DEA at Cypress Creek Cafe
Callie and I roadtripped to Wimberley last night for a Dead End Angels show at the Cypress Creek Cafe.
Our friends in the Dead End Angels haven't been playing much together lately, and unfortunately it looks like last night's show and next week's show in Gruene are likely to be the last we see for quite a while, for various reasons. So it seemed like a good idea to trip over, check out a new venue, and catch up with our friends (who really make some great Americana music when they decide to get together).
The Cypress Creek Cafe is a pretty sweet venue. The cafe itself is quite good, which got things off to a nice start (filet mignon, broccoli, and salad for those wondering if I'm holding fast to the South Beach lifestyle). The shows take place in the club in the back of the restaurant. It's cozy, and kind of smoky, but the sound system is good (I can't say how good until I listen to my live recording), and the crowd was appreciative of original Americana music (if not entirely quiet during the performance).
I can't write anything new about the DEA sound. These four guys just sound really good on those rare occasions when they get together. Rick Poss is a guitarist who can steal shows, but realizes that great sounding bands are a team. Scott Melott pens some thoughtful lyrics (illustrative lines from an oldie but goodie: "The truck stop lights are bright tonight. They hide the way she glows") and then figures out how to make 'em sound great. Melott and Craig Bagby harmonize nicely. Troy Wilson is the typical unsung bass player -- he does his job.
They played nearly three hours of mostly original tunes last night (throw in covers of Dylan, Ryan Adams, Doug Sahm, and Neal Kassanov). It wasn't the best show of theirs I've seen, but it was pretty darn good. I'm glad I got a live recording of it, especially because Alejandro Escovedo popped in and helped on vocals with a song of his they recorded on their CD (Escovedo produced that CD).
I wish there was some way I could convince these knuckleheads (just kidding, guys!) that they need to play Houston every weekend just for my entertainment, and I really wish I could convince them to do a second CD (the first one came when they were not totally familiar with each other; they are now, and I bet a second CD would be many times better). But, it looks like they're all going to be focusing on some other projects after next Friday's show at Tavern in the Gruene (amicably so -- there hasn't been any big angry split). So if any readers here want to catch them at least one more time, in their current configuration, that's the place to be next weekend.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/06 17:57 | Music | Technorati
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Comments
That's too bad that they're going their separate ways. I was thinking about them last week and gave their cd a couple of spins.
Posted by Gary @ 10:19 on 01/23/06
I remain hopeful that DEA will remain a side project that stays alive over time. We'll see. :)
Posted by Kevin @ 10:32 on 01/23/06
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