January 2020 Concerts
In 2019, I didn't make it to a concert until late February. I've already been to three gigs with six bands in 2020, and I have tickets for four more as of this writing.
1. Back in 2018, John and I saw the Iron Maidens, an officially sanctioned all women Iron Maiden cover band. While they couldn't match the real thing they were a lot of fun, so when the officially sanctioned all women Black Sabbath cover band came to the Beachland Ballroom on Wednesday, January 8, we were all in. The name? Black Sabbitch.
Honestly, they were pretty good. The drummer in particular killed it. As a bonus, she kept flipping the drumstick into the air and catching it, not just once or twice but repeatedly, never missing. The lead singer was convingly Ozzy-like, if Ozzy was a skinny blonde. All in all, it was fun.
A local Cleveland metal band called Dead Earth opened up. They were solid. I liked a few songs with Maiden-like riffs.
2. Way back in my first month of college, Cracker played campus. Alas, I was hopelessly uncool and didn't go. I've always sort of regretted that, so when EJ said he had free tickets courtesy of a friend at the Beachland Ballroom on Saturday, January 11, I was all in.
The show was completely sold out (Faith and Dominica were there) and we were packed into the Ballroom. First up was the related band Camper Van Beethoven, which shares a lead singer. I had some basic knowledge of their work and had a good time.
Cracker than came on stage. I knew a lot more of their songs and enjoyed myself a great deal. However, I'd been at two parties prior to the concert and my knees were killing me from standing so long. I should have taken some pain killers. That definitely distracted me a bit from the music, but in the end I'm glad I went.
3. In April 2018 M and I saw Chris Barron of the Spin Doctors, in large part because he is married to M's good friend from high school. When she texted M and asked if Chris could crash with us the night before his Wednesday, January 15 show at the Music Box Concert Hall, we obviously said yes. We even fed him dinner.
Chris had a number of free tickets to hand out, so we recruited gieves, Danita & John, Laura & Hannah to join us for dinner before the show.
Chris opened up. He tells great stories between songs, not unlike Fred Eaglesmith, but a lot happier in tone. His solo material is pretty good, and he fell back on the Spin Doctors big hits to keep the crowd in it. He was even joined for a song or two by the headliner, Glenn Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Glen's set was pretty good too. His stories weren't as funny, but based on the crowd reaction their were a lot more Toad the Wet Sprocket fans than Spin Doctors fans. Would I have dropped a lot of money to see him? Probably not as I couldn't name a single song by his famous band, but I certainly enjoyed myself.
1. Back in 2018, John and I saw the Iron Maidens, an officially sanctioned all women Iron Maiden cover band. While they couldn't match the real thing they were a lot of fun, so when the officially sanctioned all women Black Sabbath cover band came to the Beachland Ballroom on Wednesday, January 8, we were all in. The name? Black Sabbitch.
Honestly, they were pretty good. The drummer in particular killed it. As a bonus, she kept flipping the drumstick into the air and catching it, not just once or twice but repeatedly, never missing. The lead singer was convingly Ozzy-like, if Ozzy was a skinny blonde. All in all, it was fun.
A local Cleveland metal band called Dead Earth opened up. They were solid. I liked a few songs with Maiden-like riffs.
2. Way back in my first month of college, Cracker played campus. Alas, I was hopelessly uncool and didn't go. I've always sort of regretted that, so when EJ said he had free tickets courtesy of a friend at the Beachland Ballroom on Saturday, January 11, I was all in.
The show was completely sold out (Faith and Dominica were there) and we were packed into the Ballroom. First up was the related band Camper Van Beethoven, which shares a lead singer. I had some basic knowledge of their work and had a good time.
Cracker than came on stage. I knew a lot more of their songs and enjoyed myself a great deal. However, I'd been at two parties prior to the concert and my knees were killing me from standing so long. I should have taken some pain killers. That definitely distracted me a bit from the music, but in the end I'm glad I went.
3. In April 2018 M and I saw Chris Barron of the Spin Doctors, in large part because he is married to M's good friend from high school. When she texted M and asked if Chris could crash with us the night before his Wednesday, January 15 show at the Music Box Concert Hall, we obviously said yes. We even fed him dinner.
Chris had a number of free tickets to hand out, so we recruited gieves, Danita & John, Laura & Hannah to join us for dinner before the show.
Chris opened up. He tells great stories between songs, not unlike Fred Eaglesmith, but a lot happier in tone. His solo material is pretty good, and he fell back on the Spin Doctors big hits to keep the crowd in it. He was even joined for a song or two by the headliner, Glenn Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Glen's set was pretty good too. His stories weren't as funny, but based on the crowd reaction their were a lot more Toad the Wet Sprocket fans than Spin Doctors fans. Would I have dropped a lot of money to see him? Probably not as I couldn't name a single song by his famous band, but I certainly enjoyed myself.