Heartless Bastards were once again in the DFW metroplex so I went up to the Granada to catch their set.  They were opening for Gaslight Anthem, but on that very night the Dallas Mavericks were playing the douchy San Antonio Spurs in round 1 of the playoffs, so apologies to Gaslight Anthem, but I did not catch any of your set.  Anyways, big issues I had with the mix of the set aside (I’ll explain shortly), Heartless Bastards put on a powerful rock show.  

Having never seen Heartless Bastards, I honestly had no idea what to expect.  I have one lonely MP3 from them from some compilation giveaway at some point, which is a solid tune.  Anyways, when I arrived, the first opener, Life or Death, was onstage, and they were nothing more than just flat, tired, generic rock:

After the changeover, Heartless Bastards hit the stage and from the very first moment I had a problem with the mix the sound guys were using.  In the first bars of the first song, Erika’s voice could almost not be heard whatsoever as it was being completely drowned out.  Immediately, the volume was dramatically increased on the lead microphone so you could at least tell she was singing, but the vocals from all microphones remained extremely muddy for the whole show.  It was nearly impossible to understand the lyrics, much less absorb any lyrical nuance, from the mix the way they had it, which I feel really detracted from the show and is a real shame.  Literally the only time you could maybe understand her is when they would bring the volume down a little in preparation for a crescendo or something, so it wouldn’t last long.

Now on to the good stuff.  They have a pretty classic sound – generally strummed rhythm over classic lead with catchy rock riffs, but they throw in some BIG fuzzy bass on pretty much every song they have.  Think Flea or Ben Folds Five almost.  I like that sort of a thing, as long as it fits well with the song itself, and HB makes that work rather well together.  For the most part, the songs are relatively fast paced and fairly breathless.  During the brief moments they would slow it down – or even more rare – whole songs which were slower, it was a very minor change, and after it was over, the pace would shoot right back up, leaving no doubt that these guys weren’t messing around.  When they do slow it down, they evoke a more blues-rock feel; almost Janis Joplinesque.  It’s nice variety when it happens, it just doesn’t happen often.

Heartless Bastards also wanted to leave no doubt that they were in fact onstage as they had the volume cranked way up.  Like I said above - I wasn’t crazy about the mix, but I definitely have no problem with a loud show.  And make no mistake: when the band threw the great weight of all their instruments to a thundering apex, it was an impressive wall of pure rock that was cool to witness front and center.

More rock than pop, Heartless Bastards’ show was tight, breathless and well-rehearsed.  They really do look like they are enjoying themselves and have a complete, full sound on every song.  sometimes a little more variety would be nice (loved the slide guitar, but only one song?!), but overall it’s a good rock ‘n roll show with a little bit of classic flavor thrown in.  I think their work is paying off as the Dallas crowd seemed to enjoy the set, with many shouts of “One more!” when they felt the set was winding up.  They’re in the DFW area quite frequently (and again on June 23), so check them out if you can.

Heartless Bastards - Out at Sea from The Mountain

Heartless bastards are out on tour; check it:

5-5 – The Masquerade – ATL, GA
5-11 – 5-19 (European Dates)
5-25 – Sasquatch! – Quincy, WA
6-13 – Bonnaroo – Manchester, TN
6-20 – Santa Fe Brewing Company – Santa Fe, NM
6-22 – Stubb’s – Austin, TX
6-23 – Granada – Dallas, TX
6-24 – Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
6-26 – House of Blues – NOLA
6-29 – The Plaza Theatre – Orlando, FL
6-30 – Freebird Live – Jacksonville, FL
7-5 – Mr. Smalls Theatre – Shittsburgh, PA
7-6 – Headliners Music Hall – Louisville, KY
7-7 – George’s Majestic Lounge – Fayettveville, AR
7-31 – All Points West – Jersey City, NJ
8-3 – Kool Haus – Toronto, ON
8-5 – Orpheum Theatre – Madison, WI
8-7ish – Lollapalooza – Chicago, IL
8-8 – Egyptian Room – Indianapolis, IN
8-11 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Royal Oak, MI
8-28 – Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival – San Fran, CA
9-3 – ACL – ATX

Check out all our past Concert Reviews here on the Concert Review Archives page!