It (or they) came from the 70's

Recently, I obtained two unusual albums from the 1970's:

1. Grand Funk Railroad's Good Singin' Good Playin' produced by Frank Zappa.
2. Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs produced by Robert Fripp.

Both of these albums were commercial flops, but arguably artistic successes. There is usually a WTF or "who would have thunk" reaction to these strange pairings, when I mention them to friends and fellow musicians.

Personally, I give both of these albums kudos and high marks. It's as if a wormhole has been opened to a strange, alternate universe. A universe where two mainstream "pop" acts were temporarily allowed to exercise and demonstrate artistic integrity.

Arc Angels at Antone's

After missing several reunion tours, I was finally able to see the original Arc Angels at Antone's, last night. I have always been a fan for multiple reasons:

• I played in an originals band in NY in the mid-80's playing Blues influenced Rock. We were all big fans of SRV and Double Trouble.
• I'm old enough to remember Charlie Sexton's hit Beat's So Lonely, complete with a video on MTV. Can't say I was a huge fan, but it was the beginning of my Austin "awareness" while living in NY.
• The first and only Arc Angels album was released shortly before I moved to Austin in 1993, and was receiving a lot of airplay on local radio when I arrived. I will always associate their music to this period of great change in my life.

So much for my rationale for liking the band: This show was exactly what I expected. It was not sold out (unlike tonight's show most likely is/was), the sound was good, and the (older) crowd was generally enthusiastic.

The band played for about 90 minutes and covered "the album" as well as a few other songs from the band member's other projects. The playing was generally tight, with a few glitches. It was nice to hear a band pull off their music with no backing tracks, sequencers, and/or lip sync'ing. I did enjoy Doyle Bramhall's left-handed, slide work and unique approach to the guitar.

I left the show hoping (like several of the other people present) that they might consider recording a new album. In a few weeks, I will see half of this same band in the Storyville configuration.