Austin’s own Arc Angels rocked the Houston House of Blues (HHOB, from now on) Friday night with a steady mix of tunes of their sole album, the still-revelant 1992 self-titled offering, and covers from their favorite songwriters. The band opened the near two-hour set with the stomping ‘Paradise Cafe’. Afer a bit of a jagged start, including a bit of pedal sloppiness, the group started to groove on tracks like ‘Sent By Angels’ and a slowed, slinky version of my favorite Arc Angels tune, ‘Spanish Moon’. Check out a brief gear rundown and eye a few pics from the show after the jump!

I had never seen the Arc Angels live, even though the Austin-based quartet made it through town more than once over the past 17 years since their lone album was released. The dual guitar/vocal attack of Charlie Sexton and Doyle Bramhall II is a great thing to behold in person… and loud, especially in front of Doyle’s setup! The two had a constant revolving door of guitar changes throughout the evening including Doyle’s Les Paul Jr. and Studio… and his signature sparkle red Strat, and Charlie’s various Strats, Trussarts, and an Epiphone hollow-body and Rickenbacker tossed in for good measure. Again, due to HHOB stage set-up, pedal boards were well hidden behind floor monitors.

Doyle was running his guitar back through a Marshall head and out a mic’d Fulton-Webb cab. Charlie ran his various axes back though a dual rig set up consisting of a Vox head into a Fulton-Webb cab and a 65 Amps head/cab configuration. There was also a small, blonde Branham combo amp over to one side of the stage. Not sure what purpose it served, but it was there. The overall mix of the show was not the best I’ve heard. The bass was buried a bit and Doyle’s rig was a touch too upfront. Only after moving to the back of the room did some balance come into the mix. That said, I’m still glad I was in the audience and look forward to their live DVD release in the fall.

Enjoy the pics!