Listening to garage bands in Phoenix and Los Angeles in the 1980s and '90s


As I drift into my senior years, most of my friends talk about concerts that they've been to, with famous bands. They usually have souvenir tickets, that sort of thing. Quite often I've seen it as something of a competition, with someone saying that they've seen the Stones seventeen times, and other claiming eighteen. And I have to remain silent, because I never did any of those things, for several reasons. I'll see if I can explain. Time-travel with me.

Most of my friends in high school, in the mid-1970s played instruments. My best friend, Big Dan, played piano, as I did, but there was plenty of guitar, even drums and voice. And it was at that stage of my life that I learned to enjoy live music, up close and personal. I liked to watch the fingers on the frets, see the sustain pedal on the piano, and marvel at people who could sing (something that I always wanted to do, but never even got close to).

When I lived in Tempe, while going to ASU, I made friends there who also were musicians. I would sit and listen to them play. There were even occasions when those people would get an opportunity to play a real venue, like at a bar. I have a vivid memory of walking into a bar one night in Tempe which was completely empty except for the band up on stage, and listening to the whole set, all by myself. My friend, who was the lead singer, was happy when he saw me, and said something like "We have an audience now! Can we play?" I enjoyed the set, although listening to the love song, which like any good artist he sang with the same emotion that he would have used if there had been a crowd, made me a bit uncomfortable.

When I lived in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, I had some friends who lived in Granada Hills, and one night we heard a band playing in a garage nearby. We just went into the alley, sat there, and listened. I'm sure that they didn't know that they had an audience. I just love live music, and the price was right, too!

When I moved back to Phoenix in the early '90s, one of the mechanics at the repair shop where I used to go invited me to go listen to his band which was playing at a hotel near Metrocenter. I made a point of walking up to say hello, and it was wonderful to see how this ordinary car mechanic by day looked like a superstar by night just by holding a guitar.

If you get a chance to listen to a garage band, up close and personal, I recommend that you do - best acoustics in the world. Watch their fingers on the frets.

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Comments

  1. TomApril 8, 2021 at 6:11 PM

    I don’t know Brad...I’d stay away from those musician types. They’re usually nothing but trouble. Drummers especially! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brad HallApril 8, 2021 at 7:25 PM

    Will do!

    ReplyDelete

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