Friday night videos episode 25
Bringing back the FNV franchise again after a week off, so let’s see what the extra week has given me to work with.
Lots of video on the health care debacle, as you might expect. Pollster Scott Rasmussen talks to the Washington News-Observer on the upcoming midterm elections and about how unpopular Obamacare really is:
It wasn’t too popular among this group either. My blogger friend Bob McCarty (who lives in that area) covered the counter-protest to President Obama’s health care show in St. Charles, Missouri.
If I didn’t put this on when it first came out, I sure missed out. This edition of FNV will be graced by the common sense of Rep. Mike Pence, perhaps my favorite member of Congress.
But the Democrats do reveal the facts about their health care bill.
Speaking of leading Democrats, in a couple weeks we’re going to see the third edition of the TEA Party Express, which begins in Searchlight, Nevada (Harry Reid’s hometown.) Mark Williams of TPX3 wanted to have a conversation with MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan but you can see how the left expresses “Anger in America.”
And if you’re interested in saddling up and heading out west, they have an interesting lineup to start their tour – wonder how many will be there for the other stops?
Let’s finish the political end of FNV with something humorous. We can laugh about this now that this half of the globe is actually warming (with a corresponding cooling on the other side – funny how that works, huh?)
Now the fun part. This comes from one of my favorite regional bands and was recorded live at the Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia (unfortunately, not by me.) Hailing from Smyrna, Delaware, this is 13:1.
If you go to their website, crank out ‘No Goodbyes.’ (Feel free to do so with their other songs if you wish, too.)
With that, we put another FNV in the books. That was fun.
Weekend of local rock volume 30
I’m sure many of you come here in this timeslot and expect an op-ed from me as my normal practice is to repost my most recently cleared column from Liberty Features Syndicate at 10:30 on Sunday morning. But today I’m doing an op-ed of a different sort. (and no, it wasn’t syndicated.)
This was the scene when I walked into the bar area of Flavors of Italy Friday night.
My significant other and I had debated about dinner yesterday since we bowl on Friday nights, and I mentioned pizza might hit the spot. Yes, I knew The Permilla Project was playing so that was why I suggested Flavors of Italy.
When I peeked into that bar, I thought I saw every hipster, tripster, and anyone else who wanted to see and be seen within a 10 mile radius of the club.
We actually heard most of the first set before seeing them as we were seated in the restaurant portion enjoying a Continental-style dinner at 10:00 at night. A little dinner music, maestro?
If you take rock as a base, add some jazz influence and the willingness to extend the song to create the feel of perhaps a heavier version of O.A.R. you’d come up with The Permilla Project. The folks up front were certainly swaying to the music and a college town like Salisbury is a natural home base for such a band.
I can see why this is my blogger friend (afterthegoldrush) Ridgely Griffith’s favorite band, they are pretty good. Permilla isn’t completely my cup of tea but they are entertaining.
So next time The Permilla Project is at Flavors of Italy, I encourage you to come early, get a pizza, and grab a seat. You may not choose to stay in it, though. It’s a band and venue which will make you wish it was summer since you can stand outside and hear them (FoI has outdoor seating in the summer, but it’s limited.)
Then again, they may have to find a bigger venue before they know it.
Friday night videos episode 24
After a week off to recharge the batteries, FNV is back with a good mix of politics and music once again.
Health care continues to be a sore subject in Congress. But while Democrats used the sob story to make their point yesterday, our side adds some facts to the emotion. This comes from the fine folks of Americans for Prosperity:
As I often ask, which Americans are against prosperity?
The health-care summit yesterday was a dud; then again that was the expectation from Republicans like Rep. Michele Bachmann. From the Washington News-Observer:
And the National Republican Congressional Committee added a dash of humor to the “Blair House Project”:
Yet there is other news on the conservative front as well. Last week over 70 conservative leaders got together to sign the Mount Vernon Statement. Here’s what I thought of it
but the players had their say as well. Again from WNO:
Nor have they forgotten foreign policy. Our best UN Ambassador in recent times spoke to WNO about his thoughts on the Obama relationship with the world.
If you follow me on Facebook you know what I’m usually doing Sunday nights at 9:00 – listening to Local Produce on the radio. This remake of “The Legend of Wooley Swamp” (originally done by the Charlie Daniels Band) is done by one of the co-hosts, Bob Daigle, and a couple of his friends. He definitely has an interesting YouTube channel!
The second of two music videos tonight is fresh stuff I recorded last Saturday at the Brumbley Haiti benefit. The sound quality is markedly better, and not just because Not My Own played well. Maybe I’m finally getting this video recording stuff!
That’s a wrap for another version of Friday night videos – hope you enjoyed it!
Weekend of local rock volume 29
Normally I put these posts up on the weekend and save the weekdays for more serious political items, but since there was a charitable element to most of this post I decided to push the date ahead a few days.
I saw 13 acts in a span of about 48 hours, and all but one was doing their thing for a cause. My friends from Semiblind aren’t strangers to doing charity shows either, but in this case they were out to entertain the patrons at the Oasis Bar and Grill last Friday night and maybe make a few bucks for themselves.
Since a lot of their friends were there and wanted to hear a couple originals, I was happy to hear the band comply. They’re over in Salisbury this Saturday night; alas, I can’t make that show.
I did make this one on Saturday evening though:
Walking in, I heard the jazz-tinged rock of The Permilla Project.
They played a set mostly comprised of originals, with a couple covers thrown in. TPP is a talented group who plays the local upscale joints frequently.
Next up was the ’80’s revival of Bluelight Special.
Before going much farther, it bears mentioning that the half of the local blogosphere I didn’t see at the Conway/Mathias townhall I attended earlier Saturday was at this event. Several contributors to Progressive Delmarva were among the bands playing, plus I met Ridgely Griffith and his daughter Meredith (afterthegoldrush and Twirling…Towards Freedom, respectively.) Melanie of PD is the female member of Bluelight Special, so this was a good time to bring that fact up.
I certainly don’t agree with their politics but give them props for helping out this cause!
Of the bands performing, I was familiar with The Permilla Project and these guys, Not My Own.
After the ’80’s pop of Bluelight Special, these guys multiplied the heaviness quotient about fivefold. Yet they had a good sound about them and they were the first of the three “message” acts which played. Between sets the show featured local clergy who related their stories about the experiences they had in Haiti, with the Brumbleys, or both.
Things quieted down again with the lone solo act featured, Corey Franklin.
Corey played songs which reflected his ministry, as did the headlining act, Reconcile520.
What I can’t figure out about this group is whether they comprise a house band for the Uprising Church (who put on the event) or if they just happen to be church members who started the band on their own. All of them certainly show that the young whippersnappers aren’t the only ones who can rock and minister at the same time.
Unfortunately, I found out later that by missing the afternoon session I didn’t get to catch the sixth band on the bill, Proof Of Love. They had a scheduling conflict and only played the earlier session.
Most importantly, I also learned that the event raised over $1,000 for the Brumbleys’ Haitian mission. The room was about half-full for the evening event so perhaps 300 to 400 attended that show. It’s the first of what will likely be a continuing series of performances until the Haitian mission gets back on its feet.
On Sunday I attended a program with a different (but still noble) cause. The Wicomico Child Advocacy Center put on an interesting fundraiser at Chef Fred’s Chesapeake Steakhouse, and although just three bands were on the bill a total of seven acts contributed entertainment, beginning with Wes Davis.
After his set, we got more classics from two bands who share many of the same personnel. Agent 99 was on the bill, but many of those members also play for the band Full Circle. See if you can figure out the different players in the next two pictures.
Between Agent 99 and Full Circle there was a short break as Davis Ruark announced the CAC will soon have a name change to honor Sarah Foxwell’s memory.
Since this was a fundraiser, there was also a silent auction. I’ve asked Davis Ruark how much was raised but haven’t received an answer yet. These items, though, weren’t moving very briskly.
I didn’t know this, but there were other treats in the musical bag as well. This young man is Michael Sky Chester, and at the tender age of 16 he was doing his first full-set solo.
Mom (a.k.a. Marla, singer/guitarist for Agent 99) had a lot to be proud of. Look for this young man to go places.
Another quick performance came from hip-hop singer Rayz, who performed a song he penned in memory of Sarah Foxwell along with another tune from his recent CD.
Up next was another young musician who had ties to a previous performer – Natalie Davis is Wes’s daughter.
This young woman has a voice on her. Perhaps her and Michael Sky Chester could become a duo act – you never know in the world of local Delmarva music.
Finally, we got to hear the heavy covers of Vivid Season. If you turn on a local rock station like 93.5 the Beach or 96 Rock, you’ll probably hear a good portion of the songs Vivid Season covered.
Unfortunately, their performance was marred by the lead singer being sick, yet he gamely went on with the show as best he could. Next time I run across them hopefully he’s in fine voice again.
Well, this certainly qualifies as a weekend of local rock, does it not? If I get a update from Davis Ruark or the CAC on the proceeds from the event I’ll follow up. But there was some disappointment expressed that the event wasn’t promoted better – local blogs did their part but they don’t reach a huge audience yet. We’re still in an era where promotion requires television or print exposure to succeed.
I look for each event to come back in bigger and better form next time around as the kinks have hopefully been worked out of both.
Benefits with friends
This is a tale of two (actually, three) good events in one weekend – if circumstances permit I plan on being at two. Let’s start with next Saturday, February 20th:
You actually have two chances to attend, one during the afternoon and one during the evening. My guess is that the six bands (in alphabetical order they are Bluelight Special, Corey Franklin, Not My Own, Proof Of Love, Reconcile520, and The Permilla Project – someone who reads this may let me know the actual lineup order) will play about a half-hour set apiece with a few minutes set aside for setup, then do it over for show #2. It promises to be a long day for the performers but an entertaining day for the patrons.
One thing this doesn’t tell me, though, is a cost – apparently there is a freewill donation but there are special deals available, at least according to Reconcile520’s Facebook page.
However, you might need to be a little extra generous with your donations on this one. This is a comment from Progressive Delmarva, where “Reconciled1″ is one of the contributors:
By the time the civic center added all their extra fees.. the room is costing us roughly 1800 bucks. We were originally told $758 then you add a 10% building improvement fee, .25 a chair rental and set up fee, security, event staff, stage manager, paramedic on site, etc… the room was waaaaayyyy more then first quoted. We had volunteers to do all of this but they refused and said it had to be through them. Our stage manager had an inside track in there and it was taken in front of the board to see if they would donate the room but the board turned it down.. The reason we aren’t selling tickets before the concert at the box office is because there is another added cost to do that. With all things considered, we have roughly $5,000 into the operating cost when you add in the sound and light company and the use of a back room for the bands to hang out during the concert.
We have a restuarant that is feeding us all but we have to use another building for that because the Civic Center wouldn’t allow them to cater in. We would have to us their catering if we want to eat. Live and learn…….. The next concert will most likely be held somewhere else.
This got me thinking back to the first Salisbury Skatepark fundraiser, which was also held at the Civic Center – but subsequent ones were held in other locations. Maybe that’s why.
As far as the bands go, the two I’m most familiar with are The Permilla Project (I’ve seen them at the Salisbury Festival) and Not My Own, which has been featured occasionally on 93.5 the Beach’s “Local Produce” show. So the show should have a fair dose of original music along with some cover stuff too.
Then Sunday brings another benefit show – this one benefitting a different cause.
We all know about the tragic death of Sarah Haley Foxwell late last year, and the Wicomico Child Advocacy Center is using her name (presumably with the permission of her family) to raise money and awareness for their cause. It’s a little different fundraiser for them than I am used to, since the last couple years they have auctioned off special gameworn items from the Shorebirds. Last year’s auction was a bit of a downer because of all the rainouts the team suffered, so this is a different opportunity to contribute to the cause and hear more local music.
(There’s also free food, a silent auction, and 50/50 raffle to help raise money beyond the $20 admission price.)
In this case the bands will be Wes Davis, Agent 99, and Vivid Season. (Yep, this is why I included the Vivid Season video last night.)
I’m more familiar with these bands, although I’ve yet to see Vivid Season live. Wes Davis is a frequent player at Salisbury area events, including the Salisbury Festival, and has performed a number of times on Ocean 98’s “Live Lixx at Six.” And many of the events featured in my Weekend of Local Rock series have been graced by the sounds of the ladies of Agent 99, so I’ve seen them at least a half-dozen times. With the possible exception of Wes Davis throwing in an original composition or two, expect to hear a wide range of classic and modern rock standards remade in each band’s image.
If you haven’t been able to get out this weekend to cure your cabin fever, next weekend may present an opportune time to do so.
Friday night videos episode 23
This will be a somewhat abbreviated version which focuses less on politics and more on other fun stuff. I just have to remember to set these up to the proper format for my revised site.
Jim Rutledge is among five Republicans running for the United States Senate seat in Maryland. This is one of several videos he’s placed on his website to explain his views. (In the interest of fairness, I looked on his main competitor’s website and he has no videos – if I find he has a Youtube channel I’ll put his up.) This is called “The Bankrupting of America.”
A much more famous former (and future?) candidate graces the spotlight here. After the commercial (since this comes from the CBS News site) you can watch the entirety of Sarah Palin’s address to the TEA Party Convention in Nashville.
Since Palin’s speech was so long, I’m going to shift gears and add a couple local music videos I stumbled across. Each week I make an effort to be near my radio at 9 p.m. Sunday to catch the show “Local Produce” (it’s on 93.5 the Beach.) One of the hosts is Bob Daigle and in replaying my Semiblind video I featured last fall (“Right As Rain”) I found they did the same song acoustically at the 93.5 the Beach studios. Here’s that video.
And the original, plugged version I had from last October. The sound’s not as good but it’s interesting to hear the difference.
The solo which comes in about 2:30 works much better plugged in.
Lastly, this band is a local band called Vivid Season who’s taking time to help a good cause (as you’ll see in a post tomorrow. This is called a “tease.”)
Since the song is from their website, I don’t think they mind sharing.
Hope you enjoyed the extra music after the politics. If I can find enough good stuff from local bands I may make that a larger part of future FNV episodes – I figure I deal with politics five or six other days a week (depending on time of year) so why not let my hair down – what little I have – on the weekends, right?
Friday night videos episode 22
Since most of my readership is presumably snowed in, as long as they have power I have what can be called a captive audience. Welcome to the “Snowblind” edition of FNV.
One snowblind person seems to be President Obama, who met with the GOP last weekend in Baltimore. Here’s the Republicans’ perspective on the event.
Something tells me there’s not a lot of common ground because I think Obama wasn’t sincere when he came to see them. Does “we won, you lost” ring a bell?
Here he changes up on health care. Maybe you can’t keep your plan as he said you could?
We know his budget is an upcoming train wreck, too. Washington News-Observer caught up to Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan discussing the FY 2011 budget blueprint submitted by President Obama.
And Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana hasn’t figured out where the tax cuts Obama promised are.
Turning to more local politics, one member of the General Assembly told a gathering I was at that they didn’t do their job in reining in Governor O’Malley. State Senator Allan Kittleman addressed this group just before the March on Annapolis.
Later, he gave the GOP response to the State of the State address.
Last but not least this video is in honor of my anniversary with Kim (our first date was one year ago today!) One of her favorite songs just happened to be done by Agent 99 back in December at the 12 Bands of Christmas show, so as a little gift to her and the rest of you I’m featuring it. No, it’s not exactly romantic but she does like the song!
Hopefully the snow will be gone for the next edition of FNV!
Friday night videos episode 21
It’s time for another edition of Friday Night Videos. This one will be mostly political, since these were the items which piqued my interest.
We’ll start out with Washington News-Observer’s chat with Rep. Darrell Issa of California on a number of subjects.
WNO also asked an assortment of Congressmen about the fate of the health care bill after Scott Brown’s election. My guess is this was taped during the pro-life rally last week since they were outdoors.
Just a little name dropping about the cast of characters: Bob Latta was my State Representative when I last lived in Ohio. I’ve done a couple conference calls with Cathy McMorris Rodgers and she’s quite well-spoken. (You’ll see more of her.) And last night one of the other guests on the radio show I did with Melody Scalley was Rep. Louie Gohmert. Small world.
Here’s the second video with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Obama talked about transparency, the Republicans put it into action.
We go from current members of Congress to a past member talking about how future members should run for election. This would be one Newt Gingrich.
It’s all about the ‘80-20′ issues, huh? Let’s ask Dede Scozzafava or Wayne Gilchrest about that. If those two were 50-50 I’d be shocked.
In other news, the Center for Individual Freedom was among many who were pleased with the Citizens United ruling. The group’s Renee Giachino explains in their “Freedom Minute” (which is actually about 4 minutes.)
President Obama was among those who dissed the Supremes’ decision, and Americans for Prosperity put together a video of their members’ reaction to the State of the Union at gatherings across the country.
It’s probably a good thing they didn’t do the local gathering. *ahem*
Finally, it’s time for local music to wrap this up. This is the cover band Gravy, doing their version of the CSNY protest song “Ohio.”
I have two or three more videos from the event, but as the old Hollywood saying goes, “always leave them wanting more.” So I will, until next week!
Weekend of local rock volume 28
My first concert of 2010 involved some pretty hard-hitting stuff. The fancy poster tells it all.
The four-band bill consisted of three bands I hadn’t seen before and a headliner I’d had limited exposure to. First was a five-piece band of young guys who dubbed themselves Too Legit To Quit.
I was starting to get a good feel for them, but sadly the bassist broke a string and their legitimacy stopped four songs in. Good thing I didn’t wait for pics.
Next up was the heavy sound of Gravelight.
The thing I liked most about Gravelight was how they wrote songs with bridges very reminiscent of early ’80’s rockers like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest – stuff I grew up with. I think it would be interesting to hear these guys in the studio with a cleaner sound system and see how that compares.
Something I can’t figure out about these guys, though, is why just two (the singer and drummer) wear makeup.
Next up was Virginia-based Bitter. They came prepared to earn their gas money home.
Boy, was I glad they were from Virginia. That guitar on the right was definitely at home there.
Musically, they put on an enjoyable set – maybe not as adventurous as Gravelight but still a very good effort nonetheless.
One thing I liked about all three bands heretofore unseen to me was that they played all originals (or if they weren’t I wasn’t familiar with the original song.) Order 6-D6 played a stray cover or two, but overall that was the best part of the night.
I don’t know if body shape has anything to do with it, but my favorite aspect of Order 6-D6 is the vocals.
I had seen these guys just once before, when 96 Rock had a ‘Battle of the Bands’ at Pork in the Park last April. They did an impressive three-song set there so I put it on my mental checklist to see them again when I had a chance.
I found out one thing at the show – I need to pick up their latest CD to see if they sound as good there. Even their choice of covers was interesting – a song by the Misfits and one by The Doors. (That was done with their future second guitarist, he’ll come on board in the next month or so to make the band a five-piece.)
As a start to 2010, it was a good show to get the rust off after a month away and something a little more heavy than I’d seen in awhile.
Last night I saw some old, familiar friends and that’s my next installment of Weekend of Local Rock next weekend.
Friday night videos episode 20
This won’t be the longest version; let’s see if I can make it the best. I’ll begin with a nice wrapup of the March on Annapolis last week. I was hoping this video would come out sooner, but better late than never.
I hope that Twisted Sister gets its few royalty pennies from this one as well.
It was a little chilly at the event, so the next video is necessary to warm things up. I talked about this earlier this month and Freedom Action came up with the video to poke fun at Al Gore.
We just saw a successful campaign by Republican Scott Brown to wrest control of one Massachusetts seat in the U.S. Senate from the Democrats. Some people don’t like the new media and their efforts to shine a little sunlight on their campaign. These are two looks at an amusing but illustrative incident in the Bay State.
Filmmaker, writer, and political figure Daniel Vovak sent along this interview he did on “The District Dish.” He’s the writer of a movie called “The Blue Dress”, which he bills as a comedy about the Monica Lewinsky affair.
In a way, Daniel’s struggle to get this movie out without the backing of a major studio is akin to the trials and tribulations local musicians go through to get their music out. This week I feature another band I saw at the 12 Bands of Christmas last month, Woodstok Nation.
Today marks the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Last year, Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona stood before Congress and made an impassioned plea for the unborn.
With that I close out another edition of FNV. Wait until next week and I’ll have more good stuff.
Friday night videos episode 19
When we last left our fair protagonist, he was wrapping the first FNV of 2010.
Now I’m back with more political items, of course.
About a month ago, there was a rally at the Capitol on health care dubbed the Senate Emergency Rally. Since health care isn’t a done deal yet, it’s worth hearing radio talk show host Laura Ingraham’s take on this. From the Washington News-Observer:
Nor is the health care debate transparent (as promised by President Obama) – this is Rep. Joe Sestak (a Democrat) lamenting the lack of transparency.
So does Newt Gingrich…a victory for “bipartisanship”:
American Solutions (Newt’s group) also laments the lack of openness.
Until they came up with a last-minute compromise, even union leaders weren’t all that pleased about the health care bill. I have a lot of WNO material this week, but Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO explains his side.
The Center for Individual Freedom points out trends in the fight against health care, too.
President Obama doesn’t seem to be following through on promises and nor does his stimulus, which is why the national Chamber of Commerce opposes the idea of a second one. Again, from WNO:
I wish they’d have been as careful about their support the first time, but I guess coming to the party late is better than not coming at all.
There hasn’t been much talk about this around here, but Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah is concerned about the prospect of same-sex marriage in Washington, D.C. It’s up to Congress to approve the local government’s endorsement of the concept.
Once again, that’s thanks to WNO.
I’m going to wrap this up by bringing back some original music. A few weeks back I attended the ‘12 Bands of Christmas’ show and took a few video clips of various bands. This one was the Paul Lewis Band and an original song they did as part of their set.
Hope you enjoyed the tune and the overall presentation – look for more next week!
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.
Please note that the opinions expressed on monoblogue are not necessarily those of the Wicomico County Republican Party Central Committee, of which I'm a member. (But they probably should be.)
News from the loony left:
