thanks guys. ok, show's over (as of 4 hrs ago). i listened to the above songs and burned the ones i liked and brought them with me. coincidently some show distraction occurred while i was playing them so i ran thru nearly a half dozen before i caught it. the verdict? after about 20 minutes a girl comes up to me and says the angels want to know when you're going to play some good music. ahem.
that's ok actually. in spite of the wisecrack the regular music was well received, targeted as it was to a boomer crowd. if anyone liked the new stuff they didn't say but that's typical. there has to be "currents" in any mix, it's the way things are. even old fossils will get the nagging suspicion they're being manipulated if you just play their era so you bring them forward a little each year, but carefully. sneak in some new ones well-bracketed by old favorites. just don't play 5 in a row like i did and it'll be fine.
in case you're wondering what bikers in general and angels in particular consider "good music," at its core it's allman bros, little feat and similar with some progressive elements like yes thrown in. for better or for worse you have me to thank. i started the whole southern rock/yes biker thing in the late 80's after i was hired to do some outside shows when biker rock was predominantly metal. i played around with a booze n blues format (waiting for columbus, stormy monday etc) until i got something working. it sounded very fresh outdoors and after some of my tapes spread around the sound caught on. it happened very fast and of course you can't go to a biker show now without hearing it. even the live bands play the catalog. it's so entrenched news producers covering the shows ask for it for their b-rolls. it's like it was always this way but it wasn't. it was almost all metal and blue collar rock until the early '90s. statesboro blues is ground zero now.
- js.
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