My first concert of the year! I couldn't have asked for anything better: an old favorite at a familiar venue with my best friend by my side. I first saw The Iguanas open for Jimmy Buffett in 1992 at the tender age of eleven. That was the concert where I decided I wanted to be a concert photographer, so photographing the guys 22 years later, was a big deal for me. When I was younger, I played trumpet and I had a bad case of nerves before each big performance. Twelve year old Audra wrote The Iguanas a letter seeking advice, and one of the saxaphonists, Derek, replied. It was incredibly cool of him and to this day, I still have that letter tucked away. V and I saw The Iguanas at Cafe 9 in 2001, which was a memorable concert in itself. It was the first show I attended there, even though I wasn't shooting. We danced and had a great time and even got the band to dedicate a song to "the ladies in the back". We cheered our heads off.
The lineup of the band has been different each time I've seen them play. They are down to a four piece with Joe Cabral on tenor saxaphone and guitarist Rod Hodges sharing vocal duties. Rene Coman on bass and Doug Garrison on drums bring up the rhythm section. While the smaller line up does effect the sound of the band live, saxaphone harmonies were sorely missed on a few tracks, The Iguanas are still fantastic live. The standout tracks of the night for me were Poncho, Boom Boom Boom, Benny's Cadillac and My Girlfriend is a Waitress. The band has fun on stage and are tight from all the years of playing together. Garrison keeps an effortless beat that had the majority of Cafe 9 dancing throughout the night. Cabral could wail out solos all night. Hodges has such a soothing voice and plays a mean guitar. Coman bounces around the stage, slapping out the bass while watching his band mates for the changes. It was such a fun atmosphere with respective fans having a great time, it really recharged me.
Thanks to Paul from Cafe 9 for hooking me up at this concert and thanks to The Iguanas for putting out such great music for so many years. You've been a huge inspiration to me and getting a chance to photograph you was an absolute blast.
As always, I'll leave you with a shoe shot, 22 years in the making.
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