That Band Again

PHEW!!! I'm glad to see some comments coming in from the first blog, 'ancient den" is right, i've been sweating bullets that nothing would happen and i was naturally pleased to see I have been given a Knighthood at this early stage. He certainly has my son (karaoke steve) and myself well pegged. Stephen (not unlike myself) is a fountain of useless knowlege and never afraid to hand it out( I blame The Discovery Channel) to anyone within range. I shall be watching what I say to "den" in the future and restrict my outpourings to simple subjects such as 'the sexual life of a camel" so as not to confuse the poor fellow. What has this to do with Band? "Nowt" as they say in Yorkshire, just my verbal dihorrea. In the first blog I mentioned holding various contests to get people involved, one of which is how best to describe the band to those poor folks who have not heard them play. I will be keeping a note of the suggestions and publish them for a vote at a later date. Thanks to "mrallnight6" who suggested "The Soul of the City" your first on the list. any others??Den is right that they are simply the best "party entertainment" group we will ever get to hear so we need to tie all that in with the description. One of the vital components is their ability to get people dancing which SoTight does so well, we should look at that too. It is almost impossible not to WANT to dance to them. I myself am NOT a dancer, my son gets very embarrassed claiming I look like Bill Cosby on steroids(little bastard,I'll stop his pocket money) but Sticks and
stones etc, in fact before some poor soul (I think is was the lovely and very lively Renee who has body movements alien to me) who hauled me to the dance floor i think the last band I hopped up and down to was KC and The Sunshine Band or maybe Boney M in the seventies wild, wild times ,mostly wrapped up in an alcholic haze.
So what is it about this Band that has this ability to fill Rossinis to the rafters consistently(wonder how much moolah they take at the bar, perhaps they could spend some on the washrooms) fill the dance floor almost from the first note played and have everyone else clapping and tapping their feet with huge smiles on their faces?
There is no doubt that as individuals they are first class musicians ( and I include Nadine in that category, more on that in a later blog) but you can have that and not the effect this group gives you. A group of great individual athletes in no way guarantees a great team, in fact usually the opposite. The SoTight Band has such a magic togetherness as a group that sets them apart from anything I have heard live in many, many years. They play with such obvious joy and passion together it just reaches out and grabs you and when they REALLY get "in the zone" it sends shivers up and down my spine. I will never in my life forget going to the Odeon Cinema in Leeds in the early sixties and sitting in the front row (Seat AA1, cost me a pound) and being just blown away by the Count Basie Band the shear power and togetherness of that band left me breathless and even now I can remember catching the bus home in a complete daze but on cloud nine. Thats the feeling I personally get when this little local group of players gets in the groove and i come home wringing wet just from listening, heavens knows how THEY feel. At he end of three or four encores they all must be totally exhausted and yet surely thrilled with the audience reaction and participation. The only pity about Rossinis is we can't hear Kent's trumpet as well, if anyone can think of how to fit him in there, short of hanging him from the ceiling, we will all buy you a drink and carry you home. Mind you the decibel level in there must reach some incredible levels, Kent's addition might blow the roof right off. The other aspect of Rossinis is how the heck do you invite 'new" people to come and hear what all the excitement is about, there is no room to breathe in there so we need many, many new venues so the Band (and us) can stretchout more. I have a lot more to say about the Band as individual players and collectively but I want to go on record and say that in my humble opinion here is a group of people who work for a living, don't have a lot of time to add more to their repetoire except over time, a goup of superb players with no visible individual egos, in fact exactly the opposite, a group of people who play at such an intensity and at such a high level, then as an ex-drummer who has played a few gigs in his time and a lover of good music of all stripes I have nothing but admiration and
respect for everyone of them.
Hope Chantel's is full tonight (Friday 20th) I can't be there as it is "she who must be obeyed's birthday" (I keep reminding her it is also Hitler's birthday but for some reason it does not go down too well) Will be there with Karaoke Steve on Saturday and ready for a new blog on Sunday.
Keep the comments coming ( Thanks to "Kitsdancemob" good stuff) and lets bring the support for this band to an unprecedented level in the Lower Mainland, THEY deserve it and so do we.

Richard Winn
White Rock