Sister Carol @ The Urban Lounge 5/5/07:
| Back in 1991 Sister Carol "The Black Cinderella" came to Salt Lake on a RAS Records tour with Brigadier Jerry and a couple of other RAS label mates. They played the old Bar and Grille on 9th South and I remember it well because the audience was all of about 20 people! I remember feeling shocked and embarrassed; especially since Salt Lake had always been such a strong supporter of reggae music (at least during the early/mid /80s). All the artists were professional enough to play their sets energetically despite the small crowd and I even had opportunity to visit with Sister Carol (and apologize to her for the turnout) in person. Well, that was a long time ago and I have heard very little of Sister Carol since then. So when I discovered she would be playing a show at the Urban Lounge I decided to go and see how she is doing. I had been invited to watch the Floyd Mayweather/Oscar De La Hoya fight at my friends Chris and Ritsuko's place just a few blocks from the Urban Lounge, so I tried to recruit them to join me for the concert afterwards but with no luck. So, once again I went by myself. I'm not sure if that's pathetic or admirable, but I don't really care either way. Fact is I was curious to see Sister Carol, was already just around the corner at Chris and Ritsuko's, and always love the sound of live reggae music. I first got to the venue at about 11:00 and was surprised to find no music playing and only about 50 or 60 people there. I was already starting to feel bad once again for Sister Carol because of low turnout. The Urban Lounge is kind of a strange venue which is limited in size and mostly caters to unknown/lesser known punk and hip hop acts. The normal crowd there is also usually quite young and very much of the punk variety. Although it serves as a live music venue it really doesn't have much to offer, consisting of one small bar at the back, a very limited dance floor area that fronts an equally small stage, a couple of pool tables near the entrance, and seating that consists of 4 or 5 wooden booths, some small tables and stools that surround the dance floor, and some scattered sofas that look like they should have been tossed out years ago. In it's defense I must say that they do offer a nice selection of beer and the bartenders always seem friendly. I got myself a beer and plopped down onto a love seat style sofa at the back. The band continued to set up and go through their sound check as I sipped my beer and did some people watching; and there were some real characters to check out! I'm used to the idea of having a large "hippy" contingent at many of the reggae shows I attend, but this crowd had a particularly concentrated number of them. I don't really mind, but I certainly can start to feel out of place. God forbid that this crowd would come to know that they had a conservative Republican in their midst! They would certainly run me right out! I hadn't seen so many unkempt, mangy, and glassy-eyed folks since driving past an anti-war protest at Pioneer Park last year. I actually find myself feeling sorry for some of the younger ones; they seem so lost. There was one particular girl there who I've seen before who is spectacularly beautiful, with well kept dreadlocks and clean, tasteful clothes. She also seems really full of happy, healthy energy. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her...that is until she took off her sweater and revealed thicker armpit hair than I have! I still think she's gorgeous, but what the...?! Funny enough I did see that she shaves her legs (???). After a while DJ Rebel, a skinny, Jewish looking kid with glasses who works the turntables at many of the local reggae gigs, began playing some nice tunes and people started dancing. A guy came up to me and asked me where I got my t-shirt. I told him I had found it at a local thrift store a couple of years ago. He then proceeded to tell me that the shirt, with a design showing a lion's head with headphones on (see image below), was created originally to promote a local reggae record label that was now defunct. He told me that the guys who had started the label were friends of his and that only about 40 of those shirts were ever made. "Hell of a find man!" he said. Later, another guy offered me $40 for it. I turned him down. Sister Carol took the stage with a big smile and beautiful voice. By this time the crowd had grown to over 100 people. Sister Carol definitely looks older now but sounds great. She was full of warm energy and spoke of her positive messages of femininity, motherhood, respect for children and the institution of marriage. She thanked everyone for coming out and gave several "shout outs" to the Utah Jazz, who earlier in the evening had eliminated the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. The vibe was great, and although I didn't want to give up my comfortable spot on the sofa I eventually got up and joined the crowed on the dance floor. Sister Carol played for a good hour and a half, each song sounding terrific. The show ended right at 2:00 and I rushed home to get what little sleep I could before having to take Tee to the airport (she was off to Germany for 8 days) at 8:00 the next morning. |
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