Arc Angels: A Bit Of A Let Down
Last Friday night I went down to the Variety Playhouse to check out the Arc Angels. They are back together again after several long years. Unfortunately a night filled with excitement ended in a bit of a disappointment.
The Variety Playhouse was packed, the techs were done fiddling with what needed to be fiddled with and the lights went down. People crowded toward the stage and the whoops and hollers were abundant as 4 shadowy figures made their way to their respected spots on stage. The spotlights came on, the music kicked in and we were all on our way to an evening of jamming out to the tunes of the Arc Angels.
They kicked the show off with the song "Paradise Cafe", Doyle Bramhall's guitar was kicking some major ass as he always does, laying down cool, smooth blues licks for the crowd to absorb with their ears. After that they proceeded to run through nearly all the songs on their album with a few other gems added in for good measure. Tunes like "Sweet Nadine", Living In A Dream" and "Angel Eyes had the crowd singing along, many times over powering the vocals of Doyle and Charlie Sexton. I felt the best job they did all night was on "Shape I'm In" and "Too Many Ways Too Fall". After a choice set they finished with a 2 song encore then parted ways with the crowd and headed off to wherever they go when their time on stage is finished. Musically a good set, a good sound, they hit all the songs everyone wanted to hear.
Now for the disappointment. Yes the music was descent, but the show was very bland, there was no showmanship. Doyle seemed pissed off about something all evening and spent the night pacing around the stage like a caged animal trying to find a way out. Often he was standing to the far left or behind his amps or even with his back to the audience. Charlie seemed to be in his own little world laughing about something that was funny to him only. He started the show saying it was great to back at the Point. It's the Variety Playhouse Charlie, the Point closed years ago. Chris Layton sat behind the drums with the same expression the whole show, a look of pure boredom. There was no kick ass jamming, no breaking into great blues guitar solos or anything. The guitar play was spot on, but nothing to take it to that next level and show how awesome a guitar player either of the 2 guys are. To me it seemed they were just walking through the motions to get through the night.
I expected more from these guys, I expected an awe inspiring show a show that grabbed me by the throat and said take this. I expected a night showcasing incredible guitar play, a show that was filled with passion for the music. All I got was a night of their greatest hits which, which was nice, but I could have saved the $25 and sat at home and blasted the CD over my stereo.
