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There’s a lot going on in this big old world lately. It’s all I can do to just toss out a few events to help you fulfill your entertainment fantasies. The Illinois Central Blues Club invites all interested blues bands to enter the local competition for an ICBC-sponsored spot at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn., this coming February. The contest takes place during the Old Capitol Blues & BBQs, held Aug. 23 in downtown Springfield. Groups need not be local (though that’d be nice), but at least one musician of the competing band must be a card-carrying member of the ICBC. The judges, who come from our community, include blues lovers and music-appreciation specialists who follow rules and regulations set forth by the national Blues Foundation. This is a very big deal for the musicians who attend the prestigious event in Memphis, and our area blues fans take great pride in sending quality groups to represent the Springfield area. Interested bands should check out the details online at www.icbluesclub.org or call 217-622-0340 for more information. The submission deadline is July 25. May the best band win. Speaking of downtown, what can we say about the upcoming Taste of Downtown on Saturday, July 12, except that it gets bigger and better every year? I’m proud to say that I can remember playing the early Tastes, each one a tenuous proposition. Now it’s a standard of the central Illinois entertainment season. I know, I know, I hear the talk about “They should do this and that” and “Why is this band playing instead of that one and that restaurant serving this instead of that.” Regardless of the commentary, the show continues, and most folks seem to be happy with it, so let the naysayers talk. I’m going to go enjoy myself, happy to have a nicely done downtown event to attend. Oh yeah, I’m not even going to tell you what bands are playing, but I’m betting they’ll be worth the measly admission fee. In fact I’m so sure of it, I would have no problem going without knowing. If you happen to be traveling through Oklahoma on Saturday rather than attending the Taste, be sure to throw your support behind local resurrected rockers House of Nasty (a.k.a. Nasty Nasty), who will be performing at the very big and way past huge Rocklahoma festival, held in Pryor, near Tulsa. It’s predicted that around 50,000 fans per day will be jostling to hear the 70 bands — which include such 1980s household names as Ratt, Poison, Warrant, and Cinderella — booked for the five-day event. Congrats to Micky S. and the boys — rock on! The Infinity Room, at the Vinegar Hill Mall, kicks off operations with a celebration featuring the Oohs at 9 p.m. Friday, July 11. From a recent raucous period as dance club Karma to disco days as Baur’s Opera House, my oh my the stories that space could tell. The awesomely refurbished bar and dance room, now under the management of the righteously successful Pizza Machine people, is available for parties, receptions, and the like.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 3-9, 2008.
