February 20, 2012
I am resurrecting the blog! Well, at least I think I am. It has been months since I have written anything and after the show I went to Sunday night, I feel compelled to write again. I have seen a lot of bands in my life. Working in the music industry has given me the opportunity to see and hear some great music. Well, I did not actually see the music, like as if I was on an acid trip or anything. I simply saw the bands play the music. And I have seen some great bands. But over the years I have also seen some boring shows. A lot of bands just phone it in. Perhaps playing the same show night after night makes it tough to get excited about each and every show. But Sunday night was different.
Apparently Steve Poltz has celebrated his 50th birthday at the Belly Up Tavern for the past two years and Sunday was his third 50th birthday bash (read 52 years old). Amy {um, Sarah} Petite opened up. I had never heard of her before and unfortunately I only caught her last two songs. I say unfortunately because the songs I did see were great. She is a singer/songwriter with a great personality and fun little ditties. For her last song Steve Poltz came out and joined her and it just looked like they were having a lot of fun up there.
And that was the vibe of the whole night and the reason I enjoyed it so much. Everyone up there was having a good time. After Amy {yup, Sarah} Petite came Bob Schneider, who I really like. He and Steve Poltz are apparently good friends. Or at least the jokes being made certainly would seem to indicate that. Again, Bob did not take himself too seriously. He played tunes, asking the audience what song he should play next. He and everyone in the audience just had a great time.
And then came Steve Poltz and friends. Yup, and friends. I assume Steve is a native San Diegan based on the folks that joined him on stage. So he got up and played some tunes. Then he was joined by AJ Croce. Then came Bushwalla. Then Anya Marina. This was more of a music party – birthday party I suppose – than a show. And it reminded me of just how fun it can be to go to live music shows. It was far from a stuffy, stick to the set list, type of concert.
Sometimes these smaller, less rehearsed shows offer the best experience. I am not knocking the big arena rock shows out there. Obviously at a certain point in an artist’s career they don’t have much of a choice. U2 or Coldplay would have to play 50 shows at the Belly Up Tavern to accommodate their audience. But when you do go to a small, intimate show, where the artists are having as much fun as the audience, it is a very different experience and certainly one I enjoy.
