Glass Harp at the 27th Annual Dallas Guitar Show (Market Hall),
in Dallas, TX on April 17th, 2004

[ TomTheApostle's Photos ]

Greetings from Dallas,

Once again Glass Harp performed here at the Dallas Guitar Show and once again they put in a great performance. Through no fault of their own though, they came on about an hour late, maybe later actually. The musicfest got off schedule earlier in the day for various reasons. Joe Satriani's set got started late for some reason which was not made clear to those in attendance. What was puzzling about that was that he didnt have a band to play with right off. He played to tracks for a couple of songs before having one of the earlier acts come out to perform with him. He was supposed to start at 1:15 and he didnt get on stage til close to 1:45-1:50. By the time his set was over it was about 2:40 and we still had another act to go before Phil, Daniel & John. George Lynch, formerly of Dokken was next and he wasnt very happy with the circumstances. Apparently he had trouble making it to the show. So basically he went straight from the car to the stage, busting a gut to get there to play an abbreviated set. To be honest I didnt mind since he was another shredder, which personally wears me out after a few songs.

Finally around 4, Glass Harp came on and did, imo, an abbreviated set to get the show close to finishing on schedule. Phil came out with the white Zion and after about a 10 minute period of trying to get the sound right, they went into their first number. I hope someone else has a set list. I think I am missing a number. Anyways here it goes

1) Sign Came Thru a WIndow - Phil broke a string during the song, one of a few difficulties they would encounter along the way, so he finished the song on a red Les Paul(?), I think. The song was great, band sounded fabulous,lots of soloing by Phil. John and Daniel were laying down a great foundation which isnt surprising,but really stood out when Phil went silent while switching guitars

2) Never is a Long Time - Phil played this on the borrowed Les Paul, between songs he had to adjust the strap so he didnt have to hold the guitar so high. He made a comment about looking like Gerry of Gerry & the Pacemakers. Once again, the band sounded great as a unit. They just fit so well together and they actually seem to be enjoying themselves.

Greg Martin was called into duty as guitar tech to change the string on the Zion. Phil started on the next song and promptly broke a string again, so he had to switch guitars and straps again. He only had the one strap, so every time ha changed a guitar he had to change the strap!

3) Whisper? didnt know this song, im not sure if that is the title, but whatever it was it was beautiful. Phil's soloing on this song was simply gorgeous. Volume swells, very melodic playing on this one. The song had a medium to slow tempo to it. Hopefully Daniel will clue us in on this song, since I have no idea and obviously am not doing a very good job of describing it. They also said they havent played this song live before, I got the impression that this is new. This song was the HIGHLIGHT of the show to me.

4) Childrens Fantasy - Rick Derringer came out and played on this song. He was playing a guitar that looked similiar to Gretsch, but I am not sure of that. Phil switched to a gold colored guitar, that had a body that was very similiar to a Les Paul, but im not sure if it was. Rick played a lot of the lead on this song, with Phil playing rhythm(really enjoying himself)and some lead, and then they traded back and forth on the ending jam. I think they both really enjoyed it, based on the way they shook hands. I know the crowd did. Rick has a rougher sound to his playing, where Phils is so fluid and smooth and melodic. It was an interesting contrast.      

5) John the Revelator - Greg Martin of the Kentucky Headhunters came out and played with the boys on this one. And once again, Phil went with the Zion and made it thru the song without further mishap. The last time the Harp played the Guitar Show, Greg joined them for this number. The song was smokin' hot with Greg and Phil trading off each other and John and Daniel laying down the foundation. Not much to say except that this was great!

6) Shades of Green - John and Daniel left the stage, while Phil was going to do a couple of acoustic numbers. Daniels came strolling out and told Phil they only had about 10 minutes left, so Phil said he would cut one number. Phil had an Olson with him and proceeded to capo up. The song sounded good,but Phil seemed to have some tech issues with his jamman not cooperating so the song seemed to kind of fizzle out at the end. Im curious as to what the second number wouldve been.

7) Nothing but the Blood - the final number was a request by one of the co-founders of the Guitar Show. Very beautifully done, with the bluesy feel that Phil has been playing it in for more than a few years now. Phil and Daniel shared the vocals, beautifully as usual. Phils playing on the Zion was another work of beauty. Some of the crowd sang along on this song.

 All in all, the band is better than ever. I was disappointed that the show started late, obviously because that cut into Glass Harps set. Im not sure how much they had to cut,but 3-4 songs would not surprise me, since they were that far behind. I hope there were others there who kept a set list. I didnt write anything down so im doing this from a faulty memory. I did take pictures that we will try to get developed and emailed to Neal to be put on the Harp's site in a timely fashion. I hope I didnt miss anything. Someone please feel in the blanks for me if I did. The set after Phil was Eric Johnson. I was so tired by the time Eric came out that I was ready to go, but I stuck it out in hopes that Phil would be invited out to jam with Eric. Didnt happen, at least that im aware of, since we left after Eric had been playing for an hour and fifteen minutes or so. Anyways I hope we hear from Daniel and his thoughts on the show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, the fellas were fabulous. I hope to see them do some small tours down this way.

-- TomTheApostle

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