Weekend of local rock volume 37

It’s really too bad that the 9th Annual Spring Luau didn’t occur one week later because I think it would have been a swell way to celebrate Human Achievement Hour, which came and went earlier tonight. (So did that worthless cause of Earth Hour, which happens to be the same time.) Cranking out hundreds of watts of loud rock n’ roll tends to be a pretty much ‘in your face’ response to those who would have us sit in the dark. (They were probably behind that horrible period when bands decided to go ‘unplugged’ as well. I definitely prefer ‘plugged.’)

But in the several years I’ve been going to and covering the Spring Luau (2010, 2009, 2008) some things have been constant and some haven’t. For example, the venue has changed a number of times – I remember in the pre-WOLR days going to the Monkey Barrel in Salisbury to check it out. It’s also been at The Steer Inn and the ill-fated Cowboyz in Ocean City, too.

This year there were nine bands, as there were last year. First up was a band new to me called Project X.

Since I arrived a few minutes after the start of the show and decided to eat before I went up front, I am probably giving Project X less than they deserve. I was actually pretty impressed with their opening act and hope they play more of Skip Dixxon’s events. Either they were doing all originals or they were covering songs I wasn’t too familiar with, but it was all good.

You’ll also see most of these guys again down the line since they helped out elsewhere as needed.

Monkee Paw was act number two.

I’ve heard Monkee Paw on one previous occasion, but they seem to be gathering a following which enjoys their renditions of classic rock songs. They were the band that started getting people up to the dance floor.

Skip Dixxon noted that he’d been trying to get 7 Days Wasted to his events for some time, but this was the first time they had an opening.

They were pretty much worth the wait, playing mostly hard-rock covers but tossing in an original composition as well.

A group that’s becoming a staple of Skip’s events is Witches Brew, who plays a variety of cover songs ranging from the psychedelic (‘White Rabbit’) to the boundaries of hard rock (like Nirvana or AC/DC.)

Their lead singer was the most active of the bunch, extending her stage to wherever the microphone cord allowed. She’d be at the bar if she were wireless.

Speaking of staple Skip Dixxon acts, I have not been to a Spring Luau where Semiblind wasn’t a featured band.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear they were placing originals back in their set – the audience was treated to three to go with four covers.

I added this shot because I thought it was cool. Once Jim gets jamming he has to throw his hair back and this was mid-throw.

Another frequent Spring Luau presence is Jason Lee of Crookedfinger. They were supposed to do a full-band set but several members were sick. So Jason started out solo.

But eventually he got a little help, first on the drums…

Then a bassist joined in as well…

Even the host jumped in for a song on the skins.

All in all, Jason’s act came across like an open-mike night in the middle of the show. The only problem was that it precluded Crookedfinger originals from being played, since there’s a couple I like.

I threw this in for effect. Dig that demonic look.

Another regular at Skip’s shows is the Phantom Limbs.

I’m going to elaborate on one description of their music and ask you to picture Dick Dale and Minor Threat having a love child raised by Alice Cooper. Yeah, something like that.

And they do get down – literally.

Gravitate isn’t quite that way, but they show a heavy alternative influence in song selection and styling. The bongos are a nice touch too.

They were the second-to-last band, and they suffered a bit from technical issues and a thinning crowd.

So it was the diehards who stuck around to watch the hard-rockin’ Lethal Dose.

I think I would have appreciated them more had the sound been a little better – somehow once Monkee Paw took the stage the mix wasn’t as crisp. It was a little worse with each band, and almost to the point of bad once Lethal Dose finally made it up there. They played the hard stuff, although they actually ended on a strange note with a rap song when their guitarist broke a string and one member of the audience busted out some rhymes with the bass and drums as beats (the last picture above.) You had to be there.

So there you have it – nine bands in eight hours. It was a nice pace, allowing bands to play seven or eight songs apiece rather than the five or so of past years.

And thanks to Skip Dixxon for putting on another good show (aside from the sound issues.)

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.