Cute Is What We Aim For
Ray's Downtown Blues
West Palm Beach | September 22nd
By Logan Jaffe
Honestly, I didn't know that there was anything in West Palm Beach besides retired people and condos. It turns out West Palm is a maze of upscale shopping and cultural events, and in the middle of it all is Ray's Downtown Blues.
The venue is about 50 miles north of Aventura, found amidst a melange of giggly teenyboppers and hardcore metal heads all waiting for the Fueled By Ramen tour. Teenagers occupied a block or two as they waited for admission into the show featuring bands like Cute is What We Aim For, Paramore and This Providence. Some teens sprawled on the sidewalk while others skateboarded nearby.
Ray Carbone, the club's owner, said that this was an atypical night at his place, which started as a jazz and blues joint 11 years ago.
"Usually, it's much mellower," he said.
Once admitted, the crowd was enthusiastic in spite of the venue's broken air conditioning. Since the venue was built solely for acoustic performances, most electric artists performing Friday were unpleased when they arrived. The sound guy evidently bought that night's microphones at Radioshack, thinking it would suit the artists' sounds. He was terribly mistaken. The venue's acoustics simply didn't accommodate electric sounds in general. As it turns out, all of the bands were forced to play acoustic sets, which excluded many of their drummers and some guitarists from performing.
OUTLOUD had an interview scheduled with Cute Is What We Aim For, but according to their tour manager, the band was "pissed." And it showed: lead singer Shaant Hacikyan entertained the crowd with comments like, "Do you guys always come to shows here? I don't know how," followed by the strenuous sound of a song suddenly gone acoustic.
Drenched in sweat, some teens mashed together in the front of the stage; others congregated in the back room, which was a few degrees cooler. Here, the bands' merchandise representatives waited to sell t-shirts and demo albums, but without much success.
That's where I met This Providence's lead singer Dan Young. Earlier, he had resorted to playing Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life" rather than playing songs from the band's debut album because of the sound problem.
Overall, the venue seems to change styles every weekend, from reggae to pop-punk to acoustic folk. If you're interested, check out its MySpace site at myspace.com/raysdowntown, because Less Than Jake-esque bands do play from time to time. Reminder: call ahead and ask if the air and microphones are fixed; you could have a better experience than I did.
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