School Spirit.

Neon Indian Received A Hero’s Welcome In Its Homecoming at The Bomb Factory Last Night.

Listen, there’s no point in trying to pretend as if I have any objectivity about last night’s Red Bull Sound Select showcase at The Bomb Factory.

First of all, along with our pals at Fun Fun Fun Fest, we here at Central Track curated the night, which featured a lineup of performers including the Denton ex-pats in Neon Indian, Austin’s Bayonne (nee Roger Sellers) and Dallas’ own The Outfit, TX. Also, I somehow got roped into hosting the damn thing and introducing all the bands. Oh, and then at one point I donned a mask and mobbed with The Outfit on stage, too.

So, yeah, I’m completely biased in my thoughts on the event. I get that. And, no, I won’t blame you, I guess, if you take my word with a grain of salt when I say that the show was a good time. But, really, it was a lot of fun — thanks in large part to all the moving parts that came together to help make the night happen.

That in mind, let me take a page out of last night’s script and use this space to shout out those awesome people.

Shout out to the awesome D-Lish and Easy Slider food trucks for holding things down out on the patio and keeping everyone’s bellies full. Shout out to slap bracelets. Shout out to the dude we had air-brushing T-shirts free of charge. Shout out to my friends Daniel Rodrigue and Catherine Downes for running a very cool Polaroid photo booth, complete with cheesy ’80s yearbook backdrop. Shout out to the many people who helped us with various setting-up and line-check-in duties. Shout out to the Bomb Factory’s bomb staff, too.

Shout out to the D-Town All-Stars skating crew for kicking the night off with a very rad skateboarding demo. (See them again on October 17 at D-Town Throwdown!) Shout out to Jus-Stone for kicking the night off with a killer DJ set that pretty much blew away everyone who was in the room at that point.

Shout out to Bayonne for his killer, multi-instrumental set and every cooler visual accompaniment.

Shout out to The Outfit, TX for turning the Bomb Factory the hell up with a fiery set — one that, on paper, might’ve felt out of place on this lineup but, in practice, turned out to be an incredible, much-needed addition.

Shout out to Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo, Jorge Palomo, Jason Faries, Drew Erickson and Max Townsley for capping the night off with a thrilling, wide-ranging set — one that rightly received a warm welcome from the excited audience and actually kind of made up for the fact that it’s been at least a couple years since these hometown heroes had played a set locally. Special shout out, too, to Alan Palomo’s incredible dance moves. He’s always been a talented showman, but, somehow, he appears to have only improved that skill set. I don’t know how he moves around as much as he does during Neon Indian shows without sweating profusely, but he somehow does it and it’s remarkable.

Shout out to the folks Fun Fun Fun Fest, Transmission Events and Red Bull Sound Select for working so smoothly with us to turn this night into the great time that it was.

Shout out, too, to all of you who made it out to the party last night, bringing with you a sweet, great energy and warm spirit to the affair. Y’all rock the hardest. We’re already looking forward to seeing you again at the next Sound Select event — one that, yes, you can rest assured we’ll update you on as as soon as those details become available.

Lastly, shout out to act photographer Karlo X. Ramos, who documented the night for posterity with his trusty eye. Check out a sampling of his captures from the night below.