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Regular readers of this column are surely aware by
now that Thanksgiving Eve is Springfield’s busiest bar night of the
year, thanks to the booze-swilling public and measured by the cash
registers of participating nightclubs. It certainly makes sense when you think about it.
Almost everyone has the next day off for Thanksgiving (thank you, Abe), and
generally the required activity is to lie around and eat while resting for
the day after Thanksgiving, which is, of course, one of the busiest
shopping days of the year. It’s the perfect night to get bombed,
pickled, bamboozled, stewed, stoned, hammered, or plastered (or whatever
other term you care to use to describe the effect) and then take the next
day for recovery purposes. Those of us who don’t take full advantage of
this special night for boozing can still reap benefits by enjoying the
additional live music booked by club owners looking to capitalize on the
wildly popular party night. Without further adieu, then, here’s the
Thanksgiving Eve entertainment for Springfield and surrounding areas for
2007. What’s the best thing about having a weekly
Wednesday gig? Every year you get an automatic Thanksgiving Eve show. Just
ask the members of the Station, who’ve jammed out at Marly’s
Pub (9 W. Old State Capitol Plaza, 217-522-2280) most every Wednesday for
years and will this week as well. Marly’s features 56 Hope Road in a
pre-CD-release-tour appearance on Friday and NIL8 on Saturday.
What’s this — a band called the Lost Boys
playing at the Forty-Niner Bye-Bye (518 Bruns Lane, 217-787-4937)? Never
heard of them. Just kidding, folks. Rest assured, you’ll rock solid
through the night with these guys manning the music-making machines. The
Joe Cook Band plays some tasty blues and rock on Friday. The booking of the
Timmys at Café-Kanichi-wa (1117 S. Grand Ave. E., 217-544-3500) puts
an eclectic, cool band in an eccentric, cool bar, a sparkling combination
that is not to be missed. Please say hello to the friendly mannequins, but
remember: No touching allowed. Don’t stop reading now — we’re just
getting warmed up. The Perfunctory This Band perpetuates the legacy of the
Grateful Dead at JW’s Lounge (2266 S. Sixth St., 217-544-1303), and
the Damwell Betters blast their way through Salute (107 W. Cook St.,
217-523-7343), in the Vinegar Hill Mall. The Bourbon Street Bluegrass Band
picks out at Trail’s End (Route 54, Curran, 217-483-7078) with the
adept and provocative singer/songwriter Pete Sanders starting around 7:30
p.m.
Here’s one more bit of area music news for you.
Fans of the bluesy Mojo Stew can catch a reunion and CD-release show
Saturday, Nov. 24, at Daddio’s (527 N. Main, 309-828-4434) in
Bloomington. The band played the Illinois State Fair years ago with Cats on
Holiday and features Petersburg resident Monica Morris, providing dynamite
vocals. That should be enough to keep us all busy until next
week. Have a happy Thanksgiving . . . Eve.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2007.
