for those about to rock

broke my hip on rock salad

checked out a friend of a friend's cover band, rock salad, on saturday night at copperfield's for their first gig. like a soft-serve, office place-friendly radio station, they played the hits of the 60's, 70's and 80's, though to their credit they pulled off their chosen tunes with a bit more gusto then your typical bar band. one of the highlights of the evening was when they played a medley of songs that use essentially the same progression, segueing from "hang on, sloopy" to "the joker" to a third song that escapes my recollection now and finishing off with "beverly hills" for a nod to modern pop.

there's a funny age dynamic at work in the group: the lead vocalist (my acquaintance) is 28, while the rest of the guys, particularly those in the rhythm section, look to be pushing into their mid-forties -- think INXS's current line-up. not surprisingly, this same age discrepancy was echoed in the audience demographic, with middle-aged spouses, friends and family members rubbing elbows with the young supporters that had come to see their friend sing and other assorted twenty-somethings out for a night on the town. as the night wound on and people got progressively more sauced, many of the older women in the crowd started getting down with their bad selves, first in isolated little pockets, giggling amongst themselves as they found their rhythm, then later congregating as a force that took over the area immediately in front of the stage, sassing it up and sashaying with the younger drunk guys on the dance floor and really digging on the vocalist's god-of-rock posturing. the whole thing was a little surreal; the scene resembled a swinging wedding reception impossibly crammed into a juking neighborhood watering hole.

still -- and i can't think of a less corny way to put this -- there was something oddly touching about all those one-time teeny-boppers dancing the night away with an abandon that would have one believe that time had never interfered in their lives.

posted by jomilkman @ 11:56 AM