There’s nothing worse than seeing a show with a craptacular opening act. We’ve all been there, shuffling our feet and drinking our way to the bottom of cups until ice cubes hit our face, just waiting and wasting the hour away. Luckily, tonight, Canopy Club will have a show where the first band is as much worth seeing as the second. The Omega Moos, comprised of members of Umphrey’s McGee and The New Deal, will hit the stage with The Hue, a band that has been around less than a year and has already made huge waves (they’ve played with The Wood Brothers at Chicago’s House of Blues) and received high praises (see what Bayliss had to say about them below). Tonight’s show starts at 9, and tickets are $10 in advance. Hell, if we can’t convince you to go, maybe The Hue’s lead guitarist, Jared Rabin, or Omega Moos’ Brendan Bayliss can.
buzz: How does it feel to be playing at the same venues in Chicago that you have frequented to see shows?
Jared Rabin: It’s a lot of fun. I’ve been doing it since high school, and it’s good to have a band that’s getting higher numbers at these places. The Hue is picking up momentum, and there is a definite difference in playing at these places with The Hue than solo.
buzz: Was there a reason you guys decided not to have any vocals in your band?
Jared: It’s something we’ve always talked about. We decided to leave it instrumental from the beginning because we’re all into progressive rock and jazz. If we’re going to have a singer, we want someone who is equal to our technical abilities on our instruments. We want someone to add something musically. We’re discussing branching out, but we have to listen to a lot of singers before we make a decision.
buzz: Have you ever had any terrifyingly embarrassing moments on stage?
Jared: When it comes to instrumental problems, we can pretty much take care of those on the spot. We’ve had some electrical flow problems with speakers and amps, and it’s hard to keep it together when you’ve got your equipment making all these crazy noises.
buzz: Have Geoff’s jobs helped with record production at all?
Jared: We’re all kind of into the producing and recording angle, but he has a whole focus on composing and a whole different approach from the rest of us. He definitely has a particular way of going about everything. With this record [Unscene, released November 2007], it was supposed to be more of an EP because we didn’t have much time. For the next record, hopefully we can get deeper into it.
buzz: With all the different projects you guys have been a part of, have you found that knowing some of these people has helped your band?
Jared: Yeah, Marcus was in 56 Hope Road, and being from Chicago helped too. Marcus and I have a lot of the same connections just from being around. That has definitely helped us in terms of getting a community of fans and getting the word out.
buzz: Do you have any good luck charms for when you play?
Jared: Cross our fingers and hope everything turns out for the best.
