Live @ Goldhawk, Hoboken
As I crossed Garden Street on the walk over to the club, a car politely beeped at me. When I peered over I could see Lava (High Speed Chase) flipping me the bird. Makes me wish I had my camera. It was good to start my night with that ever-lovin’ Christmas spirit.
Lisa was supposed to come with me, but this is Hoboken with snow on the ground. So parking is harder than normal to find. The Goldhawk does validate parking at one of the local lots. Unfortunately on this night it was closed for some unknown reason. So after a few frustrating moments of searching for a spot, she gave up and went home. This lack of parking also had a hand in the smaller than usual crowd in the early part of the night.
The first act was Kevin Jacoby of the band Cecilia. He announced that he was going to play something festive but the only problem was that he didn’t know any holiday songs. Instead he spoke of how he had just purchased the Police box set ‘Message in a Box’. So he opted to play ‘King of Pain’ instead. I’ve been told to see his band a hundred times but fate never seemed to allow it. Normally Kevin handles the duties of bass when playing with Cecilia. Tonight his lanky posture, wispy voice and guitar wrangling delivered sweet songs that kept the small crowd captivated.
It didn’t take much to make the Goldhawk festive. A lone white tree shining from behind the stage with sprinklings of greenery and lights accent the room. The ever lovely Sammie (sometimes Sami, sometimes Sammy … I guess it depends on her mood) greeted me from behind the bar with a wink and a smile as the Yule log plays on the TV above. Now I’m not big on the whole Christmas thing. Commercialism, gift-buying, decorating and such. What I do like is spending time with family and friends. Though this time of year just seems to lend itself to that sorta thing, I get that feeling here at the Goldhawk all the time.
Daniel McBride (aka 13 Hands) wasted no time getting his set moving. Acoustic guitar juiced up with a array of electronics creates subtle but effective sonic and rhythmic loops. There is plenty of room above it all so the main guitar tone and his soulful voice didn’t lose their focus. He announces with a smile that he taught five yoga classes that day so he was feeling just right. He sneaked in a little ‘Silent Night’ at the end of his set.
Afterward Daniel told me how when he was about 21 he nearly died from health complications. Soon after he lost someone dear to him. This found him wandering lost and away from his music. For the last twelve years he has been working to get his life back. Organic diet, music therapy and yoga. He now creates music for the shear joy of it and teaches yoga in Montclair, NJ full time now.
Meeting Daniel at this time was weird because lately I’ve been lost in depression and trying to synchronize my own internal clock. My music has been feeling more and more like a chore to me of late. His story was inspirational. As if a solution was not too far away. Whether or not this means I’ll contort my body by means of yoga, only time will tell.
At one point Gibby (High Speed Chase) came in with a box of cupcakes and cookies. Of course they can’t compare to Ivy’s (ArtKore.org) homemade fare. She would joke that she was really good at following a recipe. Believe me, I’ve had cookies that were from a ‘recipe’ that were simply not this good.
Up next came the smooth funk of Reese Band. Most bands when paired down would resort to hand percussion or, worse yet … a drum machine. These guys however have a percussionist that plays a drum machine by effectively tapping out the rhythms. We were all expecting a love song when Reese announced, “This one’s for George and his lovely wife.” Imagine our surprise when they broke into a rendition of ‘Hey Joe’ followed closely by an impromptu, pulsing version of ‘The Christmas Song’.
Bobby Syvarth also uses tastefully constructed loops to accompany his songs. Tonight there was the added treat of Gregg Gerson on flute running thru guitar effects for added texture. Mike Barnes from Reese Band joined them on guitar. The style of the set lent itself to periods of improvisation. There was a moment that found the flute standing witness to a hot guitar dual until it spoke calmly brought us all back to a feeling a Christmas. As Bobby and Co. ripped thru ‘Eleanor Rigby’ I have to wonder if this was the same guy on an MP3 that was passed around during the heyday of Napster. He later told me that there was a recording of it from 1998 so anything is possible.
Following some minor technical issues came Forbidden Fruit. They claim that their beach friendly island-style sound is perfect for hanging by the fire after skiing. Their set was sadly cut short but was a pleasure. I still have to see them with their full out electric sound. From what I’m told, that is the real treat.
The night was winding down when the stunning green eyes and dark skin of Shavon caught my attention. Well to confess, her exotic European, African and indigenous South American mix caught my attention way earlier, but it was only now that I spoke to her. She is a singer and we discussed possibly working together. I think it could be the thing I need to free my recently stifled muse. I also recall busting her on not using the traditional spelling of her name (‘Siobhan’) despite her semi-Irish background which got us further along on our discussion of nationalities.
After the back room emptied out, I sat keeping Sammie company as she closed up. We never really talked before so it was nice to get to know more about her. She at one time managed DJs and MCs, deeply entrenched in the Hip Hop world. It’s not exactly what one would expect from this tall, pretty blonde girl, but I’ve learned that you should never judge anyone or expect the typical in life. She told me that it was one of the lessons she learned when working with the likes of Grandmaster Flash and Africa Bambada.
Once she was done, we moved up to the front bar where I had one last drink and she ate her dinner. There I found my friends Marc, Greg, Lava, Rad and Emeri among other late night hold outs. The fun of this part of any night for me is trying to follow the conversations. I was getting snippets of boxer/briefs debates, fat girls love to give blow jobs revelations and weight guessing games.
To be honest I don’t remember who was saying what, I just know I found it amusing. One conversation I do remember was when Lava and I defined a new crime called Murder by Suicide. The trick is that you jump off a building or some other high point aiming for someone you hate. So, on that note …
See Also:
ArtKore
