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:

This is a handy guide to what comes next - the bands will be in order!

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.

Skip Dixxon (left) puts together this show. Here he talks to two show patrons, including Michele of the band Semiblind.

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

This table was brimming with toys by the time the event was all said and done - I took this picture about 7:30.

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

First of 12 bands was Earth Bound Groove, who played a solid set of classic rock.

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

It's easy to get a picture of one player so my pictures of Blake came out well. He mixed a couple originals into his set.

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

Paul Lewis (singing, with blue guitar) and Matthew King (left, green guitar) collaborated on a number of the songs played in their set.

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

Lower Class Citizens turned things up a notch or three.

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

Crookedfinger kept things going with their original stuff. We were only getting started though.

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

They didn't all bring toys but most of them did have a great time. Between acts DJ Tuff had a video dance party.

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

Gravy played some classic rock staples to bring the crowd back to its comfort zone.

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.

It was ladies' choice once Agent 99 went on stage as they played a number of '80's hits.

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

These guys did have more rock than a crack house, and good marketing too.

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.

Semiblind was in the house...what else can I say?

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?)

Guitarist Jim Hogsett from Semiblind doing double duty on vocals.

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.

There's a lot of folks on stage when Woodstok Nation plays, and they can do rockers or country at the drop of a hat.

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.

Witches Brew is aptly named because they play songs with a lot of different influences from psychedelic to metal.

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.

Wrapping up the show was Phantom Limbs. Personally I would have had them play earlier for a bigger crowd.

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.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.