A recent Monday night at Bootleg Theater introduced me to a trio of bands.
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First up was Sue Scrofa, a band that currently resides in California, but comes to us from Alabama. Were there any indications that they come to us from Alabama? Sure. A question about college football allegiances was tossed out. And I couldn’t help but notice a “Gone with the Wind” inspired Barnes & Nobles bag was on stage – okay, so “Gone with the Wind” was based in Georgia, but the two states are neighbors. I went to the Bootleg to catch Sue Scrofa as the Intraffik editor suggested them. They have a fun catchy sound.
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Next up was The Soft White Sixties from San Francisco, who shifted the music from Southern inspiration to rock ‘n roll. One of their friends came up to me and we had a conversation about cameras. I learned that his interest in D-SLR cameras was driven by that fact that he is going on a 40 day pilgrimage from Spain to Portugal. I wish him well. (Side bar: I recently submitted a travel write-up about Lisbon, Portugal so you’ll get a taste of Portugal soon.) I’m not sure that doing a 40 day pilgrimage from Spain to Portugal is up my alley, but I do think that a 40 day trip through Europe catching various local bands would be interesting. I say Intraffik should set that one up. I can write the music version to Bill Bryson’s “Neither here nor There: Travels in Europe” book. – If only I had the insights of Bill Bryson.
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The final band for me was the residency band, Harriet. I feel guilty about a brief conversation I had with one of the band’s friends. A guy came up to me since he noticed me with a camera and asked if I was photographing for the media. I did a quick calculation and said, “No.”
Why did I say “No?” I didn’t intend to write this article for Intraffik. I was there just to have fun.
So was it a lie or not? I don’t know. I didn’t want to give the false impression (at the time) that I was going to be doing a write-up on them. I figure a good lawyer could differentiate between me being somewhere with the intent to write for Intraffik versus me just showing up at a venue to catch some bands. Right? Why the change of heart regarding writing an article? When 35-40 minutes passes without me even realizing it, I know it was a good set. When I’m surrounded by fans who are intently listening throughout, I know it was a good set. When I notice the door guy ignoring the door and instead watching the band, I know it was a good set. When they open up with an acoustic song that blows me away, I know it was a good set. When they end with letting the drummer close it out, I know it was a good set. And so with all that said, I changed my mind and decided to switch from being there just for fun to being there to do a write-up.
I did buy their merch so hopefully that makes up for the fib . . .