Kevin Max

Last night, I got to see Kevin Max at The Rutledge in Nashville. The night was full of new, exciting, marvelous experiences. I'll start from the beginning.

First of all, The Rutledge is 18+ and last night was the first time I've ever been to a place like that. Part of me wishes that I could say that I was cool about the whole thing, but I would be convincing no one. My brother and I walked through the door and the guy asked for our ID and told us it would be $10 for each of us. I had mine ready, so the guy checked it and markered my hand with big black x's while my brother was pulling out his wallet. After the guy checked my brother's ID he proceeded to paint his hands with the same beautiful black x's. I fully understand the purpose for the x's on the hands, but they do a really good job of making you feel awkward and out of place. I was already feeling very awkward and out of place and nervous, so I didn't need any assistance. But that's okay.

(Side note: One of things I appreciate about myself is the fact that I tend to take things in stride. Even when I feel nervous and awkward, I keep trudging forward despite how I may feel or how incredibly stupid I look. This has come in handy, because I live in a constant state of awkwardness. So last night, even though I felt (and probably looked) really out of place, it didn't really bother me. It just gave me another opportunity to laugh at how strange I am.)

So we get past the guy at the door - who, by the way, was the steoreotypical big, buff, bald, glaring, tattooed man - and we make our way to find a place to sit. We found this small table with two chairs next to the wall right in front of the stage. It was the perfect place. We planted ourselves firmly in the chairs and did not get up until we left.

The Rutledge is a small place. And it was loud. And before the night was over, crowded. We got there about an hour before the show was supposed to start, so we sat and soaked in the atmosphere and yelled to each other across the table in an attempt to carry on a conversation. Good times. Thankfully, we didn't have to sit there and wait a whole hour, because the opening band started about 15 minutes early. Manic Bloom was their name, and I quite enjoyed them. They had genuine, honest talent. I was happy to see that. They played for about 45 minutes. And all ideas I had about the sound guy - Frank, I later found out was his name - liking it loud were quelled during this. I found out he not only liked it loud, he liked it really loud. The volume of the music he played before the show was nothing compared to loud it was when the show started. I think it's not a stretch to guess that he has at least some slight hearing loss. Just a guess.

After Manic Bloom it was time for Kevin Max. Well, it was time for Kevin Max after a complete set change. They tore down all of Manic Bloom's stuff and then put up all of K-Max's and his band's stuff. They worked quite efficiently, but it still was almost 30 minutes before they started playing. But that's okay, because during that time Kevin himself walked past me twice and since we were all so close together, he was like two inches from me. That was exciting. He hung out around the sound board, which was less than 10 feet away from us, for about 10-15 minutes while his band was setting up everything. And funnily enough, even with all the noise and the trouble we were having hearing each other less than a foot apart, whenever he spoke to somone, we could clearly hear his voice. It was like babies responding to their mother. We were sitting there laughing at ourselves and our extreme obsession with his voice. What can we say? The man has the voice of an angel.

At around 10:00 they all walked onto the stage and the room exploded with applause and cheers. Then started the mind-blowing amazingness. And with the mind-blowing amazingness, anymore ideas I had gathered during the Manic Bloom set about the sound guy and his affinity for volume were destroyed. Frank not only likes it really loud, he likes it really, really loud. But it was Kevin Max so I can't say that I blame him.

Kevin called this show a "glorified rehearsal." He said they're going to be taking time off until June, but for some reason they decided to do this little thing, so they weren't completely polished. But that showed off their excellent musicianship, because they were fantastic even when you could tell that weren't sure what they were doing. He said the band learned all of the songs in two days and Kevin himself had words in front of him on a stand for some of his new songs that he hasn't gotten used to singing yet. There were several times that he would look at the guys and say something like "Are we going to try this one?" and before they played the last song, which was a cover of "Message In A Bottle", he looked at one of the guitar players and said, "Come on, don't be nervous, just do it." All of that, along with the venue helped to create a very relaxed environment which was very cool. There was one woman there who took advantage of this relaxed feel and was talking to Kevin between every song. I never did see her, but that didn't keep me from hearing her. Between every song she would shout things like, "This is the best show ever!", "That was better than the original!" (said when he sang "Love Me Two Times"), and "You're an angel!" Kevin talked back to her nearly every time, witty as always. We laughed much during his set. After the "better than the original" comment he chuckled and said, "I beg to differ." And after the "you're an angel" remark he stumbled over his words for a second and then said "What do you say to that?" To that I would say, "It's true" but that's just me.

I couldn't sing along with most of what he played, because he did a lot of new stuff from his latest EP, Crashing Gates, that I have not been able to procure yet, but that was okay. Not only is his voice completely captivating, he is an engaging performer. Marvelous is what he is. I think I already used that word, but it's an appropriate word so I think it's alright to say it more than once. The few times he did play a song that I knew, you better believe that I was singing right along. My brother was, too. And I think that captured Kevin's attention. We both thought that he looked at us from the stage a few times. I could swear that he was staring at me once for a whole verse in one of the songs. I don't remember which one. If he wasn't looking at me, then he was either staring into space or looking at the wall behind me. If that's the case, I'd like to continue to believe that he was looking at me, if you don't mind. I like that better.

After his set was done, we made a hasty exit. There was some other guy that was supposed to be playing, but it was getting late and we had already decided that we were going to see some friends before we went home. I kinda feel sorry for walking out on the last guy, because I suspect a lot of other people did, too. But maybe not. For his sake, we can only hope.

All in all (hmm, conclusionary statement....must be coming to the end) it was one of the most glorious experiences of my life. And I feel like I could go on and gush from here to infinity but I think few people would want to read that, so I better stop now. I will end by saying, I love Kevin Max. You should go see him sometime. You will love him, too.