Seeing Marco Benevento is just too much fun, and so we weren't going to go see him and his three-piece band with Karina Reykman and Dave Butler at the Sinclair in Harvard Square on Friday the 18th. But then we figured why not?
We met Dave, Leen, and Cathy at On the Border on a normally chaotic Fall Friday night, and then were some of the first into the Sinclair after a quick drink. Sarah and I camped out in front of the soundboard again, but the three youngsters wanted to crowd the stage ... and of course we all danced, everyone in the place did.
The Mattson 2 opened and were surprisingly rocky for a jazz duo, which was fun. Great talent from Jared and Jonathan Mattson (one on drums, one on guitar ... they're identical twins so it may not make any difference who played what), and they got the place heated up. The crowd was a bit sparse at first but then filled in the way a Friday crowd does and it got pretty packed halfway through Marco's set.
Marco came out with his team in their classic white getups and burned the place down. Surprisingly, they didn't play a lot of tracks from his new CD (it was supposedly a CD release party), but they did open with the title track, Let It Slide, and then a fantastic cover of Solid Gold. But then they really went deep and played some stuff from all over.
I was delighted that they did Dropkick (don't know if I'd ever seen them do this, one of his best songs) and encore with At the Show, always a favorite. In between they played a lot of instrumental tracks and this is what we came to see! No one can tickle the ivories like Marco, he can get those keyboards of his to stand up and sing all at once until you really don't know what you're listening to. His hands become a blur and his head is nodding like it's going to fall off ... and Karina is jumping all over the stage and Dave is absolutely hammering those skins.
Marco is a unique talent you have to see to appreciate. He's great with JRAD, but seeing him with his band is incredible. He may not please everyone who listens to him ... you have to follow him down some holes ... but he ends up tickling your sensibilities as well as the keys, and he's a great showman.
Back to our car just North of the Common on an almost chilly Fall night, and back home and in bed by 1:30 or so. Not bad for a rock and roll Friday.
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