1. Sorta at the Kessler, 5/28/11

1. Sorta, at the Kessler.

The first band of the project!  Sorta, take a bow.

We love these guys.

In the interests of that "full disclosure" stuff that Serious Journalists are always going on about, it must be noted that we are both quite familiar with Sorta, both musically and personally.  Great guys.

Anyhow.  Music at the classy Kessler (which serves up some delicious sliders).  Cover at the door was $15.  There were about 90 people in attendance.  Call it 92 with us.

As you will notice if you glance at the Wikipedia link above, Sorta was dealt a blow in 2007 after the death of one of its members, perhaps the most highly-respected musician in Dallas, Carter Albrecht.  They've recovered nicely, however, as this show proved.  They demonstrated both their enviable musical prowess and relaxed stage presence at the Kessler.

Indeed the crowd was involved with the show throughout.  At one point a girl near the front called out, when frontman Trey Johnson said something about what he was drinking, "Let's all get Sorta drunk!"  The crowd groaned at this, but we thought it was pretty clever.  The crowd was pretty forgiving of Trey's endless tuning, as well.

Trey and bassist Danny Balis have all learned a lot from expanding into solo work.  Chris Holt seems to have picked up on a few of Carter's keyboard tricks, showing passion at the keys but without making a big production out of it.

"Grown Man," "Make a Wish," "Demons," "Little Bay," "Telescope" and "85 Feet" were among the setlist picks, but "Fools Gold" was a crowd (and N) favorite.

In sum: Sorta rocks.