A Night on the Town - DOUBLE FEATURE! - The Detroit Cobras/Chuck Mead

Here in the prairie capital, one of the local food/music festivals is happening downtown.

Food from many of the local, independent restaurants (along with some corporate shills thrown in) are featured in booths surrounding the Old State Capitol, along with adult beverages, including Rolling Meadows Brewery (which has a great wheat beer).

Rachel Nagy (left) and Mary Ramirez (right) from
the Detroit Cobras

Also, great music is featured, including last nights show, the Detroit Cobras.

My good friend, Quietly Disgruntled, turned me on to this great band and it was great to see them live.

Unfortunately, it appeared that there were sound problems from the beginning that hampered the vibe dramatically.  Monitor issues continued throughout the show and it showed on the face of Rachel Nagy (lead vocals), who was muttering curse words and nursing a beer throughout the show.

However, a mediocre Detroit Cobras show is better than none at all, especially since they played my favorite, "Shout, Bamalama!"

Chuck Mead

Moving on after this show, we went down to Bar None (where we've seen other great acts, such as the Waco Brothers & Alejandro Escovedo) to see Chuck Mead (from BR5-49).

Chuck Mead was on target, playing originals, a load of classics from Buck Owens, Webb Pierce and Charlie Daniels, along with favorites from the BR5-49 days, including "Me & Opie" and "Betty, Betty".

The festival continues for another day, with more music and food, including a show from one of the Lady of the Manor's favorites, the great Elizabeth Cook, so, if you are near the prairie capital, stop on in, have a lot of good food and check out some great music!

Playlist for the first weekend of July 2011

Sorry for the delay this week, but it's my birthday weekend & I'm doing a little celebratin' & relaxin' along with some reflection on the blog.

I think from now on, I'm gonna post playlists for the weekend in general instead of doing a Friday playlist post.

It takes some pressure off (& that's always good.)

Anyway, this weekend marks 40 years since the death of Jim Morrison, lead singer and songwriter for the great '60's band, the Doors.

Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida to Navy parents in 1943.

Supposedly, at age 4, he witnessed a car accident in the desert involving the death of a Native American, which, for the rest of his life, Morrison said had a great impact on him.

After drifting around the nation, both due to his military family and his higher education, he eventually came to Los Angeles, California, where he met up with Ray Manzerak, John Densmore and Robby Krieger.

The Doors were formed in 1965, with Morrison as frontman.

After 6 great and debauched years with the band, Morrison died in a bathtub in Paris, France.

For more on Jim Morrison and the Doors, please read Danny Sugarman's great book, No One Here Gets Out Alive.

Morrison helped put the theatrical into rock music, blending the Blues, Blake, Baudelaire and the Beats into a hell-broth, ghost dance, & wearin' leather pants show that pre-dated greats such as Iggy Pop, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and host of '90's era grungers.

In honor of that, here's a playlist of good Doors tunes.



Enjoy!!!