tangents

KALW celebrated it's 70th birthday last night with a concert at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. Our preferred Saturday night occupation is having dinner at home and listening to Dore Stein's Tangents, which comes on at 8:00 pm. We do occasionally enjoy having friends join us, who appreciate the eclectic mix, and will put up with us stopping all conversation to listen to the radio. But occasionally one must branch out, and since we basically could listen to a live Tangents, with the friends who also seem to enjoy the musical mix we went out. Now to picture the whole evening you have to first experience the Berkeley student scene at Jupiter Pizza, conveniently located within walking distance of the Freight to allow for seat getting and dining before the music. This is a loud, young crowd, many tattoos and piercings. But the pizza and beer are good. And my friend Liza and I are amazed at the height of heels some of the young things can wear. We both have bad knees, flat shoes are our life. So after the pizza we wander to the Freight, where the average age of the crowd must go up by 35-40 years, and almost all of the women are wearing practical shoes.
But now the fun starts. The evening features three sets, and opens with the very traditional Flatt and Scruggs Tribute Band. Peter Thompson, who hosts Bluegrass Signal, the program that comes on before Tangents, announces. He is a familiar voice, and low and behold he is a real person. I realize how much I enjoy bluegrass, after a verse or two the tunes are easily hummable. Then the second set. George Brooks and Kai Eckhardt with others, including a tabla player, doing, well, hard to describe. Bridging the gap between jazz and Indian classical music the program states. And that is what it is. This set is of course is announced by Dore Stein himself. Again a face to the voice. After cake, well it is a birthday party, we get the third set. If you have listened to Folk Music and Beyond, a Saturday afternoon program you'll recognize the voice of JoAnn Mar. I have to say I think I hear her and think of pledge drives. But the third band is Wake the Dead. And we get Celtic Grateful Dead music and more. This was a concept I would never have thought up. Surprisingly it worked. And the end of course had a sing along.
This was one of the friendliest, enthusiastic crowds I have ever been a part of, which made for a very enjoyable evening. And I was really struck by how wonderful it is to able to throw aside your concepts of music, and just listen and be open. And if you have never been to the Freight and Salvage, I recommend it highly as a venue.