Things rockabilly’d their way into the Labor Day holiday weekend, with a rollicking show at The Pyramid Scheme, not to mention blasts of folk-rock, indie-rock, hip-hop and, yes, Dan Fogelberg.
Hot Stuff: Reverend Horton Heat drew a huge Pyramid Scheme crowd. (Photo/Katy Batdorff)
It’s an old musicians’ joke but I can’t resist: C, E-flat and G go into a bar. The bartender says: “Sorry, but we don’t serve minors.” So, E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished: G is out flat.
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La Famigilia and guests pumped up BIlly’s Lounge on Saturday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, “Excuse me, I’ll just be a second.”
An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims: “Get out now! You’re the seventh minor I’ve found in this bar tonight.”
Bars were hopping with musicians over Labor Day weekend, with The Muteflutes launching the holiday break with a riveting set of their distinctive rock for a full house at Rockford Brewing Co., guitarist Don Campbell (who also played a 1916 Gibson mandolin) and his band — Tonya Shevenell on bass, Tom Yoder on fiddle and mandolin and Kris Rodgers on keyboards — offering up an evening of Dan Fogbelberg music at Spring Lake’s Seven Steps Up, Reverend Horton Heat, Wayne “The Train” Hancock and Deke Dickerson lighting things up in rootsy, swingin’ rockabilly fashion for a huge crowd at The Pyramid Scheme (captured by photographer Katy Batdorff), and La Famiglia and musical guests and friends delivering their singular hip-hop magic at Billy’s Lounge (with photos by Anthony Norkus).
And then there was an “amazing” Pyramid Scheme show with Portland, Ore., indie-rockers The Thermals, plus White Mystery and Natural Child.
Oh, and when C sobers up, he realizes in horror that he’s under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility. The bartender decides everything has become alto much treble and closes the bar.
THE LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY (9/1/13)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
