Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

The Senate put on an infectious show

By Jeremy Dutton, atomictown.com

Just before jetting out of town for the wedding (more on that later), I took in a westside act playing at the Yakima Sports Center.

It was one of those rare shows where you put up zero expectations and get rewarded handsomely for it. The Senate is an acoustic trio made up of two guitars and a standup bass that's rooted in the sound of Dave Matthews but turns it around for something original. The energy these three guys had was infectious, as everyone in the bar was stomping their feet to the beat.

They just recorded a live album that's for sale on iTunes, but like most live recordings, it doesn't even come close to reining in their performance ability. There's apparently a DVD included with the physical copy, so you'll also be able to see their schtick of rocking out in Utilikilts. They'll be returning to Yakima on Aug. 28, but they'll be even closer Sept. 5 when they play Whitman College in Walla Walla.

* On the Net: senateband.com

The wedding

The weekend wedding only reaffirmed my belief that going with a DJ is only a sane thing to do if you spend loads of time laying out the plan and are comfortable with his presence. While overall the wedding went fine and the bride seemed glowingly happy, her DJ was a piece of work.

This guy began by playing crappy '80s jazz to entertain the emerging crowd. Then as entrance music he was supposed to play U2's Beautiful Day, but actually said he didn't have it and was going to ad lib ... mere muzak followed.

During dancing, every time he got everybody going, it was broken up by a slow song. Then came the bomb. Apparently the bride, if anything, told the DJ that there was one song he couldn't play so as not to drudge up memories of a certain someone. I think it was Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight. Of course, he played it and from the third note a flash of red blew through the dance floor as a bridesmaid took off like Carl Lewis to the DJ table to make it stop. Total meltdown averted, but the sentiment remained. Ouch.

* Jeremy Dutton: 582-1525; jdutton@tricityherald.com.