Here's a poor quality concert shot from my phone - Jurdi taking his turn on lead vocal as Quist and Brooks wait for their turn.
I have been eager to make it back to Hank’s ever since my first visit a few months ago. Luckily, the stars aligned just perfectly last night and I was able to catch the Band of Heathens gig at Hank’s Texas Grill in McKinney. So much has been written about these guys and I have enjoyed their debut studio effort quite a bit since June, so I was looking forward to what turned out to be one their first US shows since returning from a 2 1/2 week tour of Europe (see Video Blog from Germany below).
Playing to a crowd that was pretty close to capacity (two or three hundred, I imagine), BoH quickly displayed the versatility that sets them apart from so many others in the crowded Texas scene. Gordy Quist, who sang most of the lead vocals and shared duty on lead and rhythm guitar while playing harmonica, teamed with Collin Brooks, who also sang lead and harmony, handled the lap steel, mandolin and also shared lead and rhythm duties, and Ed Jurdi, who also sang lead and harmony and would slide from guitar to keyboard often throughout the night, to succesfully recreate the tuneful and soulful vibe of their 2008 disc, Band of Heathens.The beginning of the show featured songs from Quist’s solo output, “Hold On” and “Miss Ohio”. Jurdi’s contribution on the keys gave the performance of these tracks a smooth, almost R&B vibe that recalled the mellower works of The Allman Brothers instead of what many Texas music lovers have come to expect from the rock sounds of most acts booked at Hank’s. The band then rolled through many of the cuts from their most recent album, including my favorite, “Maple Tears”. The yearning in Quist’s voice, mixed with the simple lyrics about a “girl from Manitoba” and Brooks’ steel work, showcased BoH’s stone-cold Country side. Brooks’ regained the lead vocal position when they kicked into “Cornbread”. Possessing a funky beat and shredding on the mandolin (yep, I just said that), the song was given extra spark that even the rollicking studio version lacks.
With each number, the crowd near the stage roared with approval as the oddballs near the back beat me down with inane conversation and requests of “anyone have an extra smoke?“. That’s a shame, really. Special is the occasion when a concert starts as a simple night out and turns into a truly memorable night of music. With a limited number of Dallas/Ft. Worth area appearances, I hope the guys were given enough love to get D/FW on the list more often.
Video Blog from Germany
Live Performance of “Jackson Station” from Antone’s in Austin, TX
7 Responses
I really need to move to Texas, although I’d probably be broke from going to all these shows. The Band of Heathens is another band I have to give you credit for enlightening me to. From the clips, they seem like they have a great live sound. I would say they are in my top 5 at the moment.
Thanks Fitz – Its funny, one of the things i was thinking when i was at the show was about how lucky i am to live in a spot where i can drive 20 mins in any direction from my place adn catch a good show on any given fri or sat night (wed and thurs too usually). This was one of those bands that went from “i like the cd o.k.” to “wow, i am obsessed with theses guys” after seeing them bring the cd to life in the concert setting…
sorry for the misspellings, i was typing with one hand and while eating a banana with the other
[...] Olde Gobbler’s Knob reviewed a Band of Heathens show at Hank’s and has got you covered if you’re curious about the upcoming Sarah Borges and The Broken [...]
I wasn’t at the show, but I bet the “Miss Ohio” you are referring to is a Gillian Welch cover – heard ‘em do it in Austin once.
I bet you’re right actually. I knew i had heard it before, and noticed that Quist had recorded it, but i didnt dig any deeper…it had that really cool hook of “she wants to do right, but not right now”…
[...] Well, after taking many months to make my second trip to Hank’s for a show, it only took a mere two weeks to make my third visit to what has easily become one of my top 2-3 music venues in the DFW area on Friday night. Even though my past visits were to catch performances from Jackson Taylor and Band of Heathens, this was going to be better than even those. Not only would I be catching my first Charlie Robison show in at least a couple of years, I would also be interviewing him and recording a song or two while hanging on his bus for The 9513.Com Podcast that I host. [...]