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Concert Mon Aug 06 2007
My Night with the Angels
Who needs Lollapalooza when you've got the Black Angels at Schubas? This thought was in my head as I made my way through the crowd in the Schubas music hall on Saturday, round about midnight. Granted, it was packed in there, but I didn't have to shell out a silly amount of cash, deal with heat, massive crowds or drunken fools.
My first impression of the 6-person band (girl drummer included) from
Austin, Texas was wow--the spirit of Jim Morrison has finally been resurrected. The music was fierce, as rock ought to be. Incendiary rock amped up so hard you could feel the walls shake. And the reason I immediately thought of Morrison? The psychedelic element, first off, and second, the 8mm films playing on the large movie screen behind the band--images of the American southwest, native Americans, the Trail of Tears, stuff like that. Then there were the disturbing and passionate lyrics. Talking about Vietnam, boys dying in Iraq, killing and dying.
And the audience, swaying and head bobbing, was trance-like, in synch with the band, the music and the film show. This band has revived the transcendental religious experience of rock that was laid down by the Doors. And in true rock fashion, the Black Angels provocatively use music to examine the American experience --in this case our lust for land and the resulting consequences.
Impressive. When the Black Angels finished their set it was pretty surprising that an hour had just gone by. The audience demanded more. Two encores later I stood riveted and transfixed by a band that brought the soul of rock back to life. Sexy, aggressive and rebellious, the Angels seduced me, as well as the rest of the audience, as no one seemed particularly ready to leave.
