Our friend Paul posted this review on his Live Journal account. He writes so well I wanted to post it to the website. Thank you for all your help Paul.

Shannon

I left the office on Friday and drove across

Lake Ray Hubbard into Dallas, where the BEARS

ON THE RUN tour would perform its opening

concert later that night at the Resource

Center of Dallas.

Elijah Black

Elijah Black opened the show. And his gritty

performance really set a terrific precedent

for all the entertainment to follow. His set

included a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s

“Hallelujah,” which I was only familiar with

from the stellar K. D. Lang cover. Elijah

deconstructed it and rebuilt it with his own

raw brand. It worked perfectly with his voice.

But, for me, Elijah’s best song came last…

his original tune “Better Man.” It was the

most emotionally engaging moment of the night.

But there was still plenty of good stuff to

come.

Shannon

Shannon performed next. It was really fun to

watch him perform. The way he swayed and

rocked up on his toes to sing the high notes

was somehow endearing. His set included

original tracks such as the uplifting “Paul

and Gene” and the tune that Roy/excalibear

used as a musical intro/outro for his Peraltan

Closet podcast, “Tomorrow.” One of the show’s

highlights came at the end of Shannon’s set,

as he invited Kendall onstage to sing a duet

with him. I won’t be the one to give it away,

so if you make one of the tour stops the

revelation can affect you as it did me. But,

I’d LOVE to have a recording of that duet.

Kendall

Kendall took the stage after Shannon. And I

really mean he TOOK the stage — and every

other part of the concert space.

I’d never had the chance to see Kendall

perform his music before. So his brand of

performance art-meets-music-meets-comedy-meets-

rap was completely new to me and spellbinding

from the start.

He invaded the whole space with his high energy

and rapid-fire antics, really broadening the

gamut of musical offerings for BOTR.

Kendall had a second collaboration of the

evening, as Elijah returned to provide musical

accompaniment for the last tune of his set.

Nakia

Lemme begin my discussion of Nakia’s set by

saying “WOW!” What a voice.

I’d heard some of his music before, so I knew

I was in for a treat. But, he still dazzled

me (and everyone else) with the way he

committed himself emotionally to lyrics on

every song — summoning a soulful sound that

was jaw-dropping.

I wanted to see his set completely repeated,

because I didn’t feel like I could absorb it

sufficiently in one viewing/listening.

Nakia sat at the keyboard for a few songs,

and entertained the crowd with between-song

banter, as though we were all in his living

room. He sang a few more songs standing at

a mic, including his rousing closer “Pharmacy.”

I was jealous, though, knowing the Austin

audience would get him backed by his full band.

Matthew Temple

The evening concluded with Matthew Temple,

who once again expanded the musical diversity

of the night, taking the stage with his guitar

slung across his back. Matthew really

connected to the audience, sharing himself

with us — and punctuating his history with

songs that ranged from the lofty poetry of

John Denver-like ballads to the more bluesy

offerings that allowed him to showcase his

vocal prowess.

At some point during the show, it occurred

to me BOTR might work best as an all-day

festival, because you leave wanting more

from each performer.

The singers were threaded together by the

burly clown of beardom, Bobaloo. I don’t

think I should share any pics of him yet,

because they would give you insight to some

of his zany schtick. And, though Iím many

things, I’m not a schtick-revealer.

When the last song was sung and the last

schtick was schtuck, I got a chance to see

some of the folks who’d come in to the show

after I settled into my front row seat.

When the hurly-burly was done, everyone

intended to hit the Round Up for some post-

concert shenanigans. But, I had to

find some food. So, I went in search of

Whataburger.

If the tour comes to a city near you, round

up your local bear club (and anyone else who

appreciates good music) and attend the concert.

Also, I recommend you bring a little extra

cash, ’cause you’ll wanna buy some of their

CDs from the merchandise table after you hear

them on the mic.

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