Words & Photos by Jose Serrato
At about 9:30 pm, Better Lovers guitarist, Jordan Buckley, stepped out onto the stage to address the crowd before the band started their set. The message was about the absence of Goose, the band’s drummer. Earlier in the day, Goose had to leave the tour because of a family emergency. The band was faced with a tough decision about what to do for not only this show, but for the rest of the tour. Originally the plan was to have someone step in to take over the drums, which would mean the setlist would be cut short with no time to learn the hour long set. Buckley told the crowd that we will be hearing Goose, but not seeing him. What? BL came up with the idea to take the recording of a previous show, isolate the drums and have everyone else play to those tracks. The crowd inside The Studio at The Factory seemed pumped to the idea. The show we’ve all been waiting for all year is about to begin.
As Buckley walked off stage, a track started to play over the speakers. A track that consisted numerous songs that had the word love in it. Songs from artists that ranged from Whitney Houston to Pantera and everything in between. The band came out and went into the opening track of their first full length album, “Lie Between The Lines.” Already I see a body coming over the barricade heading straight for my head. Thank you to the security guys that constantly save us from getting kicked in the head from crowd surfers.
In the spring of 2023, I got a text from a friend with a link to a track on Spotify. If Dustin is sending me music, I know I need to listen to it as soon as possible. The track was “30 Under 13” by a new band named Better Lovers. I remember my reply was, “What is this?!?” I was hooked immediately. A couple months later we got an EP release from the band and in October of 2024 we got the full length debut album. Ever since hearing that first track, I needed to see this band live. It finally happened this past Thursday on a cold night in Deep Ellum. Like with any hardcore band, I knew we were walking into an intense show. The pit will be fully alive.
The hour long set consisted 14 tracks that would keep the pit happy throughout. “Circle Pit! Circle Pit!” was yelled on the mic and the crowd responded. The circle pit nearly took up the entire venue. I thought I was safe from it as I stood towards the back, but I wasn’t. Bodies came flying into us and I was thrown back into the merch table. That table saved me from falling on my cameras. After a quick sing-a-long of “If You’re Happy And You Know It” and taking a small breather, the band went into the song that started it all, “30 Under 13.”
In case you were wondering, the band sounded amazing considering there was no live drummer. If you closed your eyes, you wouldn’t even know that it was a recording. Amazing job done by the band and their sound guy.
Better Lovers will be back in Dallas on April 15th in support of Poison The Well as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album, The Opposite of December.
