Posted by Zen Ben:

Hoboe had a great Portland - Portsmouth run this past weekend.

First on Friday, we played Slainte, a small wine bar and lounge on Preble Street in Portland, Maine (our hometown).  We played there a year ago among some difficulty because our brand of rock tends to be on the loud side for these small places.  At the time, a year ago, we maybe had a dozen people in the audience through the course of the entire night and the Celtics were playing a playoff game, so must of them were more interested in that than the music.  We felt some trepidation going back for a gig there a year later, especially after having frolicked around in most of Portland's major rock clubs and perfecting an even grander, louder brand of our sound.

Needless to say, we took the gig as a challenge to listen to ourselves.  We do like to play loud, but we conquered the room the best we could and didn't blow the roof off or scare the audience away.  We probably had three or four times the audience we did last year, including friends from out of town.  We gave a performance that Slainte said was refreshing to see, and although we might have toned down a little, we still treated the performance as if it was a big stage.  We do like to put on a show!

We walked away feeling like we had made up for our performance the year before, satisfied and victorious!  Thanks to our fans Tyler, Bob, Colleen, Heather, Chuck, Gina, Sean, Shannon, Missy, Jessica, Holly, anybody else I'm forgetting, and to Ian for booking us.

The following night, Saturday, we went to the Blue Mermaid for a Valentine's Day performance.  Blue Mermaid is similiar to Slainte in that it is a small and intimate bar.  The first thing I have to say about our experience debuting in Portsmouth, is that the hospitality in that town is incredible and the people amazingly friendly!

First off, Bob and I went down there early to distribute hand leaflets about our show, to generate interest.  We met Chris, from the New Hampshire band Soak and chatted with him for awhile about the Portsmouth music scene, and he later came out to check us out (thanks Chris!).

After we leafletted for a good while, we went to the Blue Mermaid to cash in on our free meal.  Can you say "delicious"?  I ordered the graized spare ribs and Bob ordered the medallion steak, and we of course traded bites.  It was among the most delicious food I've ever eaten.  Portsmouthers--go eat there, please.

While we were eating our dinner, of course wearing our usual performance attire, standing out like a sore thumb as "the band", we had the flattering experience of person after person coming up to us, tapping on our shoulders saying "excuse me, are you in the band?" "Why yes," we replied, "we're from Portland, Maine."

The Blue Mermaid had done some publicity about us (quite the treat for us as most Portland venues don't do much promotion and rely entirely on the band to do it!), and people were intrigued by the oboe in a rock band and came out specifically to see us.  Among them--two women celebrating their 50th birthdays, each with their own entourages of a dozen or so folks (one whose nine-year old daughter plays oboe:  I told her to keep encouraging her because eventually I'll need a successor), and a couple celebrating their 14th anniversary (on the 14th!).  The most special treat of all?  My friends Trish and Nick drove all the way up from Rhode Island to see us!  How flattering, indeed!

We had just a wonderful time there, and I can't wait to return to Portsmouth!  The scene, the attitude, the vibe.... it is all so refreshing and hopeful--a wonderful escape from the sometimes clicky snobbery that comes along with the Portland music scene (oboe in a rock band?  hmmppph!).

We are excited to get out of Maine and go play New Jersey in a few weeks, and Philadelphia in May.  We couldn't have asked for a better gateway experience fo us from Portland to the rest of the world, than Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Stay tuned, because we WILL be back there!

--Zen Ben