The Setting: Saturday was the Qualcomm QSCO Division party. It was held at the House of Blues here in San Diego. It was a Marti Gras theme, and probably 400 people showed up to participate. There was a main room, and a smaller room where a band called the Bayou Brothers played. They are a small combo playing Zydeco, and other country songs. They were pretty tight considering that they were the background music for the night.
On the main stage the Wild Magnolias were slated to play at 9:00 pm. I didn’t know what to expect, since I had never heard of them, and I’m not really fond of the New Orleans Jazz/Zydeco style of music.
Lesson 1: Looks can be deceiving. Before the band went on, there was some milling around on stage. One guy walked with a limp, and wore black clothes, so I naturally thought he was a stage hand getting everything in order. He didn’t look like he fit in a Bayou band since he looked Japanese, but boy was I wrong. At 9:00 sharp, this guy strapped on his Strat, and wailed for the next 20 minutes. This guy was better than good, he was clean, his tone was impeccable, and he looked humble in the process. The band setting was simple Guitar, Bass, Drum set, and some congas yet, this meager instrumentation made for a great sound. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a live show, and these guys blew me away.
Lesson 2: Check yourself. Before these guys went on, I was ready to be unimpressed…That all changed. I realized about 5 minutes into their first song, that I’m not a great guitar player. A good as I think I or anyone else thinks I am, compared to this guy I basically suck. This guys name isn’t Clapton, Beck, Cray…it was something like Matsusaga, regardless, his name is pretty incredible. Good is not good enough to make it. This guy was tearing up the place, and he was doing it in as un-flashy a way as possible. At times there were so many people on the stage, you couldn’t see him. It not about being seen, it’s about the music you make, and how well you make it. There is always room for improvement.
Lesson 3: try new things. I went to the party fully expecting to be board by the crowd and music. Even though there was not enough seating, and the room may have been a little small for the numbers, I had a great time. Most importantly, I got to hear some great music. I came away both inspired and humbled. I did pick up my guitar today and noodled around a little. I know that I don’t practice nearly enough, but that can change.
Filed under: Guitar, Making Music, Misc, The Blues, Zydeco | Tagged: Electric Guitar, Guitar playing
[...] You can read the rest of this blog post by going to the original source, here [...]
[...] The theme was Mardi Gras, and the band was the Wild Magnolias, A bluesy, Funky, Zydeco band from New Orleans. They started out the night with some instrumental stuff, and went into some party music. They really brought the Qualcomm crowd out of their shells. Read below. The Guitar player was phenomenal. He never missed a note. You can read more about that at eric makes music. [...]
Hey Eric, thank you for your kind sentiments.
You need to come down for the Krewe du Vieux parade, which rolls early this year and always always has around 17 brass bands.
I posted you today onto the New Orleans News Ladder, a new daily news blog for everything New Orleans from all over the place. I hope you like the site.
You can find me some of my axing around on my my my myspace or email me.
Thanks again.
“try new things.” absolutely true. probably most of the music that’s ever influenced me in some major jumped on my road accidentally. many times have i not wanted to go see a show or listen to something, and then, boom, it ends up rattling my cage for ever. good thoughts.
ig
That reminds me of a concert I was near-literally dragged to. Harry Connick Jr.
I so did not want to go out and see the bastard son of Frank Sinatra.
This so was not a gig for the bastard son of Frank Sinatra.
It was long enough for an intermission. The only time he wasn’t going “This is a style. We’ll jam on that style until we get bored, then go on to the next style” was when he played his ‘hit single’, “Whisper”. (“I just whisper your name…” and here come the horns.) When I say “style”, I mean he hit everything from second-line New Orleans marching band jazz to heavy metal.
There was a row of older folks who seemingly wanted to see the bastard son of Frankie. They left during the intermission.
I was nearly dragged to the show. I hold it as one of the top three shows I’ve seen.