When I was told to review Eric Gales I didn’t really know a lot about the artist. I’ve heard from others that he was an unbelievable guitarist and performer so of course, I wanted to see what he was all about. I set my navigation and off I drove to McKinney Texas. Wow what a great evening this was.
When I arrived at The Sanctuary I got the feel of Old English surroundings. The buildings and the way everything was laid out made me feel like I went to a different country. In The Sanctuary you could either sit at a table or sit in a row of chairs immediately behind the tables or stand in the back of the room or go upstairs to the balcony. They served food and beverages and the tables were nicely set up with candles to create a cozy atmosphere.
It was a full house and not one seat was left empty. The opening act tonight was the Adam Nanez Band. The guitar Adam played caught my eye right away. It was a very interesting and different design. As the audience soon found out, it was a guitar made by Sully and it was from the brand new “Conspiracy series.” Mister Sully, the guitar luthier, was in the audience and got recognition from Adam for building amazing guitars. Adam is a local talent and has played at The Sanctuary many times before. As I found out he was well known by the audience and everybody cheered for him when he started playing. Adam played beautifully and he proved to be a great opening act for Eric Gales.
When Adam’s band finished; the crowd and I were ready for Eric Gales to start. I wanted to see how good he really was. Like I said before, I had heard that he is very talented and one of the top guitar players but I hadn’t been or heard him yet and was anxious to see and hear him with my own eyes and ears.
Eric’s band started playing while Eric got ready to grab his guitar so he can join them on stage. The band played just for a little bit and then stopped. Eric greeted his audience and then informed everybody that before he starts playing his show he wants to talk to all of us. He stated that what he was going to say was probably the most important thing he was going to say the whole night. Right there he had caught my full attention and I am pretty sure the audience’s as well. I thought to myself “What could be so important?” Well, I was about to find out.
Eric told us that it is very important to him for us to know his pain that he has been through and his fight with 20 years of addiction; which he had almost killed himself 4 or 5 times. He told us, so we all could understand why there is so much passion, emotion and energy behind what he is playing. He has been starting his shows out like this for the past Year and it is important to Eric to tell his story so everybody knows where he has been, where he has come from, and where he is going. He also shared the great news with us that on January 15th he will be clean and sober for 18 Months. When he said that, the crowd applauded and cheered. In that moment, when he told the audience about his addiction and the battle he had been fighting and that he has been sober for 18 Months; I instantly had all the respect in the world for this man. Wow, what a story to tell.
This show could only get better. With so much of his past and emotions driving his music it turned out to be incredible. You could feel him pouring his heart and soul into his music. I was totally fixated and couldn’t take my eyes off him. He smiled, he cried, he sang, he interacted with the audience. He was such fun to watch.
Eric also had his wife playing in the band and I couldn’t help but to notice the way those two looked at each other while performing. Eric’s wife had her eyes on her husband with such a warm and loving smile, the whole time they were performing. You could literally feel the love and passion those two have for each other. I was blown away by the performance, the story and the whole evening.
Eric and his band played his album “Middle of the Road”. The record came out about 1 Year ago. He played “Boogie Man” and poured all his emotions into this song and at the end he had nothing less than a standing ovation. The mayor of McKinney TX interrupted the show and came on stage and declared January 15th Eric Gales day to celebrate his sobriety. It was mind blowing. Eric had tears of joy and it took him a moment to catch himself. Eric Gales will have his own Day forever. I was so happy to witness such an historic moment.
Due to Eric being a little choked up and teary eyed, his next song was an instrumental. There was no way he could have sung at this moment. The audience was so happy for him and it was a huge celebration. This evening didn’t have a dull moment. I had no idea I was in for such a great treat when I went to watch the show. Not just an amazing performer and guitarist but also a great person.
Eric has made 16 albums in his career and the way he puts his emotion and pain from his life into his music; I am sure he will continue writing many more beautiful albums. I am looking forward to adding more music from Eric to my play list. At the end of the show, Eric called Andy Timmons to the stage, who was currently enjoying the show from the audience. Eric and Andy played together literally flipping the guitar back and forth during the song. Which is made possible because Eric actually plays a right-handed guitar flipped upside-down, so it becomes a left-handed guitar. The flipping between Eric and Andy was possible because Eric leaves the guitar strung as a right-handed guitar. Yes his strings from Top to bottom are E-B-G-D-A-E, which puts his Low E string on the bottom.
I can keep on writing how awesome this evening was, how fascinating Eric Gale is and what a great performer he is but I think you should go and experience this for yourself.
Check out his web page www.ericgalesband.com
Eric Gales
The Sanctuary Music & Events, McKinney TX
Reviewed by RacerX
Email: Michelle@backstage360.com