Last night
eMbers hosted a Christmas party with a free concert by
Loren Benjamin. I arrived fifteen minutes before the concert began and was surprised that there were not more people there.
Benjamin is a young singer/songwriter from New York. He performed with two others. His percussionist sat on a box and beat it with paddles--it was unlike any drum I had seen before but apparently it is something that is not that uncommon. (My knowledge of popular music is pretty slim.) The audience greatly enjoyed the concert and asked for and was given an encore.
I enjoyed the music and the conversation before and after the concert.
You can hear Benjamin's music on his
website or on
youtube, where he has several videos. He also performs playing the piano, something we did not get to see last night.
eMbers is bringing in a steady stream of young musicians who are trying to work their way up. Most of them are stopping in Rensselaer because it is between other engagements in much larger cities and they have an open date. Very few other small towns the size of Rensselaer have the anything like this.
I really looked forward to eMbers opening and having a local music venue. I've been to two events, both of which were well attended. The problem is that with the brick walls, tin ceiling, and wood floor, there is absolutely no sound deadening material anywhere. Music in that space is an assault on the ears, and even when the musicians were on break, you couldn't hear the person next to you talking because of the noise level. Neither I nor the group I was with will be going back until they do something about the unfiltered noise.
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