Juanita's is a local Arkansas restaurant serving up tex-mex cuisine, which has an attached club, known appropriately as "The Cantina" that houses a bar, of course, and a concert stage. It's not an overly large club, so as Flickerstick seems to draw quite a crowd, it was shoulder to shoulder this evening. As can be expected in such close quarters, there was little to no ventilation and a thick cloud of smoke hung in the air. Welcome to the world of Rock and Roll and the lives of the Score! Sirens. My lungs were not very appreciative of my breathing in the not-so-foreign substance, as I gleaned looks of concern from those around me while I proceeded to emit barking seal-like coughs.

The opening act, Rubyhorse took the stage promptly and they were a welcome surprise. Frontman Dave Farrell, looking very much like Leif Garret and having all of the moves of Mick Jagger, sauntered across the stage with the confidence of a superstar. This five-piece band hailing from Cork, Ireland induced high spirits in the already exuberant crowd by playing their original brand of Irish-American rock as if they'd been born doing it. Transported from Ireland to America where they've spent the last 5 years of their career, stating that they loved every minute of it, the band has met with quite a bit of success. They didn't miss their mark when calling upon everyone's patriotism while signing the verse "Land of the free, home of the brave." They are high energy, enthusiastic, and exceptionally entertaining. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to speak with them to find out more about them, so I'll now be on a research spree.

Flickerstick then took the stage after a fun Willy Wonka introduction. I was slightly dismayed that I heard more than one person asking "What the hell is this?" Who doesn't know Willy Wonka!?!? At any rate, the band caused a flurry of excitement as they took their places and the mass of people swarmed to get a better look of the objects of their desire. My ear drum was pierced by the blood curdling screeching of one such adoring fan, strategically positioned right next to me for optimum torture infliction, which continued throughout the entire set.

As I stood dabbing the blood from my earlobe, I pondered. Flickerstick has certainly gained some dedicated and fanatical followers. During the show I witnessed death defying dives for picks and drumsticks, my concert mate meeting with an elbow in the face during one such fray, and a fight nearly ensued as two fans lunged towards the stage to battle for a set list.

The band itself actually impressed me. I'll admit that I was in attendance this evening out of duty and not desire to see the band. I wasn't a faithful Bands on The Run viewer, and on the rare occasion that I did happen to catch an episode of the show, all of the bands, save Josh Dodes, sounded less than appealing. I expected to have to suffer in silence through Flickerstick's set, but instead I was greeted with a much better sounding band than what was portrayed on the television screen. I shrugged and made an appreciative face of surprise while the band ran through their set which went as follows (I managed to jot these down from the set list before it was usurped from its proper location): "Smile", "Got a Feeling", "Chloroform", "Lift", "You're So Hollywood", "Talk Show Host", "Fade Into You", "Sorry", "Tell", "Black Beauty", "Coke", which Brandon introduced as a song about drugs to which, for whatever reason, the enthusiastic person next to me decided to inform that the song was certainly not about cocaine, but was about Coca-Cola, and "Direct Line To The Telepathic".

The stage was off-set by a white backdrop that had various images and designs projected on to it, which may also have displayed subliminal messages - I'm not quite sure. "You LOVE Flickerstick"... "You NEED to buy Flickerstick albums"... Of course there was the token praise of Harlow and a diss on the other Bands on The Run, followed by a quick retraction of anything negative. During "Direct Line To The Telepathic", members of Ruby Horse joined Flickerstick on stage as a sort of grand finale, while Cory remained playing long after the rest of the band and guest performers had departed, seeming to not want the final show and the tour to come to an end.

However, all things must come to an end, as must this review. Let me wrap it up by saying that I readily admit when I'm wrong, and also confess this isn't the first or the last time that will happen. Although I didn't have high hopes for this concert, I must concede that Flickerstick was much better than I expected. They were quite a crowd pleaser.

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