Playing it safe over two weekends
.. And I'm sticking with tradition. And the safe and sound these days. Lord knows one would never musically call the Voot Warnings show 'safe' but I went more because I knew it would be safe in assuming it would be a good show. If it's a holiday, you can bet Steve Johnson will be booking either Voot or somebody like Shurilla, more out of tradition than anything else.
And that's a good thing. It gets Voot playing back in Riverwest, where the old generation of Uptowner barflies (even those of us who don't have theluxury of just walking down the street) came out of the woodwork to see the show. Voot's halloween band this year was a simple threesome -- Voot himself on bass -- which he's been doing a lot lately, Vic Demeichi on drums, and Ron Turner on guitar. Turner is a good guitar choice for Voot: he takes those turnarounds and progressions and adds some really nice licks to them without being a hotdog or stealing the thunder, but good enough to get people to remember, "Hey, Turner's got some chops."
Voot was the only one who dressed up: as the Cowardly Lion. Chatted with his lovely wife Rhonda, who assured me the Lion was part of a family groupin -- next day Rhonda put on Glinda's pretty dress and their sweet daughter went as Dorothy.
Besides the usual Voot/Uptowner bunch, spotted in the crowd: Grant Richter, along with business partner and fellow intellectual about town, Rex Probe. Or at least I think it was Rex Probe.
So after a grownup hallows eve eve, I got some sleep and spent theHalloween day shufling the kids around to the many partis they were invited to, all of which were in Bay View -- and Bay View had Nighttime Trick or Treat. (Our neighborhood's nighttime candy canvass was last weekend.). People, Bay View rocks. Stella made out like a bandit, and Sammy probably would have too if he hadn't been (or been coming for)the Pokey Little Puppy. He was really into being the Grim Reaper again, but he was polite.
This weekend, it won't be hard to play it safe as regards music. In fact, it will be difficult to choose. Tonight, there 's a faceoff at Kochanski's between Danny Price and the Loose Change and the Grand Disaster, or you can hit Shank Hall for a Semi-Twang show. Tomorrow night is reunion night: and just what reunion I'll hit will be a last minute choice. Mike Benign and Blue in the Face is reuniting at Shank Hall along with the Wooldridge Brothers. Or there's the Chop Top Toronados reunion at Linneman's, along with a band that's been on my "Allright, must see already!" list, Dyna Flo and her Roadmasters. Stay tuned to see where I end up.
And that's a good thing. It gets Voot playing back in Riverwest, where the old generation of Uptowner barflies (even those of us who don't have theluxury of just walking down the street) came out of the woodwork to see the show. Voot's halloween band this year was a simple threesome -- Voot himself on bass -- which he's been doing a lot lately, Vic Demeichi on drums, and Ron Turner on guitar. Turner is a good guitar choice for Voot: he takes those turnarounds and progressions and adds some really nice licks to them without being a hotdog or stealing the thunder, but good enough to get people to remember, "Hey, Turner's got some chops."
Voot was the only one who dressed up: as the Cowardly Lion. Chatted with his lovely wife Rhonda, who assured me the Lion was part of a family groupin -- next day Rhonda put on Glinda's pretty dress and their sweet daughter went as Dorothy.
Besides the usual Voot/Uptowner bunch, spotted in the crowd: Grant Richter, along with business partner and fellow intellectual about town, Rex Probe. Or at least I think it was Rex Probe.
So after a grownup hallows eve eve, I got some sleep and spent theHalloween day shufling the kids around to the many partis they were invited to, all of which were in Bay View -- and Bay View had Nighttime Trick or Treat. (Our neighborhood's nighttime candy canvass was last weekend.). People, Bay View rocks. Stella made out like a bandit, and Sammy probably would have too if he hadn't been (or been coming for)the Pokey Little Puppy. He was really into being the Grim Reaper again, but he was polite.
This weekend, it won't be hard to play it safe as regards music. In fact, it will be difficult to choose. Tonight, there 's a faceoff at Kochanski's between Danny Price and the Loose Change and the Grand Disaster, or you can hit Shank Hall for a Semi-Twang show. Tomorrow night is reunion night: and just what reunion I'll hit will be a last minute choice. Mike Benign and Blue in the Face is reuniting at Shank Hall along with the Wooldridge Brothers. Or there's the Chop Top Toronados reunion at Linneman's, along with a band that's been on my "Allright, must see already!" list, Dyna Flo and her Roadmasters. Stay tuned to see where I end up.
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