 If It's Too Loud
As Mark Ward said "that was the 1st time a folk show has ever been shut down by the police." Matt and I arrived at the Rocket Market last night a little late and to a packed patio. There wasn't even standing room inside of the drinking area on the patio and there were people sitting across the street. On the bad side when we showed up there was no music. Then moments later we were told the police were called by a grumpy neighbor who made Mark Ward and his band unplug their instruments because they were too loud. The cool thing was that they didn't shut the whole operation down and make everyone go. Mark still got to play but without a microphone or an amp. When you have that many people crammed on the patio it was loud, people were very chatty. We only got to hear Mark play a few songs end even then it was so hard to hear him because of all the talking. That was frustrating for me so I can only imagine how frustrating it was for him.
The few songs we heard Mark Ward and his band play were down to earth and unplugged which was a treat. Mark mentioned how it felt like he was playing in everyone’s living room. With some clapping and "hey-ing" from the crowd it ended up being really cool and even got a little loud. At one point during the set Mark asked if Dylan was there and sure enough this young kid raised his hand. Mark told a quick story how Dylan saw Mark at the Rocket here earlier and he bought a CD and learned how to play the guitar. When Dylan came back tonight to see Mark again he had a request, and sure enough Mark played it for him. However before Mark played the song he made everyone be quite for it is a quite song. For the first time since we were there the crowd shut up and you could hear the band perfectly. It was so sweet, Dylan was so happy and just had the biggest smile on his face. From there on out the crowd stayed pretty quite and we got to hear a few more songs including Mark's version of Brittney Spears "Hit Me Baby One More Time."
 We left to Mark's stand up bass player and keyboard player rockin some smooth jazz and that was the end of our quick night. I want to close this two ways. One - Mark Ward is amazing he is also in Joel Smith's and the Hands of Plenty so if you can catch him in that band too, I would do so. Two - I think Som is doing an amazing job with the live music this summer at the Rocket and I don't want to see it end. Hopefully the problem can be fixed and we all can keep enjoying summer concerts at the Rocket Market at 726 East 43rd Ave in Spokane!
Andrea@checkitoutmusic.com |
