Sitting at my table adorned with nostalgic photos of smiling customers' past, I can smell the scent of American flare bouncing off the walls of American Burger, 738 Lighthouse Ave. Monterey, CA. I am joined in preparation for tonights Open Mic entertainment by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and Marilyn Monroe, or rather their famed posters that line the saucy red walls. In fact, there is another Marilyn in the building tonight, Marilyn "Kapua" Gibbons and her bandmate John Brooks are the host musicians of the evening. The duo kicks off the show with a few interpretive Bee Gees songs including "I Started a Joke," Marilyn carrying a sound of vintage 1950's R&B vocals supported by her electric guitar, and John comping on electric acoustic bass. The concise arrangement turned out unique, however, the music called for a rhythm section to lay down some foundation in order for them to engage a full sound.
Two men, Shane and Matt, aproach the stage to take the second act. Matt starts steady and solid strumming on acoustic guitar to a song which Shane introduces as "something you've all heard before." True to his word, we've all heard the song "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley on the radio thousands of times, so it's refreshing to hear the duo's version put a dark, soulfull spin into it. Shane controls his voice extremely well, singing softly at some parts so he can really emphasize the importance of the emotional struggle and grip the listener's ears in attention. The contrast between his vocals really make for a great performance. His diverse ability is further displayed when he plugs in his iPod and sings a beautifully fluid song of Spanish opera by The Three Tenors. The song has so much movement that I don't even have to understand the lyrics to understand the ever-changing mood throughout the song. I am truly impressed by the range of both his voice and material.
As the couple on my right play checkers with beer bottle caps, a theme of American soul persists through the night when Matt picks up his guitar again and performs "Give Me One Reason" by Tracy Chapman with a young woman in the house. The vocalist, in the same fashion as Shane, can channel her emotion into the song to really make it sound authentic. She gave off a strong vibe of confidence and belted out a robust chorus like the sound of Christina Aguilera.
Overall, an Open Mic provides a stage for those musicians out there looking to show off some new songs, replay some classics, and jam with some people they've never met before. The Open Mic at American Burger did just that. The last song was performed by the collective group of musicians in the room, a blues chart which incorporated the oldest member of the group, Roy, who spontaneously joined in on a flute solo, swing and hula dancers, ukeleles, and Shane on harmonica. Shane's T-Shirt that says "Lust for Life" promotes the energy emitted by these musicians tonight, they came here not to get paid, not to be famous, merely to have a good time doing something they all love, making music.
