CocoMontoya.com

[EastCoastAl]

Although the rain was pouring down outside and gale force winds were blowing; the real storm came from the stage. I've been playing guitar a couple of years longer than Coco but the man took me to school, walked me to church and left me dancing in a corner with my wife.
The four piece band was open and intouch with each other, falling into tight riffs and kicking together like a mule on fire. These guys ain't posers or wanna be's, it's the real thing that will give you a reference point for your soul.
Coco has definity "picked it up and taken it down the road a piece".
Thanks Coco for the laughs tears and a rowde good time.
East Coast Al

[bluesfan]

I'm glad for you that Montoya was in the mood to perform at Chan's. The show he did at Moondog's last weekend stunk the place up. He refused to do a sound check before the show and spent the entire show whining about how he couldn't hear himself on the monitors. He played very poorly, rushed through his songs as fast as he could & headed back to his motel. When a girl asked for his autograph after the show, he snarled "Get off my stage!" The place was packed with dyed-in-the-wool fans who had come to see a great show. We felt cheated and betrayed. The sad thing is I've seen Montoya do great shows. He did a great show last May at Moondog's (although the club owner told me that even then he was a jerk to deal with). We have 3 or 4 national acts a month at Moondog's. Most are very nice to deal with. A few have attitude problems, but they leave their attitudes behind when they take the stage. Until last weekend, I would have put Montoya in that category. Not anymore.

[BluesLover]

I admit that it seems a poor thing to do, but we could give him the benefit of the doubt - we don't know what's going on in his life.

"I have good days, and bad days..."

[bluesfan]

Sorry, BluesLover, but I can't accept that. If Montoya's having personal problems he has my sympathy, but why punish an audience of fans? If I go to a garage mechanic to have my brakes replaced (like I did yesterday), I expect him to do a competent job whether he's having personal problems or not. If Montoya can't leave his attitude offstage, he has no business charging people money to see him. I'll grant you he's done hundreds of great shows -- I've seen a few myself -- but a true professional does a professional job EVERY time.

[FatAl and the Flatulators]

You go Bluesfan. I couldn't agree more with you. We work hard and pay good money to see Blues acts and can only feel cheated when the performance is sub par. If my performance is subpar at work I get the axe. Perhaps we should take Coco's axe from him and see if he can function.

[BlackGuitar]

Jeezus Cryst, Ain't you people from the Pits of Burghs tierd of bitchin' and moan'n?!? Sounds like ya'all could blow CoCo off the bitching stage.
We got a great performence at Chan's sorry you didn't.
We also get several big name acts a month here (check out Chan's web site) so it ain't like this is the first blues band we've heard. Oh!!! By the way, ain't you Boo Hoo, we spent all of our money and got burnt, Pitsburgh bitches smart eough to start your own thread? Notice the topic
-----CHAN"S 10/27/03!!!!-----

[bluesfan]

BlackGuitar, I'm not in competition with you. If you folks heard a good show last week, believe me, I'm glad for you. My point is that a performer, if he's going to charge big $$ for his show, should be prepared to do a good show & conduct himself in a professional manner every time he gets on stage -- not just when he's in the mood.

[BluesLover]

I guess what bothers me is that 99% of the time isn't enough - you have to realize that no one's perfect.

However, I'm NOT trying to excuse what he did - I agree wholeheartedly that he DIDN'T do the right thing, but even "long-time" fans are hugely up in arms.

Coco was NOT in the right - but to err is human (and he's only human!), but to forgive divine.

[Chuck Kirkpatrick]

I have known, played with, and recorded with Coco Montoya since 1975. After reading some of the mail here I feel compelled to speak in his defense. No "Fat Al", Coco would not do very well without his axe....or his voice. Any touring performer knows the horror of having to use a bad monitor system and the damage one can do to one's voice in that situation. I too have toured the country, playing many clubs like the ones Coco plays, and I can tell you firsthand, you are at the mercy of the club's sound system. And if it ain't workin' right, you're fucked. How many of you folks out there would like to go to work and find your computer at your desk not working....your phone not working...your tools broken....and then have your employer tell you "Don't make any excuses to me for not doing your job 100%". You can't imagine what its like to drive 8 -10 hours a day to get to the gig, miss dinner just to make sound check, then get up on stage with every intention of playing and singing your guts out, only to have the sound system go south. Coco Montoya is human. He has made mistakes. He has fucked up just like all the rest of us have at one time or another. He had a bad night the other night. He feels rotten about it and he's sorry.

[diggnblues]

Amen Chuck! I wasn't at Moondogs but I certainly know what it's like when a club is dickin up your sound. Especially your monitor mix. if you can't hear yourself singing you wind up straining your vocal chords and screwing you voice up for the next 5 shows. No wonder he was pissed. I'd be pissed too. It's totally obvious to anyone who loves his music to see that he lives what he plays and someone like that can't go out into a crowd after a tough show with a smile and pretending that everything is cool. Coco is no poser. He's Blues through and through. I've never been as fortunate as Chucky here but I have seen Coco perform on many , many occasions. Some shows were good, most were awesome but one thing's for sure when you catch him on a good night you are in for one hell of a treat. If the Moondogs experience has totally turned you off to Coco's music too bad for you. You're the one who's gonna miss out. That'll be one less jughead I have to wait get an autograph before I can talk to him about music at the next show!
So go ahead and whine about your fifteen bucks. Small price to pay to see a master, pissed or not.

[bluesfan]

Guys, you're missing the point. Montoya was offered the oppurtunity to do a sound check before the show. He refused. If the sound was poor, he has no one to blame but himself. Savoy Brown played the next night on the same system with the same sound engineer. They sounded GREAT. That's because they did a sound check before the show. Look, I know most people logging on to this site are Montoya fans who naturally aren't happy to read negative things about him, but I was there. I'm not trying to be rude, or be a downer, I'm just telling you like it was.

[diggnblues]

Bluesfan....no point is being missed. you guys are upset that you didn't get the show you felt you deserved. So you're slammin Coco for his "unprofessionalism" and he has no one to blame but himself....I got news for ya...THE SOUND TECH WAS LATE! If Coco refused to do a soundcheck it was only because he, as well as his band, deserve some food, a shower and MAYBE a 5 minute rest before hitting the stage after driving for god knows how long to entertain all of you who "expect" a professional show which there was no time for due to the "unprofessionalism" of moondogs staff. Then to get onstage to a crappy mix and try to do a show to HIS standard, maybe lose his vioce in the process. The frustration can be unbareable. I have seen Coco perform a hundred times and he has always provided one of the BEST show's I've ever seen. If you guys are gonna slam him for being unprofessional you need to look to the others (Moondogs staff) to blame also for not getting your "money's worth".

[bluesfan]

diggnblues,
I understand now the reason for our disagreement. We have been discussing two different shows. I have been discussing the show that acutally took place Oct. 24 in Pittsburgh, while you have been discussing a show that took place in your imagination. This gives you a distinct advantage in argument, as, not having attended the show (viz. your 30 Oct. posting "I wasn't at Moondog's"), you are at liberty to invent any reasons you can think of for Montoya's poor performance on and off stage, blaming it on the club, the sound system, the sound engineer, the audience, the city of Pittsburgh, the CIA, the Miliatary-Industrial Complex, or the Bavarian Illuminati. I, on the other hand, who had the misfortune to sit through the show, know that the sound man was on time, the system working perfectly, the audience (before the show) enthusiastic & receptive and that the only person unprepared was Coco Montoya.

[Chuck Kirkpatrick]

Bluesfan, were you up on stage at Coco's show or out in the audience? You stated that "the sound system was perfect". Was that from where you were sitting in the audience? A sound system consists of two main components: the MAINS (the big speakers the audience hears) and the MONITORS (the speakers the performers hear on stage. Ideally, these are TWO SEPARATE SYSTEMS and are run by TWO different engineers. Unfortunately, most of these dumpy little clubs throw together whatever junk they can, call it a sound system, and then hire one guy to try to make sense of it all. A "mains" engineer has way too much to do to try to mix monitors for the performers while balancing the house system. But in these clubs, it is usually one engineer who has to also mix the monitors (which he can't even hear from where he sits in the house). Sound checks are usually conducted with the house empty. When the house fills up, the sound totally changes. Every frikkin' sound check I ever had to do in some small club was a huge waste of time and usually caused me to miss dinner. We'd come back to do the show, and the sound was NOTHING like it was when we checked it an hour ago. Again, I am not condoning Coco's behavior. But too many of you 'blues fans' forget that blues musicians are people too. They have "Good Days and Bad Days". Funny....a pop/rock star can behave like a total asshole in public, say all kinds of shit to an audience, and he or she gets in the papers generates even more interest while they ride from gig to gig in jets and limos. I'd like to see any of you 'blues fans' spend one week out on the road doing what Coco does 40 weeks a year.

[diggnblues]

Bluesfan
You're absolutely right and I apologize. I tend to imagine certain things when I hear of someone like Coco being torn up by people like you. I begin to imagine a music scene where people attend shows for the music. Not to get their milkmoney's worth or be a goddam critic. I imagine a music scene where people have an idea of what a musician like Coco has to go through by living life on the road and what it takes to entertain people like you. I imagine it's full of people who truly understand that "Check your ego at the door" is for ALL who enter. Not just the artist. I imagine it's free from posers, wannabe's and fair weather fans such as yourself. So I'll go back to dreaming and you can go back to posing...nite nite