As I would think everyone who read this blog knows by now, I have a bit of an obsession with a local unsigned pop rock band called Fourwayfree. Because of the fact that I really like their music and have an innate feeling that the world should be fair, I take the opportunity to help them out whenever I can. These guys are good enough to be famous, and in a fair world, they would be all over the radio and rolling in fame and fortune.
My latest chance to see Fourwayfree came along with a chance to help get others to see them, too - a concert in our town of Morgan Hill on January 31. They arranged to play at the Sobrato Arts Center auditorium, a great venue on the grounds of the local high school. The weekend was a really busy one - the bike club had a dinner, the running club was travelling to Death Valley, and several of our Morgan Hill crowd were going to the Salute dinner to celebrate our friend Patty Sebald getting named Volunteer of the Year (yay, Patty!). So a lot of the people I would ordinarily get to go were otherwise booked.
In any case, I ended up there with 16 friends, and 3 more had bought tickets and then worn themselves out cycling that day and so didn't show. A good turnout all around, the auditorium looked full, and we all got good seats together in the front right section, while two friends April and Kryia decided to sit up in the back so they could dance in their seats, which idea I just LOVED. It's hard for me to sit still, too, my friends.
The opening band, Aural Assault, was great fun for those of us with a classic hard rock history. They won the battle of the bands contest for 18 and under from the radio station KFOX, and it turns out that we had met the guitarist's dad late last year when George got his car hooked up for the ipods. Aural Assault took on some of our favorite classic rock tunes and did them up well - Godzilla, Panama, and even Voodoo Child! They went way above and beyond what most cover bands would dare to take on. All 3 were great, and special kudos to the drummer who also did a lot of singing, some real talent there. So far so good, my friends were all buzzing happily about the opening during the break.
Then finally it was time for Fourwayfree. Wow... what a show. They did it all, old and new, acoustic and jam band and lots of lead singer Genji Nakano's special introspective moments, too. One really cool part was that they had a full horn section with them - 3 really talented guys, led by Cousin Steve Nakano. The horns really add a lot of depth and that fun sound to the band.
During the show, the band invited some special guests on stage, beginning with Chris, who I've seen play bass before - young and very talented. They also brought up their former member Darin "Berle" Dixon on bass later in the show, and during those songs,the current bass player Cameron Scott picked up on guitar - listening to him and lead guitarist Jeff Nunes playing together was really something special. I think that was probably the high point of the show, where I was absolutely sure looking around at my friends that everyone was really enjoying themselves.
Another great moment was when the band brought up two female vocalists, one of whom was Lisette, who I'd seen sing before with a local young band called Opposite of Grey - the two voices blended beautifully with Genji's and again, everyone seemed really impressed. They also did a really nice acoustic set where the four core guys were all in a line up front, including Boody out from behind on his drum set playing on a beat box.
The band played everything, a really long, full show. They gave a chance for everyone there to see all of their "moods", so I'm figuring no matter what style music you like, they hit on it. I do think some of my friends could have used a break, or maybe just didn't expect such a long show, because everyone seemed pretty tired by the end (did I mention we're old?!) But really, credit goes to the band for the marathon set. You never know which song will be someone's favorite, after all! I was gratified to see many of my friends buying CDs and ordering the live recording afterwards.
The next day many of us were at the same superbowl party, and we got into a discussion about why this band isn't famous. It's hard to explain, I guess it's possible there are really that many talented bands out there, but I also know it takes time to get the exposure up and some spark of luck as well. So, I'll keep doing what I can to let people know about the band -- Fourwayfree, check 'em out on
MySpace or iTunes or at
CD baby where you can hear a good preview of several songs and also buy their CD.
And don't worry, I'll let you know when they're back in town, too.
Mushroom Mardi Gras on Memorial Day weekend!