Friday night they got word. It was almost like a scene from "Forty Second Street," that great depression-era musical, in which the star breaks her leg and the understudy, played by Ruby Keeler, gets to go on.
Francesca, a local 14-year-old singer-songwriter, was sick in bed and knew that she wouldn’t be up for her gig at the Liberty Heights Tap Room the next day. So she called to see if my son’s band, Cool and Unusual Punishment, wanted to take her place.
The answer was a resounding yes. We, his parents, found out about the debut almost by accident:
"Dad, can you give me a ride tomorrrow at 3?"
"Sure. Where to?"
"To the Liberty Heights Tap Room."
"Why?"
"To hear some music."
"Who?"
"We’re playing there tomorrow."
Liberty Heights Tap Room calls itself a family and kid-friendly bar with rustic brick oven cuisine and a great backroom music space. One Saturday a month, the owner and general manager, Steve Deptula, presents Rockin’ Teens Showcase for bands aged 12-16: a chance for young Brooklyn rock ‘n rollers to strut their stuff.
Pre-show, the kids were cool and collect; the parents were the ones who were spritzing. I’d only heard them once before and never with their spit-fire vocalist, Kenda:
"We’re Cool and Unusual Punishment and we’re here to play for you," she announced boldly to begin the show. Then my son played: Da Da Da DaDaDaDaDa, the opening bass notes of their Queen cover, "Another One Bites the Dust." and they were off and running through their much-rehearsed 4-song set.
What impressed me the most was the ease and comfort they all seemed to have on stage as if they’d spent their entire lives there. The inter-song patter was great and they just oozed confidence and humor.
In other words, they were utterly adorable (my thinks my use of this word means I’m not taking him seriously. He couldn’t be more WRONG.) The crowd, made up of parents and friends of the band who had been insta-messaged about the last minute gig, ate it up and cheered enthusiastically.
Afterward, the band looked smitten with the fun of performing on stage, egged on by the thrilling applause, the feeling of being in the limelight. Something had transpired for them up on that small stage Saturday afternoon.
They may never be the same.