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A quick survey of last week’s Pub Crawl, the
best and most accurate entertainment listing in our area, conveniently
located in our illustrious paper, shows 112 separate happenings over a
seven-day period. Breaking down the overall events into live music vs.,
well, not live is
an interesting way to while away the hours. Using pen, paper, fingers, and
my brain, I counted 33 karaoke nights and 32 DJs with some crossbreeding of
the two for a total of 65. Live music — bands, quartets, trios, duos,
and solos — accounts for the remaining 47 entries. Here I combined
the six or seven (not quite sure on some) open mics with the rest of the
performing artists. Just in case inquiring minds want to know, it’s
pretty well evenly divided among jazz, blues, rock, and acoustic-based
music, with blues groups slightly leading the pack and one country band
riding all alone into the sunset.
One reason for the surge in popularity of blues music
here is the opening of Catch 22 Upstairs (11 W. Old State Capitol Plaza,
217-522-5732). Catch 22 Downstairs is a young folks’ DJ dance bar. (I
can never go down those stairs without thinking of the Kmart the place used
to be. I bought my first Hot Wheels there, agonizing over paying the
outrageous amount of 39 cents. Geez, I’m getting old.) The upstairs
bar once housed Springfield’s only martini bar — but, by most
standards, it served the absolute worst martinis in town. Most recently it
was home to a 3 a.m. dance club and nightly visits by Springfield’s
finest to help the happy dancers home. Now under new management, the
Upstairs features blues bands on weekend nights, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. This Friday
the Frank Trompeter Quartet hangs in that gray area where jazz and blues
collide, and the Bluesmatic Band takes the Saturday slot. The management
intends to continue the effort at least through December, giving you, dear
listeners, a decent place to hear good live music as long as it is
supported. Club Chrome (3075 Normandy Rd., 217-638-9217) is
another venue trying to feed live music to hungry fans. The club’s
management has booked many Top 40 acts and welcomes the Misfits’
30th-anniversary tour on Dec. 5. Every Friday the bar with the best stage
in town plays host to hard-rocking local groups. This week, check out the
manic metal sounds of Decimation, Pound for Pound, Us Against Them, and Dig
Down Deep. Music starts at 10 p.m., the cover charge is $5, and, if
Decimation’s slogan is honest and I believe it is, you’re in
for a hoot. The band’s MySpace page announces that they are
“Forged by destiny, fueled by hate, spawned to take Metal back from
the weak and the fake.”
I know exactly how they feel.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2007.
