Blessid Union of Souls rocks Plachta Auditorium

• Tweet
• 

Blessid Union of Souls took the Plachta Auditorium stage by storm at 8 p.m. Tuesday
night in a show sponsored by On the Fly and Program Board .
It all started with strange, recorded sounds that appeared to come from a DJ at
a set of turntables off to the side. After a few moments, the band began taking
the stage, one by one, until all were present for the violent shove into a fast-paced,
yet light sound that would carry throughout the show.
Featuring Eddy Hedges as lead vocalist, Jeff Pence on lead guitar, Tony Clark
on guitar and bass, C.P. Roth on guitar, keyboard and harmonica, and Eliot Sloan
on drums, the band showed a great amount of musical prowess in their easy switches
between instruments. This, along with their generally good overall sound was much
appreciated by the audience through applause and cheering during and after the
numbers.
However, the band wasn’t going to let the audience take the show sitting
down, raising the audience to their feet and asking for their participation in
clapping along with the music.
The show continued in its energetic fashion into a harmonica solo which was awarded
wild cheering and applause. They also played the openings to such well known tunes
as “Cat Scratch Fever” and “My Sharona,” which also was cheered
on by the audience.
After this, the concert took a turn toward a more rock and roll style show, with
all members contributing to the flamboyant show by dancing around the stage. This
newly found energy sparked the crowd into dancing in place, some even jumping
along to the rhythm of the songs.
Blessid Union of Souls also proved that they had a softer side in the form of
a quiet ballad. The lead singer revealed two talents in this song: the ability
to carry a soft tune and the ability to play the keyboard, which incidentally
was dubbed “Balladmaster 2000.”
Although it fell somewhere short of the true ballad greats of our time, it was
still well appreciated by the audience. The song received perhaps the loudest
ovation of all given during the concert.
The band also paid tribute to their producer, 3XL, by bringing him up on stage
and asking him to do a song with them. The one quickly turned into two based on
the large response from the audience after the first song was done.
They then went back to playing openings for such songs as “You Shook Me All
Night Long,” “Money,” “Wipeout,” and “Back in Black.”
This time, they settled on their own rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama,”
which caused uproarious cheering, and proved to be almost as good as the original.
The band then left the stage, except for the drummer, who proceeded with a drum
solo which was highly appreciated by the audience. The bassist then took the stage,
and joined in for a bass and drum instrumental.
The final song of the night was a gigantic finisher for the show, being a fast
number played in overdrive distortion that faded to a reggae style, and went back
to the furious style with which it started.
Overall, Blessid Union of Souls put on a great show. With their good sense of
showmanship and excellent musicianship, they proved themselves to be an excellent
combination of elements. They were well worth seeing.