I took a little unexpected break Saturday night, but did
manage to get photos Friday night of a band that’s been on my list… and said
goodbye Sunday to a local favorite moving on to new adventures.
Friday night brought the final round of the RIBCO Battle of
Bands. The three bands that made the finals were: Shadow Stone, 1380 and My Pal
Trigger. I caught 1380 in one of the earlier rounds , had seen a little of
Shadow Stone last summer at the motorcycle rally, and heard good things about
My Pal Trigger. I suspected this show would be pretty amazing, with all three
bands giving it their all.
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| Shadow Stone put on a great show, but didn't win the battle at RIBCO |
Because of other obligations, my goal for the
evening was Shadow Stone’s set. As I
mentioned, last summer I caught the tail end of their set at the motorcycle
rally. I’ve been waiting since then for an opportunity to see a full set and
photograph this very powerful band. Shadow Stone has an edgy metal sound. The move
to debut some new songs during the contest was ballsy, but well received. Their
best song of the night was easily “Wake Up”, with very clean breaks and some
tight vocals. When a band takes the time to perfect vocals on a song, it really
adds gloss to the performance. With a set
like they had, I thought they were going to be tough to beat. I had already seen
1380 and knew they were tough competition.
I learned later in the evening that the one band I had not
seen was the winning band. My Pal Trigger is definitely on my to-see list now.
Congratulations MPT!
Late Friday night I stopped by Rascals to check out Ochos
Locos. I heard William Gustafson was in town and had never had the opportunity
to see him play, so here was my chance. I did take into consideration that it
would be the end of their final set, and we all know how that goes…
Sure enough, I found Gustafson on the floor, but still
playing. In all honesty – it was only part of one song, but it still made for
fun photos.
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| Curtis Hawkins played with every artist who came to wish him well |
Sunday afternoon I took a drive to Galesburg. Now…I
understand that I usually fill this blog with information about live music in
the QC, and Galesburg is an hour away. But this was a special occasion. There
was a going-away party being held at the Fat Fish Pub for Curtis Hawkins.
Several QC area musicians were going – and so was I! When I arrived, the first
people I saw (besides Curtis and his band, of course) were Kristy Bennett and
Hal Reed. Then I ran into Bret Dale of the Candymakers. Also in attendance were
the Mississippi Misfits (Tom, Ren and Ziggie).
There were also quite a few musicians not from the QC – most of whom I
had never met before. It was a great farewell party, and a jam-and-a-half. Curtis will be missed in the QC. Hopefully he'll come back to visit often!
This week:
Tonight is Jam Night! The Muddy Waters is giving away a
guitar tonight too – if you bought a raffle ticket, tonight is the night! It’s also Jam night at Rascal’s (with the
Avey Brothers), The Dam View (with The Candymakers), and The Lucky Frog (with
Chuck Murphy). Cedar Rapids friends – check out the Songwriters’ Showcase at
Little Bohemia with my friend Kimberli Malloy.
Friday – It’s a busy night at the RME, with The Giving Tree
Band in the Redstone Room and Sunset4Ever, Fairhaven, and Dream Anabelle in the
Performance Hall. RIBCO has a three-for with Blushing Gun, Fletcher and
Elements in the Atmosphere. The Karry Outz are at the 11th Street
Precinct, The Avey Brothers are playing The Muddy Waters, and Martini’s has
Lynn Allen. The Rusty Nail has The Night People and The Cannon Cox Band, and
you’ll find the Hooks at Rascal’s.
Saturday – RIBCO has another three-band show: Ken Mode,
Dredge, and My Pal Trigger. The Mississippi Misfits are playing the Brady
Street Pub, Dirt Road Rockers are at Rascals and Martini’s has Smooth Groove.
4Play sports bar has Half Naked, North of 40 is playing the Rusty Nail, and
Cosmic is at the 11th Street Precinct. Crossroads is playing the
Mound Street Landing, Chuck Murphy is at the Doc’s Inn, Purgatory’s has the
Wild Oatz and you’ll find the Funktastic 5 at Mulligans.
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