CN Homeboy Rocks the House

CN Homeboy fancies himself a bit of a folk singer. When he's not kicking drunks out of various Aberdeen pubs, or salivating over various SAS or Navy SEAL memoirs, he enjoys performing in several of those various Aberdeen pubs. He plays both the guitar and the "moothie" (harmonica), and has been encouraging us, his coursemates, to come see one of his gigs since all the way back in October. On a Sunday in early July, I had just gotten back to my room after a long day of doing something or other - possibly working on my dissertation at Starbucks - when CN GBU-16 got a hold of me and asked if I was going to Homeboy's gig. I was tempted to blow it off since it was such short notice, but I decided that I had enough time to get myself put back together and head downtown. When I was waiting for the bus, Homeboy texted an invite; had I been unaware of the gig until then, I absolutely would have blown the gig off.

Homeboy wasn't the night's only performer. Drummond's on Belmont Street regularly hosts live music, and that night featured four performers. First up was Homeboy, most of whose set I was able to witness for myself. Second was some guy who was entirely forgettable. The third performer was a guy from Peterhead who reminded me of a guy I went to high school with, and whom performed attrocious renditions of Bob Marley's No Woman, No Cry and All Star by Smash Mouth, but who had great stage presence. The closing act was a lovely young lady, pictured, who claimed to know only three chords, and who performed a couple of songs that I knew, but which I don't remember anymore.

Of course, for my money, Homeboy was the best performer. I could have done without the Bob Dylan song he elected to perform - he did not sing Lay Lady Lay, which GBU-16 swore would have gotten him the attention of all of Aberdeen's fit lassies. Homeboy's just a touch awkward, but - and I still can't believe I'm saying this - it actually worked for him. He also played a pretty decent mix of folk songs, and his own material. This included a song called Twenty-Four Virginians, about Operation Neptune Spear, and another song that was introduced thusly: "My last song is called Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore. It's about a girl named Annie, who doesn't live here anymore. You know, one of those 'hidden meaning' songs." Ohhhhhhh, Homeboy. At any rate, we posed for a quick snapshot before parting ways for the evening. It was a great experience that I hope to repeat at least once more before I leave Scotland.