Weekend of local rock volume 22

Mar 29, 2009

Can you believe I've now done 22 of these? And I'm nowhere near done...as long as I have my camera and the desire to check out local music whenever I can, you'll keep getting these posts.

Last weekend I was at Skip Dixxon's 7th Annual Spring Luau, which features a total of 17 bands (thus, 17 pictures in the post). Most of them came from the immediate Delmarva area but some made the trek southeast from the Baltimore region. If you're fortunate enough to use Internet Explorer you'll get the captions on the pictures; if not the performers will be (in order of appearance) Paul Lewis, Jason Lee, Woodstock Nation, Johnny Suit and the Nice Ties, Aaron Howell Band, Zion Reggae Band, Phantom Limbs, the Improv Fill-In Band, Blake Haley Band, Electric Company, Semiblind, Lower Class Citizens, lower case blues, Skitzo Calypso, Betty Ford Dropouts, Agent 99, and the Niki Barr Band. Why I don't get the captions on Firefox I don't know, but I don't.

The extent of my politics on this post will be that I could have done without Paul Lewis's shirt. Saying that, Paul did a number of songs from his forthcoming CD in an acoustic vein.

This may have been my best shot of the night as far as photography goes. Jason Lee of Crookedfinger played solo as a late addition to the bill, closing with an uptempo version of 'Ring of Fire'.

Don't let the hats fool you - the show hadn't quite gone country. But Woodstock Nation did their tunes in a Southern rock vein, and they probably DO know 'Free Bird'.

Johnny Suit (on the left) only had one Nice Tie but they put together a good set of tunes as band number four.

I always enjoy the Aaron Howell Band, which mixes a few originals in with soulful renditions of classic tunes from the likes of Bill Withers.

While they're a staple at Seacrets, this was the first time I had the chance to see the Zion Reggae Band. They gave the show a different vibe while they were on.

We went from reggae to surf rock and were 'Zombiefied' by the three-piece rock of Phantom Limbs. They're fast becoming a crowd favorite around the area.

In most multi-band shows you have lineup changes. Jason Lee put this band together in a matter of hours because of a late cancellation and Skip dubbed it the 'Magnificent Improv Luau Fill-In Band'. They did pretty well for themselves because almost everyone knows a few cover songs.

Blake Haley and his band changed the sound once again. I'm not sure what the status of Pirate Radio is but Blake revamped a few of their songs along with performing some others he'd more recently written.

Nate Clendenen fronts this group called the Electric Company. You'll notice Johnny Suit handles bass duties on this set as well. This seems to be typical among many local musicians who have more than one musical outlet.

Are you kidding me? Of course Michele, the Jims, and Asher were there. It seems like it's not a Skip Dixxon event without Semiblind and it's great to see my friends back after a fairly long hiatus. I was pleased to be treated to a couple originals too!

Lower Class Citizens took the stage by storm with a hard-rocking set. It was mostly originals except for the Spinal Tap tune 'Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight'.

It was more like a jam band than strictly blues as lower case blues played a set that seemed longer than the allotted 25 minutes.

Baltimore's Skitzo Calypso, another veteran Skip Dixxon show performer, cranked the energy level back up with songs off their most recent CD ('Burning Down an Empire') and a familiar cover of 'Welcome to the Jungle'.

I'd not seen the Betty Ford Dropouts but oddly enough these folks are a cover band. (It's not what I would have guessed; then again you can't judge a book by its cover can you?) They played a number of songs from the '80's but have an eclectic set list for their longer shows which spans punk, metal, and hair band staples. I have no idea why the young lady was sitting there like that.

It seems like when I'd seen Agent 99 a couple months back Marla did most of the singing but now Casey seems to be doing the lion's share. They're still playing a heaping helping of classic rock covers though.

I thought it was a shame that about half the crowd was gone by the time the Niki Barr Band made its appearance. These folks played some high-energy stuff and hopefully will make the trek back down this way more often. Let's hope they don't have the sound issues the gentleman in the red-trimmed shirt was taking care of.

So there you have it. 17 bands in about 10 hours, which made for a very restful Sunday because I needed it.

I believe the next multi-band show is April 18, the delmarvanightlife.com 42-0 party. Problem is there's also a Battle of the Bands scheduled at Pork in the Park that night (hosted by 96 Rock) and I can't be two places at once! Because all or part of both shows are slated to be outdoors, that may be a memorable weekend of local rock - we'll have to see.

Weekend of local rock volume 22

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