No Permit? No Problem!

I can easily say that this past Saturday’s “No Permit Concert on the Lot” was one of my favorite local shows of all time. First of all, the music was great. Personal highlights for me were the Billy Matheny, J Marinelli, and Weedhawks sets. I also enjoyed the opportunity to check out local acts I hadn’t managed to see yet, like American Sound Syndicate, Cryptorchid Chipmunk, and Stonewall Jackson 5ive (best local band name, hands down). The music was almost as nice as the weather. It’s always a crapshoot playing outside, but this time the risk was well worth it.

There’s been some discussion on these pages about other options for local bands besides bar shows, and this event proved that more of these need to happen. Face it, there are people in this town who dig music, want to support the local scene, but have no desire to stay out until the wee hours in a smoky bar. There needs to be more alternatives for these type of show-goers. The folks behind this thing did a fantastic job setting up a tight, professionally run, multi-band bill in a new and unusual locale. While some complained that the crowd could have been bigger, I’ve got no qualms. There seemed to be an average of fifty people at all times, though the people differed from set to set. I would say that over the course of the afternoon a couple of hundred folks managed to stop by and check things out.

Finally, throughout the afternoon over $300 was raised for the Mountaineer Boys & Girls Club. As I said earlier, I have been in their employ for the last five years, and have intimate knowledge of all the good things they do for our community on a shoe-string budget. That money, which may seem like a very small amount to some, will go a long way in helping us provide services to our community’s youth. It will be spent on gas for our vans, snacks, field trips, supplies and other essentials for running our program. I want to send out another big thanks to all the bands that played, all the businesses that donated items for the raffle, the Weedhawks for donating their CD sales, and lastly, but surely not leastly, Terrance and Woody for putting this whole thing together. Rocked Records and Offbeat Music helped support their community, now it’s time for the community to help support them.