The Empty Pockets - Al Stewart, The Kessler, Dallas Texas 3/04/2023

     Some things fall into your ... pocket. I was on the air Saturday Morning 3/4 when I found out the Empty Pockets, who are a great band out of Chicago, had played Austin. In 2010 The Shop Radio Started playing from the EP "Introducing the Empty Pockets" with the first track "All I Need". This is a poppy, infectious song that will have you bopping on and features memorable backing vocals from Erika Brett, both in sound and rhythm pattern. It also features some downright unusual writing from Josh Solomon who mentions  "I listen to the radio, all I hear is p*(&s and moan" - This simultaneously tickled me and also was a bit of a challenge. They got my attention and I started tracking them, because this is what I do- The Shop plays the unusual tracks from well known bands but we like to put attention on fresh bands who are promising; and we know The Empty Pockets are one such band.

Back to the Pocket-   

      So I missed them - Now I *am* p(**ing and moaning., lol. I'd wanted to see this band but it seems they would not come to Texas, and now here they were/are! How did I not know they were in Texas? So yea I felt thick as a brick, and I hit FB and asked them my dumb question - HOW DID I MISS YOU? They told me they were in my backyard Saturday night and all I had to do has look, which I did. Well, okay they were not in the backyard, but I did find them at the Kessler - Along with Al Stewart! I played all Al's hits in Top 40 radio back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.  

     This show was going to be a treat!  We arrived at the Kessler, a converted movie theater in Oak Cliff which was once owned by Gene Autry. His likeness is on a portrait in the 1st floor auditorium and directly across is a portrait of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Lights went down, and on come The Empty Pockets!

     They opened with a number or tracks from their Billboard charting CD, Outside Spectrum. We've been playing the title track for a number of weeks, its a groove that carries a great tune plus vocals from Erika that will pop you a couple blocks over. She can WAIL! The first time I heard this was when I played it on my show and was headfirst into a pair of Sennheiser reference headphones and it's tough to tell you how good that sounded, how much emotion it exuded. Erika sounds every bit as good live! They covered a number of tracks from Outside Spectrum, including "Privatize the Profits" and "A Bird does not Sing" with flawless execution. We were dancing, singing along and having a great time. I was approached by a number of folks who were impressed, they had come to see Al Stewart, and were not ready for The Empty Pockets.

    I think we had some converted that night. All too soon the set ended, and Erika let us know Al was not feeling well but was going on and would do as best he could. By the way that was pretty good, and I learned a lot about the album side of Al-He likes to write about history and geographical events. He also loves to tell stories, and I'd like to relate his Russian dance number story but I could not do it justice; it was a hoot. Then we get to Year of the Cat and the story behind it. So simply, a little girl who almost dumped Dr Pepper on him at the airport called him "Cat", presumably referring to Cat Stevens. And to think I wrote an Weird Al parody of this tune in 2021... All this time the Empty Pockets served as his band, with musical excellence and it was plain to see on their faces they were having a great time. So it was not Maybe next Time for us, it was 3/4 - Our thanks to Al Stewart and the Empty Pockets, that was magic.

- Chris Br