Day: May 8, 2013

The deck is open.  We eat outside because Cape Ann Brew Pub is full inside.  People had come to hear Chelsea Berry and her friends and to support Boston Strong.  

After dinner, there’s room to stand inside to see the music.  It’s a relaxed, fun, lively atmosphere.  But it’s loud.  People are talking over the music.  You’ve been there right?  The band turns up.  The crowd talks louder.  It begins to feel like a contest.  Most musicians hate this.  They’d rather be playing to a listening crowd.  

Chelsea sings her song, “Blues House”, which is about this very problem.  From the back, it’s hard to hear her over the crowd.  But it’s too loud in there to carry on a conversation either.  I’ve always puzzled about this singer vs. crowd phenomenon.

Then something magical happens.  Chelsea sings her signature a cappella song, “King of Rome” and does something unexpected.  She leaves the mic.  Chelsea’s powerful voice is still heard over the din.  And the sheer power of her presence and performance begins to quiet the crowd.  Finally all you can hear is Chelsea’s soaring song about Charlie and his racing pigeon accompanied by the clanging of pots and pans in the kitchen as if it were an off-stage percussion section.

Singer vs. crowd.  Singer wins.  But so does the crowd.  Live music takes you to a place you simply cannot experience any other way.

BTW: This is the 100th anniversary of the 1001 mile race from Rome to England that Charlie Hudson’s racing pigeon, The King of Rome, won in 1913.