Published:
December 20, 2009
What started as a concert turned out being an informal birthday party. Issac Hoskins, of The Heelers, had his birthday last week and Friday's show at Dan's Silverleaf became a sort of celebration on top of the already scheduled show with Bridges and Blinking Lights and Spooky Folk.
Dave Coulter, a friend of Issac's, was up first in what I understood to be his inaugural performance. With just an acoustic guitar, he ran through a perfectly pedestrian set of covers largely from Texas singer-songwriters. The sense of "open mic"-ness quickly disseminated thanks to Spooky Folk, who were already back-lined behind Coulter. They wasted no time strappin' on, tunin' up, and gettin' busy once Coulter was done.
They opened their set railing against modernity in general, but later targeted their angst towards American Evangelical Christianity: "I was born in the Bible Belt/Give me something sharp so I can kill myself/Cause I can't go on living this way". But they don't go in search for something "new"(cause there isn't anything new), just something "Real": "God protect me, resurrect me/Please inject me with some kind of feeling I can believe in." It wasn't all weighty stuff; they were able to fit in a "Happy Birthday" sing-along for Issac.
This wasn't the blistering set they delivered at the Spune Christmas show a couple of weeks ago, nor did it have the communal spirit of their last show at Dan's, but it's abundantly clear that they're getting more confident in their abilities. Look for their debut album in early 2010.
Bridges and Blinking Lights are another local band with a new album coming in early 2010, and their headlining set was intense from the get-go. The set was split between material off their first album and their upcoming album, and full of southern-infused hard rock. Actually, the new stuff trended towards the arena, and away from the south. Regardless, this is a formidable, air-tight rock band that's as interested in being felt as heard. To top things off, they closed their set with a great, driving version of Vince Guaraldi's faux holiday classic "Linus and Lucy", which they got together just for Issac.
There was talk of Issac performing a solo set after B&BL finished, but it didn't pan out. No matter, the man needed to enjoy his night, and there was no shortage of fine music.
