 |
|
I always enjoy being pleasantly surprised by a live band’s performance. To hear something unexpected…to hear a one time only version of a song…or to be there when something special happens. Even though a group’s material is similar from night to night, the venue and the interaction of the artist and audience can make every night special. For some reason, I can’t just go to one place and sit for a whole night! A variety of live entertainment keeps me amused. On this particular night Saturday, August 30, 2003, I started off by watching the all female Irish Music group called “Cherish The Ladies” at the Capital Theater in Rome. Cherish The Ladies features a full ensemble of the traditional Irish instruments and songs but also has an incredible dancing team. The ambience of the Capital Theater added to the performance. I hope you had a chance to their performance at Clinton Square during the Irish Festival. The group really seemed to bond with the crowd laughing and telling stories and involving the audience with crowd participation. Moving on I drove to El Chico Restaurant also in Rome. This is a small restaurant bar that you would hardly expect to have live entertainment—but they do! Every week they feature Karaoke (Does Karaoke qualify as live entertainment?) and from time to time they also feature solo artists and duos. On this particular night Timothy Creaser was performing. If you read this column and remember back a month or so (July 2003) I wrote an analogy about solo performances: If the performance is a sandwich then the singing and playing are the meat, and the “midi” and special added effects would be the mayonnaise. If a person has too many special effects (mayo) then you can’t taste the meat—but some people like a lot of mayonnaise on their sandwich. If you’re one who does, then you will love Timothy Creaser who accompanies himself with recorded backing tracks complete with guitar and then adds his own guitar parts live. This is the first time I ever saw a guitarist do what many keyboard players have been doing for years! Most of the tunes featured guitar, drum and bass but also some backing vocals. Creaser plays a wide variety of popular tunes and has truly great range and diversity of vocal stylings. My favorite moment of the night was when he sang Prince’s “Kiss” in a blasting falsetto voice. I think it was a favorite of most of the people in the bar. In fact, people were singing along to many of the songs including the “BOM, BOM, BOM” in Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. Creaser played many of the crowds favorites with backing tracks on almost every song. If you like your music with lots of mayo, you’ll love Timothy Creaser. Everyone here did. 1:00 am I headed for the Snubbing Post, also in Rome. Well, it may have been because of the Labor Day Weekend, but the crowd was extremely light when you consider the band playing was 24/7. If you’re from Syracuse, you may be confusing this band with the seven-piece band complete with horn section. This 24/7 is a four-piece straight ahead classic rock act. You’ll hear the Stones, The Who, etc. They do faithful renditions of all your classic rock favorites. Usually the Post is so packed that listening outside is the best way to hear the band. Tonight, the band took a pause during the late set and bassist Bill Carmen took the opportunity to speak some heartfelt words. I’m not sure what inspired him but everyone in the audience was held as he talked about the recent death of his brother who encouraged him to play music. He continued talk and reminded everyone of the recent passing of one of the band’s road crew. As he wrapped up his spontaneous speech, the crowd roared with their encouragement and support . And that’s what I like about live entertainment—the interaction between the band and the audience and the surprises. With or without mayonnaise I always welcome live entertainment (and maybe karaoke). |