wiredfool

Saturday I saw the Omar Torrez Band at the Tractor Tavern.

The Omar Torrez is still my favorite local band, even with the uncertainty of integrating new backing members. Jesse Stern has matured on the bass, giving more feeling to the music than I’ve heard in the last couple of shows. Aurturo was back on percussion, and there was a new keyboardist and drum player. (Whos’ names escape me for the moment, and are not listed on the web site)

Brent has asked if there is anything new happening with Guitar, Bass, Amplifer and Drums. (I’d add keyboards to the classic ‘rock’ sound, everything from the Hammond B3 to the current midi gear) I’m not sure if Omar Torrez is ‘new’, but it’s certainly interesting. It’s got enough of a beat that even I can dance to it. It’s got infectious hooks, guitar virtuoso, and a bass line that reaches all the way down. The cd even makes me sing and dance in the car (which is a revealing thing, given that I drive a Miata).

I would note that the question ‘Has everything been said that can be said in xyz’ has been asked over and over through all sorts of arts fads. There have been some forms that endured, but most forms of art have at most a couple of hundred years in the sun, and then move on. Symphonies have been in decline since Beethoven, Opera is certainly not in a golden age, Iambic pentameter is a lost art, as is epic poetry. However, the novel is coming into its own as an art form in its third century, Jazz and blues are going on 75 years, and Rock is maybe 50.

I think that there is still something to say in rock. It may not be the blues of Zeppelin 1 or the bubblegum of early Beatles. But there’s still space. It probably involves giving concerts to a couple of hundred people in a dark bar in the industrial heart of a forgotten neighborhood who won’t shut up or stop dancing till the band plays another encore. But then, I’m biased.