Credit: Photo by Sandy Carson

Dan Dyer

Friday, Sept. 26, Zilker Park

His showstopper “Anne-Marie” was lost as the second song in a short set scheduled in the thankless position of opening slot at ACL’s seventh year, but Dan Dyer set the tone with soul and style. Dyer’s self-titled release on Fat Caddy has made him something of a golden boy for the hot local label, and the fresh festival audience basked in the warmth of his spectacularly soulful vocals and sweet but never slavish love of 1970s R&B. After he uttered “Anne-Marie'”s coda by grinning “bitch” into the microphone, the local favorite sat down at the keyboards for a splendid set of his stylish compositions, including “Sorry, Baby,” “Love Chain,” and a finely wrought arrangement of Dr. John’s “I Walk on Guilded Splinters,” bolstered by drummer-vocalist Michael Hale and funky bassist Mark “Gumby” Williams. That’s good enough for this year, but next year, Dyer will command headline status.

This article appears in October 3 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US