There was something a little different going on at the west end of the San Luis Obispo Farmers’ Market last Thursday night. The local band Still Time, formed by Cal Poly and Cuesta College students, got people singing, dancing and jumping at the normally sedate market end.
Under most circumstances, a slow trickle of customers strolls up the Nipomo Street end of the market, forming lines in front of any of the three vendors selling baby-back ribs, but there isn’t much foot traffic.
To remedy the situation, the Downtown Association, which runs the market, started a quarterly concert series using the large mobile stage from the successful Concerts in the Plaza. The events, called Main Stage, have featured local bands paired with local business sponsors.
This time it was a good match, with Still Time brought out by One Way Board Shop; the easygoing, no-worries surfer spirit of fun and adventure was apparent in the performance of the five-member band.
Starting out with a slow harmonica and drum duet to draw the reluctant crowd into the empty section of street, the smooth vocals of lead singer Dan Curico quickly got the passersby to stop and listen for a moment.
By the second song in the set, Curico’s passionate onstage persona, pacing and stomping to an electronic reverb in the song “Power of Now,” engaged the audience and set a tone for the evening of rapid mode switches between energetic, even emotional, vocals and long instrumental riffs that featured the talent of all the band members.
From the bass rhythms of Paul Smith-Stewart there was a particular driving force heavily featured in “a song about dead rock stars.”
The slower song “American Dreams” featured the harmonica and acoustic guitar, giving a spectacular country rock feeling that was distinct from the band’s other offerings.
Before moving on to the after-dark portion of the evening in which moody backlighting drove home the reggae-influenced beats, the band played “Bigger Better Things,” a song they described as being,”about skipping a lot of classes.” It featured themes of college life and the tendency of kids from small towns to canonize the image of their hometown as never changing after they leave.
Regardless of where they’ve come from, the band said they now consider San Luis Obispo home and are grateful to be back after a six-week tour.
While not all audience members at Thursday’s performance may have noticed a difference, some of those who had followed the band since its 2005 formation said they are better now than ever before.
In their time on tour, they seem to have mastered the art of live performance and audience involvement, at different points getting a conga line started, inviting small children to dance on stage with them and leading sing-along segments.
Whether singing “High Tide” with exuberant energy or “Nine to Five” with drummer Jon Vucinich’s almost Celtic transition riff, the band more than met the evening’s goal of livening up the outskirts of the market with a fun event for all ages.
Still Time will be playing again in San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly’s WOW Block Party on Sept. 19 and again at Downtown Brewing Co. on Sept. 26 and 27.