I must admit. I'm a bit limited in my music preferences. I've had friends educate me and I am generally open to listening to something not in my preferred genre (Broadway show tunes - that's about it, and the occasional classical composer and Christian songs). I've discovered Chris Botti and Jamie Cullum and Straight No Chaser and Jon McLaughlin and like them all. But nothing prepared me for dot dot dot.
My co-worker and good friend, Erin Waltz and I, were "exploring" Bloomington after a Chamber After Hours this past summer and we ended up at Jake's, a club catering to the Indiana University crowd. If I'm out with Erin, I'm usually just along for the ride, and honestly not too crazy about these places. The band is too loud, the floor is too sticky, and the patrons are generally obnoxious.
But when we got in the general vicinity of the stage, something happened. I think it was the music first (80's and 90's cover), and then the general look of the band (an awesome Asian girl on lead guitar, a buff mountain-biking female bass player, and a crazy looking drummer). But then I saw Adam, the lead singer, and was entranced. I walked to the stage like I was a zombie possessed. I loved Adam's voice and his smile. I was pretty sure he was a guy, but that was questionable. That didn't matter. There was no guy-gal attraction for me. It was all about how Adam was drawing in the crowd, the physical-ness of the performance, the obvious enjoyment he got from entertaining, and how he loved the audience. I was hooked.
Erin and I kept track of their visits to Bloomington (the band is from Chicago) and didn't miss any of their subsequents gigs. We started to get quite a following of others we would invite to the shows, and now there is quite a slew of us that open up our calendar to make sure we see them when they're here. We are the most faithful fans!
During one of their visits this past Fall we had a chance to meet them after that show and they told us they wouldn't be able to come back for awhile because they were going to Los Angeles. They were fairly evasive about the trip, but next thing we know, they're a finalist on The Next Great American Band! We kept up with their weekly performance and were quite impressed with that they were one of the last four (although CLEARLY they should have placed FIRST!).
Adam promised, when we saw him last, that they would be back to Bloomington as soon as they were done, and Adam has kept his promise! We are looking forward to seeing the show on January 25 at The Blue Bird. Join us if you can!
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