Paul Benoit and Banzai Surf at Darrells 12-28-13

You say Benwah and I say Benoyt...there was some confusion. I distinctly heard one of tonight's participants say the latter while I am sure I heard Paul say the former. While he could have been fooling, I tend to believe Paul about his own name. Besides, his mother, hell, his whole family was in the audience.

I have seen Paul and his mates before and was looking forward to hearing his brand of Blues and Rock again. He plays a killer guitar and belts out super strong vocals. He was spot on tonight, must have been Mom smiling in the audience.

Here is the post from the last time I had seen Paul: http://liveseattlemusicintheclubs.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-years-eve-with-paul-benoit-dry.html

He is a talented writer as well as performer. He mixed some originals in with some covers. He played Voodoo Chile; it melted my face.

Paul had fun tonight; that is always a great recipe for good music. There was a lot of killer, powerful music coming from this trio.

You can catch Paul on his Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/paul.benoit.779
I am afraid I don't have the names of his fellow band mates. I hope I can add those names later.

The drummer had a killer set. I had seen him before and he is great.

The bass-man rocked the house. He was quietly laying the bottom for this great set.

Paul mugged for his family, trying to get them onstage. He had special guests for one tune.

He has always provided great entertainment and sweet music every time I have seen him.  Tonight was no different; he was animated and as fun as ever.

I know why my pal Scott (the co-booking agent and sound tech at Darrells) loves them so much. Paul has the magic trifecta: superb songwriter, great performer and a stellar musician.

He made Mom proud tonight!

Next up was Banzai Surf, one of my favorite collection of musicians in Seattle. I am partial to surf, good surf and here was an opportunity to watch Joe, John and Joe rock the house.

Here is Joe and John enjoying their pre-show video. They entertain all the senses, adding a video of vintage movie trailers and  clips.

They wait until a sweet break in the video to take the stage. Great entertainment is spontaneous, but well practiced. This was a killer moment. They blasted their amazing surf sound and I was taken away instantly.

I was lucky enough to talk with Joe Jabon before the show. He knows me from my blog and we are Facebook friends. He knows I worship him as God-Almighty with a guitar, but we had never met in the flesh.

Banzai Surf is Joe Jabon on lead guitar, Joe Johnson on bass and John Mooney on percussion. A finer, tighter band you will not find. You can find them here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Banzai-Surf/159234746201

I have their disc and listen regularly. They play classic trad surf with sweet original arrangements. Joe J is blazing on his beautiful but well worn Fender.

John is an amazing drummer. He is a blur as he beats out the finest percussion of any surf band I have witnessed. He plays a beautiful vintage pearl set.

The other Joe is a memorable character in his top hat and Moon-Eyed bass guitar.

He may look stoic, but he is rocking the killer bass line.

They played many of my favorites off their disc andthey have the spaghetti western down killing the Good Bad and the Ugly.

I love watching John work, er play... you can see his passion in these three simple pics.

I forgot how much I adore these guys. We have real surf talent right here in Seattle. I would eat a bug to see them play live again.

Thanks to Banzai Surf for a fun night of fine instrumental music. You can call it what you want. There are many sub-genres within this genre. Banzai Surf plays one of my favorites; traditional instrumental surf. They do it with passion, talent and a smile on their faces. All great things.

They ended with their killer version of The Sabre Dance, working a little Hava Nagila in there for good measure, it was magical.

Thanks to Darrells for a great night of music. See Darrells Tavern here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Darrells-Tavern/168822649813454

See some live music soon, it will do wonders for your soul.