Josh, George and Abbey
Now for the much awaited experience.
On Wednesday 8/18 I was just into a mini-vacation (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off) when I bought myself a nice leather desk chair because Staples had a good deal. After putting it together it was about 8:00 pm when I went online and got the email (or more precisely, the comment) from Hooker Street Band saying that they had a gig that night about 10pm up in Allston.
Me being the spontaneous young man I am, I decided I had to get my butt up there and see them while I could, since I keep seeing gigs on their schedule in places like New York and various Wednesdays and Sundays when I can’t make it.
Scrambled into the shower and onto the road, calling a couple of friends on the way to see if they wanted to join me. One, in Providence, told me I should have called an hour before (my bad) and besides he works in the morning. Of course. I’d wanted to try anyway. My other friend, who lives in Boston, was actually in Maine for a day or so for business. So I’m going it alone. It’s all good.
I think the note said something about getting there about 10:00. Since I’m not well versed in laid-back venue scheduling (dude, when Network and Master Control hits 5:00:00 AM, we better bloody well be ready to go!...) I got to O’Brien’s Pub (originally thinking it was T’s Pub on Comm Ave, but I was on crack) (NO, yokel, I was not REALLY on crack. Think “nuts.”) maybe 10:15.
O’Brien’s is a nice little place. Enough room for dancing, but it could easily get crowded with dancers. Its bathrooms, small and right next to each other, remind me of a scene in Chasing Amy. Hell, the guy behind the bar could have been Kevin Smith with a few tweaks. Unfortunately it being a Wednesday night it wasn’t even halfway packed.
Nobody was on stage, so when I met up with George (which? The bearded one) I asked “What, I didn’t miss you did I?”
Rookie mistake. “Cahill” was set to go on before them and hadn’t even started yet. Goofball am I.
That gave me some time to chat a bit and figure out how I was gonna dish this. I ended up scribbling on my own business cards.
Cahill’s nice, and the guys are cute, especially the blonde one, (which name?) but they seemed very much like so many other bands/artists which are just a guy (or guys) and his guitar. I hear a lot of these guys on the radio -- okay, 92profm is the worst offender of my radio buttons for this -- who are are just trying to be so heartfelt and and so ... I don’t know what, but 90% of the time it doesn’t do anything for me. Whoever it is, like Nickelback or whomever, who sings “Restless tonight... (etc.)” pretty much epitomizes this.
But enough about that. Cahill apparently has a decent following with lots of female fans. Why more of these people didn’t stick around for HSB is their loss.
I was listening to some like 80’s-90’s hour at noon the other day when The Barenaked Ladies’ “If I Had A Million Dollars” came on and I said, “THAT’S who Hooker Street Band is like!... wait, not them either.” I don’t know exactly why I said Hooker Street Band was like Maroon 5. No, Hooker Street Band is starting to look you can’t compare anything to it.
They opened with “Hey Hey.” I think I heard “Hey Hey” on the original demo I got interested in. I sit and listen, and watch, and I can’t stop saying, this is a fun band. The songs, the writing, the performance, it rocks. And not just in the “You rock!” context of, you’re valuable and desirable; it actually is move-inducing. It’s melodic, the words create a buzz on the tongue. It will get people dancing. They project so much into the audience. Why haven’t more people sat up and taken notice?
Later, “Second Best.” This song has a lot of hurt in it, and appropriately so -- a girl cheats on her lover -- and the hurt comes through, blasting to the audience at moments as much as you would be after being hurt like that.
This entire experience has started me wondering how I like ensembles better than artists working with just guitars. That night Hooker Street Band was two guitars plus bass guitar, drums and keyboard (with guest bass player and keyboardist... apologies, their names escape me; I was just loose enough to be writing things down but not that), and it feels like there’s more texture to the more complex ensemble for me. I’d be cool with just a guy and his piano -- I love Billy Joel -- but the guitar is different. Adding different elements makes it whole for me.
I guess all these guys who are “a guy and his guitar” -- a la the college kid playing in the dorm stairwell -- seem like the balladeer. So much of their material comes from being “sensitive” or something to appeal to a female audience. The people backing a solo artist like Eminem or Britney Spears are seen as just the backing musicians; I don’t know that you’d call it a “band” per se. You probably would; I’m talking through my hat. Hooker Street Band feels like an ensemble -- All together now! -- and that helps its appeal.
Okay. Next on the agenda: Who ARE these people? Josh, George and Abbey need bios written. I’m tempted to volunteer just for kicks. When I’ll find the time is anybody’s guess. Still, writing your own bio (“I am a...”) is easy and also has great appeal.
Labels: Originally published
... Scribbled by Bill T ... 8/28/2004 02:09:00 PM ... 
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