Cervantes simmered, building the slow burner “Know You Better” to a magnificent climax, Burton urged us to “feel the changes.”

“You’ve got to listen to your angels,” he said.

After playing the band’s debut single “Black Moon Rising,” a song that is only 5 years old but feels like a classic, Burton took a moment to reflect on his musical journey.

“It all started out as a dream,” he said. He was a street musician who went from busking in subway stations in Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier to the corner of Sixth Street and Congress Avenue in Austin. When he met “the main man, Adrian Quesada,” it was “the moment I learned to dream again,” he said.

Then the band took us on a journey through swirling waters of darkness to a Cadillac cruise back into the sun on the new album’s title track, the complicated story song, “Chronicles of a Diamond.”

“We’ve all been through it, but we’re here together so let’s celebrate,” Burton said at the end.

The incongruous distorted guitar on the psychedelic soda shop jam “Ice Cream (Payphone)” was just as delightful live as it is on the new record, and Burton hopped off the stage to dance with the ladies in the front on “Mrs. Postman.”

“Oct. 33,” a song Burton said was about “bringing our individual fragmented selves back together to get realigned," was a slow seduction. The achy melody built to a feverish cacophony with a gravely guitar solo pushing for a breakthrough while the singers wove harmonies into dreams.

“Sometimes happiness looks like crying in the corner of the room. Don’t let anyone get in the way of your process. It’s a good life. Enjoy it,” he said.

Then he sent the imagination of the crowd soaring with a full-throated singalong of the song heard round the world, “Colors.”

The band closed with the raucous Summer of Love jam “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a rollicking number with a shuffling beat, ample guitar antics and a sweet chariot to carry us home followed by the heartbreaker “Angel.” As the final chord resolved, our hearts, where were never “made of steel,” felt lighter than ever.

Black Pumas on Nov. 2 at C-Boy’s Setlist

• “Gemini Sun”

• “More Than a Love Song”

• “Know You Better”

• “Black Moon Rising”

• “Chronicles of a Diamond”

• “Ice Cream”

• “Mrs. Postman”

• “Confines”

• “Fire”

• “Oct. 33”

• “Colors”

• “Rock ‘n’ Roll”

See Black Pumas live in Austin

Black Pumas will play a run of four shows at ACL Live in Austin on Dec. 3-6. At press time, tickets were available for $74.92 and up for the Dec. 3 show. More information at acllive.com.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin fans cram into tiny club C-Boys for intimate Black Pumas show