Dave Watts dares Eugene music lovers to have the time of their lives, even if they’ve never felt this way before.
Watt, founder of the six-piece ensemble The Motet, said he and his bandmates dig reactions from the crowd, and they’re all about having fun. The Motet’s concert Friday night at WOW Hall is a chance for fans to be as rowdy as possible. The more energy they have, the better.
“We’re not the kind of group that thrives off our own music — we thrive off the audience,” Watts said.
The Motet show promises traditional Afro-Cuban jazz funk and Brazilian grooves, plus the opportunity for the audience members to express themselves and let it all out on the dance floor. Watts said he hopes the audience is pumped up for the show because the band will be recording live tracks to put on their upcoming live CD release.
The concert, which begins at 8:30 p.m. at WOW Hall, located at 291 W. 8th Ave., and is open to people of all ages. Doors open at 8 p.m. Reed Davaz, box office manager and WOW Hall volunteer, said the venue has 400 tickets available for the concert, half of which are on sale in advance.
Davaz said she’s heard The Motet before and enjoys its diversity and unique range of sounds. They sing in at least five different languages, and Watts said some of their music includes Nigerian traditional lyrics praising African deities. This ethnic addition to their music comes from their two trips to Cuba and six months that lead vocalist Jans Ingber spent traveling and studying music in Africa.
Davaz also said the opening Latin dance band, Son Melao, will add their salsa style to start off the night.
“There are not too many opportunities to hear Latin music in concert — especially for the under 21 crowd,” said Davaz, a University senior studying Spanish.
Son Melao features a variety of musicians on instruments ranging from the bongos, congas and timbales to the saxophone, trumpet and flute.
Bob Fennessy, publicist for WOW Hall, said The Motet performed with Son Melao at the hall in the fall, and has a large local following.
“They’re a jam band that’s different from most bands that fall into that category,” Fennessy said.
The group consists of Watts (drum kit), Scott Messersmith (percussion), Ingber (lead vocals, percussion), Mike Tiernan (guitar), Greg Raymond (organ, Fender Rhodes, piano) and newcomer Paul McDaniel (bass).
One of the songs Watts said they’ll be performing Friday night is called “War is coming,” and was written by the band War in the 1970s. But Watts said the issues the lyrics address regarding Vietnam are still pertinent to today’s international relations.
Eugene is Ingber’s hometown, and his local roots will draw the local crowd. The Eugene native spent his high school days playing in two bands, The Boogie Patrol Express and The Benjamins. Ingber also still has a West African drum and dance base of friends and family in town.
Ingber’s father, Howard, lives in Eugene, and aside from being a pro-active fan who has been publicizing their performance, he’ll host the group at his home while they are here.
Watts started The Motet on Halloween 1998, in Boulder, Colo. And when they tour, Watts said the band faces the “same challenges as being married.”
“We’re like a family,” he said. “We wake up together and go to sleep together.”
They have been on the road for one week of their three-week tour, hitting Whitefish, Mont., Idaho and then Seattle.
“We were in Whitefish tearing it up snowboarding in the mountains and singing at night,” Watts said. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”
After a stop in Eugene, they’ll head to California. Watts said because they know each other so well it has improved the quality of the music they are able to produce.
“We’re not like *NSYNC,” he said. “We don’t each have our own tour bus.”
Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets are available at CD World, Face the Music, House of Records, Taco Loco, WOW Hall and the EMU Ticket Office.