After the past few cool and cloudy days, may you be reading this while basking in the sunshine, dreaming of all the good music coming your way this week.
Start off the adventure Thursday night with a visit to the Illinois State Fairgrounds and a concert to knock your socks off. Mudvayne from Peoria and V Shape Mind from Decatur, both central Illinois artists recently signed to major labels, combine forces with Powerman 5000 and Mindfold for a real live (and real loud) rock concert, sponsored by WQLZ and Budweiser True Music. The Expo Building isn’t known for its astute acoustics, but who cares? Neither was the Armory or the Ice Chateau, but it never stopped us from going.
Here’s a fun time for downtown wanderers on a Friday evening: a “Sidewalk Serenade” in front of Andiamo¡, the coffeeshop, bar, and restaurant on the east side of Sixth Street, just south of Adams. Mike Cheffer, a guitar-playing singer who covers lots of songs from the 50s, 60s, and 70–and dabbles in a few funny and enlightening originals–will be hanging out on the street for your entertainment pleasure. Between there and a saunter over to Robbie’s on the south side of the Old Capitol Plaza for the “Uptown Friday Night” gig featuring the Dan Rivero Trio, you can fill up the after work gap quite nicely. Both shows run from 5:30 to 7:30.
Ahhhh, the Oohs–Springfield’s answer to sweet power pop–have changed drummers in midstream. Mike Laible has stepped off the throne (not over musical differences) and Jim Engel has accepted the scepter of drum king. Engel, a veteran of the Springfield scene, has performed with Secret Society and Hurricane Ruth, among other notable area groups. Keyboardist and founding member Brian Curtis reports that we can “rest assured that the vocal harmonies remain intact, as Jim is a fine singer as well as a player.” The Oohs will make their first appearance with Engel this Friday at the Grandstand on Sangamon from 8:30 to 12:30. The band is also in the recording way, with a third album planned for this fall. The busy boys are on two compilations too, both scheduled for fall releases: They play “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” on It Was Forty Years Ago Today: A Beatles Tribute from Bullseye Records of Canada, and they perform “Mr. Cliché” an Oohs original, on fund-raising disc for the Syracuse, New York, radio show “This is Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio.” Keep on rockin’.
The Funny Bone Comedy Club is ready to re-open next week after their late summer break, and you can help. Come crack yourself up and hopefully audience members, too, at a comedy open mic on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Next weekend, on September 12 and 13, John Morgan “the Ragin’ Cajun” gets the 2003 fall season off to a hilarious start.
From the “not in a smoky tavern purveying alcoholic spirits” department: the New Salem Traditional Music Festival is this Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the evenings, bluegrass bands are scheduled in the outdoor theater. It’s a great way to wander away a day (or two), listening and watching as fiddlers, bassists, banjo pickers, mandolin strummers, and guitarists roam the park, getting together on a whim to wail on some good old-time music.
Whatever the weather, enjoy the tunes as they come, however you see fit.
This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2003.
