This year, a cover band that I play in was offered a gig playing for Sail Boston 2017, a large festival in the Seaport District of Boston, MA, celebrating the Tall Ships’ return to Boston. Thousands of people came to see the ships and eat at various food vendors. Since security was bit tight, the band actually had to lay out all of our instruments so a security team could search them for anything nefarious. As much as my horn can be a deadly musical weapon, we appreciated the intention of keeping all of the spectators safe.
Anyway, I like to keep things interesting and exciting with the band, so in addition to my saxophone, I brought the Vindor ES1. I specifically brought it for one song. We decided to play “I Keep Forgettin’” by Michael McDonald and to then go into one verse of “Regulate” by Warren G. because they sample the Michael McDonald groove for that song. In the beginning of “Regulate,” there’s an iconic synth line. Though we originally had the horns play that line, the ES1 gave it a much more authentic feel by using one of its on-board synth sounds. It was a blast and the rest of the band really enjoyed hearing that line come from the Vindor ES1. The audience loved hearing the mashup, and the Vindor got some great reactions. I made sure to play it for a few other songs as well just to have some fun lead synth solos.
It’s exciting being able to play hip hop lines and bring in a new dimension to a cover band. At Vindor, we hope that the ES1 inspires both new and experienced musicians to explore new tones and styles.
