Concert #444 - Syd Kitchen at McCabe's Guitar Shop (June 29, 2007)

Other than Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata" and a couple of Johnny Clegg songs, there's not much else I know about South African music and to this day, I don't know what made me grab two of my friends and drive the fifty-one miles that separate my home from McCabe's to see an exotic performer I knew nothing about.

So was it worth my effort? The answer is a resounding "No". Syd Kitchen's music did not connect with me at all and after three or four songs I knew I'd be in for a long evening. Well, the long evening never materialized, courtesy of an unexpected intermission that came about 40 minutes into the concert. When the lights went on, I looked at my two guests and they were as ready to go home as I was. So home we went, but not without making a mental note about doing my homework before once again dragging friends into uncharted musical territories.