FUSE Roadtrip: Blank Labels in Arlington, Texas
Wichita Falls rock in the Metroplex
Wichita Falls rock band Blank Labels made a two hour trip down the highway and took their show to Caves Lounge in Arlington, Texas, and TheFUSE made the trip, too, to catch our hometown boys in action.
Before the show, we caught up with the guys at Twisted Root in Arlington. It’s a popular DFW burger joint, and a great place for conversation. On this occasion, we got to know Angel Perez a little better. He’s the lead guitarist and newest member of Blank Labels, and Angel said he connected with Blank Labels through church connections with singer Bryson Lawrence’s mom.
We’ve been impressed with the guitar slinging skills we’ve seen and heard from Angel previously, and he told us he’s done country and rock, but his real wheelhouse is the electric blues. We would get a graphic demonstration shortly thereafter.
We had never been to Caves Lounge in Arlington before and we arrived to find it is the diviest of dive bars we’d been to in quite some time. It is probably not the kind of place you’d want to examine in the daylight, and I mean that in the best way possible. Caves has the charming low-key ambience and affordable drink prices that please the least-pretentious among us — dark, with a cave-like atmosphere and kitschy decor, including velvet curtains, neon signs, street art on the walls, and a video fireplace.
Through some kind of minor mix-up, we arrived to find the opening act just finishing their set and Blank Labels setting up, an hour earlier than expected. It was about to get loud in the cave.
Before the show, the sound guy advised drummer Mike Hardison that due to the capacity of the club (indoors, maybe 100 by our estimation) and the small size of the sound system, he might have to hold back a bit on the drums so the rest of the band could hear themselves. Mike said, “If they say I’m too loud, tell them to turn up!” Once the show got going, we thought Mike did hold back a little, because he’s a good bandmate, but still put on a physical drumming performance, like he always does.
Excellent drummer aside, Bryson Lawrence drove the Blank Labels truck, and Bryson put on an excellent show and left it all on the stage. Lawrence’s youthful voice and mean black Gibson Explorer Custom meshed with the performance of bassist Mackey Divine and guitarist Angel Perez in fine fashion, and we were treated to Blank Labels favorites like City to City, Let the Blind Lead the Blind, and for the first time I got to see my personal favorite, Open Air, in a live setting. Guitarist Angel Perez’ love of the electric blues came through loud and clear in both tone and feel, and imparted a rootsy rock sound to Blank Labels.
We left the Blank Labels show in DFW feeling like this band is one of the best original rock acts from Wichita Falls, and they outperformed the DFW bands on the bill with them. As we enjoyed some late-night eats at Waffle House, we decided that larger venues in the metroplex would be well-served to book Blank Labels for a night of rock music that satisfies.
Have you seen a Blank Labels show? Been to Caves Lounge? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Great write up! I completely agree that they were the best band on the bill that night. I'd say that even if we weren't friends. Haha!