Happy? New Year, 2009
On Wednesday, the bosses closed up shop at Noon-ish and we headed to the Highway Inn for burgers. We stayed there for an hour and I took off. A few stops later, I was on my way to Grand Rapids to Quinn and Tuite's.
I arrived around 2pm and met up with Taki, Jim and Matt and we talked for a few hours before others of our group began to arrive. We took over six of the tables. Of course, I thought we should leave some prime seats for Waxies, or the other band, but it was generally decided "If they wanted good seats, they should have shown up sooner", so I didn't bring it up again.
As the musicians began to wander in, I realized that while they only sold 90 seats, there were going to be more than 20 musicians there. The ratio of musicians to attendees amused me. Eventually folks started to arrive and the bands were ready to play.
Horace Pickett was the first to play at about 8pm. Their style is... odd. Their style is this strange purposeful mix-match of tone and style. They kinda sound like Violent Fems, but with more interest in the instruments (organ/piano, guitars, drummer). Someone said "They have a unique Grand Rapids style", for whatever that means. *laugh*. It's an interesting group; not one I'd expect to hear with two "Irish" bands, but an interesting opening act.
Craic Wisely went on stage at 9:30 and rather than putting on a huge set, decided to do some fan-service. Instead of their normal sets, Todd and Dave decided to play some music from their OLD days... from even before WE started listening to them. Of course, there have been a LOT of changes since the last time they played some of these songs, so while Todd and Dave haddn't performed the songs in 4 years, Chris (the drummer), Ally (the cellist), Vince (on electric guitar) and ... the fiddler standing in for Dianne. It was performed "Accoustic" (well, mostly) with Todd on a mic'd guitar and Dave on a mandolin. Without the bass guitar, some of the songs didn't have their "umph" that they had when I'd heard them years before, but it was nice to have them at least showing their appreciation to the old fans. So while it may not have been a great set to make people appreciate Craic Wisely with, it was a bit interesting to hear some songs I haven't heard in a while, or even at all before that were a part of their past.
The Waxies got up on stage at some point after 10:30 and and put on a good show. They do have a bit more of a Flogging Molly/Dropkick Murphys presentation and keep to their "Irish" roots more closely than Craic Wisely does anymore. It seems they're really trying to keep the more traditional edge, at least in subject-matter with plenty or IRA and rebel songs. Some of their songs were a bit loose, but a version of "Queen of Argyle" had a particularly tight arrangement. They're a good band and any Irish music followers in the area that are looking for a young, Irish band and likes Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys would probably enjoy them.
At Midnight, Waxies and Craic played some songs together, then Craic took the stage solo and played a usual CW set until about 1am and then The Waxies played until 2 and that was pretty much it for the night.
The only sour note of the night was that upon getting ready to leave, it was discovered that Taki's jacket and sweater had gone missing. Unfortunately, he had put his cell phone and wallet in the jacket. Furtunately he had his car keys on his necklace. As far as I know, he hasn't found it yet (and phone calls go to voice mail now.)
I got home around 4am and crashed pretty hard. I've got a pretty aggressive sinus problem from 18 hours in a bar (from the smoke), so today was a bit of a bust for anything. My hope is that after another long-night's sleep I'll be good for tomorrow.
I did get a bunch of sketches done during the show, so that was another positive for me.
I arrived around 2pm and met up with Taki, Jim and Matt and we talked for a few hours before others of our group began to arrive. We took over six of the tables. Of course, I thought we should leave some prime seats for Waxies, or the other band, but it was generally decided "If they wanted good seats, they should have shown up sooner", so I didn't bring it up again.
As the musicians began to wander in, I realized that while they only sold 90 seats, there were going to be more than 20 musicians there. The ratio of musicians to attendees amused me. Eventually folks started to arrive and the bands were ready to play.
Horace Pickett was the first to play at about 8pm. Their style is... odd. Their style is this strange purposeful mix-match of tone and style. They kinda sound like Violent Fems, but with more interest in the instruments (organ/piano, guitars, drummer). Someone said "They have a unique Grand Rapids style", for whatever that means. *laugh*. It's an interesting group; not one I'd expect to hear with two "Irish" bands, but an interesting opening act.
Craic Wisely went on stage at 9:30 and rather than putting on a huge set, decided to do some fan-service. Instead of their normal sets, Todd and Dave decided to play some music from their OLD days... from even before WE started listening to them. Of course, there have been a LOT of changes since the last time they played some of these songs, so while Todd and Dave haddn't performed the songs in 4 years, Chris (the drummer), Ally (the cellist), Vince (on electric guitar) and ... the fiddler standing in for Dianne. It was performed "Accoustic" (well, mostly) with Todd on a mic'd guitar and Dave on a mandolin. Without the bass guitar, some of the songs didn't have their "umph" that they had when I'd heard them years before, but it was nice to have them at least showing their appreciation to the old fans. So while it may not have been a great set to make people appreciate Craic Wisely with, it was a bit interesting to hear some songs I haven't heard in a while, or even at all before that were a part of their past.
The Waxies got up on stage at some point after 10:30 and and put on a good show. They do have a bit more of a Flogging Molly/Dropkick Murphys presentation and keep to their "Irish" roots more closely than Craic Wisely does anymore. It seems they're really trying to keep the more traditional edge, at least in subject-matter with plenty or IRA and rebel songs. Some of their songs were a bit loose, but a version of "Queen of Argyle" had a particularly tight arrangement. They're a good band and any Irish music followers in the area that are looking for a young, Irish band and likes Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys would probably enjoy them.
At Midnight, Waxies and Craic played some songs together, then Craic took the stage solo and played a usual CW set until about 1am and then The Waxies played until 2 and that was pretty much it for the night.
The only sour note of the night was that upon getting ready to leave, it was discovered that Taki's jacket and sweater had gone missing. Unfortunately, he had put his cell phone and wallet in the jacket. Furtunately he had his car keys on his necklace. As far as I know, he hasn't found it yet (and phone calls go to voice mail now.)
I got home around 4am and crashed pretty hard. I've got a pretty aggressive sinus problem from 18 hours in a bar (from the smoke), so today was a bit of a bust for anything. My hope is that after another long-night's sleep I'll be good for tomorrow.
I did get a bunch of sketches done during the show, so that was another positive for me.