Motown Music Night

Yella was playing with the Day brothers and a drummer at our favorite restaurant last night.

I was conflicted about the night. On one hand, I wanted to hear extraordinary musicians play with Yella, and on the other hand, I wanted to play too, and didn't get too...nor would I ask to be included because I am not in their league...but somehow I felt left out.

I had big expectations because of the quality of players.

The place was packed. They had been refusing reservations since Thursday because they were reserved out.

These back woods communities are starved for entertainment. And most people are retired so they have a lot of time on their hands. There have been a lot of sold out venues for music on a regular basis.

This was true about theater but not anymore. For the last 2 years, there have been 2 theater companies than presented about 12 events a year.

Too much...people got burned out...over exposed.

So the inevitable has happened with one company folding up their tent and leaving town.

This is starting to happen with music.

There was only one gringo band playing dance music last year and that was us. Now there are at least 3 bands and maybe more on the way.

The local restaurants book bands without checking with each other and they double and triple book entertainment on the same night. Small crowds are starting to happen sporadically and it is a matter of time until people get tired of too much music.

One other quirk from Panama...

One of great restaurant venues may not book music anymore because...it is too much business for them. Panamanians don't understand that gringos want to be served drinks and dinner NOW! They had many complaints about the slow service.

Panamanians take several hours to go out and eat. Slow service is just right for them. So this gringo reaction is beyond there reality.

Typically, if something is too much work, Panamanians stop doing it! So this venue may stop the music.

Back to last night...

As I was sitting there listening, I thought, "How come there is something missing in this music with it being played so well, played with mastery?" "There is no lift or energy." "I am not inspired nor thrilled and I thought I would be!"

I checked with Yella after the gig and she said it was a difficult night because she had to work so hard to drive the energy up. She felt like they only hit one or two songs right.

Amazing...extraordinary musicianship doesn't guarantee top notch music.

In spite of all this, the crowd was enjoying it and the dance floor was full about half the time.

They probably were not conscious of something missing...but I noticed that many people were complaining that the music wasn't really Motown. Problems tend to leak out laterally. With people that tend to patronize the artists, it is sometimes hard to get a good read on the strength of their appreciation.

One thing is clear, they want to dance to Motown music. It is a huge draw to this age group.