A Birthday Bash and New Venues

A couple of weeks ago, Hal Reed celebrated his birthday. For those of you not in the know, Hal is the owner of The Muddy Waters in Bettendorf.  The Muddy Waters celebrates in grand style – with a weekend-long birthday bash!

I attended Saturday night’s party, as I spent Friday evening at 2 venues with 1^st Impression and Lee Blackmon. A few musicians from local bands got together and started out the evening with a jam.  With Hal on harmonica and vocals, and the likes of Jimmy VanHyfte and Curtis Hawkins, it was a memorable opening act. Afterwards the Kinsey Report took the stage for their set and made the evening complete.

I heard this week that a new bar has opened in Downtown Davenport. In the space that used to be the 811 Lockdown, meet… Zero to Sixty. Chuck Murphy posted on my timeline this week that he’ll be playing there tomorrow night from 10-2.  I also wanted to mention that I’ve been hearing rumors that The Firehouse on Hickory Grove Road is serving up live music every other Friday night – opposite the Fridays they have karaoke.  I’m going to be checking that out too – but I haven’t heard of any local bands that have played there.

 

This week:

Friday night – Barrel House 211 is running a double feature this week, with MER at 5:30 and The Blackstones at 10. Funktastic Five is at Rascals, Cobalt Blue is playing 11^th street Precinct, and Brady Street Pub has The Lowdown. Simon Says Uncle can be found at the Rusty Nail, and Grand Larsony is playing Purgatorys. Jason Carl’s band is playing Generations, and The Edje Nightclub has Smooth Groove.

Saturday: Smokehouse is playing a benefit Saturday afternoon and early evening at Racers Edge, and 1^st Impression will be following them at 9:30. The Karry Outz are playing Rascals, The Candymakers are at 11^th Street Precinct, and the Odeon in Clinton has Pash n Brew.  Curtis Hawkins band is at The Muddy Waters and Cosmic is playing Mulligans. Justin Morrissey can be found at Bleyarts and you can find Machine Gun Willie at Ducky’s Lagoon.

There’s plenty of live music this weekend – so get out and enjoy some!

Something Different

Over the last few months I’ve been out and about, checking out live music in the QC and writing about it. One of the highlights of my adventures has been noting all of the different ways live music can be enjoyed here. This week I’m going to recap some of the acoustic acts in the area and the venues where I’ve seen them.

Live Music and Another Release Party

This week I attended yet another local band’s release party. This time it was an EP, and the band was one I had not yet seen. In fact, I was thrilled to see 3 great bands that night that were new to me.

The venue was RIBCO. The bands: Satellite Heart, The Lion In Rome, and The Last Glimpse. This was a big night for The Last Glimpse, as they were releasing a new EP. 

Pardon Me While I Wax Nostalgic

Russell Means died today.

 

Means was an actor. But he was also known as an activist, and leader of the American Indian Movement.  If you’re wondering how I have nostalgia regarding one of the most controversial Native Americans ever to live… well, it’s a long story. I’ll try to trim it up a little bit.

The Winds of Change are Blowing But Live Music Plays On

Johnny O's Jam brings out area blues musicians

I made a concerted effort this week to slow down. In fact – soon it won’t be an effort but a necessity. I’m starting a new day job at the end of the month, and expect to be extremely busy for a little while as I adjust to new schedules and new ways of doing things. I’ll still get out though – and will do my best to continue posting blogs and photos weekly.

Fall Leaves Crisp Air and LIve Music

Holy cow! It’s mid-October already. The leaves aren’t just turning.  Did you hear that sound? “whump!” That was one of my maple trees dumping half of its leaves at once.  With the cold weather, the live music scene is definitely moving indoors, and there aren’t as many opportunities for me to catch multiple live shows in a weekend. I’m still out there – but I suspect for at least the next few months, I won’t be scrunching as much music into the space of a weekly blog. That’s actually better for the musicians I write about, as they all get a little more space.

Sometimes My Plans Change

The ladies of Paper Bird on the Community Stage

Though I didn’t get my weekly dose of jam night, I did manage to find plenty to keep me busy.  Thursday night I headed down to the River Music Experience and checked out a visiting band, Paper Bird. With 3 female vocalists, this band has harmony written all over it. Add to that some male voices in backing vocals as well and the sound becomes well-rounded and very rich.  Paper Bird is a large band – there are 7 members total. Unfortunately, they were booked for the (tiny) Community Stage instead of the Redstone Room. Apparently there just isn’t enough interest in certain performances to warrant opening the Redstone Room. It’s a shame – because their sound would have been even more amazing there, although they ended their set with an unplugged number that brought total silence to the room as the audience hung on every single note.