A few more folks came, including a large group of college kids who plumped down right next to us. I feel like an old man on a rotating record when I complain about the kids today, but dang they sure don’t have any respect for anything.
Though there was a band playing their hearts out right in front of them, and though they had surely paid good money to hear this band, they paid no mind at all to the performance. Instead the men applied their attention to the ladies, scooting their chairs right up against them so as to look deeply into eyes, and entwine legs like a spider. The ladies meanwhile, retracted their cellular phones from their purses every two minutes as if they were expecting a call for the next world summit.
Meanwhile some sparkling good music played on.
56 Hope Road played a good hour set and Tea Leaf Green came on around 10:30. The room had since filled up to about half capacity, but what was there was energized and ready for the head-liners.
It is always an interesting thing to attend a concert where you aren’t familiar with most of the band’s work. There are no songs to sing-along to, nor grooves to groove along with knowingly. It’s all shake it as you can. We remained seated as our bodies were in no shape to groove anyway.
Seated it was still a darn fine groove thing. The band play like a well grooved machine and they know how to work the crowd. The thing is on the aforementioned DVD it kind of irked me to watch the lead singer, Trevor Garrod, work the crowd like a crazed cross between a Southern Baptist preacher and PT Barnum. Grabbing the microphone like a dagger he’d swagger and sway with the music while singing his lyrics like the Holy Word. It irked me because I tend to prefer musicians who approach music with importance and leave the posing to those on TRL. However, in person it is quite impressive, and it must be said that young Trevor hits the keys as much as he shakes it for the crowd.
Article comments
1 - Sarah
Glad to hear you enjoyed the performance. I hope you and your wife are feeling better. Don't forget the best thing for a cold is good old fashioned hot tea. And here's to hoping they ban cell phones in clubs the way they banned smoking out West. Its a sad day when older folks have to remind younger folks to LISTEN to the music play.
2 - Mat Brewster
Thanks Sarah. We still pretty miserable but that's winter for me. I usually spent the winter with a rotten allergy-head cold thing. It started a little earlier this year, but what can you do?
I so don't get the cell phone culture. It's like people have forgotten there is a world going on about them and are stuck in their own little world via the mobile phone.