On a surprisingly brisk April evening (at least by Dallas standards) the emo-kids could barely contain their excitement for Augustana.  The opportunity to hear the soothing voice of lead singer Dan Layus and his harmonious piano melodies nearly had them jumping out of their Converse All Stars.

But first things first.  Vega 4 opened for Augustana and let me say it:  These guys are pretty damn good.  The expectation for an opening band is always pretty low but Vega 4 far exceeded any expectation I had for them.  Frankly, I didn’t even know who was opening until I got to the Granada Theater and saw Vega 4 signage everywhere.  At first, I wondered if these guys were cool because of lead singer Johnny McDaid’s slick Irish accent, but no, their music was what did it for me.  And they didn’t have a bad stage presence either.  Near the end of their set McDaid even had time to make a video for his newborn Godson who had been christened earlier that day in Ireland.  Vega 4 closed their set with probably the most memorable song of the evening, “Life is Beautiful.”  Take a cross between Keane and The Fray, add some meaningful lyrics, and you have the gist of this song.

Augustana followed Vega 4 by promoting some of their newer material from an upcoming album.  The most noteworthy track was “I’ll Meet You There Someday.”  The song seemed to fit the slow and heart-felt blueprint that put Augustana on the map in the first place, but you can’t deny the emotion contained within a song written for a man’s newborn daughter.  I suppose becoming a dad releases a sensitive side to every man that only a father could understand.  True to their roots Augustana also performed music from their 2005 debut, All The Stars and Boulevards.  And yes, you guessed it, they did perform the title track to the aforementioned debut album.

After a 10 song set of happy, cuddle up with your significant other music, the Augustana show took a mysterious turn.  With no fanfare and no encore Dan Layus flew straight into the piano intro for, “Boston.”  This is what the crowd came to hear and, obviously, Augustana wasn’t going to leave without performing this song.  But when a crowd of 200 comes to hear one song, wouldn’t you think that particular song would come last?  Augustana didn’t think so.

It was fairly disappointing but by the time Augustana was wrapping up their performance of “Boston,” the crowd was shuffling out.  They had an encore but I doubt anyone remembers what they performed.  I know I don’t because I was on my out with the rest of the crowd.  I thought the show was over.  Truth be told, Augustana put on a good show but their decision to not work the crowd a little better mystified me.  If nothing else, they probably shouldn’t have even bothered with the encore.  Then people wouldn’t have left thinking, “Wait, are they still going on in there?”