Wil, he breaks strings…

I decided to go see Wil after hearing from more than a few people (one
person I didn’t even know) that Wil was an amazing act live. I had listened
to his cd a few times which I got from someone at work but from what I heard
the cd was nothing compared to what he did live…

Anyway my buddy Charles had just moved to town and was staying with me a few
days so on his second day here I dragged him to the show which was last
Saturday night. It was at the Railway club, which I had never been to. We
arrived at the club at 9:30, which I thought was when they opened the doors,
but it turns out that I was off by an hour. We got inside to find a very
skinny, tiny club that was pretty packed. Since Wil wasn’t going to take the
stage till later we head to the back of the bar where there was a lounge
area where we could talk and have a little more space.

A little after 11 the band that was on before Wil ended. So Charles and me
head to the stage, or to the back of the crowd in front of the stage. The
place was very packed, and since we were standing close to the bar and the
corridor to the back lounge we were constantly being walked into and
squeezed through. We waited as Wil got on the stage and started getting his
mics and equipment sounding right. He seemed to be having some issues with
the way the mics were sounding (he had two mics, one normal and one that had
some strange distortion device on it). He continued to try and get things
sounding right with the sound guy. All the while Charles and me were being
pressed up against a group at a table. A guy at the table complemented me on
my jacket, which got us to talking. The guys name was Ryan McMahon and he
was a musician as well. He had opened for Wil a while back. He asked if I
had seen Wil before, I told him no. He told me to be prepared for something
amazing.

At around 11:30 Wil and his drummer took the stage, if you’re wondering
where the rest of the band was, that is the rest of the band. Wil had about
5 acoustic guitars on the stage all with strings shooting out from the
tuners as if he was too lazy to string them properly. He started the show by
doing an instrumental. It is incredible how fast the guy can strum and how
good he can make it sound. After doing his opening Ryan looked at me and
said “Now do you understand my praise?”

I fully did, I was flat out amazed at his guitar skills, I don’t think I
have ever seen something like that before, closest thing probably being
Stone strumming like a nut on an acoustic during Crazy Mary, yet even that
didn’t compare. After the first song the drummer started to play as well.
Wil did a few slower songs that I could recognize from his albums.
Throughout the songs though he would throw in a solo or go hard on the
guitar.

After a few more songs Ryan and his crew took off and gave Charles and Me
their seats. It was nice to sit down however it only made things harder to
see as the people who I was looking over where now fully in my way.
Regardless I still sat as I was tired, and during the more intense moments
would stand and look over the people.

As the show continued he started to get a little wilder on his guitar (as
wild as one can get on an acoustic guitar). When he gets going you can’t
even see his hand that is strumming. Probably the reason he broke his
strings on his guitars more than once. Anyway not much more I can say other
than that he is someone you should see given the chance. He puts on one good
show. If I had any complaints they would mainly be with the crowdedness of
the club and the massive the stupid people in front of me who would keep
moving their heads in my way. One small complaint about his music is that he
overuses the echo effect in his mic, but not a big deal.

Well next time Wil is in town I will go again in a heartbeat, and this time
show up on time so I can get a better view. I realized now why his website
address: www.ibreakstrings.com