Yeah, I feel the same way as you do. How the heck did it get to be 2025 already? The last thing I remember was going to concerts promoted by Len Trumper at the Armory, and the next thing here we are fixing up the Armory, and it’s 50 years later. Oh well, all I can say is I’m happy to be participating in it all. I’m assuming that you are, too.
Speaking of fixing up things, Sangamon Auditorium and the UIS Studio Theatre are both closing for repairs in June this year until the fall of 2026. But working plumbing is important, and that’s what they’re repairing in the 50-year-old facility and we will be thrilled when those prized venues reopen.
It’s fun just to ramble on a bit in el numero uno Now Playing of this year (did I mention that it’s 2025?) and also it’s very normal for the first weekend of the year (I won’t mention it again) to be low in the calendar gig numbers so I kind of need to goof off some. By next week everyone will be all greased up and flying high once more, but we still have a little bit of this, a whole lot of that and a very nice mix of this, that and the other thing, so let’s get to perusing ye old “pub crawl” music listings and see what’s offered for our entertainment benefit, right directly.
I will mention in my rambles – since I like to kick off promoting Thursday shows and there are hardly any this week – that sometime back somebody mentioned to me that it wasn’t fair that I go on about Thursdays because they didn’t read (or pick up) the IT until usually Friday and always missed those shows. I wasn’t quite ready with an answer, other than the obvious one in which this person could easily remedy the situation themselves, so I’m just going to move on to Friday now and hope the above-mentioned person reads this. Thank you all (including said person) for caring enough to take the time to read us and to follow the music in real time out in the venues. And remember you can always check out our fine paper online, anytime or anywhere, and look ahead in the listings to plan your musical escapades weeks in advance.
So on to Friday we go with a load of hits like Manny Lee singing upstairs at Harvest Market, Brandon Santini blowing his harp at the Curve Inn, Sarah Schneider Band slinging songs at George Rank’s and Ricarda Rosalina starting strong at Buzz Bomb.
Moving quickly into Saturday, why not start early with Peaches & Bacon (the old-timey folk duo, not a menu option) at Stella Coffee & Tea cranking up the fiddle and banjo at 10 a.m., then catch Johnnie Owens later in the evening with his stellar band and famed voice at the Curve Inn.
In between those shows Elvis Himselvis (Rick Dunham is the man behind the shades and the voice and in the jumpsuit, of course) and his well-oiled band present the annual Elvis Presley birthday show (EP would be – or is – 90 on Jan. 8) to the Peggy Ryder Theatre (third floor) in the Hoogland Center for the Arts at 3 p.m.
Well, even after all that ramblin’ ’round we still found plenty to go see, hear and do. Happy 2025 to you and yours, they and theirs, me and mine, and all who remain.
This article appears in Best films and scenes of 2024.
