Bruce Van Spyker - an outsider's view of Grand Rapids & the blues
Rick Arshak Blues Band
11/22/2001 - Billy's in Eastown
The band started playing to only a few customers; it was Thanksgiving evening after all. But slowly people started waking up from their after-Turkey naps and wandered down to Billy's for some brews & blues and the place really livened up.
Mark is an excellent representative of the modern "electric blues" scene. I saw him at the Orbit Room this past spring when he performed a very hi-intensity concert as part of LAV's Winter Blues Series. His nightclub sets contain much of the same material, but somehow, when you reduce the volume a little bit and get to see him up close, a lot of little details start to shine.
His new song, Pin Ball Blue (which will appear on his next CD) is a perfect example of why performers still like to play clubs. At times, the band would spread a layer of sound throughout the room that stopped all conversations, and then drop into a quiet interlude that showcased the richness of the musicians' abilities.
ZZ Tops' Blue Jean Blues is another song that really shone in the smaller venue - at one point everyone stopped talking (and even breathing!) to hear Mark bring his guitar down almost to a whisper.
The crowd really liked Mark's version of John Lee Hooker's Hug Ya, Squeeze Ya, even breaking into a round of applause right in the middle of the song after a very excellent guitar solo.
After showing off the band - Kevin Gall on bass and Gordy Sharpe on drums (both excellent musicians) - Mark took a take on rap, driving the audience to fits of laughter.
He showed his skill on harmonica on Albert King's Call the Boss, and over the next few songs, showed a musical range from melancholy to joyous, to down-right comic. I wish I could have caught all the words to his cover of Albert King's Cross Cut Saw (I've never heard it before) but Mark and drummer Gordy sure had a blast with it and the audience just ate it up.
At one point Mark wandered down off the stage worked his way through the audience like a politicker on the campaign trail - playing guitar with his left hand and shaking hands with the fans with his right. Needless to say, the audience loved it.
He finally got the turkey-stuffed crowd up and dancing with an instrumental that almost sounded like Willie and the Hand Jive, but somehow metamorphosed into Who Do You Love. He kept them up with a 10-minute version of Jimmy Hendrix' Hey Joe that drew out into a fantastic instrumental; next showed how to do the vocals in three different flavors; then segued into Are You Experienced.
It was about this time that I really regretted that I couldn't stay til the end (morning comes way too early some days) because the music just kept getting better. I am definitely keeping an eye out for that new CD to hit the stores. In the meantime - keep an eye out for where Mark & company are playing in our area.
