Sometimes you wear your clothes for a reason, sometimes the reason is because it’s what you’re wearing. In our case, being almost an HOUR late, due to a combination of traffic, chatty baristas, and a bit of slow going at first, put us in a rare position to be in real need of extremely comfy clothes and shoes for our two-flights-of-stairs-in-the-rain load in. And, because we were late, everything we planned to do for pre-show ritual and sound check, INCLUDING changing our clothes, was off the docket. Therefore, the Velour Tour came into Spinella’s hot, sweaty, and ready to play. And play we did.
Walker opened the night for us to a warm and receptive crowd. His song “Red Head Women” and the story preceding it immediately engaged several members of the audience and, just as they were appreciating Walker’s sense of humor, southern drawl, and sprinkling of self depreciation were settling onto the crowd, he began to sing and let everyone know that he is a serious man of talent and depth. He did a couple tunes, then brought Jared and I up to back him on his last two. Walker’s songs are really cool to sing backup on and leave plenty of room for Jared to stretch out on his guitar. Jared even pulls out a slide for one. It was so nice to set the stage a little differently for this gig since Champagne Sunday was about to come out a bit differently as well.
Spinella’s (our venue for the night) has been a constant in our lives for almost twelve years. We have brought every version of ourselves that we’ve had to the table for every performance during that time. We were really looking forward to showcasing the trio for a fanbase that would support us with open arms, but still be honest about how we sounded. The response was an overwhelmingly positive one, full of “I LOVE the new drummer”, and “You guys had even MORE energy than I’ve seen before—-which is hard to do”, and “Holy cow! This sound is great!” kinds of comments. That felt real nice.
You know, Champagne Sunday is a precious experience for many. A lot of folks can feel disappointed or upset when their favorite band makes changes. I get that. I mean, a whole generation of hardcore hippies, folk artists, and poets, collectively grimaced and held their breath when Bob Dylan smashed his acoustic guitar and went electric. Oh, the betrayal! But, that ushered in a new era for the musical bard, and even the hippies finally forgave him and some even came around. Also, he played his acoustic again so everyone could just settle down. The point is, change is good, necessary for growth, and nothing is permanent.
So, in light of that, let’s have a little fun, get a little rowdy, and give you all some sick and craftily cultivated drum beats for you to dance to for these next few shows!!
