Unique backstories can be a good lead in for a good concert experience. This particular show bill was one I was looking forward to seeing for quite some time due to this reason. The headliner, Fruit Bats (really just Eric D. Johnson and a revolving cast of musicians), are on tour and making music under the name for the first time since going on hiatus, getting back into the groove of performing live. The opener, Kyle Craft, offers a different contrast. He is an artist going on an extended tour for the first time supporting his debut album Dolls of Highland. This offered the unique opportunity to see two acts in two very different situations: the opener trying to find their touring groove and gain new fans for the first time, and the headliner, already an established act, reconnecting with a group of hardcore fans eagerly waiting to hear their favorite songs.
The show was at Three Links in Deep Ellum. I knew it was a small venue, but having never gone to a show there before I was shocked to see just how small it was. For a band that has had songs prominently featured in movies such as a brilliant scene in Youth in Revolt I thought they would be at a bigger venue. I got there with my Dad anticipating a way bigger early crowd. Although I was initially take aback by the small space, I soon realized it would be a pretty cool experience to see any established act like Fruit Bats play in front of such a small crowd.
As excited as I was to see Fruit Bats (a band I’ve loved for years) I was equally as excited to
see how Kyle Craft was live. This was largely due to how excellent his new album Dolls of Highland is. It is definitely the 2016 release I have listened to the most this year. Craft has a very cool and distinct vibe. He is a very cool mix of old school seventies glam rock, mixed with a kind of southern rock (he is from Louisiana) with great piano sounds. It is nice to see an artist who is clearly inspired by that era come out with a debut album so close us all losing the ultimate glam hero, David Bowie. He adds his own spin, making me feel like he would have been a huge act had he come out in the seventies. I was interested to see how this would translate live, especially since I did not know what kind of backing band he would have. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he performed live with four other musicians. (this seems like an astronomical feat for an artist just getting his start). The results were well beyond my expectations. The wide and high vocal range he offered on the album was on point live. Highlights from the album including “Balmoreha” and “Berlin” were just as good live. It was also cool to see the mutual admiration from the bands, especially since it was announced that it was the last song they would be doing together on the tour. Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats was in the audience for most of the Kyle Craft set, and later on Craft came out to take pictures during the Fruit Bats set. I enjoyed seeing the genuine appreciation each had for the other’s music.
After a quick turn-around, it was Fruit Bats turn to take the stage. Coming off the recent release of their stellar new album Absolute Loser, I was unsure how much they would spread out the songs from their previous five albums. The cool thing about Fruit Bats is the litany of different sounds/ styles they explore within the folk-pop genre. I knew that it was going to be great from the start as soon as they came out and played “Feather Bed” from the album Ruminant Band. This was a personal favorite and received a raucous response from the now packed crowd filling the small Three Links. A lot of times you see acts play their new albums to death live, feeling like they only need to get those songs out there. This show wasn’t like that at all. They offered the best of both old and new. Absolute Loser was definitely honored with highlights including the two promoted cuts from the album, the title track “Absolute Loser” and “Humbug Mountain Song” (which featured great guitar replacement playing in the place of the banjo heard on the actual album). However, most of the overall highlights came from the aforementioned Ruminant Band album. The most emotional performance was an away from the microphone take on the album’s “Singing Joy to The World”, while my personal favorite song of the night was “Being On Our Own.”
Even though the Ruminant songs seemed to reign supreme, one of the best parts of the show was seeing Eric’s enthusiasm to be up in front of the crowd playing Fruit Bats songs. Early on he stated that it was the best Dallas show the band had ever done….He later comically admitted that he had done that a little too early at only a few songs in. He reiterated it later in the show and seemed genuine in his statements. My Dad pointed out early on that certain audience members were into all the songs, but showed childlike exuberance when their favorites came up so they could sing along. This is something I think will occur for Kyle Craft the next time he visits Dallas. Overall this show was terrific as it showcased two different artists performing very different music in an equally terrific way.
By- Nathan K.
Tones OF HOME 