Band of Horses @ House of Blues, Dallas, TX

Band of Horses have a tried and true sound, one that is heartfelt, longing or reflecting on love, and looking back on this crazy thing called life.  Their music resonates with different types of music fans which collectively makes for a very large fan base.  With that being said, I was kind of taken back when I heard they were playing at the House of Blues in Dallas, a decently-sized venue but I would have imagined they would either be playing the Bomb Factory or Verizon Theatre.  But much like many of the shows during this week, they were one-off shows in the area squeezed between the two weekend of Austin City Limits.  The sold-out crowd in attendance would not mind one bit, providing a more intimate backdrop than the festival stages of ACL or the engulfing empty spaces of a larger venue.

The band is still riding high on it's latest release, Why Are You OK, which may lead you to believe that the setlist would be heavy on their newest material.  Luckily, you would be mistaken.  While Why Are You OK is a great album, it does not compare to their first two albums, which made up the bulk of the setlist (11 out of 20 songs, to be exact).  Opening with "Monsters" from Everything All the Time, it provided the audience with those heartfelt lyrics and immersive sound until lead vocalist, Ben Bridwell, fumbled through his steel guitar parts of the song, leaving him to abandon the instrument altogether and sing behind the mic stand for the second half of the song.  The crowd ate it up and applauded as if he had performed it perfectly.

Much of the night's excitement revolved crowd favorites, such as "The Great Salt Lake" and "No One's Gonna Love You", which was performed bare bones in the middle of the stage with only a minor amount of light on the band.  This was a rare sight for a concert in Dallas, as the crowd was absolutely quiet, outside of the singing whispers of the crowd.  The band ended their set with "Is There a Ghost", which opens their second album, Cease to Begin, but whose grand finish was a great way to close their set.  The band returned to play three additional songs including the band's most recognized song to date, "The Funeral".  Not to be outdone, the band closed their show with the jangly, foot-stompin' "The General Specific".  I remember seeing these guys back in 2008 and ending their show with the same song and it still does the trick.  A great show all around.  Photos of the show are below:

enjoy.