I talked about politics all weekend, time for something different. After all I’m on vacation!
For those of you who aren’t from the Shore, we have a unique phenomenon we call “second season.” At the risk of revealing this not-so-secret part of Shore life, it’s the time when the kids go back to school so the tourists aren’t invading here in nearly the numbers that they do from Memorial Day through Labor Day. While there’s still fun events going on through September and October, we locals (I’ll lump myself into the group despite being a “come-here”) like the opportunity to enjoy the beaches in the nice late summer weather without the large crowds and traffic.
The other part of second season I enjoy comes from a perception I have based on a little observation. I know that a couple of the local clubs don’t have bands during the summer because everyone’s at the beach and most of the OC entertainment venues tend to hire either DJ’s or a fairly limited number of cover bands. Of course, they’re catering to the throngs who come down from PA or from the Western Shore and don’t want to be surprised when it comes to their entertainment.
After Labor Day though it seems like many of the local bands shake off the cobwebs of summer and start getting around again. The college kids that drive Salisbury clubs return from their summer break and look for a close and cheap place to take their girl and get drunk, and venues like the Monkey Barrel, Cactus Club, and Brew River are once again rocking to the sounds of original local music. It’s a good thing.
As you likely know from being a frquent reader, I’m one who gets out and supports local music when I can – of course summer also brings baseball season so my allegiances are split somewhat. It just seemed though that this summer was pretty much a dry spell for seeing many bands. (Of course, I did get to enjoy my friends in Semiblind a couple times at private parties, which helped ease the drought a bit.) Aside from the B.J. Mohr benefit show back in June, this summer didn’t feature much in the way of local music. (It occurs to me that I never did do a review of that show as I promised, so I’ll rectify that with observations and impressions rounded somewhat over time later on this week since I’m on vacation. And if Bill or “Average Girl” is reading this, hope your brother’s doing well.)
So once the Labor Day holiday has passed and the Shorebirds season most likely comes to an end that night, my life goes back to winter mode with bowling on Fridays and – hopefully – more trips around the area to see the best bands from near and far performing. I’m sort of looking forward to it and hopefully I’ll see you at some of the shows!
