Sometimes you want to hear the music that instantly puts a smile on your face. That’s the idea of local band Vintage Point, who aren’t searching for the obscure gems. They’re looking for the songs that are vintage.
“Everybody has something in their own time period, songs that are instantly recognizable and memorable for everybody,” says co-lead singer Steve Jonsson. “That’s the whole concept of ‘vintage,’ the idea that a three-minute song can have a hook that everybody loves.”
The group, which formed a couple years ago, understands that these sort of culturally satisfying songs are specifically tied to people’s ages and the time period they grew up in, which is why they include material ranging from Etta James to present-day pop songs in their set—though you will tend to see a lot of the material coming from the important decades in Johnson’s musical life.
“My heart is kind of in the ’60s and ’80s, because of the music I grew up playing and loving, and the bands I was in,” Jonsson says. “The whole concept of something being vintage, it doesn’t necessarily dictate something that is old, but something that is valuable and memorable.”
Other members of the band are different ages, so they bring their own personal favorite songs to the set, and Jonsson says that he listens to the radio all the time and falls in love with music from all eras.
He wants other people, when they come out to see them, to just bask in the pleasure of good music that takes you away for at least a moment.
“We’re doing things that are crowd pleasers, like Loverboy songs,” Johnson says. “‘Working for the Weekend,’ that’s a song that everyone appreciates and understands, especially in a club on the weekend.”
INFO: 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, Crow’s Nest, 2218 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz. $6. 476-4560.
