The Usual Suspects

I attended the first concert of Aaron's band, The Usual Suspects, last night and was blown away.  Of course I am biased, but I thought the amount of raw talent in the room was amazing.  Almost all the band members learned their instruments within the last 6 months, with the exception of Patrick on keyboard and Aaron on guitar.   Several of the band members taught other band members how to play and all of them worked up their skills to play all their pieces from memory.  They played 17 rock n roll cover songs from various artists.

They were modest in touting their abilities, but it was clear that each one of them had worked hard over the last 6 months to hone their talent.   No, they aren't ready to make a CD or anything, but they really enjoyed the fruit of all their hard work and long practice sessions.  With each piece of music, you could see them getting into their groove and simply enjoying the music and having fun.

The audience, made up of parents, friends, and a row of teenage girls, loved their energy and talent.  I was proud of my son's behind-the-scenes work ( he wrote out piano music for the keyboards, helped teach guitar riffs, kept the rhythm and beat, and worked long and hard on his own instrumentals and vocals) and his stage presence was great.  All the guys were relaxed and were naturals on stage.

I know the time commitment was crazy at times, but the passion each of the boys brought to their music was evident.  I know they won't ever forget the experience.  They really are a 'garage rock' band (they practiced in a garage most of the time) and they should be proud of their accomplishments.