Nothing says summer has arrived like the climbing temperature.
By now, you know how many times that I have lamented the fact that weather was not conducive to big crowds outside at Bumper’s Landing, in Harrison Two. Michigan. I’ve been pretty much a broken record about it. “It’s so cooooold!”, blah, blah, blah . . .
Well, forget all that. “It’s sooooooooo hooooooooot!”….
Just kidding. I’m not complaining about the extreme heat. And, to be honest, true to their form, none of the big crowd of boaters that we entertained, Saturday every said a single word about it being too hot to drink.
It was pretty hot though. About 90 degrees will slow down any party. Folks were there, but pretty much hiding from the sizzling sunlight. They were under the awning, under umbrellas, and even nestled inside from the oppressive heat.
Nothing will stop us though, Carl and I. We were there, set up and ready to play right on time, sweltering sun or no. We just switched on our Island music play-list. (Just kidding, there is really no such list.)
Music is so personal and so evocative of time, place and mood, that simply hearing a soulful melody will catapult the listener to a moment and location they might have treasured some years or even decades past.
It can stop your heart and mind until all of those feeling come rushing back, reawakened once more. Island music by my definition is comprised of slow, easy, tranquil melodies that urge us to relax, rethink and renew.
The melodies don’t shout at us, they beckon. The beat is simple and straight-forward, hiding nothing along the way. Even the chord structure, while outwardly pleasing is quite simple and true.
The listener is not being asked to focus their time and energy on the lyrics, solos or even complicated chord changes. It is simply, “Happy” music.
So when it is hot. Really hot!, playing island music tends to cool everyone down. Or when we play it in the winter months, aching for the hint of summer just off the horizon; it even warms us up!
Island music fits right in at Bumper’s
From the cool of the shade coveted spots, we can see and hear patrons singling along with us, despite the heat. We already know that these people don’t complain about anything, so the heat is certainly not going to bother them.
Singing in the Gazebo on the deck is a great place to be actually. We can see everything, and of course hear everything. Especially when these racing boats come in establishing their audible dominance, or trying to. Something worth hearing, that’s for sure.
As you already know, we begin our night around six O’clock with Jimmy Buffett, the usual first round pick. Then some Seger, and Young and even Chesney right out of the gate.
But on this afternoon, we thought that we would cast off much of our usual, and let the Island Music wash over those oppressed by the heat.
After the first couple of sets, the sun retreated a bit, and let the boaters emerge into the light. We began to play music with a little stronger structure as the night drew close at hand.
There was still not a lot of craziness, since by now, the sun had zapped much of everyone’s energy. That was fine too. We simply brought out the romantic music, as the darkness settled in the moon crept over the dock.
It was clearly time for romance and passion.
Bumper’s Landing may occasionally be windy, it may be cold, yet most times hot. However, there is one thing that Carl and I know for a fact; it is never, ever dull, not matter what type of music is in the air.
Rb
