“One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show,” But a Careless Sound Engineer, On the Other Hand…
I love the Ringside Cafe.
I love proprietor Mitch Gray.
I love Future Vintage.
I love The Reality.
So it should follow logically that I loved last Thursday’s show (December 6th) with Future Vintage up first, then The Reality (who had just done the Tampa Bay Lightning pre-game earlier in the evening).
Logic, sadly, doesn’t not apply when the sound engineer — and I’m giving him the real benefit of the doubt here — had the sound so glaringly loud and so poorly mixed that many fans stood outside rather than come inside.
I understand that many people like to hang outside at the Ringside, but in this case many of them were simply driven from inside by the onslaught of brain-rattling sound. If this had been a metal show or something similar, that might be one thing, but it wasn’t.
Future Vintage is an excellent jamtronica trio, and The Reality are a, well, it’s rather hard to say, but they funk like crazy with deluxe lyrics. Which you could barely understand, if at all.
There is no reason for the music to be so loud that the bass rattles the building and the electric piano gets at that level that just assaults your ears. Other sound engineers have managed that brick-lined building properly — for instance, last Saturday, when Dillon Reeder mixed Roosevelt Collier and Unlimited Devotion’s moe. after-party. I would really hate to see bands decide not to play there; it’s such a great venue with a great bar staff and excellent security. Please get this straightened out PRONTO.
As to the music there, and around the corner at Mandarin Hide…
Future Vintage jumped immediately into one of their strongest compositions, “Do It,” and they just killed. This is music designed to get you out on the dance floor; you just can’t help yourself. There were several new compositions next, Trevor McDannel on bass playing great despite the lousy acoustics. For “Supernova,” keyboard wiz Matt Giancola used his talk box to sing the song. This one always gets really jazz, with Giancola working out on electric piano, channeling Herbie Hancock in addition to his own great ideas.
We had a blast with @therealitymusic! Thanks to all who came out to tear up the dance floor!
Posted by Future Vintage Band on Saturday, December 8, 2018
He used the talk box again on “Coupe de Ville,” and again on top of recorded vocals to kick off “PYT,” which almost immediately shifted into a long, really badass jam. Next they called up Dan Jones from The Reality to play guitar. You could barely hear him in the mix. Such a good idea spoiled. They shut down the set with a very good track.
Both bands hustled to get equipment off and then equipment on, and The Reality kicked it into gear just after midnight. The same audio problems that plagued Future Vintage continued to dog the funk quartet as well. “All My Time” is a great way to get a party (re-)started, killer funk, followed by “Fat Fanny Pack,” about, as Dan Jones explained, his favorite part of the body.
Then Jones added, “You can follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Porn Hub, and Porn Hub Premium, if you spend the extra buck!” To which BA Jones at the drum kit added, “We just updated. There’s some fresh content.” Just sayin’…
They boys threw in “Jungle Boogie,” one of the many tunes featured in their History of Funk set, this time with lots of accompanying animal sounds. Bassist Caleb Bone sang “Right Place, Wrong Time,” a new one in the rotation (I think). Another of their real masterpieces, “Sweet Tooth,” saw Dan put down the guitar and grab his trombone, all in addition to vocals. Josh Kim was having a romp on keyboards, especially synths, making great faces all the while.
Bone took lead vocal again on “I Got You (I Feel Good)” and band originals “Set Her Free” and “Really Don’t Care,” and the set — and the night — shut down with signature tune “Dancin’ in D,” with its drum into by BA Jones. Called back for an encore, they encouraged us to “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty”!
Great music, terrible sound. The Ringside, Mitch Gray, Future Vintage, The Reality, and all of the loyal fans deserve much, much better.
Over at Mandarin Hide, it was a totally different situation. The building itself is incredibly narrow, with the bar on one side and benches on the other, with a path — theoretically — down the middle. That place is always slammed (and bravo to them). The space for the band is in the front alcove at the glass walls. And a lot of it was taken with a very large Christmas tree. Nonetheless, Boxcar Hollow Trio (there is NO way to get a drummer in there) made the most of it. I got to flit in and out twice before and between Ringside sets, and both times the trio was simply brilliant.
The first time I walked in, they were just finishing a tune, then immediately launched into a magnificent Latin jazz thing. Singer and guitarist Matt Weis says it’s a song Fil Pate, another brilliant area musician, wrote a while back. It melted my heart. Jack Pieroth sounded amazing again on upright bass back in the corner while Chris Barbosa once again displayed his prowess on viola. They also played a Weis composition with incisive lyrics titled “It’s So Hard Lovin’ You,” a blues lament.
When I returned during Ringside setbreak, Boxcar were winding down one of Weis’s most outstanding tunes, “I Need More Love (Every Day of My Life).” So fine. Then it was more straight-up blues with “It Hurts Me Too,” Barbosa again all over it. The last song I heard was a Beatles’ cover, “Dear Prudence,” just lovely.
You owe it to yourself to check out all three bands and support live music. And I hope you get a good sound man.
[FUTURE VINTAGE: Do It, 2, 3, Supernova, Coupe de Ville, PYT > jam, 7 (with Dan), 8]
[THE REALITY: All My Time, Fat Fanny Pack, Jungle Boogie, Right Place, Wrong Time, Sweet Tooth, I Got You (I Feel Good), Set Her Free, ??, Really Don’t Care, ??, Dancin’ in D; E: Shake Your Booty]
[BOXCAR HOLLOW TRIO: …, Fil Pate’s Latin Thing, It’s So Hard Lovin’ You, …, I Need More Love (Every Day of My Life), It Hurts Me Too, Dear Prudence, …]