The Local Music Scene Does It Again!

Here we are, another week gone. And coming off one of the busiest weekends the Quad-Cities has seen in a long time – not just musically, but events of all kinds. I tried to hit a few events. Many of them produced some great live music. One band in particular caught my ear… and provided music that stirred my soul. Read on…

Jam nights are full of surprises

Thursday night was the typical night at John O’Meara’s jam at The Muddy Waters. A whole bunch of great musicians mixed it up, including Chris Avey and Rick Burris. When I left, there were Penas in the crowd, and plenty of other musicians lined up to play. I rarely get to stay late on Thursday nights, as I do have that pesky day job.

 

I began and ended my Friday night at Friday Live at Five – I’m sure going to miss those outdoor shows this winter! This week we were entertained by Ellis Kell… and opening for his band was one of the newer local bands, The Busted Chandeliers.

For the record – I saw the Busted Chandeliers at Venus Envy and thought they had a pretty cool sound then. The Chandeliers are an all-original, all-female band. Their sound has evolved since this spring (Erin Waterman says they think they’ve found their voice. I think that’s an understatement) and they now have a fantastic folk sound.  Though they don’t have all the instruments you would find in a Blue Grass or folk band (there’s no banjo or stand-up bass), they make up for it with some really cool vocal harmonies and acoustic and keyboard prowess.

 

The Busted Chandeliers are a local band to watch!

Their acoustic work in particular left me with that same heart-in-throat, goose-bump tingle feeling I get when I’m listening to Mumford & Sons. I can feel that music all the way to my little toe.  OK, not everyone experiences music the way I do, but folk music really speaks to me.  It has a lot to do with dynamics. Chandeliers’ keyboardist Amy Falvey says about Mumford, “It’s the way they put that sound and just the right words together”.  And since she’s an English teacher, she should know about words!  I think the QC has a winner in the Chandeliers. They don’t have any gigs scheduled for the next month as they are going to focus on recording. But do get out to see them soon – so you can say “I knew them when”. 

That was all the music I could muster Friday night. I knew I had a full day planned on Saturday, so I headed in early and spent my evening prepping cameras and packing my “noisemakers” for Saturday’s events.

 



The spinning mallets of the pipe band drummers

After a quick breakfast with the folks, I dashed right down to Centennial Park for the Highland Games and Celtic Fest, and a little bagpipe and drum corps music. I watched some of the games too, before I took off across the river for my next stop.







 

The Kiwanis were holding their annual bags tournament at Schwiebert Park in Rock Island. There were multiple bands scheduled to play, but the bands didn’t start until 1 PM so I was only able to catch the first band. Keep Off the Grass opened the show. They sounded great. I’m not entirely sold on the stage at Schwiebert for anything smaller than a 30-piece orchestra – the musicians end up really spread out – and sound bounces around quite a bit. It has to be pretty hard for them up there.  But the local bands I’ve seen there so far have handled it pretty well. 

 

I had to leave during the first set at the bags tournament in order to stop and change clothes before heading for Coal Valley and the Creekside Vineyard.  Lee Blackmon was playing there, and I planned to sing a little. The new stage-on-wheels proved to be interesting, but it took some coaxing, the lure of noisemakers, and a cameo appearance by owner Jen to get guests up there to sing.  So I sang quite a bit more than “a little”. 

Sunday brought another jazz brunch at the Radisson, this time with the Terry Hanson Ensemble. Smooth jazz makes for a relaxing Sunday morning!

For more photos from this week's events, see my Flickr page Here.  And you can find some video on my Youtube Channel as well.

This week:

Thursday: Jam sessions at The Muddy Waters and Rascals 

Friday: Amazingly – I haven’t heard much about scheduled gigs on Friday, but here’s what I did find:

Cheese Pizza – Martinis ($10 cover), Dirt Road Rockers are taking the stage at RIBCO, Rozz-Tox has Plume Giant and Subatlantic, Night Light is playing at Bleyarts, and the Karry Outz are playing at Rascals.

Saturday: No one should have trouble finding live music! Danika Holmes is playing at DaVincis, Rootless Experience is at The Quarry, Minus Six takes the River House stage, Mound St Landing has Cosmic. You’ll find Crossroads at the Hawkeye, Simon Says Uncle is playing Rascals, RIBCO has This Must Be The Band. Steve McFate is hosting an open mic at Tim’s Corner, Wild Oatz are playing at Purgs and 1^st Impression is road tripping to the Oakview Country Club in Aledo. Rozz-Tox has a flurry of bands: Snogulated Pig, Crater, Haddonfield and My Pal Trigger.

Sunday: Sunflower Slim is hosting an open mic at the Studio Pub, and Creekside in Davenport has their open mic night.

If your favorite band isn't playing, go check out something new! Supporting live music helps every band, not just the band you're out to see on any particular night. Venues have to stay open if we want them around to hire our favorite bands!