Slaid Cleaves at the Top Rail

It was Easter Sunday when I last saw Slaid Cleaves perform, and I felt long overdue to hit one of his gigs. The last several times he played the Dallas area we had missed him for one minor disaster or another. So, sitter arranged and cash in hand, we headed to the Top Rail Ballroom.

I was not sure what to expect for a set-up here. Andy and I hadn’t been to the Top Rail since I was pregnant with Chance, roughly nine years ago. At that time, we had gone to ‘two step’ and left because it seemed they played mostly rap. We had heard that Slaid requested they “close the dance floor” for the evening, and that KHYI advertised it as an “intimate evening” with Slaid. I’m not exactly sure “intimate” is the right word, but “fun” certainly is!

We were very pleased to find out Karen Poston was opening. Since learning about her through Slaid’s music, we were curious to hear her for ourselves. She has co-written songs with Slaid, and written some real gems of her own. She and her two fellow bandsmen took the stage, and began to play. I was instantly impressed. Her band, their music, her voice, her songwriting, and her singing were just full of talent! ***** Check back soon for a review of Karen’s CD!!

We thoroughly enjoyed Karen’s set, as did all those around us. It was interesting seeing the “new fans” she gained in this evening, and I know we weren’t the only ones who bought a CD. I had a nice chat with Karen and her band members as Slaid and his band for the evening got ready to take the stage. They were all three every bit as nice as they were talented. I look forward to seeing these guys grow in popularity, and believe me, they will.

Slaid, Ivan Brown on bass, and Jeff Plankenhorn on dobro, took the small stage, opening with “No Angel Knows”. You know, I’ve seen Slaid countless times, and nearly every time he uses this song to kick off his show, and every time it’s just fantastic. I was really curious to see how this crowd would react to Slaid. I knew roughly half the crowd or so were there for Slaid, the other half were “regulars”. Let me back up a sec.

The Top Rail Ballroom in Dallas used to be the epitome of a rough Texas honky-tonk. It was the place where the tougher side of C&W folks went on a Saturday night, tales of barroom brawls and parking lot scuffles were abundant! It’s still a dance hall of sorts, transitioning from rough and tumble honky tonk, to popular country (with too much rap on the breaks for this gal!) , to a tad more upscale country now. They have a dress code, not terribly formal but strictly enforced. One can visit their site and see from the crowd shots it’s a place where folks mostly more “city oriented” go for some country culture – which is fine. Just not the type place we frequent now. And as many Slaid fans would guess, kind of an odd place for someone to play “music to listen to” instead of “music for line dancing”.

Slaid played here once before recently, and apparently they liked him well enough to want him back, and shut down the dance floor for a night. I think there is some good judgment in there somewhere! As I said, maybe half the people were there to hear Slaid. It was fun watching the “regulars” as they began to pay attention to the boys on stage, and see them laughing at/with the audience closer to the stage absorbed in the performance.

I say “laughed”, I think they were perhaps pleasantly surprised at all the “singing along” and emotionally charged interactions between Slaid and the audience. Quite frankly, it was one of the better “work crews” I’ve heard during “Breakfast in Hell”, and “Stink, Stank, Stunk” was rather LOUD toward the end of the “Grinch Song”. And as one might expect, the singing and bottle clinking during “This Land is Your Land” was mighty impressive as well.

That’s just to name a few. Slaid’s fans there that night were some of the….shall we say “die hards” that I see about town quite a bit when he’s here. It’s the fans with all the CD’s, got the t-shirts, on the e-groups list, plan family functions around his shows (yep, many made the Easter Sunday afternoon show this past March, too!), and know most of the words to the old songs...and to the newer ones also, even though they aren’t on a disc. For a venue that didn’t seem to quite be Slaid’s “niche”, it seemed as though he played there regularly. Slaid Cleaves is in my opinion one of the most talented singer/songwriters out there right now.

It was awesome to see “He’s Six” go over so well with the crowd. It was written by Ivan Brown and his wife about their six year old son. For anyone parenting children in this age range, it’s especially accurate. And if you’ve ever seen Ivan on stage, you know the “chip off the old block” is probably a handful.

Ivan did delight the crowd with his standing upon his bass while playing. Still haven’t quite figured out how he does it, but he does it. Not only is he a talented acrobat, but one of the finest bass players in the many bands I’ve have seen. He’s an integral part of the emotion in Slaid’s music in a live performance, and his harmonies compliment Slaid’s voice very, very well.

We’ve seen Jeff Plankenhorn play dobro for both Slaid Cleaves and Ray Wylie Hubbard. He’s truly talented, and adds a lot to whomever he accompanies. I plan to see him solo in February. I’ve heard he does quite outstanding on his own, and I’m not surprised. Tonight was exactly as I expected from Jeff – GREAT. He played as if he’s there on those regular gigs with Slaid almost nightly. Jeff doesn’t really showboat, he’s kind of the quiet guy standing back a little non-chalantly making magic with his fingers. The three of them together were phenomenal, whether rockin’ or makin’ us cry with the sad songs.

Slaid did cover a few folks as well. I have a lot of respect for anyone who is willing to sing songs by such incredible singer/songwriters as Fred Eaglesmith, Billy Joe Shaver, Don Walser, and Woodie Guthrie. Not only did he do them, but he did them very, very well.

Like the previous performers on stage, these three men are also incredibly nice to their fans. They stopped and chatted with them, asked about their families, signed autographs, posed for photos, and never seemed to mind. They make their fans feel special, and as a fan, I think that’s a really classy thing to do. I’m not sure Slaid will be back to the Top Rail, but I know he’ll be back to the Dallas area in February after taking a little time to stay home and do some songwriting. When he’s back, wherever he’s back to, you’ll find this writer and the rest of the “die hards” close to the front and singing along.

Lone Star Mama

Written by Dana Jones, December 2001

Top Rail Ballroom, Dallas, TX, December 5, 2001

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