Bar Pink Goes Gaga for Gorbel

Author

By Mary Leary

Publish Date

Feb. 14, 2011

You'd think Cupid had put the kibosh on former Texas Is the Reason bassist Garret Klahn's new project. Dean, Bar Pink's dedicated sound jockey, fords the challenge of balancing Klahn's acoustic with John Herguth's electric axe and keys. But within a line or two of "Some Weary Valentine," Klahn recoils from his microphone, sputtering, "Perfect, my guitar's died!" Dean gets a hand for enabling Atlantic/Pacific to complete a hypnotic set highlighted by Herguth's dusky guitar washes.

Whether Valentine's Day is being celebrated early or 50 women are just gaga for Jarrod Gorbel, love joins beer and booze fumes: it's in the air. Fans who've answered Gorbel's invitation to vote on which tunes he'll include from his old band, the Honorary Title, form a giddy ring around the stage before he and Andrea Babinski (violin, backing vocals) take their places. As 14 romantic compositions are meticulously unfurled, women self-consciously brush hair from their faces as they pass the stage. Guys who're just here to party have that look of bemusement that typically accompanies the presence of another guy who's garnering all the female attention. Boyfriends are singing along with girlfriends who know Gorbel's stuff by heart.

The girl next to me says she's traveled to 20 of Gorbel's shows. When he delivers her request ("Undone," from a scarce version of Honorary Title's Scream and Light Up the Sky), she blushes, "I'm all red and hot now." A 40-something couple comes up and slow dances during "Impressions." Gorbel's so charismatic, I'm nearly as enthralled as the kids with fledgling driver's licenses — it's embarrassing.