Black Angels at Dark Side Lounge

Caught the show last night, and as usual the Angels were very good. They opened the set with a particularly strong song that I've never heard before (a classic VU influenced psychedelic droner) and were much tighter than when I caught them a couple months ago in Denton. As I noted yesterday, their singer seems to be the center piece of this band, which usually separates bands with a chance to get big from those that are destined to open for Pleasant Grove for the rest of their career. Although they certainly have room to branch out into new musical directions, Black Angels are young and have a chance to get even better in the next year or two. Definitely worth seeing whenever they come to Dallas. By the way, they've got a great video presentation going with their live set, and we seemed to develop a crush on the keyboard player, partially due to the fact that she was wearing a Suede shirt. Oh maybe maybe its the clothes we wear....

Opener Blackheart Society is a new band, and it shows. While they started somewhat strong, the vocals were too low, the drummer was off time, and so was everyone else in the band at different points in the set. From what we understand, however, they have only played a couple shows, so we won't ship them off to the shit list just yet. They've got potential to be a good altcountry meets VU and Neil Young kinda thing once they find their sound and tighten up their shows. And we like the singer's face, but we don't know why....

Darkside Lounge is a place we've never been, but we liked it. Interesting stage space, nice lighting, and pool tables are about all you can ask for these days, and they've got em all. Pretty cheap drinks too. Its a decent place to see a show, even if it means getting stared down by Dr. Dre and the homies on the way to the club. Ed Lover, however, failed to make an appearance. I think even he is afraid of going to Deep Ellum on Saturday nights.... more to come.

JR- weshotjr@yahoo.com