Wait For It

 

Sometimes I feel like we get to deliver the surprise, and that probably makes me happier than anything else. America's Got Talent, the TV show has brought this effect into the limelight, but for me, the first time was way back in the early 1970's when I was at the stadium in Tampa, FL to watch some of my favorite bands take the stage. It was a giant concert, I think it was the 4th of July or something. I didn't go to many things like this, but Savoy Brown, Balloon Farm, Blue Oyster Cult, and more...but first we had to sit through a set of some crap by this little 3 piece band from Texas named after rolling papers. After the first moment those guys hit the stage, the rest of the bands were probably wishing for a good reason not to take the stage. Those 3 guys, dwarfed by all of the gear behind them, were ready to prove that you don't have to hear a song 1000 times before you love it. I have forgotten almost everything from that day, but I'll never forget hearing ZZ TOP without knowing who they were.

The next time was many years later, when some friends from work talked me into going to a show at the House of Blues on a work night....sheesh! Just to go watch a couple of overweight guys play acoustic guitars. And that's what really happened. The packed house roared after every joke and I instantly became a fan of Tenacious D with Jack Black and Kyle. I'll never forget the words "The only thing that matters is if it rocks, because there is no such thing as a rock prodigy."

The last time...somebody talked me into going to see a 'newgrass' band that was playing at the Hard Rock. The audience all seemed to be polite older people and I was looking at this loose ensemble of musicians that even stopped a song when they decided a guitar was out of tune! The audience loved their music, and I wasn't really bored, standing with my wife at the back of the room. I thought they were talented, certainly the mandolin player and the girl on violin. Then the mandolin player announced that they wanted to try something new, a song by Brittany Spears, Toxic. I groaned inwardly, as I liked that song, as processed and produced as it was, I was not looking forward to what these guys would reduce the tune to. About a minute and a half later, the audience was on their feet and my feet seemed to floating about 12 inches in the air. It was one of the most incredible performances I had seen, and their were no drums, just these four people called Nickelcreek, playing their acoustic instruments. I was looking at the mandolin player out in front, thinking, "He chose that instrument. If he had chosen the electric guitar, he could make Jimi Hendrix look weak!"

I cannot wait for the next time somebody gets to blow my mind...