From cool blues to face-melting metal

Thursday evening I started my weekend out in the usual fashion – Johnny O’s Jam session at The Muddy Waters. We saw some folks back from last week – and from what they told me, they’re loving Muddy’s and loving Johnny O, so they’ll be back again. It’s good to see the crowds growing on Thursday nights. And the more musicians, the more chances of finding some really cool new mixes.

Is that Grace singing White Rabbit?

Friday night, Lee Blackmon was doing his thing at Cool Beanz. Cool Beanz is technically a coffee shop, and children are allowed. It’s really pretty neat that Lee takes the time to let some of the kids come up and sing – adjusts the microphone for the kids and all. What a great way to encourage kids to be involved with music.

Lee Caters to all ages at Cool Beanz

Lee’s show at Cool Beanz was a dinnertime show, so I was out of there at 9 PM.  I headed over to Rascals for a Wicked Nature show, the last one for drummer Vid James. Vid is moving on to a different project, and Wicked Nature already has a new drummer in the works.

Vid James might not have been wth Wicked Nature long, but he rocked out!

Saturday night I made the long drive to East Moline to get some photos for Evolution. Evolution is a re-formed band, with Dirty Ray, Chris Brunberg, Donovan Newland, and Mike DePaul. If you like face-melting, ear-shredding rock – yeah… this is your band. I had to check my camera lens to make sure it hadn’t melted, and (though I love loud hard rock music) was wishing I had my ear plugs. I swear my ears were bleeding 5 minutes after I got there. Of course, I was close to the PA speakers in order to get some good shots - and not all the songs were face-melters. I was happy with what I heard, and got a few good shots too.

Dirty Ray and Donovan provide double guitar trouble for Evolution

As I am writing this Thursday night – I’m not at Muddy’s for Johnny O Jam. Sorry John, but that conference (and the drive home) took all the wind out of my sails today.

Friday night is a busy night – ThePub is kicking off the summer Friday Night Bike Night with Lynn Allen. Serious Business, winner of the first round of Iowa Blues Challenge is playing at The Muddy Waters. Danika Holmes has brought her full band back to Hero’s Pub in Davenport. (As I’ve noted before, this is a rare occasion – so if you have a chance stop in. You won’t regret it.) And you can find Justin Morrissey and friends at the 11^th Street Precinct.

Saturday is Cinco de Mayo! I can almost guarantee there are too many parties to list – but here’s a handful I know about for sure: The Harris Collection and Jim the Mule are playing the Rudy’s party in the Village of East Davenport; Funktastic Five and North of 40 will be part of the Ganzo’s Fiesta; Rozz Tox is having a celebration, but I’m not sure who will be playing there.

Remember - if you want to see more photos of the events listed here - check out my flickr page . I'll be loading new photos soon!

Go check out some live music this weekend. It doesn't matter where or what kind of music - just support your local live bands!