Man, it was all I though it'd be, and more.

As you may remember from last Mondays post, we went up to Dallas to see The Arc Angels Friday. It was a wonderful evening, with the show exceeding my expectations in almost every way.

I'd never been to the House of Blues before, but I'd heard good things about it. I got the tickets online a while back when I surfed to see what kinds of concerts were gonna go down and noticed the Arc Angels on the list. I couldn't believe my luck, reading that these guys, who hadn't really been a band for years, were gonna join back up and play a few gigs around the state, and that one would be in Dallas on a Friday night. It seems like most of the concerts I want to see are set up on a Wednesday, or some shit like that. Since when did concerts start happenin' in the middle of a week?



Anyway, we got up there, got into our hotel room, changed clothes and headed to the show. The lead up band was supposed to start at 8PM, but it was closer to 9. They were a very young group from Austin named Electric Touch, with a lead singer from England.



They were very tight, and they played their asses off, but I got the impression that they'd studied their act almost as much as their instruments. They had all the clothes, and all the poses to make you think they were rock stars, but their music was mainly revved up Pop music, and didn't have very much depth or soul.

They reminded me of Oasis, or any one of a number of older British invasion Pop groups. In fact, at one point, in the middle of one of their own tunes, they drifted into a classic Beatles number, doing a wonderful job with it (I can't remember the tune now to save my life). It was kinda sad, that this was the thing that finally got the audience to clap and move in their seats.

They played for a half hour or so, and then the curtain was drawn closed and people in the audience went to hit the head or refresh their adult beverages, waiting for the main event. There's a cool system at work there at the House of Blues. You can text message for a waitress and they'll bring you a new drink, or even food, and they said they don't charge your phone for the message. They flash the number to use over and over again on the two screens that project the concert footage from there side of the stage.



When the curtains opened again, at about 10PM, I was glad to see all the original members of the Arc Angels playing on the stage.



I was afraid that this guy, Doyle Bramhall II wouldn't be there. He's kind of a big shot now, playing with the likes of Roger Waters and Eric Clapton, but the vibe on the stage showed that these guys were havin' a wonderful time playin' again together.



Every so often, Charlie Sexton (on the right) would walk over to whisper something in Bramhall's ear. He'd smile and they'd exchange some words, maybe making changes to the set list, or joking about who should sing the songs. It was great! You really got the idea that these guys were having a ball, getting back in the groove of playing together and soaking up the love from the crowd.



They played for about two hours, going through all the songs you'd expect. The rhythm section, drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, were the calmest and coolest dudes on the stage. They just did what they do best, letting the guitar dudes play up to the crowd and share the lead spot. Over the space of those two hours the band drifted through tunes like "Shape I'm In", "Good Time", "Living in a Dream" and "Sent by Angels", with each old song being met with huge eruptions of applause by a Dallas audience that was obviously familiar with their music. At one point they busted into a Jimi Hendrix tune, I think it was "Castles made of Sand", with Bramhall doing the vocals and he and Sexton kickin' ass on the guitars. It was a wonderful surprise.



By the end of the gig, I was getting nervous, not having heard my favorite tune yet. They did the usual ritual, pretending the end the gig, going off to freshen up their drinks or take a piss while we all kept a steady applause going. After five minutes or so they came back on stage and played two more songs.

The last one was the one I was waiting for. It's the tune I've posed about three times before, including in last Mondays post. What the hell. I think it's as close a representation of what I saw last week as you're ever gonna get. So watch it one more time. This is what it looked and sounded like folks. Here's "Too Many Ways To Fall". Enjoy.



If these guys ever come back to town again, and you have a chance to see them, don't pass it up. It's a real treat. If you want to see more pictures from the show, click over to my FlickR site. Cheers!