Weekend of local rock volume 27

It's been awhile since I had a local rock post, but winter on the Shore tends to be when local music thrives. Gone are the tourists who demand the same old Top 40 crap and the field is left open for musicians who do their own stuff or put their own spin on classic rock.

It's this time of year we return to Yuletide tradition, to wit:

In case you're wondering who Skip Dixxon is, hands down he is the promoter of the local music scene and several times a year he puts together a great multi-band show - that is when he's not working on the radio or in his own band.

The show had a good cause as well - bringing a new unwrapped toy got you in for free.

It all started with Earth Bound Groove, which features Aaron Howell on guitar.

Blake Haley, most known locally for playing in the band Pirate Radio, did his solo act next.

Haley did a couple originals, but the Paul Lewis Band did most of their set from their own work.

More originals poured from these hard rockers, Lower Class Citizens. The amps and drums took a pounding.

Next up was Crookedfinger, and while they weren't as heavy they played a fine set, which was mostly originals too.

By this point the crowd had about reached its peak and would stay that way for the next several acts.

The shift was on as well as we went to a series of cover bands, beginning with Gravy.

Next up were the ladies of Agent 99, with a little help from part of Woodstok Nation and a different drummer providing the beat. Guess they gave Skip a night off.

Fuzzbox Piranha came with the same sort of set, but done as a three-piece outfit.

And you know my friends from Semiblind showed up. Oddly enough, they were the only band with a nod to the holidays as they put the Grinch theme in their set of songs.

I'm throwing this shot in because I rarely get a good picture of Jim on the guitar. It's tough to work around the flying hair! (But at least he has some, right?)

Once Semiblind left the stage we went a little more country with Woodstok Nation, but we were back to mixing in original songs as well.

Having Woodstok Nation before them made Witches Brew an interesting contrast as they mixed in covers of everything from Jefferson Airplane to Nirvana to Judas Priest.

As the twelfth of twelve bands, it was sort of a shame that Phantom Limbs had the waning crowd and a little shorter set. But they went back to mainly doing their originals and that was good for a closer.

So there you have it - 12 bands, 7 hours, a nice dose of ringing ears for me afterward, and plenty of toys for kids whose families need a little help. All in all, not a bad night and thanks should also go to Seacrets for providing a nice large venue for the bands to play.