Acoustic at Rendezvous 02/16/2013

02/18/2013

 At Rendezvous in Seattle, WA. On 02/16/2013 it finally happened.....I watched Paul Durham, half of what is Black Lab, play a live, acoustic show. I've waited 25 years to see him play live and even though Andy Ellis, the other half of Black Lab, wasn't there, I was completely immersed in the BL songs. The Grotto, a venue in the basement of Rendezvous, is the size of a large living room. It was an intimate, relaxed setting to say the least which made the show more of a group of close friends just hanging out listening to our very talented friend play our favorite songs. He wasn't on a huge stage, he was just right there! People were sitting on the hard floor so we could all get in. We drove from Portland, OR. 3+ hours. One fan we met there had driven from Vancouver BC, 4 hours. It seemed like everyone there was a huge Black Lab fan, the ones who weren't when they got there, where when they left. As fans, we seemed like old friends to each other too, we knew how rare this occasion was, how lucky we all were.

 With albums such as Ten Million Years, Your Body Above Me, Technologie, Passion Leaves A Trace, Give Us Sugar, See The Sun, Two Strangers and the newly released Best Of The MP3 Of The Month Club, he could never have possibly played all of the favorites in one evening. You can find all of these albums and more at blacklabworld.com

 He played: ‘Tomorrow’ an old friend, ‘Always’ a song in which you can feel and see the pain in his aura, ‘Keep Myself Awake’, ‘Ghost In my Mind’, ‘This Night’, ‘Weightless’, ‘Time Ago’, ‘Wash It Away’, ‘Circus Lights’, ‘Start A Fire’ which was a sing-along and the show ended with ‘Mine Again’. All favorites. I was too busy listening to take notes, so I don't have the songs in the correct order. I was mesmerized by him, as he played them wholeheartedly; I went into, what I call, ‘Zombie Mode'.

 So, I sat there intensely watching his every movement and sound, the expressions on his face and sang along. I tried not to sing loudly, as I have already heard myself sing these songs ‘live’ before. On the two or three occasions that I did look around, most people where in 'Zombie Mode' and singing along.

Live is so different from recorded, the spontaneity and freedom that is there, is one of a kind, I didn't want to miss any of it. He sounded so good. Seeing the emotion in his eyes as he played, made the songs so much more deep then you get from the CD. The way he hit the strings and sang was very intense, not changed or mixed, just RAW. Very special. I hope all Black Lab fans get the opportunity to see a live show. It was brilliant!


 He doesn't play for an hour straight, for the public, very often so his fingers were probably killing him after a few songs. If he played for a crowd more often, he would have calloused fingers and they would be fine 'til the end.....just sayin'. He has a calm demeanor, tall, very cool and cute too! As soon as we got back to the hotel my husband and I had to look at the pictures to make sure we weren't dreaming. It was a memorable evening, we still can't stop smiling. He talked to the crowd, took pictures and signed stuff. I hugged him about 12 times (although two of those hugs that I gave him were from somebody else!) and he didn’t even get mad at me, those are the actions of a 'grateful for the love and loyalty of his fans’ rock star. After the show someone came up to me and said: "I really enjoyed watching you watch him"....... I really enjoyed watching him.

So, until next time Mr. Durham, Cheers!