Local Music Spotlight

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Wham Bam thank you...GAM?

I left the Velvet Elvis this past Saturday Night (Sunday Morning) after taking part in what can best be described as experience rather than entertainment. I am a first year Savannah resident recently off of the boat from Nashville, TN. Having a "music city" background, I am very comfortable around the music scene, and this includes all the diverse characters and personalities that accompany it.

Ladies and Gentlemen...I gotta tell ya...What the hell did I see Saturday night! Would someone please help explain! I say this laughingly, but the truth is this: GAM, and the audience it calls forth from the abyss, collectively brought me to my toes. Have you ever tried to go to church on Sunday morning only to feel like you are absolutely alone? You're not a member, you stick out like a sore thumb, visitors welcome is coming any minute and all you can do is feel every eye watching and waiting for you to introduce yourself? Exactly! What I soon realized is that GAM isn't defined by the band alone, but also those followers who we can very well call GAMITES, not to be confused with GAMETES...but who nows...maybe...

First of all, this four by four monster truck Toys-R-Us special comes out to the stage, made up like some spaceship with the all seeing "Alan Parsons Project" eye drawn on it. Lo and behold, a guy is in the UFO, with an alien mask and costume (or was it?). People begin to make their way to the altar. I am now starting to feel the butterflies associated with the beginning of service. As is typical prior to organized church worship, the "members" were chatting, laughing, and finding their places.

As the band takes the stage, the crowd begins to quiet down. You see, they, the members, knew it was time. All I could do was to stay alert. Strange noises, akin to UFO landings, were heard all over the house. To this day, I don't know if they were coming from the audience or from the guitar. (Probably best that way) But this noise is precisely what seems to have connected with the Alien, and as it grew in strength, so did the Alien start to rise.

The service had begun! At this point, I knew this act was probably in a league of its own. Honestly, I couldn't really understand anything the band was saying. I didn't care. It wasn't the "musical correctness" that the crowd gathered for, it was the "connection." One audience member was so moved by the music and the service, that he fell to the stage on his knees with his hands lifted to sky (just like the guy onthe cover of the Platoon movie case!)

The shepherd of the flock, the lead singer, extended his hand towards him and started making these frequency sounds that couldn't have been part of the song, and believe it or not, the aroused member began to move accordingly. This is what I really enjoyed. No, not the apparent alien possession, but a show where a band seems to recognize the importance of audience participation.

So many times we, the musically deprived, want to be a part of music so much, but are stuck with just listening, and then we have to clap for them, when we are essentially just as important to the harvest as the musicians. As it says in one of the good books, one sows, the other reaps, and both enjoy the harvest together.

Gam's performance says "Hey, if you are willing to watch, listen, and stay through the service then we are willing to let you jump up on stage and do 20 push-ups for no logical reason, then stage-dive back into the crowd if you want." (That really happened!)

I would suggest a visit to the GAM service at least once in your life to any of you who enjoy being a part of unabashed lunacy, or even if you just need to fill the void of seeking the curiosity within. I am almost absolutely convinced that you will not leave an empty jar of clay.

I left just a little before the service ended...as I doat most services, and I did leave an offering in the bartender's jar.

However, I didn't fill out the visitor's card. I don't want GAM calling me asking if it will be OK for them to stop by MY house for a visit.