Back in the early 1990s MTV Unplugged was a phenomenon. The show officially launched in the waning months of 1989, but really exploded during the following several years while I was in college at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. The concept was pretty simple. Take popular rock bands, have them perform “acoustic”, or more accurately “stripped down”, versions of their music in front of an intimate audience in a studio in New York City. Then release the concerts as episodes, played on MTV. Some of those concerts would become album releases as well, but I was never really sure what the litmus test was for which shows were worthy of an album release.
For a kid growing up in the hard rock 1980s, MTV Unplugged, along with a few hit ballads like “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi and “Patience” by Guns N Roses, made it cool to play an acoustic guitar. Throughout the 1990s (and arguably beyond), “Unplugged” became a standard term that meant something along the lines of, “we’re usually an electric rock band, but we’re going to play a show with acoustic instruments and more sparse arrangements than usual, and we’ll probably sit down while performing”.
My new-ish band JASON will be taking our crack at an unplugged set on Saturday, February 21 at our newly renamed sixth-floor clubhouse, now called Rowan House at The Candy Factory (TCF Coworking + Social Club). We’re looking forward to an intimate, listening room show featuring a set by our friends Chris and Gabriel from Sirens and Sunsets.
This is an invitation-only show. Feel free to drop me an email at the address at the top of this page if you’d like to attend.