Reviews
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Review From Coldest Beer In Tucson (May 2008)
(originally from
http://www.coldestbeerintucson.com/cbit/boondocks.php)
Boondock's Lounge...Draft Beer served at 31-degrees
I think I just figured out how to make everything you say and do really cool. Hire
a horn section to follow you around to punctuate your every sentence or action.
A horn section is like a perfect wing man. No matter how cheesy your opening line
is it would come across as cool. Without a horn section– “Hey baby what’s your sign?”–(very
weak!) With a horn section– “Hey baby, baby,” wha, wha, wha! “Baby, baby,” wha,
wha, wha! “What’s your sign? “Toot, toot, toot-a-wha, wha, wha!”–(SCORE!)
As I listened to the debut performance of Giant Blue, an 8 piece rock/blues band,
at the Boondocks Lounge, I couldn’t help but move to the retro groove.
“Giant Blue started out as kind of a side thing for all of us,” said Jason Tanner
an engineer at Raytheon and the baritone saxophonist. “But the sound is so good
I hope it turns into our number one thing.” I could not help but think that I might
just be witnessing the beginning of something special in the Tucson music scene.
There are a lot of talented musicians in Tucson that seem to cross pollinate in
various bands and venues over the years, but every once in a while, just the right
combination of talent is shuffled together to come up with a special sound. Giant
Blue has some talented Tucson journeymen musicians and if their opening night is
any indication, this might be the right combination to make some long term noise.
“I call it horn rock” said Tanner who looks like the youngest member of the band.
“A lot of the songs we do were written before I was even born.” Tanner is joined
in the horn section by Jose Durazo on tenor sax and Glen Gross on trumpet.
Mike Walden, a veteran of rock bands dating back to 1968, plays lead and slide guitar
and is dead on hot with lead vocals. Giant Blue has a solid foundation with Robert
Thames on bass, Doug Davis on drums and Chuck Morrow, a native Tucsonan who has
been performing in the area since the early seventies, on keyboard.
The girl in the band is Kathy Thomas. “That’s what we call her–the girl,” said Tanner.
“Kathy doesn't seem to mind, she even has started to sign her emails sent to the
rest of the band with–the girl.” I noticed that Thomas had slipped her shoes off
during the bands first set. I wonder if she knows that was part of Linda Ronstadt’s
schtik back in the sixties when she was representing Tucson on national television
shows? The band then played the classic “Baby It’s You” by the Shirelles. Thomas
sang the lead with soulful power, reminiscent of Gayle McCormick’s hit version as
lead singer for Smith.
I also enjoyed “Vehicle”–Ides of March, and “Land of a 1000 Dances”–Wilson Pickett/James
Brown which Giant Blue covered to perfection.
I personally have not been inside the Boondocks Lounge for almost twenty years.
The last time I was there was to watch a musician friend play. Tonight my friend
Dave and I made it a point to support Tanner, whose daughter plays on our kids’
softball team. Boondocks hasn’t changed much since I was last here. The familiar
giant wine bottle in front of the building serves as a unique Tucson landmark on
North 1st Avenue. Step inside the front door and you run into a long narrow center
bar with stools on both sides. Dave and I drank pints of Fat Tire draft served in
over-frosted glasses at a chilly 31 degrees. Small decorated metal pales hang from
the crown of the bar, which I am told serve as storage lockers for the regulars
to leave their darts, pool chalk or anything else you can think of that you would
want to leave at the bar and not take home. Boondocks features four pool tables,
several dart boards and plenty of television sets. They also have a kitchen where
patrons ordered off a large menu. Tonight though, most of the focus was on the small,
black and white tiled, dance floor. With Giant Blue ripping out a nice selection
of “horn rock” and slow cheek-to-cheek blues ballads the dance floor was full the
whole night.
My friend Jim Randall, who I haven’t seen for a couple of years came into the bar
with his wife. Jim is a first class videographer and a musician in his own right,
“I have played with bass player and I know the guitarist,” said Jim. “They are both
awesome musicians.”
When I stepped into the men’s room a stranger said, “They sound great, don’t they?
It’s the horn section, it’s like it turbocharges the band.”
As the night wore on the beer got colder and the band sounded even better. “You
know what I need,” I said to my friend Dave. “I need my own private horn section.
Now that would be cool.”
“That would be cool,” said Dave. “Very cool!”