Friday night was supposed to be an awesome night seeing an amazing concert with a band that I have grown to love over the years but nature had other ideas as it sent torrential rains to Indianapolis, a city that doesn't appear to be built to handle that type of punishment. There isn't nearly enough drainage and the water had nowhere to go. So here we are on our way to the venue and it's still raining, the streets are still flooding and we are hoping for the best. We get to The Vogue and find the members of the band outside taking pictures of an amazing double rainbow over the club. That's got to be an awesome omen, right? Not so much. The venue had flooded and it was a safety hazard for anyone to be allowed in. This does not look good for our concert.
3 bands had been contracted to play. Jessie and Amy, Castro, and Delta Rae. The staff at the venue and the bands were working on some compromise so that they could reschedule the concert but no one's schedule would line up properly. And when you think that Castro drove from Dallas and Delta Rae from Raleigh, there were some people that wanted some opportunity to do what they came there to do. So it was decided that the 2 opening acts would do 2 songs each and then Delta Rae would do what they could for as long as they could.
We knew that they had a ton of new music they wanted to play for us because we talked with Brittany, Eric and Liz. They were excited to share with us the new songs they were crafting for their next record and we were equally as excited to have them play them for us. So Jessie and Amy led the charge with a guitar and cajon and killed with their two songs. This was my first time hearing them and I immediately fell in love with their soulfulness and gorgeous harmonies. Family band, Castro was up next and they knocked it out of the park with their two offerings. With an album dropping on September 2, 2016 - they were really excited to sing for us and show us what they had as well and they did not disappoint.
The light was fading and Delta Rae rolled out their bass drum, the garbage can, Eric and Ian's guitars and Grant's acoustic bass. They were super apologetic for having to cancel but the small crowd that packed in front of the venue understood and we were just happy to have them there with us. They sang between 6 and 8 songs, each one of them showing the range and versatility they had and just the amazing ability to overcome adversity and kill a performance. I think that's something that each of these 3 groups did. They showed an amazing amount of professionalism by sticking it out and doing something that a lot of groups wouldn't. They decided that the fans, the people that had ventured out to see them deserved something and it was something that none of us will ever forget. I was amazed at how they gave so freely of themselves and they did it in a way that elevated them even higher. They didn't rely on technology. They didn't have anything but their voices, their talent and their instruments to work with and they were amazing.
We got 2 new songs, "The Wrong Ocean" and a song I am going to call "When Mama Starts Singin" and they were on opposite ends of the spectrum but both filled with so much emotion and love it was crazy. Eric took lead on "The Wrong Ocean" and it was just a hear-wrenching song about loving and longing and finding your place in the world and it's something that we all can relate to on some level. Brittany grabbed the reigns on "Mama" and took us to church. The voice that comes out of this woman is ridiculous on the most fundamental level. She's got so much power and range that you're just awestruck of what she can do. It was a story song about someone's mama and her power to wield a voice that could make the devil cry and it was good and full of energy and made you feel revitalized.
The rest of their set was amazing. I know I am forgetting songs but we got, "If I Loved You", "Morning Comes", "Dance in the Graveyard", "Chasing Twisters", "Bottom of the River", and one of the most powerful and amazing versions of "All Good People" I have ever heard. The raw emotion of that song is incredible to begin with but to have it so powerfully rendered in such an intimate setting was glorious.
So if you get a chance to see this group, do yourself a favor but know, that quite by accident - I have seen probably one of the greatest shows they will ever do.
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