Opening Night

Last night my mom and I went to the opening night of "The Merc". Merc is short for mercantile and is a new music hot spot for Temecula. Three different music groups played, all high schoolers. The first one was a guy that played a jazz, rock, blues type tune on his electric guitar and had his computer as a band. Never seen someone perform like that and he was great! He lacked a little stage presence, but I think that will probably come with time as he is more and more exposed to audiences. 

The second group was a 16 year old singer/songwriter and her acoustic guitar guy and electric guitar guy. Her songs were great! Radio worthy writing, really. I was impressed. Her voice could use some training and she needs a good sound guy, but otherwise, very promising. She could submit her songs to some singers and probably have a number one single. 

The third group, complete with dad living through his kids guy running the video camera and setting up sound, was an all male rock band that looked goofy, but when they started playing they were great! They surprised me with their mature sound and the singer had a great voice...was not expecting that. Great music overall for the entire night.

The Merc has a little work to do before they can be great. They served drinks and cookies before the show, which was a little elementary, but then had no drinks (not even water) for the rest of the night. That's a long time to be at a place with no refreshments. They said they are working on getting their food service license. I think putting a coffee house in the front part of the building would boost their attendance big time and they have the room. Maybe I'll call someone. I also think leaving the doors open so people walking by can hear the music would boost attendance. Last night it was mostly the band's family and friends that were there and these bands definitely deserved an audience. No pictures, sorry. I forgot my camera. I did take some with my phone, so if I figure out how to get those onto my blog, I'll post them.