1. The walk to Backstage Bar & Billiards Saturday night is like flipping stations on the radio. Opera vibrates from the Container Park, while ska beats fly from an outdoor stage behind Triple B. Inside, it’s quiet as a sparse crowd gathers for Bay Area singer-songwriter Sean Hayes and opener Eric and Erica.
2. “This room’s gonna test my concentration skills. I like it.” Sean Hayes takes the stage ready for the attention gauntlet that is Triple B tonight—bachelorettes in boas in the corner, pool players hollering over slick shots in the back, drinkers on bar stools only half listening. At one point Hayes looks up to catch a glimpse of Cry Baby on the bar’s TVs. “Is that Johnny Depp?”
3. For those who are listening, the bluesy folkster sounds pristine, his confident voice rich with emotion as he teases out love tunes and lyrical tales. Live, his guitar work is far more impressive, and playing with just Eric on the drums for much of the set, Hayes still builds a relatively full, resonant sound.
4. We are a small but mighty bunch in the audience tonight! Up front, fans sing-along happily, while a guy on the couch shouts for “Thousand Tiny Pieces.” One brave young man asks a stranger to dance and spends a song spinning his partner and rocking back and forth to a sweet slow jam. When Hayes launches into “Powerful Stuff,” we fill in the claps like pros.
5. Hayes ditches his guitar for a small MIDI board and types out “Angel,” turning it into an electronic, droney number you could almost imagine being remixed for a club on the Strip. It feels like an odd way to end the night, but Hayes isn’t done. He grabs his guitar, and as he croons “Shake Your Body” we happily oblige. The bachelorettes are gone, the pool game over and finally there’s a dance party at Triple B.
