Monday night live singer lineup is nothing like football folks. You don’t get the best of the best in tight pants, sweating profusely while dangling their heads between their legs.. I’m getting off course. Monday night lineup for NEW entertainment isn’t easy to come by. I muddled through the extensively long list of events that were as repetitive as grandpa yelling “get off my lawn” every time someone walked by. ‘Seen it, liked it, over it, do they sing every .. single.. Friggin day?” Was all i kept thinking, until “Debut” stood out to me. It was like the angels were singing “ahhhhhh” with glowing lights. I don’t think I even put shoes on, I rushed out the door yelling something to my husband about “get your own dinner” and teleported straight to the venue.
The Venue, Saddle Canyon Country! Now that is a story all in itself which I’m going to cover next week. Cozy, welcoming, excessively comfortable.. I can and will go on and on, but stay tuned for that!
There on the old rustic stage, not yet plugged in, stood an outdated avatar with jazz hands and system layer clothes. Now you know good and well I was being all judgy. I let out a frustrated sigh, took the time to put my dang shoes on, then profile perved for the next 10 minutes before the show started. I took the song list, finding fault in that too, as I was already prepared for some manufactured war in my head trying not to slaughter the singer before he even opened his mouth, but was failing miserably. “Boring, Outdated, Ol’ Folks only” started flashing in my brain and then… his stream went live.
Empty Pockets, he goes by these days, started with an upbeat tempo country song that was easy to get my toes tapping to. I was still waiting for the ball to drop when he began to tease the crowd, making light hearted jokes about not being the best singer, and still manage to chuckle through.
His next song, one of my favorites, had me singing out loud, and the toe tapping now turned to some strange stomping movement that could be classified as chair dancing.
As Empty Pockets took requests, and continued to pound out some of the best country songs known to man, I noticed he came off as an old troubadour who was comfortable, confident but not cocky, and someone who was truly offering and having a great time.
His voice was smooth, slow, and steady, but his energy was pure high octane and the crowd
was hanging on and singing along to every word.
Since I had already profile perved I knew his manager, Radiance80 Resident, was in the crowd so I reached out to her when Empty finally played a song I wasn’t familiar with. She too blew me away with her kindness which doesn’t come to me often as I’m sure you can imagine. She knew she didn’t have to oversell her client, his talent did that for her. She answered all my questions, encouraged me to ask more, and even let me in on a little secret that Empty Pocket’s real talent is when he plays the guitar himself, but he only does that upon request nowadays. .
I accepted the challenge and triple dog dared him to whip it out (his guitar that is) and once again, he didn’t shy away or disappoint. Sure there was a note too high for his range, and occasionally he missed a lyric, but he laughed it off as did the rest of us and we all continued to sing along, clapping, and clinking our imaginary beer steins as we partied on to the songs like;
“Sweet Caroline” and “Cracklin Rose” by Neil Diamond. We danced “10 rounds with Jose cuervo” and had “Two Pina Coladas” with Garth, all thanks to Empty Pockets and his trusty ol’ guitar.
Empty Pocket’s isn’t an “in-your-face” singer that shock-rocks your socks off. He takes a sophisticated approach to his songs that makes you feel comfortable enough to sing right along with him. Some people may identify it as campy, but there is something very romantic about a good campfire, some smores, a man, a guitar, and a tune you know all the words to.
So .. in conclusion I give Empty Pockets a 9 out of 10.. He only lost points for a few notes above his range, and a couple lyrics missed..He doesn’t stray from country very much, which might be a good thing as he does have a little twang in his voice. But his equipment was sturdy, his energy focused and vibrant, and his delivery- pure Fun. Rock on my friend, Rock on!!
Posts
