Rainy Days and Quad City Music Venues

For a lot of years I spent my Memorial Day Weekend camping on the shores of the Cedar River.  Last year I gave up my trailer and sold all my camping equipment. My kids have grown, my friends all moved on to other activities, and I’ve been so wrapped up in the music scene that my summer weekends have been too full. I felt like I was wasting my money on the rented space that I hardly saw. The rainstorms this past weekend reminded me of that first Memorial Day on the Cedar, when we found ourselves floating out of our tent on Saturday morning. We spent the rest of the weekend camped out on the floor of my parents’ trailer – 4 adults and 4 kids in a 1977 Holiday Rambler. Rain on Memorial Day just seems like a tradition.

I’m sticking to my dialing-back plan. Friday night was spent in Downtown Davenport at the RME and the Brady Street Pub.

Chicago-based Nick and the Overols opened Friday’s show in the Redstone Room. A blues band with rock overtones, the Overols played a rollicking set that by all rights should have had people dancing. I’ve noticed this trend with blues shows that play in the QC. People sit and listen rather than get up and dance. Of course, the Ovorols closing number, The Allman Brothers’ Whipping Post, doesn’t lend itself to dancing, but the rest of their show certainly did.

 

 

With a string of Grammy awards and designation as a Blues Hall of Fame inductee, headliner Joe Louis Walker has a reputation that precedes him. And the expectant throng at the Redstone Room Friday night saw him live up to it. Walker’s talent is timeless, and individually, each member of his band had crowd pleasing qualities. The combination of all that talent was impressive. Walker didn’t just stand on the stage in front of the crowd, but took his harmonica off stage and threaded his way through the audience, playing and singing to individuals as he went. I’m still wondering where the harmonica came from. It just seemed to appear out of thin air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not quite ready to end the evening, a few of us decided to head over to Brady Street Pub to catch a bit of The Candymakers’ gig.  The bar was crowded and everyone was having a great time when we arrived. Things just kept getting better as Dustin Cobb joined in on the fun. The crowd was singing along and having a great time – "because every little thing gonna be alright".  At one point, Bret Dale found his way to the top of the bar... 

 

 

 

The rainy weekend made for good crowds at local venues this weekend. I spent Saturday evening with 1^st Impression at Rascals Live, and it was apparent that a lot of other people chose to do the same. By 9:45, fifteen minutes into the first set, there wasn’t a seat available in the house. And the dance floor stayed busy all night. It was a good night for Becky and the guys. 1^st Impression had guest saxophone player Joe Ritland step up for a few songs and a little blues jam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Week:

There are a few events that are worth a look – The River Music Experience’s BeeRME fundraiser is Saturday evening, with music provided by Jason Carl and the Whole Damn Band. 

The Muddy Waters is celebrating their 3^rd anniversary with a bash at the Isle of Capri – it’s Blues and BBQ, including not only BBQ vendors and bands, but also an amateur BBQ Rib cookoff. The music lineup includes: The Winter Blues All Stars, Hal Reed and Kevin B. F. Burt hosting a harmonica assembly, OSG, Jemiah on Fire & The Red Machine, The Terry Quiett Band and Lurrie Bell.

QC Pride Fest is both Saturday and Sunday in Davenport. Saturday’s bands include House Arrest, Funktastic 5 and That Girl. Sunday look for The Busted Chandeliers, Wicked Liz and the Bellyswirls, The Candymakers, Superfly Samurai, Vaj of Courage, Imani Dancers, Lojo Russo and Kevin Boyd.

The rest of the schedule:

Friday – The Redstone Room has Jay McVey, while Esme Alexis and Bluebird are on the RME Community Stage. Lewis Knudsen is at Rustic Ridge, Cool Beanz has Tangent, and Lee Blackmon is playing at Dunn Brothers. The Muddy Waters has the Chris Avey band, Half Naked is playing at RIBCO, and Just Chords is at BarrelHouse 211. Gray Wolf is playing at the North Shore Inn, while Just Cuz is at The Rusty Nail and Brady Street Pub has Nick and Esme. Sin city is playing at the River House, Martini’s on the Rock has Smooth Groove, and Funktastic 5 is at Rascals.

Saturday – RIBCO has Pink Floyd Tribute In the Flesh, Simon Says Uncle is at the Rusty Nail, and Crossroads is playing at Mound Street Landing. City Limits has Chris Avey and “Detroit” Larry Davison, Wild Oatz are playing at Go Fish Bar, and Machine Gun Willie is at Hollar’s.  The Frydaddies are at Skinny Legs BBQ, while The Dirt Road Rockers play Greenbriar and Lynn Allen is at the River House. Rozz-Tox has a big lineup with Land of Blood & Sunshine, Centaur Noir, IdPyramid, and Loren. Funktastic 5 is playing at Martini’s on the Rock, 11^th Street Precinct has Cosmic, and Flashpoint is at Rascals Live. You’ll also find Nitrix at the Hawkeye Tap.

It is looking to be a busy weekend as we ramp up to our summer festival season. Come on out and enjoy live music! And as always, for more photos, check out my Flickr page here.