Post by "The Freq" on May 14, 2013 8:45:55 GMT -5
The Jean Paul Fecteau benefit concert happened last night May 13, 2013 and it was put on to remember local guitarist and friend, Jean Paul who died a few weeks ago at the young age of 38 but also to help his family financially. Lots of tickets were sold which is really good plus there were also numerous draws for items donated by local businesses. There were food trays with various homemade goodies along with pizza and yes, entertainment. For those of us who knew Jean Paul, a jam session of musicians was our way of saying goodbye to our friend. The music gear was supplied by local country rock band Asylum Country who also played a stellar set. The show opened with an hour acoustic set by Tym Morrison who covered tunes by Mr. Big, Beatles, Tesla and a stellar version of the James Bond theme "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon. Other musicians showed up to jam various tunes and just have a good time. The JAB band that Jean Paul and I had in 1992 was suppose to regroup for this but failed to materialize. I did show up to play a bunch of songs with other friends and there was a small reunion of sorts as long time soundman Boyce Burns of the JAB and Jean Paul's other band "The Lost Boys" did the sound engineering duties for the event, so that was nice for a bunch of us. Lots of photos were taken by people at the event so hopefully I'll get some copies soon. In the meantime, I'm posting a video of a few songs that I jammed with local musicians Rob Gilmar (bass vocals) and Terry Eaton (guitar vocals). In this video the songs Tush, and Highway to Hell are performed. We threw this together in 3 minutes and it was a lot of fun. Other musicians jammed with us but sadly I don't have their names or video. The only bummer part to the show was the beginning with a disagreement between the house tech at the Canadian and the benefits soundman, Boyce Burns. Thankfully, this happened before most people got there but in my own "Freq" opinion, the Canadians house tech was way out of line and could have handled it far better. Boyce Burns, the tech for the event, has decades of engineering experience, something the Canadian's house tech didn't know or even care to ask about before flipping out. It was a very uncool moment that I witnessed first hand. HOWEVER, that whole incident quickly got settled and the sound was absolutely proper for this benefit as Boyce did what he does best and the Canadian's tech kept quiet. My hats of to Boyce Burns for doing sound but also handling the uncomfortable situation with the Canadians house tech with class. ;-) This was not a rock show, or ego fest or pissing contest. This was saying goodbye to a friend. I don't have many good things to say about the Canadian bar since they've dicked most of us around over the years, but I do appreciate the fact that they stepped up to the plate for this send off for our friend Jean Paul. I will say that I'm disappointed that a few musicians that said they were coming didn't show up, but for those who did show up and perform, it was a good positive vibe and a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. R.I.P Jean Paul Fecteau. We will miss you.
