I, like pretty much everyone, have a rather condescending view of the accordian. You might know the instrument better by some of its other names: button box, squeeze box, Satan's mating call, or concertina. I considered it a musical joke, like John Mayer. I attended two separate concerts of distinctly different styles that have changed my attitude. It was revolutionary; like that time at recess in 1st grade when Katie, while spitefully saying, "Tag," pushed Matt completely down in response to his saying she couldn't play because she was a girl, but it turned out that girls could do some stuff too.
The reason for this, I'm pretty sure, is that the most well known music to emphasize the accordian is polka, which I'm pretty sure is retribution that Polish Immigrants are dishing out on us for all the Polack jokes. This form of music is not the one that accordian opinions should be based on. The two concerts I saw were Gaelic Storm and Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience. As is evident from their names, Gaelic Storm was an Irish folk/rock band and Terrance Simien led a zydeco band. Irish folk music features the accordian to a moderate extent and the accordian in zydeco is like stupid in a Deal or No Deal audience -- it's not really zydeco without it.
Other Irish bands also use the accordian. Flogging Molly and The Pogues also use it, and better than any Central European ever. Really, if the only guitar you ever heard was pop punk, you might think, "What's the big deal? Anybody can do that." But if you hear blues or jazz or classical, you'll say, "Ah. This thing takes serious talent." It's kind of like that same idea with the accordian. Except instead of difficulty between polka and Irish or zydeco, it's crappiness.
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