Whiskey Bottle as Instrument

Choose your own adventure.

I'm not sure where you wound up...and how many "where's" that entails... let alone how many "who's" you heard... Suffice it to say it is likely a markedly different night than what I (and my brother's camera) experienced.

Prussia opened it up for me, at the New Dodge, with singer Ryan Spencer strained, extolling his strep throat upon the sizable crowd taking their first few sips of bottom shelf gin. A red feather swathed Mick Bassett nudged my shoulder and posited something..., that this is potentially one of the most appealingly inventive and subtly visionary bands in the area... I nodded, unable to speak over the amps. ...well, anyway, his word was "best."

Next, swung in to the Gates of Columbus for the end of Hi-Speed Dubbing's set of rhythmic, gutteral psyche-pop...in fact, I'll say, this is a band that's better experienced, more so than read about - since their set often soars the arc of fuzzed blues, angular indie-rock, blistering gutiars, arresting rhythms and vocals that yowl one song and croon on the next...

And after that it was Scarlet Oaks just in time for a stirring rendition of their first single (from 07), "Innocence Isn't Easy" (...they have a farewell show, next Saturday at the Lager House). Set aside your perceptions of slower waltzing alt-country, or bluegrass-shaded rock, this band has always been a welcomed charm in any setting, however grimy or dank, they always brought an elegance.

Stumbling into the somewhat swanky Mars Bar, we caught a bit of Robin Goodfellow's synth-surged prog and guitar-tornadoing noise pop, complete with a trio of pyramid-headed go-go-dancers and a welcomed cover of Barrett-era Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam."

Visually intriguing at first, sure - but drown in the feedback and your ears are equally swooned, just in a more discordant manner...

Part one of: potentially what people are going to remember includes my stop at the Belmont.

Charlie Slick was a welcomed site (and a swaggering display as always), but perhaps hampered by the narrow bottle-necked design of the stage... that's a "dance floor" that disappears rather quickly, filled by the shuffling feet of a brick of bodies. Still a professional...

…Then - the dyanmic MC collective Cold Men Young took the stage in declarative fashion, with the soul/funk/reggae brigade of House Phone providing the rappers live instrumentation to back them up. Nine bodies up on that stage, with 70-some-odd more bodies clogging up the confounding quasi-hallway design of the audience space meant one couldn't get close enough for pictures... Spectacular display though...synched up nicely...

Losing some steam (or at least the motivation to continually "hop"), we settled into the cacophonous Gates of Columbus, already -even at that point, attaining an air of the lulling echo of a house party's piquing...but maybe that's because I came out of the bathroom to find four half naked men lacing up dresses and having make-up applied while someone handed me a garbage bag of inflated balloons...

The High Strung - into the Sights and into the --part two of what I can only think people will talk about... the JSB Squad's 20-some-odd member display...

Members of Lightning Love, Hard Lessons, Millions of Brazilians, Satin Peaches and many more...

One assiduous member, who is also in a band called Liquor Store, was merely playing the Whiskey Bottle. Some just waved flags and sang... All of it to back the ballads of the ever productive Jesse Shepherd Bates.

I was offered a swig of Rich & Rare. I stepped on a baloon.

Then left...