You know it’s going to be a great night when Delta Spirit’s label sets you up with a precious commodity: the photo pass. Unfortunately, this writer has zero skill in that department and had to get resourceful about it. Enter Christian Williams, Girl With A Fancy Cam — but no lime green bracelet. Long story short, a deal was made and a very happy Desiree writes this review today. Thank you, Big Hassle and thank you, Christian Williams.
Back to my great Thursday night.
Other surprises included opening bands The Romany Rye and David Vandervelde. I give each of them a B/B- for stage costume, but a hearty A+ for the quality of their performance and music. I guess sunglasses and bare chests don’t really do it for me … but I can’t say no to good folk rock. Overall, the general consensus seemed to be if you weren’t feeding a vice (another beer, another smoke), then your eyes and ears were glued to the talent.
That said, it’s also entirely possible everyone was trying to nail down a spot for the Delta Spirit set. My group and I managed to elbow our way to an adequate space; one that we guarded in vain. Who were we kidding? Anyone who’s seen a great show at The Loft Dallas (and we were certainly expecting this to be great) knows there’s no stopping the fans that frequent it. All we could do was cozy up, make do and get ready for some slightly cramped dance moves.
Totally worth the effort. Delta Spirit began with two of my favorites – they opened with a chorus from “People Turn Around” that immediately launched into a frenzied “Bushwick Blues.” (Quick aside: With this group, it’s nearly impossible to use the word “favorite” in singular form. When I say they played one of my favorites in the middle of the set -“White Table” – and another favorite for their encore – “People C’mon” – I mean exactly that. My music and my food – those are the only two areas you’ll find me in a regular state of indecisiveness.)
But that’s enough digressing, let’s get to the point. The energy of the crowd never faded, not even when the flow of the show was briefly interrupted by a feedback mishap. No, we rode the Delta Spirit wave, bypassing the obligatory “end” of the set and moving straight into the encore. Because everyone, even the band, knew we wanted that encore.
Another thing I knew was that we were all congratulating ourselves for being such wise fans. Surely there’s no way Delta Spirit can make their way through Dallas again, without booking a larger venue. We had the foresight to attend their show while the getting was still good and small… so if you were there, give yourself a pat on the back! See you at the next one.
