Concert Review: The Hacienda Brothers

In what was both a great and a disappointing time, I had the good fortune to see The Hacienda Brothers at Dan's Silverleaf this past Thursday night. They are a great band, and a great live band. My favorite stuff from them is the oultlaw country, but it's amazing to hear them switch song by song from Waylon to Bob Wills and, more shockingly, to the likes of Sam Cooke. It's the soul music that is so surprising, for the fact that they play it so damn well and for the fact of how natural the steel guitar fits the music. The whine of the steel perfectly accents the slow smokey voice and, while it may be out there somewhere, I don't know that I've heard the instrument played in the genre.

What was so disappointing has happened with other equally skilled artists at Dan's but I'll never get over it. The crowd, including myself, the band, the bartenders (thankfully, the trifecta of hot servers who I like so much), the sound guy, the door girl, and the owner, was a grand total of 23 people. They had obviously expected more, since they had three servers when they only needed one. This is pathetic and disgraceful. Listening to the band, though, you couldn't tell. They played like there were at least twice that many people. They just played the shit out of their two sets and never made mention of the abyssmal crowd. They were professionals, for sure, but I have to feel bad for them and for Dan himself, who I'm sure took a loss on the night. How many times can this happen before Dan can no longer put on shows? I rue the day this happens, but it's inevitable if people in this town are too concerned with their "beauty sleep" to go to see some incredible music. Disgraceful....