Written by Eddie Ferranti
Discovering new venues in Houston is a very exciting thing to look forward to. Especially one that has a good bloodline in the Kessler Theater in Dallas. Plus having a dynamic talent on stage in the form of Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones does not hurt at all. Come to find out that dynamic was an understatement on both counts! Boss Man, Mr. Steve Shein, was a gracious host who took Rose and I under his wing and showed us the ropes of his fine establishment. We listened to him and grabbed two killer high back chairs in the back row near the soundboard and let the evening come to us.Dave Alvin is a dude that has shown he can be quite versatile in whatever style he wants to play live. His rockabilly roots from the LA punk scene, to a California cowboy , and of course the blues fused raunch of the Blasters that he started with his brother Phil all played into tonight’s gig. Of course he is a “Pro’s Pro” and the line-up he brought with him this evening was stellar to say the least. His bookend electric guitar jammer was Chris G. Miller, Brad Fordham bounced around on bass like his feet were on fire, and BF’s sweet wife Lisa Pankratz just ripped the skins all night! Alvin and Company proceeded to drop an arsenal of bad ass on the SRO packed crowd who could not get enough. The sound at this joint is so clean and sharp that it enhanced the blistering guitar work, but never interfered with Alvin’s deep baritone delivery-even down to a whisper at times.
Alvin spanned his killer catalog with most of the tunes just scorching like “Long White Cadillac, drop dead awesome “Johnny Ace is Dead”, and “Black Rose of Texas” that he dedicated to the late Amy Farris , who played in the Guilty Women at McGonigels Mucky Duck the last time he was in Houston. I was lucky to be at that show. I cannot understate the relentless rhapsody of rat-ta-tat-tat by Pankratz that was so intoxicating in a great way that it made the show special. Girl has played with a Who’s Who list of musicians over the years because she is so darn good. Of course DA had to do “Marie Marie” and epic “Abilene” which both sounded so good you’d think they were brand new. In closing, let’s hope he comes back to this neck of the woods more often with this crew in tow. Been awhile since we left a gig so satisfied about everything. www.theheightstheater.com is where you need to go to buy tics for their vast array of killer talent coming in 2018. You will be glad you did! Get off your duff and see some stuff………
Eddie “Edge” Ferranti
Senior Editor
Houston Music Review