''Living in a Dream'' is a live album by the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

blues rock band

Arc Angels Arc Angels is a Blues rock supergroup formed in Austin, Texas in the early 1990s. The band came together after the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan and was composed of Vaughan’s friends Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton and two of the band memb ...

. The first disk of the album contains the majority of a show recorded on March 26, 2005, at Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Austin, Texas. The show which proved to be historic for the band. They played the entirety of their debut album, a then unreleased song "Crave and Wonder" and a cover of

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

' "She's Alright." This show also proved to be the Arc Angels' final with original bass guitarist

Tommy Shannon Tommy Shannon (born Thomas Lafitte Smedley; April 18, 1946) is an American bass guitarist, who is best known as a member of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born in Tucson, Arizona, Shannon moved to Dumas, Texas whe ...

. The second disk contains 3 studio tracks recorded specifically for this album as well as the remainder of the 2005 show—along with the song "Spanish Moon." The DVD contains the Stubb's show and interview footage directed by Kyle Ellison and produced by Mark Proct and Charlie Boswell.

History

Members of Arc Angels, minus Shannon, announced that they would be reuniting—releasing a live album and DVD of Shannon's final show at Stubb's in 2005. The album/DVD ''Living in a Dream'' was released in 2009 and contained live renditions of previously released Arc Angels songs, new songs performed live and three newly recorded studio tracks. Arc Angels launched The ''Living in a Dream'' tour at Austin's annual

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Festival. Following the tour the band never officially broke up again but the band members pursued solo projects with Sexton rejoining

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's band and Bramhall resuming his solo career and work with

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. There have been no talks about future Arc Angels releases or concerts to this date. While on stage in concert in 2014 Bramhall referred to the Arc Angels as "this band I was in" further confirming their demise.

The first disk contains the all of the March 26, show minus "Spanish Moon." The second disk contains a studio recording of the Sexton's penned “Crave And Wonder,” the Bramhall penned R&B influenced “What I’m Looking For,” and a bluesy rendition of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

’s 1971

Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

putdown song “

Too Many People "Too Many People" is a song by Paul McCartney from his and his wife Linda McCartney's 1971 album ''Ram''. It was issued as well as the B-side of the "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" single. It was also included on ''The 7" Singles Box'' in 2022. B ...

.” The DVD presents the video footage for all the songs on the main CD. Because the concert was performed at an outdoor amphitheater and there was some intermittent rain on the night of the recording the footage is somewhat incomplete--but the gaps were filled with some road scenes, shots from other Arc Angels concerts from around the same time, and a few random shots. The DVD also contains a documentary and a tribute to

Clifford Antone Clifford Antone (October 27, 1949 – May 22, 2006) was the founder of the eponymous Austin blues club Antone's and independent record label Antone's Records and Tapes, as well as a mentor to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, Kim Wilson, G ...

--the late, great blues club owner who nurtured the Austin Blues Music Scene into the mammoth it is today. The documentary is essentially the band speaking directly to the camera about their views on the debut album and its subsequent tour. The Antone Tribute continues in the same vein-- with the group members offering their thoughts on the importance of Antone to their careers and Blues as a whole.

Track listing

Disk one

#"Paradise Cafe" #"Carry Me On" #"The Famous Jane" #"Good Time" #"She's Alright" #"Always Believed in You" #"Sent by Angels" #"Crave and Wonder" #"Sweet Nadine" #"See What Tomorrow Brings" #"Shape I'm In" #"Living in a Dream" #"Too Many Ways to Fall"

Disk two

#"Crave and Wonder" #"What I'm Looking For" #"

" #"Spanish Moon"

Personnel

Doyle Bramhall II Doyle Bramhall II (born December 24, 1968) is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall. Early life Bramhall was born ...

- guitar, vocals *

Charlie Sexton Charles Wayne Sexton (born August 11, 1968) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Sexton is best known for his years as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band, though also has become well known as a music producer. Sexton co-founded the Ar ...

- guitar, vocals *

Chris Layton Christopher Layton (born November 16, 1955), also known as "Whipper", is an American drummer who rose to fame as one of the founding members of Double Trouble, a blues rock band led by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Te ...

- drums *

- bass (live tracks) *Dave Mansey - bass (studio tracks)

References