Fresno Famous

(Editor's note: Didn't get any photos from last night's gig, so this is a stand in).

Like a lot of venues these days, Fulton 55 is trying to work up its off-night traffic with a series of weeknight shows. This one was a low-key "coffeehouse style" show. Which meant acoustic styled and upstairs, not on the main stage. Intimate, is a good word for it. It was a $3 cover and the money raised went to the Cat House on the Kings, which provided a nice running joke throught the evening.

It was a pretty nice set-up and something the venue can totally build on.

Bryan DeBaets: Bryan is a friend, who is in a rockin' band called Renegade Conspiracy. Here he did a solo acoustic set, which featured more than a few originals and some covers, including a great version of Van Morrison's "Moon Dance." This was obviously not his first go-around. The guys affected a cool and casual ease behind the mic and had great rapport with the crowd. The relative size of the crowd (and the fact he knew everyone in it) probably helped, but still ...

Our set (Josh and Jaime): Let's see. Started with an out-of-tune guitar. Sort of fixed that problem. Started again and sailed through the set pretty smoothly. Felt like my guitar probably slipped back out of tune some, which a better, more professional musician might have fixed. Not I. Got some great audience participation (and some feedback) from local musician Steve Ono, who I was glad to see showed up.