Does live music at Logan baggage claim actually make us feel better about the wait? Our critic went to find out.

Boston Globe

4 days ago

'I wrote this song on my way here,' the man joked and launched into a reggae beat, cheerfully belting out one of the most famous choruses in the English language.
'Don't worry/about a thing/'Cause every little thing/gonna be alright...'
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You may have heard about this -- live music at two Logan baggage claim areas this summer. It's Massport's idea to 'reduce travel stress,' according to an official announcement.
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The experimental program, which runs through August, when officials will decide whether to make it an ongoing thing, has already been met with skeptical grumbles, including from The Globe's
Full disclosure: This isn't my usual beat. I usually review classical music, where performances are generally staged in quieter venues with refined acoustics – hardly the case here. But I also play in two bands, I've busked with my accordion, and I do travel from time to time. I appreciate both a good bar act and the hell that can be a bad day of travel. And I wondered if those experiences might actually mesh.
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On this muggy July evening at Terminal C, I have to say that it kind of worked. The musician, a guitarist named Mike Weidenfeller, strummed his way through mild uptempo covers; familiar songs seemingly meant to soothe. And he easily worked the frazzled crowd.
'Are you from Boston?' he asked a group of women passing before him with large rolling suitcases.
'Yes,' one of them replied.
'Welcome back,' he said. And then, when they said they had just come from Aruba: 'In that case, I'll say I'm sorry!'
Weidenfeller jammed his way through another reggae standard, Beres Hammond's 'I Feel Good,' and a woman skipped across the terminal, her henna-red hair flying. 'It's a party now,' he said with a smile.
Then something else caught his eye: 'Oh, that's a nice reunion over there.'
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A goldendoodle had spotted his 'granddad' sitting on a bench, and gone into a tail-wagging frenzy. As Weidenfeller strummed the Beatles' 'The Long and Winding Road,' the dog leaped into the man's lap and licked his face.
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It was a Kodak moment, and for the people I talked to, at least, the music added a friendly feel and helped to uncoil a little tension. 'It kind of adds a nice charm now that we're all stuck here waiting on our luggage,' said Jennifer Stacey,
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who was returning to her southern New Hampshire home after a vacation in Aruba. 'I hope it takes off.'
Still, I have to wonder if the same would be true in truly trying travel circumstances – like the time I was stranded overnight in New York's John F. Kennedy Airport terminal after being forced to gate-check my carry-on between Los Angeles and Boston. The amenities included nonfunctional power outlets and arctic-blast air conditioning in rainy October. Over the PA, a soft-pop playlist including Paula Cole's 'I Don't Want to Wait,' Daniel Powter's 'Bad Day,' and Fergie's 'Big Girls Don't Cry' mocked me as I roamed the long concourse, unable to sleep through the sensory barrage. Sometimes big girls
do
cry. If I'd heard '
Don't worry/about a thing…'
the next morning when my suitcase failed to appear on the Logan baggage carousel, I probably would have spontaneously combusted.
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For musicians, playing Logan is a unique experience. The logistics of booking and scheduling performers this summer are being handled through Gigs4U, a Seattle-based agency that already books musicians at SeaTac International
And Fall River-based singer-songwriter Brandon Furtado, 29, who played on the pilot program's launch day, said his set went well. 'I'm always trying to find new places to play, so that was a cool experience for me,' he
Furtado is accustomed to playing in neighborhood hangouts, and at baggage claim, he found that 'people are kind of trying to get their stuff and go. Maybe you don't get as much engagement, so you have to work a little harder to acknowledge people and get their attention.'
From a financial perspective, it mattered less whether people stopped to listen; the Live at Logan musicians cannot collect tips, but they receive $200 for each performance, with parking covered.
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The only tough part was playing to a largely-vacant room much of the time, Furtado said. 'There was one group of people that arrived, and it was kind of empty afterwards.'
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One important point: not everyone in this captive audience is necessarily a traveler. As Weidenfeller played on that recent night, Security guard Pax Brown Johnson,
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of Milton, sat on a bench as she waited for her overnight shift to begin, enthusiastically greeting her co-workers as they passed by and clapping after every song Weidenfeller played. The music helped her feel more relaxed, she said, even when 'you feel so discouraged.'
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She hoped they'd bring the music to the departure level, so more people might appreciate it. Maybe she'd even be able to hear it from her station at the secure area's exit door. She'd like that, she said.
In the meantime, she knew what she wanted to hear. 'Play 'Don't Worry About a Thing!'' she urged Weidenfeller.
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An hour had passed since he last played 'Three Little Birds.' No one who had heard it earlier was still around. He played it.
A.Z. Madonna can be reached at