This review has taken awhile for me to write. I’ve been trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

On Halloween Eve, Ricky Blues (under the name Surrogate Band) took the stage at Finnegan’s Grill in Thornwood, NY. A month prior to this performance, a young man was in an altercation with the police outside the bar, which ended with him being shot and killed by the officers. Though the incident did not involve any of the staff of the bar, nor did it occur inside the bar, their name has been associated with the unfortunate events. Call it collateral damage, call it whatever, it results in a cloud over the establishment.

Whether it relates to the aforementioned affair or not, it was a very strange gig. The people were nice, the owners and employees treated us well, but the response to our set was… odd. The audience applauded, they were attentive, and there was no excessive murmur during the songs. On the other hand, it felt like we were being watched by judges instead of a paying crowd.

Some people said, “Everyone was just really into what you guys were playing,” but it didn’t really feel that way. I don’t think they were uninterested or bored, but they definitely were not overcome with ecstasy. These are the kind of gigs you just have to chalk up to experience. It certainly was not bad, but I definitely did not get a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Aside from that, I thought we sounded excellent. Here are some pics:

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.