Wichita Falls pop/rock cover band Hellen Bach hosted the party of the month at the Iron Horse Pub last weekend, to celebrate singer Larissa Brown’s birthday with an event dubbed the Year of the Dragon Birthday Bash. San Antonio’s Ratchet Dolls were booked as the opening act, and between the two, it was a party not be missed.
In honor of the occasion, the Iron Horse was decorated with little faux-candles on the tables, birthday decorations, and there were even drink specials, which is rare for a Saturday night. Revelers enjoyed Dragon Juice cocktails and Fire & Ice shots, and Hellen Bach had Year of the Dragon-themed shirts at their merch table, too. It was festive and fun.
As always at a Hellen Bach show, the fun extended to the performance. Drummer Chris Hunt gave Larissa some new kazoos, an “instrument” that she plays during Hellen Bach shows, and she loaded them into a bandolier for easy access. The kazoo bandolier only lasted a little while, though, before Larissa declared a wardrobe malfunction and retired it.
The playlist included the usual Hellen Bach rock and pop numbers, including the Black Key’s “Gold on the Ceiling” (a kazoo song), plus pop numbers from C&C Music Factory and Meghan Trainor. Hellen Bach also covered “Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears for the first time, a song Larissa said she’d been begging the rest of the band to do for years.
A thunderstorm raged outside and it inspired toasts like “I know it’s pretty wet outside but it’s feeling kinda dry in here, isn’t it?” and Larissa came loaded with her usual supply of jokes. Between songs, there were plenty of rimshot-punctuated dragon-themed quips, some funny and some groaners, like “Which side of the dragon has the most scales? The outside.”
It was a fun night in the end, and here’s hoping Larissa had a great birthday. We’ll undoubtedly have another chance or two to catch Hellen Bach this summer and we’re sure you’d enjoy the experience.
Wish Larissa “Happy Birthday” in the comments!
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What do you mean, groaners? Those jokes were on fire...like the dragons! :) Thank you for the awesome article, Troy!