And The Band Plays On...

Welcome back all, sorry about the break in between posts. It has been a busy past two weeks with work and two birthdays to celebrate. But I'm back and ready to go.

Tuesday held the norm for me. Work from 10 A.M. until 8 P.M., followed by the routine trip to Chicago to see the band Mr. blotto play at Reggie's Music Joint off of State Street downtown. Reggie's is the place where Mr. Blotto, a folk/rock band formed in 1991, plays every Tuesday night. Paul Bolger is the band's lead vocals as well as their guitarist; his brother Nike Bolger is the band's bass player and vocals. Mark Hague is the other lead guitarist and vocals, Alan plays the drums and Steve Ball is their keyboardist. Steve is notably but not unusually missing. His appearance is rare at their acoustic shows.

This Tuesday was much like every other has been lately; freezing cold. But the warmth of the beer, the bar and the music was comforting. I sat down near the front of the stage, a mere 5 feet from where the band will play. It has been a few weeks since I've made it out to see them, and my symptoms of Blotto-withdrawl are starting to show. Around 10:30 P.M. the members begin to make their way into the music joint slowly but surely.

The first to arrive is as usual Paul, who is donning his signature winter beard, one that rivals if not puts to shame that of Alan's from The Hangover, and is dressed in his usual jeans and some sort of logo t-shirt. As he carries in his equipment, Mark is trailing in behind, followed by Mike and Alan.

Paul gets started right away front and center with setting up his guitar and mic and gets right into his sound check while Mike and Alan are in the background doing the same and exchanging conversation. Mark on the other hand goes to his usual spot on stage, to the left of Paul, and plays away at his guitar. The same spot I once watched him pull an E string off an electric guitar that hangs on the wall in order to continue on with their performance. He makes little conversation, with the exception of the occasional smile to his band mates.

Once the sound check is done Mr. Blotto doesn’t hesitate to get right into the show by starting the set list off with “I Don’t Work On Sunday” from their album Barlow Shanghai. Much of their songs through the night come from their 2006 album, with the rest barrowing from, in my opinion, their favorite band to cover The Grateful Dead. They end the first half of their set with my personal favorite, Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece”.

After the first song ends little is needed from each other to cue into the next song. A few exchanged glances and a few slick smiles gracefully swung into the classic “Got My Mojo Working”. Written by Preston Foster and first recorded by Ann Cole in 1956, this song has made its’ way back through the voices and instruments of all the greats, i.e.; Muddy Waters 1957, Elvis Presley 1970, B.B. King 1977, and up to Clapton.

Their choice of blues mixed with rock and folk ignite the crowd as usual, and the strong rapport between the band mates is quite clear. As the continue to play The Grateful Dead, myself and two others at my table have a quick thought that The Dead’s song "Deal", definitely belongs in Toy Story 2.

(SIDE BAR: This editors frame of mind may have contributed to the TS2 idea, and may have also attributed to the fact that no one at the table seemed to care that TS2 was already made, but instead fascinated by the fact that Deal was written for TS2 way before it was even written and filmed for the big screen)

The band played on with Paul’s vocals strong enough to tear the roof down. Paul’s ability to go from a soulful raspy blues voice, to a voice as soothing yet strong as Robert Plant is truly mesmerizing. His brother follows suit with the bass and adds the perfect backdrop of vocals. Their lead electric guitarist Mark hardly ever looks up from his guitar through the entire show. Not to say that he is purposely looking down to avoid audience eye contact. It’s like watching a love story unfold on stage between a man and his guitar.

To be perfectly honest, I’m pretty sure his eyes were and are closed during 90 percent of his performances. But the beauty that takes place during this is quite moving. He just jams away and moves his fingers at the speed of light to beat of Alan’s drums and the the vocals of Paul and Mike; and they play and they watch their band mate in what seems like awe, despite the 19+ years together.

The band has done it again, amazingly soothing, and not surprisingly enticing

Words of Wisdom: Twizzlers are capable of setting on fire, despite what one may think.