by Kirby Lindsay, posted 3 February 2014
On Thursday, February 6, the late reggae legend Bob Marley would celebrate his 69th birthday, and Fremont’s own Nectar Lounge has decided to honor him with a rather outrageous tribute concert/party, given with a creative twist.
The twist? Bluegrass! “Bluegrass has really caught on as the genre that makes songs its own,” explained Andy Palmer, “The bluegrass interpretation of songs has been wildly successful.” Palmer works as Talent Buyer and Production Manager at Nectar, along with Mario Abata. Hired separately, Palmer and Abata have become a powerful team, providing Nectar audiences with a dependable mix of music and events that have something for everyone…and now, Bob Marley’s Bluegrass Birthday!
‘Booking Quality Specific Acts’
“We don’t agree on everything,” Palmer explained about he and Abata, “We don’t have the same interests. Our disagreements are the crux of our strength.” As a concert space Nectar can be described as, “either the biggest of the small venues or the smallest of the big,” Palmer observed. Heading into its 10th year, Nectar can cultivate local acts into nationally recognized touring groups, host touring acts on their way up, and present to a solid, yet small, base of fans another taste of their favorite established bands. One example of this last category is the concert on February 12th at Nectar of the 1985 Grammy-award winning band Black Uhuru.
“You want to create expectations,” Palmer explained about booking, “and meet them.” Nectar can fit 450 people, provide a full bar, an hors d’oeuvres menu, a dance floor, professional stage, and a comfortable yet spacious mezzanine. Yet, Palmer pointed out that Nectar most significantly offers the largest indoor/outdoor experience thanks to a retractable glass door that allows audiences to listen just as well from the bar inside as from the contained patio out front. “We go into Transformer mode,” Palmer grinningly explained.
As for booking talent, Palmer holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Washington. After all, “you can’t get a degree in talent buyer and concert promoter,” he joked. According to him, the skills his job requires are knowing people and having great organizational skills, including be able to juggle shows happening in a week and two months in the future. He also attends all the shows – at Nectar as well as other venues – to meet the bands, and the fans. His job does require some chasing down acts – and their representatives – and turning down others, but these aren’t his favorite parts.
Instead, Palmer focuses on the larger picture. “I get to book shows just like you build a playlist,” he observed, “it’s the talent buyers that determine the direction a venue goes in.”
Celebrating Marley, who died at age 36 having already created an incredibly impressive library of music, fits this venue. “Nectar has always been known as a reggae venue, and will always be known as a reggae venue, but we’re in a place of exploring,” Palmer explained. Over the last year, they’ve explored bluegrass, particularly with weekly installments, on Tuesdays, of the live music Karaokegrass, and found it a great fit. Ultimately, for any venue, Palmer seeks, “the most fun, engaging acts that you can. It’s about booking quality specific acts,” he explained, “not genre specific.”
‘A Positive Energy’
Palmer, and Nectar’s owner Jed Smithson, wants to maintain Nectar’s reputation as host of high-caliber shows, where people can stop in for an evening of great music and entertainment, even when the headliner might be unfamiliar.
For the February 6th birthday concert, Palmer believes he has assembled one of those shows. The three bands playing – The Student Loan, Spare Rib and the Bluegrass Sauce, and The Warren G. Hardings – all have followings in the bluegrass community. In addition, Bob Marley fans already know Nectar shares their love of his music, particularly with this show where all three bands have selected their favorite 4 or 5 Marley songs to cover. Palmer even set up communications between the bands to ensure that they overlap in picking the songs, but that each still gets to play their best covers.
“When I moved to Seattle, as a freshman at UW,” Palmer joked, “they gave you a welcome pamphlet and a copy of Bob Marley’s ‘Legend’ [album].” He’s well-familiar with the vastness of Marley’s following. “It’s such widely loved music,” he said, “people who wouldn’t call themselves reggae fans, love Bob Marley. His songs are catchy. They are simple. They are beautiful. Some [songs] are revolutionary, but even when he’s being revolutionary, he’s got a positive energy. He’s like the Martin Luther King Jr. of reggae music.”
“People like what they already know,” Palmer observed about music fans, and this show will provide the familiar…along with 4 or 5 original bluegrass hits perfected by each of the three bands. Plus, audience members will have chance at prize giveaways from the show’s co-sponsor, and another of Fremont’s quietly successful businesses, Piece of Mind.
The doors for Bob Marley’s Bluegrass Birthday will open at 8p on February 6th (which also happens to be Palmer’s 2nd anniversary of employment at Nectar,) with tickets $7 in advance and $10 at the door. For this 21+ show, Palmer expects tickets to still available the night of, however, Marley fans may want to arrive early to be assured of hearing all their favorite tunes. The bands, and Palmer, are keeping silent about which songs they’ve chosen to play, or when, so come, listen, and enjoy!
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