Tab Benoit - The Myth, The Musician, The Man

Thousands of years ago, in Southern Louisiana, where the sultry Mississippi River meets the mighty Gulf of Mexico, two ancient water forces, both male and female, combined into a purposeful dance, dissolving the lower half of the land, and giving birth to a brackish and mysterious wetland.  They say magic, both dark and light, thrives in the battleground of these two lovers and foes.  The result: yin and yang, combined in chaotic natural beauty. 

Many years later, deep within this dark delta, a young Cajun boy came upon a swirling mist.  Unafraid, he navigated his boat into the vortex.  As the mist cleared, a massive gator arose from the black water with a distressed and mossy Stratocaster guitar clutched in its jaws. In an epic battle, as all the other reptilian creatures of the marsh watched, the boy slew the gator.  The gator stared into the boy’s eyes as he drew his final breath, and with his exhale relinquished the magic of the swamp guitar into the boy’s care, imbuing him with the soul of the swamp.  The boy emerged from the swamp, walking on top of the brackish water, with the guitar strapped across his chest and the gator’s head under his arm.

From that day on, the boy was able to make the guitar sing the songs of the wetlands.  Legend says he travels the country, pulling guitar picks directly from the gator’s head, and taking up the guitar, which pours forth searing guitar licks that mesmerize all in his path. And when he takes up his guitar in the swamp, the frogs sing with him in homage to the vessel of the swamp’s soul.  And so was born the legend of Tab Benoit....

Tab Benoit may not have started his music career in quite such a fanciful fairytale, but once you’ve heard him perform, it’s easy to imagine such a story.  Plus, I'm a Texan, born and bred, and we love our tall tales.

On Thursday night, I ventured to Antone’s with two of my girlfriends, Feisty Charlie and Hot Hips Houlihan.  These two were the perfect accessories to a Thursday night on the town.  As one half of Team Sappho, I knew Feisty, having a genetic immunity to Tab’s charms, would counterbalance my enthusiasm nicely.  I also wanted a fresh perspective on the Tab experience, which Hot Hips would provide nicely, being a Tab virgin. 

We had a reserved VIP table upstairs.  To enter the VIP area at Antone’s you must pass beyond the velvet rope, which is guarded by a very serious looking bouncer, and then through a sitting area and up a rickety set of old wooden stairs.  The upstairs VIP area is really just a balcony with about 8 tables, but somehow the crimson glow of the lights is very satisfying.  The antics visible from this vantage point are entertaining even without music.

Once we had been served our poisons of choice, it was a waiting game.  The opening act, Sol Driven Train, deserves its own entry in this blog, so I will expand more on the SDT experience later.  Let me just tease you with some tags for the SDT post: Sgt. Pepper Jacket, a box, a vampire, a fluffy beard and a Shake Weight Contest.

Tab took the stage with only a bass player and drummer, but this is a man who needs very little assistance to successfully ply his craft.  Tab has intensely honed his guitar technique while managing to lay out the licks with searing artistry.  His songs are a wonderful gumbo of blues and zydeco, with a little funk thrown in for extra spice.  He moved effortlessly between all my favorites, Night Train, Solid Simple Things, Lost in Your Lovin’, Fever for the Bayou… but when he played Darkness, my feet curled into fists and every thought left my head.  Darkness is pure blues, an entire love story gone wrong, all in one song.

I stayed in my seat for several minutes after the last song, replete with contentment.  When we made our way down the stairs and out VIP door, we found Tab on our side of the rope, greeting fans.  It was my chance.  He turned to me and said hello.  Mercifully, my brain and tongue remained firmly in place.  I talked with him for several minutes, covering topics from Austin to the Sandy Beaches Cruise to his convictions about the environment.  I think I may have even managed to work the word bacchanalia into the conversation.  I walked away from him confident in some absolute truths: Tab is a very talented musician, a dedicated advocate for the wetlands of Louisiana, and quite human (albeit exotically Cajun). Also, I’m not THAT girl.

On Saturday night, I drove to Dallas to see him at The Granada, The Hot Divorcee in tow.  We sat upfront on the right side of the stage.  Two very different venues, two different set lists, and two amazing shows.  He had the crowd from the opening note to the closing chord.   As we sat in the hotel bar after the show, glowing from Tab, we wondered if, instead of heading home on Sunday, we shouldn’t pass right through Austin in an attempt to make San Antonio by 1:00 to catch his next show.  Okay, maybe I’m still THAT girl… but maybe that’s okay.