speed of dark

My brother, Indie Mom's Uncle T is also a music-lover. He recently supplied his own list of Top 10 CDs of 2006 for Speed of Dark, and he is our Dallas connection. A week ago he attended a show by the Heartless Bastards and sent me a detailed review and several photos. I've had to edit it somewhat for our format, but otherwise the words below are his.

I was not familiar with opening band Pleasant Grove, so I looked them up and found they are from Austin, not Dallas. Their sound is somewhere between My Morning Jacket and Midlake, but even more laid-back than either, so it is understandable that they suffered a bit in comparison to the hard-rocking Bastards.

Heartless Bastards and Pleasant Grove
Sons of Herman Hall – Dallas, TX - January 20, 2007

Sons of Herman Hall is an old place, with a nice wooden bar on the first floor and a ballroom upstairs for performances. It has hosted many great Texas country and roots acts. My old friend, fellow programmer and mutual music lover, David, and I saw a brilliant show there by Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men several years ago. The acoustics are great, because it’s all wood floors and walls. It’s not huge either, and makes for very intimate concert viewing. It’s recently been voted as the best concert venue in Dallas, and is noted for the quality of the artists that play there.

Once the crowd was let in, we were able to get great seats in front to the left of the stage. There was only a small table in front of us with three people, but once the Heartless Bastards started playing those guys were in front of the stage dancing to the music (allowing me an unobstructed view from my seat -- sweet).

Opening band: Pleasant Grove

• Marcus Striplin - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Bells, Omni-chord, Pick-axe
• Bret Egner - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Bells, Percussion
• Joe Butcher - Pedal Steel, Hammond Organ, Moog, Rhodes, Mellotron
• Tony Hormilosa - Bass Guitar, Triangle, Copy Machine
• Jeff Ryan - Drums, Percussion

Local concert promoter Mike Snyder introduced Pleasant Grove as Dallas’ best band. And they were a pleasant surprise to me. I don’t get out much these days and wasn’t familiar with their music. Their songs were pretty decent; not great, but not bad. However they played really well together as a band, and elevated the songs to dizzying heights at times. Everything they played sounded good, and their music was always engaging and interesting. So musically, they set the bar pretty high for the evening. However, the Heartless Bastards greatly surpassed them in every way (songs, singing, and musicianship) once they came on.

Pleasant Grove: Solid System from Pleasant Grove (2000)
Pleasant Grove: Tug of War (Twenty Arms) from The Art of Leaving (2004)
Pleasant Grove's Official Website (under construction) | MySpace | Buy music

Main act: Heartless Bastards
• Erika Wennerstrom: Guitar, piano, and vocals
• Mike Lamping: Bass
• Kevin Vaughn: Drums


Erika got up on stage right before their set and tuned all three of her guitars herself, while the other guys in the band waited in the crowd. I briefly spoke with them at that time, and they said they’d be opening more shows for Lucinda Williams soon, including a March show in Dallas at the Granada Theatre.

Erika is still a little nervous on stage, quickly introducing songs and acknowledging appreciation of the audience, but she got a bit more comfortable as the set went on. What little she said between songs was often inaudible due to the cheering crowd, who clearly loved the performance. But Erika and the band really focused on the music, putting on an infinitely tighter and better show than the 30-minute one I attended in October 2005 when they opened for the Detroit Cobras.


Tonight they quickly and adeptly went from one song to the next. Everything they played was excellent, and the crowd cheered, sang along, danced, and grooved enthusiastically throughout. Erika’s singing was great throughout. Kevin Vaughn is an excellent drummer, and Mike was pretty good on bass as well. In short, it was a great show. They played all the songs off their latest (All This Time) CD, most from their first, and even introduced a great new little song.

Set List (in this general order):
• No Pointing Arrows: Nice song from All This Time to start off with.
• Done Got Old: Great cover of this Junior Kimbrough blues song, with Erika singing the hell out of it and the band slamming down the riff.
• Brazen: Excellent rocker that got the crowd moving and grooving. This sounded great in concert. (One of gramma's favorites too.)
• Blue Day: Erika switched guitars for this one.
• All This Time: Nice version off the 2006 CD.
• Came a Long Way: They did a great version of this, with Erika singing her heart out.
• Into the Open: This was wonderful in concert. It sounded more powerful than on the CD, and the crowd loved it.
• Valley of Debris
• New Resolution: Great.
• Searching For the Ghost: Ditto--Super great.
• I Swallowed a Dragonfly
• My Maker: Excellent rocker off their first CD, Stairs and Elevators. They didn’t play it the last time I saw them, and I’m glad they played it tonight because it’s a favorite of mine.
• The Will Song: Good version of this, but in my mind they played it better in concert during the 2005 show. At any rate, she sang it great again tonight.
• Swamp Song: Nice rocker that kept the crowd in front of the stage moving.
• Finding Solutions
• Runnin: Another favorite of mine from their first CD. They did a great version of this to end their set. Afterwards, Mike Snyder took the stage and rallied the crowd for a few more songs.
Encore:
• New song: Erika played a great new song, or at least a portion of it, by herself on guitar. Not sure if this is a song she’s currently developing. At any rate, it was pretty short and she segued it into the opening chords to “Lazy” with the others joining in.
• Lazy: This was their heavy blues-rocker that ended their first CD, and the band slammed it down perfectly. This was another one I wanted them to play, and it was super.
• Gray: They ended their set with this nice rocker, just like the 2005 show.

Afterwards the band exited the stage. I congratulated drummer Kevin Vaughn on a great show, and told him I’m looking forward to seeing them again when they open for Lucinda in March.

Heartless Bastards will soon be appearing:
Jan 26 2007 8:00P - 12 Galaxies - San Francisco, California
Jan 27 2007 8:00P - Blue Lamp - Sacramento, California
Jan 30 2007 8:00P - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan 31 2007 8:00P - Neurolux - Boise, Idaho
Feb 2 2007 8:00P - Bluebird Theater - Denver, Colorado
Feb 3 2007 8:00P - Trilogy - Boulder, Colorado
Feb 5 2007 8:00P - The Bottleneck - Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 6 2007 8:00P - Mojo's - Columbia, Missouri
Feb 7 2007 8:00P - The Picador - Iowa City, Iowa
Feb 8 2007 8:00P - Cowboy Monkey - Champaign, Illinois
Feb 9 2007 8:00P - Jake's - Bloomington, Indiana
Feb 10 2007 8:00P - Phoenix Hill Tavern - Louisville, Kentucky

See the Heartless Bastards' MySpace page for a complete list of their U.S. spring tour dates and venues.
Buy at Amazon, emusic, and iTunes
Click here to watch a video of Erika Wennerstrom in a live performance.