A weekend of surprises...

Had a suprisingly good time this weekend.

Didn't really plan on it being a rager, but it ended up that way nonetheless.

Caught Baltimore's All Mighty Senators on Friday night at 123 and they delivered, as usual. With no opener, and no local dates in almost a year, there was the very real possibility that this town could have forgotten about this band. Turned out to be just the opposite. By the time the Senators hit the stage around 11:30 the place was packed to the gills, and energy of an excited audience was palpable. Many folks around me were talking about how long it had been since they'd seen the Senators, or that they remembered great times seeing them way back when. Such was the same for this guy as well, as the evening as a whole seemed like a very real night in my life a few years ago, with a lot of old friends who I rarely run into at shows any more coming out of hiding for this one. The show was fantastic from start to finish. Guitar player Warren Boes may be the band's unsung hero sliding effortlessly back and forth between funky rhtyhms and blazing soloing, but all eyes are still on frontman Landis Expandis. AMS tore through most of their catalogue as well as Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", ZZ Top's "Tush" and fan favorite "Rocky Top", delivering over two hours straight of their patented brand of rock and soul. Let's hope it doesn't take them nearly as long to get back.

Saturday brought to town the flat-picking fireworks of Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, as well as the exciting collision of the Emergency and MAYDAY!

I started at the Rosewood, and was instantly impressed with the turnout. Both types of Rosewood patrons were well represented: the sitters and the yee-haw factor. You can put me in the second catagory, one I found woefully unrepresented at Keel's last local apperance, where I felt my drinking, dancing, and enthusiasm were unwanted by some in the audience. Keel and company tore through number after number at a breakneck speed, rarely slowing down for a quiet moment. When he did, it was a cover of Mother Nature's Son delivered in his trademark low gravelly drawl. I checked my watch, and knowing that Keel would play for hours, I decided to get a move on and head down to 123 for what all involved promised would be a very special Emergency show.

They were right.

In honor of one skull shaped seventeenth brithday, the Emergency brought us a set comprised almost entirely of pop culture nuggetts gleaned from the likes of Husker Du, Wire, Belle and Sebastian, and the Pixies among others. I'm not afraid to admit that I barely recognized any of the tunes, myself. However, I greatly appreciates what it represents. Not only did the Emergency pay tribute to a pillar of the Morgantown scene, they are also exhibited their ability and desire to throw their audience a curveball every once and awhile, something I heartilty applaud.

Few bands, local or otherwise, deviate from the norm. They do what they do, and rarely make a concious decision from deviate from that. That's great. Especially when, like the Emergency, they're good at what they do. But a local band depends on repeat attendance, and in order to acheive that, one has to keep their audience on their toes.


After over a half hour of covers the Emergency brought us a closing trio of "Lie Detecter", "Sharper Chins Will Previal" (my favorite Emergency tune, not that you asked) and "Channel U". And that was it, time for the dance party. I, for one, could have used a couple of more tunes but I'm greedy that way. The best thing about Saturday's show was that the Emergency pushed the envelope, and upheld the number one rule of rock: leave them wanting more.

I spent the rest of the night split between the two bars catching the last 45 minutes or so of Larry Keel before returning to the dance party. The MAYDAY! scene was cool, and though I'm not much of a DJ guy, I was impressed at how raging the dance party was. I dug the light show and the songs, and the party in general. All told it was a weekend full of surprises, though in the end the biggest surprise was how much people like "Come On Eileen".

As usual, I saw some great shows at the expense of missing shows that were worth seeing. I missed the Marinelli/ECFOP/Ish/Bowling League stack-up, Star City Orchestra, Strung Out String Band and Todd Burge. All shows I would have liked to catch. Did any of you see these shows? How were they?