Just when you thought we had escaped the ravages of that Midwest summer heat, here we are in mid-September paying the price for a moderate August. Actually, it's an easy way to say something silly like, "The weather is hot, man, but, oh, the music is so cool, dude." Let's go see how that works out.
First off, we have an announcement particular to all you bands, musicians, songwriters, etc., who reached the post-nomination phase of our Best of Springfield Reader's Poll. In order to "enhance and improve the voting experience" you are requested to send a YouTube video link that "you feel represents your sound and talent" to [email protected]. That will be available for readers to peruse while making the all-important decision of who to vote for in the BoS poll. We must ask that the video comes directly from the nominated artists, not a friend, fan or family member. Now we realize that it's hard to film yourself while performing, so it's OK to use a video taken by someone else, but please be sure the ones in the video are the ones sending it to our marketing gurus. If you're not sure if you're in the runoff, check the Best of Springfield voting page in Illinois Times to see if you're on the list. And, if you find yourself there, then get to voting and to getting readers voting for you. Thanks for helping out.
The time is here for another Oktoberfest in September and this one always gets you the "most prost," as Buzz Bomb Brewing Co. pulls out all the stops to get down and party it up every year at its Adams and Fourth Street home. For 2024 the big deal is a big deal band, the Supersuckers, joined by these equally exciting bands: Left Lane Cruiser, Mikey Classic, Sonic Sunday, Master Bastard and Prairie State of Mind. As one might expect, there will be a concentration on German-style house brews, along with contributions from other local breweries, plus German food and family fun. The shindig starts at 3 p.m. and runs all day and into the night with beer service ending at 10:30, if you're keeping tabs on that.
This issue we again have large numbers of musicians playing about the town with nearly 15 acts on Thursday, some 25 on Friday, 30-plus on Saturday and about 15 on Sunday, along with another five on Monday, plus a slew of open mics during the week. Here are a few highlights covering a wide range of times, artists and venues, with obviously plenty more for you to check out in the listings and more importantly, go see in person.
Thursday there's a band from Seattle called Forest Ray with local opener Astrofix at the Blue Grouch, while Dan Grover plays the patio at Casey's Pub. John Crisp brings his All-Star Band to Boone's on Friday, while X-Krush kills it at the Curve Inn as Lincoln Memorial Garden presents the music of guitarist Jim Ackerman and bassist Manny Lee during a Moonlight Meander event.
Saturday kicks off with Kevin Aldrich doing his acoustic original songs at Stella Coffee & Tea at 10:30 in the morning, then rolls into the heart of Saturday night with Scattered Hamlet and Dysfunctional Family working it at The Stadium, Alex Pierce playing Main Gate and Stone Cold Cowboys riding high into Weebles.
Sunday afternoon delivers Colin Helton at Bar Bella, Kruisin' Mars at Trails End and Positively 4th Street at Brookhills Golf Club.
Well that's that for this week for me – onward.
