Weekend of local rock volume 15

I warned you this was coming, and it has arrived. But tonight I’m going to look at two bands who are both good at what they’re doing and doing good with either the show I’m depicting, or an upcoming show.

As many of my readers know, last Saturday I participated in the Courageous Christopher 5K walk and I left you with this picture:

What I chose not to show until this post was another telling picture:

Not only did Red No Blue donate their time, apparently they made the donation to qualify as a Silver Sponsor. I thought that was outstanding because a lot of folks would make a bigger deal of this; instead the group just played their bread-and-butter mix of alternative/pop hits made popular over the last decade or so. Here’s a couple shots of them in action.

I thought they put on a good show. But there were two things that were a shame about it. First of all, the generator that was supplying the power for a large portion of the event kept cutting out on the band during the first half of the show, before the awards presentation. So they’d get into a song and phffft…there went the juice. After the awards the power problem was straightened out but there weren’t a whole lot of us around to enjoy the tunes. I know, I’m a little obsessive about local music but I would’ve liked some more company to watch the band play.

Still, Red No Blue deserves kudos for stepping up to the plate for a good cause. If they decide to run the event again I’ll certainly be inclined to participate and hopefully beat 40 minutes the next time.

After a break of about 8 hours, I headed eastward to West OC and Trader Lee’s to catch a frequent subject of the WLR series and good friends of mine:

If you’ve never seen a Semiblind show, why the hell not? All right, I know not everyone who reads my site lives in or visits the greater Delaware area but if you do, go scope them out – these guys are good. They can do everything from classics like the Doors or Janis Joplin to new stuff like Finger 11. One of the folks at Trader Lee’s thought having Janis there, or at least depicted, would be appropriate:

However, I actually like Semiblind’s original songs better, and I really wish they’d do more in a show. I will grant that they’re breaking in a relatively new drummer, as Andy took over just a few months ago:

He seems to be working himself into the group just fine, though. The other parts of the rhythm comes from Asher on bass, while Michele will pitch in on songs that Jim sings.

The sound of the band is defined by Jim’s guitar though. The dude can shred when he puts his mind to it and because last Sunday was his birthday the mind was definitely there. I was just happy to get a shot of him looking up and used a little photo magic to make it look good:

Semiblind is pretty unique that they have two lead singers, which expands the list of songs they can do. Toward the end of the show though I found out that my Myspace friend Casey of Agent 99 has a little competition:

I always like to toss in a gratuitous Michele shot when I do these.

Now, way back at the start I alluded to the two bands doing good. Obviously, Red No Blue did their part for the event they played at. In this case, Semiblind wasn’t playing for a cause aside from the paycheck and celebration of Jim’s birthday. (It was definitely the most wild Semiblind show I’d seen, and a load of fun.)

Semiblind does have not one but two shows on their upcoming docket that are for a cause. On Sunday afternoon (the 25th) they’re one of the bands at the Benefit for a Random Soldier that will be held at the American Legion hall in Millsboro, Delaware. The event is designed to help families of those Marines who have died defending our country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After that, the next benefit Semiblind will entertain at is coming up Saturday, June 7th at The House Bar and Grill in Laurel, Delaware (right where Routes 13 and 9 meet.) This is an all-day event to defray the medical expenses of B.J. Mohr, who was critically hurt in an auto accident and actually put together by members of the group Another Vicious Cycle, who will be playing along with Semiblind and numerous other bands (I believe it’s a 10 band lineup.) Yes, I’m all over that one and likely it’s the subject of WLR volume 16.

And people wonder why I support local music as I do. It’s because they’re pretty cool folks who are looking to make their big break and if I can help them out as they would help others then I’ll do what I can. This weekend, besides taking time out to honor our fallen veterans whether it be at a parade or a ceremony like we have locally, taking in some local rock would be a great way to kick off the summer of 2008.

Late edit: One cool thing about WordPress 2.5.1 is that I can insert media into my post, so let’s see how it goes. Here’s a sample of how Semiblind sounds live.