There are few music venues in Portland as intimate as the KINK.FM Live Performance Lounge. Nestled in the center of a suburban looking office building, less than 200 yards from the I-405 and in the heart of downtown, it’s a dimly lit conference room turned music cave where wonderful things occur on a practically daily basis. The first half of February is no different. M. Ward, Fiction Family, Tyrone Wells, Lisa Hannigan, Ben Taylor and Todd Snider will spend the lunch hour with about 50 or 60 lucky listeners and staff members; playing a few songs, telling a few stories, signing autographs.

To long time listeners, and you know who you are, it is the ‘Golden Ticket’, a chance to share in the magic. You are THIS close to the performer, making a real connection and hearing a one of a kind performance. Acoustic, mostly, and delivered without the din of background noises that will no doubt compete for your aural attention later that night at whatever venue you’ll wind up going to see them at. Plus, the nice Performance Lounge sponsors throw in an energy drink to enjoy, which comes in handy to stave off the stomach rumblings of 50 to 60 people who have delayed lunch to see the show.

Two days ago, the Golden Ticket arrived via e-mail. “You’ve made the cut” it began. I was in. Tyrone Wells, who was appearing Thursday night at the Aladdin Theater, would be the special guest. I caught him the last time he came to town and remember being taken by his rapport with the audience. He interacted with the fans, told engaging stories, both as a set up to as well as the main thrust of his songs. I was really looking forward to it.

READ ON for more about A.J.’s experience at KINK-FM…

I had read that Wells was going to have a busy day. An appearance on a local morning news/talk show early, KINK.FM Live Performance Lounge at mid day, a guest DJ spot on another radio station for drive time and then the full concert at the Aladdin after dinner. One might call that a full plate.

We settled in around noon in the dimly lit LPL. Zero carb energy drink in hand, I took a front row seat, not quite being quick enough to snag a spot on one of the two cozy couches. Tyrone Wells and his band strode out from the green room to the front of the room. With a quick intro from KINK’s Sean Martin, they were on. He started with the first song of his that caught my attention a few years ago, What Are We Fighting For. This anthemic shout out took on an entire new life in the intimate room and acoustic production.

He followed a short Q&A with the vocally stunning Sea Breeze, from 2006’s Hold On. Kudos must go to Michael Kapulos on the other acoustic guitar on this tune. Sweet melodic timbre jumped from his fingers during the brief solo.

Wells told a story of his days at UCLA, bailing out James Taylor on stage when he was the only one in a crowded auditorium who understood the international sign for capo. As I said, he is an engaging performer. Now here’s where the magic comes in.

To preface his latest single, More from his new album Remain, Tyrone Wells told another story. He told us about how, after working on getting an album out, the process takes over. So much so that, even though he plays the songs night after night, in town after town, he isn’t listening to it. He has written some pretty powerful lyrics, but wasn’t hearing them. Until a fan opened up to him one day. She said she had heard this new song, More at a very precarious time in her life. She had told him that she was at her breaking point; she had decided to end her life. That was until she had heard the song. As she listened to it, she regained hope enough to change plans. The song spoke directly to her, bringing her around, literally saving her life.

While telling this tale, Wells was visibly choked up, tears evading his best efforts to blink them away and trickled off his cheek. It made the beginning of the song difficult for him to sing, being that emotionally tied up in the power and vulnerability that his creation held for him.

For me, it was the magic moment, when the music transcends the mathematical into the spiritual. The passion that Wells sang that song with was palpable, thick and fore bearing. I not only heard this tune, I felt it. It got inside me and, for that three and a half minutes, took me to another place. The Golden Ticket had paid off again.

Rock on through the zero carb energy drink induced fog.
A.J. Crandall

A.J. Crandall

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