Robert Randolph and the Family Band tore the roof off Trees Friday night. Actually, the building was intact after the performance, but you get the point.
Before the curtains opened, the crowd assembled on the floor and around the balcony. The venue looked and felt near capacity.
As the house music faded away, live instrumentation could be heard through the still closed curtain. The initial twangs of Randolph’s pedal steel guitar, highly recognizable, were warmly received by the eager audience.
The curtains flew open to reveal a band already hard at work. It would be roughly two hours before the four guys of RRFB took any kind of break, that being a one-minute absence before a long encore that finished with an unexpected rendition of Ozzy Ozbourne’s “Iron Man.”
Randolph positioned his pedal steel at the very edge of the stage, so that he could interact better with the mostly college-aged crowd. He presented Dallasites with his brand of get-up-and-get-down.
Through sing-a-longs, dance lessons and preaching the gospel of peace, love and harmony, Randolph showed everyone in the building a good time. He didn’t stop to catch his breath and expected the same from his congregation.
Mixed in with his stew of original tunes and improvised audience participation numbers, Randolph showed off his guitar skills. He played a wide range of covers and teases.
Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” found a place to chill right next to Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” – in the same extensive jams as Widespread Panic’s “Ride Me High.” The guys continually returned to the tune as the night progressed, responding to the number of fans that either recognized it or knew it and just couldn’t place it.
It was also only one of the tunes during which Randolph’s own microphone was passed around the crowd for some guest vocals.
Randolph also wowed concert goers with his skills on the traditional electric guitar. This move allowed him to dance around the stage more freely.
The band members weren’t the only performers of the evening. During “Shake Your Hips,” Randolph beckoned some “Dallas girls” to the stage to do just that.
Before he knew it, more than a dozen ladies were wiggling it all over the place (many were SMU students.)
Most were out of control as they freaked the bassist and put their hands all over Randolph.
After a couple of numbers, the girls were given a hand and helped off the stage.
RRFB played until 2 a.m. and everyone left happy. Trees is arguably the loudest venue in Deep Ellum, and RRFB is one the most live live acts around.
