Weekend of local rock volume 33

It wasn’t the weekend just past but last weekend that my significant other and I made the rounds to check out our friends and a number of other bands. This all began in Crisfield thanks to a speedy Shorebirds game and a gorgeous warm night on Somers Cove.

It's not a perfect shot since I didn't have a tripod handy but doesn't that look relaxing?

That’s where we caught up with our friends in Semiblind.

Don't even ask why the picture is off-kilter - I think I was trying to take a shot from hip level. This was at the Crisfield Tiki Bar on May 28, 2010.

Little did we know that the winds of change were about to blow there, but more on that briefly. After taking a time out from the local music scene on Saturday we returned to the Concert for a Random Soldier on Sunday.

I went through some of the particulars here but didn’t talk about the bands we saw. We picked up the show about halfway through, beginning with the oldies of 33 1/3. (No, I won’t do the obvious and change the post title to reflect the group – funny that I’m on volume 33.)

The first band we saw at CRS played a dose of classic hits from the 1960's. 33 1/3 was similar to several other bands who donated time for the event.

One thing about the day and the background – bad for picture taking. That also bedeviled me for the next band.

3/4 of the band 'Nothin' But Trouble' were present, so I called them the Joey Fulkerson Trio.

The highlight of their set was a wild ride through a medley of ’60’s music from pop classics to TV themes.

Between sets, there were various combinations of acoustic players – one of those combos being Jim and Michele Hogsett from Semiblind.

Michele and Jim Hogsett doing the duo before the full band set later on.

Jim and Michele have a wide variety of songs in their acoustic playlist. They played as 8 Track Flashback got set up.

I used a wider shot in my previous post on the Concert for a Random Soldier, but 8 Track Flashback went way back with their playlist to get some of the elders moving and grooving.

These guys played stuff I hadn’t heard from a rock band – how about a cover of “Minnie the Moocher?” I think the older folks under the pavilion enjoyed it more than I did.

Semiblind was next up, but they had a personnel issue. Fortunately, Alan from Blind Willie was all ready to step in and filled in well for Semiblind’s set. And let’s just say next time I see my friends at a show there will be a different drummer once again.

It wasn't the tightest set I've ever heard from the band, but Alan from Blind Willie did a yeoman's job filling in at the last minute for Semiblind.

In fact, Blind Willie was the next band. We had to leave, though, just as they started their set.

Blind Willie was just getting started when we left the Concert for a Random Soldier.

Had we stayed until the end, we would have been treated to a much heavier sound as Destroying the Catalyst was the last band scheduled. Even their trailer says ‘metal band.’ I did notice there were a few more of the Millennial Generation arriving as we left so it’s obvious DTC put the word out on the show.

At some point I would like to catch these guys live - it just wasn't to be last Sunday.

Arriving late to the event, unfortunately we missed the sets from Blue Thunder, Hyde Park, and lower case blues. But we had another place to go and support another friend in the music business. We were off to a bonfire.

This bonfire was outside the Oasis, unfortunately the bands were inside. There's something wrong with that picture.

We arrived at the Oasis in time for the seventh band of the ten or so scheduled for the day, called Living the Dream.

The three-piece 'Living the Dream' had some help on the hard rock classics as host Skip Dixxon played the drums.

These guys bashed through a number of hard rock classics before yielding to a more modern rock cover band I’d heard about but hadn’t seen yet, Dust n’ Bones.

Dust n' Bones seems to play a lot at one of my favorite places to eat, Station 7. This gig was down the road a piece from there.

The one thing which sticks out in my mind is that they could use another guitar to bring themselves a fuller sound. It didn’t seem like the lead was very prominent in some songs.

Then things calmed down for the last two acts of the night. One of them was a reprisal of Jim and Michele playing an acoustic set; something they’ve branched into over the last month or so as a way of getting additional gigs in different places.

Jim plays guitar and Michele sings. You can't get a whole lot simpler than that for keeping it in the family.

Last but not least was the stripped down acoustic version of Crookedfinger.

A stripped down version of Crookedfinger wrapped up the show as the bonfire burned outside the Oasis in Whaleyville.

The one thing which was disappointing as far as the four bands I saw at the Oasis – no originals. Having not seen Living the Dream and Dust n’ Bones I wouldn’t have known they were (I assume) strictly cover bands, but the acoustic sets could have been a little more adventurous. Those guys all can play.

But it made for a full weekend. I wouldn’t have minded getting to one musical event I missed (Greenwoodstock) but that wasn’t to be. This is the time of year it’s a little harder to find originality because the tourists demand the same old songs in repackaged form, so I was hoping for something new and exciting out of the groups I saw. It was still entertaining, though, especially for a summery Friday evening and Sunday.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

2 thoughts on “Weekend of local rock volume 33”

  1. Nice, Michael! Thanks for sharing!!! Love me some Semiblind, no matter who the drummer is!!

  2. Nice artwork on the bass drum heads, even if rock was neither Peter’s strength or first love. Hope Gene Simmons doesn’t catch wind of them – he can get kind of shi**y about that sort of thing.

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