Weekend of local rock volume 46

All seasons must come to an end, and so it is with the Ocean City off-season. While tourism is the lifeblood of the area economy, it’s not as good for local, original music. Those who come “downy ocean” from origins like the Baltimore area, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey seem to want the tried, true, and familiar so club owners hire DJs and cover bands for the summer and some bands have a harder time being seen.

On the other hand, a group of local multi-band shows punctuate the fall and winter months, with many of them occurring at the behest of promoter and local musician and radio program director Skip Dixxon. The 10th Annual Spring Luau is one.

It was a gloomy evening that didn’t remind me of spring when they got together.

A murky early spring night in Ocean City.

Nevertheless, I arrived a little after what I thought was the 4 p.m. start time and found out it began at 3, so I missed The Hooplas and barely caught the last two songs of Dust n’ Bones.

Dust n' Bones was second up.

Neither of them were their namesake Guns n’ Roses tune, which is disappointing. I think it would be a great closing song for them.

But the winner for best-named band, hands down, had to be Drink Drank Drunk.

Band number 3 - Drink Drank Drunk.

Their playlist was more reminiscent of an early ’70s band than most – when was the last time you heard ‘I’m Your Captain’ by Grand Funk Railroad on the radio, let alone by a cover band? Growing up in the Midwest it was more of a staple song, but I wasn’t sure GFR made inroads to the East Coast.

Another Midwest favorite, Rush, made it onto the bill of Witches Brew.

If you don’t believe me, here’s their (somewhat altered) playlist.

‘In The Mood’ is a forgotten gem from the Canadian trio, obviously done with a twist with the female vocal. And Susan was springlike in her non-black attire.

EZ Action also featured a lady, and also reached back into the early days of what’s considered classic rock (as opposed to oldies) by reviving bands like Spirit and Badfinger.

I also liked the appropriate Spring Luau attire.

Anchoring the middle of the 12-band lineup was Petting Hendrix.

They were rocking enough to cover a somewhat more modern playlist but fun enough to do their own version of The Jeffersons theme (‘Movin’ On Up.’) Definitely different.

This photo wasn’t taken during that song, but I liked it enough for inclusion.

Returning from the D.C. area to do another of Skip’s shows was Hightest.

Their set was more in the hard rock vein as they jammed out with some Van Halen and Alice in Chains, among others.

Interestingly enough, we were a little ahead of schedule at the time so the sound guy got to play a couple as part of the Bob Brown Project.

Literally they did two songs before clearing the way for Vivid Season.

If you can read upside down, here’s what they played. They managed to get all these songs into their timeslot.

And I like how this picture came out as well. If there were a picture of rock n’ roll I think it would qualify.

I’m going to add another solo picture here. This lady did not sing or perform, but she had a difficult task.

She was holding up the camera to record Bride Dressed in Black’s performance.

The very active, very intense Christian-themed band blends hard rock and hip-hop with mostly original songs. They also had a little bit of swag (which the young lady pictured above was in charge of) and they certainly made more fans at the event. In fact, they jumped around so much that the guitarist in the center with the red guitar must have landed wrong and twisted an ankle or knee – by the end of the performance he was on a stool. Hate it when that happens.

The lead singer here may look familiar.

Loud Love and Drink Drank Drunk share the same lead singer but Loud Love plays a more hard rock set featuring a batch of Van Halen.

Believe it or not, they were almost through. The last band standing was The Phantom Limbs.

I like The Phantom Limbs and I’ll tell you why. Not many bands take all the influences they seem to have and make them sound this fun. They can play a seven- or eight-minute original jam and it’s all good.

So we can all thank the guy in the middle of this for putting the Spring Luau and other shows together. By the way, I have no idea who the lady was who asked me to take the picture or who the other two guys were, but here you go. Use it for what it’s worth, whoever you are.

It’s just another weekend of local rock around Delmarva.