5:15am | You may have heard that the Long Beach Playhouse has become the hot new venue for art exhibitions. You may have heard, too, that they continue to present fun and informative lectures by Gregorio Luke. It was news to me, however, that they’re also the hot new spot for rock shows.
The Academy of Chess and Checkers is performing there this Saturday evening. Doors open at 8 PM, and music starts at 8:30. Tickets are $10 at the door.
Colin Best, the mastermind behind the band, found the Long Beach Playhouse to be an ideal venue for a variety of reasons.
Colin: I wanted to play at a venue where I could set the pricing on admission and drinks, and play as long as we want. I was tired of bringing my fans out to clubs that were not providing a good experience. Being sandwiched between teenage punk bands and hair metal relics just wasn’t that fun for my band or my audience. At the Long Beach Playhouse they let us do what we want.
Sander: How did you get your start as a singer/songwriter?
Colin: I’ve always been a huge reader and music fan. I started writing poetry when I was 14 or so. A friend of mine in High School played guitar, and we started writing songs together. We released our first album our senior year of high school.
Sander: When was that?
Colin: 1995, when the Coach House was still the only game in town, before the House of Blues and all that. It was fun being a High School kid and playing where Jane’s Addiction and Phish had played.
Sander: The Coach House is a tough room. They really demand that you bring people in. Was that difficult?
Colin: We got lucky and packed the place. We pretty much had a full house. The headliner freaked out because our people started leaving after our set. It was funny because this little High School band had outdrawn the professional musicians. Also, we pretended we were 21 and got to drink beer, which was nice. We kept the band going through our first year of college, but then the geographical distance became too much to overcome.
Sander: How did your current band come together?
Colin: I was playing solo acoustic and really wanted to get a full band going again. I missed playing with other people. I met Dave, my drummer through a fellow musician, Mick, my bassist through Dave, and James, our second guitarist has actually been the assistant or lead engineer on my last five albums. I’m lucky in that I’ve been working with the same people for the last 5 years or so.
Sander: Here’s a question that nobody likes: If you’re the main creative force in the group, why not just go by Colin Best?
Colin: I feel like so much of the art that comes out nowadays stresses biography over content. The artist should be interesting because his art is interesting, not the other way around. Also, I’d like the focus to be on the music. It’s a hell of a lot more intriguing than I am.
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For more information about the band, visit AcademyofChessandCheckers.com.
To learn more about the Playhouse, visit LBPlayhouse.org.