Yesterday was Durbinday in Santa Cruz, and people across the city gathered with friends and family around their teevee machines to hear the SC wunderkind rock out. After all, it was Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week on American Idol. If Elton John week could evoke a flaming piano, I fully expected boa constrictors, pole dancers, fire eaters and an inflatable pig floating over the stadium. I was expecting Gene Simmons and Eddie Van Halen on backup vocals. I was expecting local motorcycle gangs to provide security and prevent screaming fans from swamping James on stage.
I didn’t get any of that.
It was left for country bumpkin and Alfred E. Newman wannabe Scotty McCreery to get his swagger doing Elvis. Instead, James showed us his sensitive side, performing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” And his guitar wasn’t the only thing to weep, either. By the end of the song, James was in tears. He later explained that he was thinking about his family while he performed.
He also said that this is one song he had been working on for five years, but only people here in Santa Cruz really knew what he was talking about. Durbin got a major boost locally while performing with the White Album Ensemble at the Rio Theater. Most of the time he sang backup, but the George Harrison hit was his star solo. Last night James really was going back to his Santa Cruz roots. Can we expect an Alan Parsons song next?
