Rock Minutes

I enjoy going to bars. They typically have two things I enjoy, beer and a variety of fried foods. The problem is that depending on the bar I choose to frequent my beer and jalapeno bites can be accompanied by a jukebox or karaoke. I am cool with there being a jukebox as long as I get total control of it from the minute I walk in the bar which usually means I have to pump $40.00 into that son of a bitch to keep “Donnie” the construction worker from filling it up with shitty songs like “Gimme Three Steps” and “Dust In The Wind” while he drinks 15 Budweisers and smokes a pack of Pall Malls in my face. Then there are bars that have karaoke every night. I promise you there is nothing worse than karaoke in a bar. If there is a hell I am sure it is equipped with a karaoke machine. I mean how can anyone think it is fun to sit in a bar and watch two people singing “Islands In The Stream” to each other?

Since I hate karaoke and jukeboxes that are not programmed by me I choose to find bars that have bands. I think seeing live music is a great way to spend my free time, but that poses a problem at times as well. The problem is that nearly every bar band plays the same shitty classic rock songs over and over. You might wonder what songs I am talking about. Well let me give you a list

-Brown Eyed Girl
-Play That Funky Music White Boy
-Some Kind of Wonderful
-Margaritaville
-Piano Man
-Taking Care of Business
-Old Time Rock and Roll

There is just a short list of songs that I see week end and week out by 50 year old guys still trying to live the dream. And another thing to all local bands. I am there to see you play music. If I want to see a comedian I will go to the comedy club. I am there to see you play music even if it is a horrible version of Jessie’s Girl, so save your stupid ass jokes in between songs for after the show. Maybe you could spend the time you are wasting on your comedy routine and learn a song that has not beat into the ground for the last 30 years.

Now that I have gotten that off of my chest I want to let you know about a local band I saw last night that is as good as any I have seen in years. The name of the band is Five Til Dawn and they blew me away with their skills and their song selection. They played a great night of rock songs and from the 1960’s through today and even mixed in a few originals that deserve to be heard by more than just the people at Bubbaz Bar and Grill. Seeing a band like this gives me hope that there still are great local bands playing that have a ton of talent. A band like this needs to be heard by more people. They are a great rock band in a sea of shitty ones. They dazzled me by playing songs like “Listen to Her Heart” by Tom Petty and “Up On Cripple Creek” by The Band. They played “Dead Flowers” by the Rolling Stones with a piece of “I Used To Love Her” by Guns N’ Roses in the middle for good measure. They are one of the only bands I have heard play The Black Crowes and not play “Hard To Handle” . They have originals that stand up to any of the covers they were playing which is a rarity on the bar band circuit. I cannot say enough good things about this band. If you live in Indianapolis I encourage you to check this band out as soon as possible and if not check out their music on their MySpace page, you will not be dissapointed either way. You would be much better checking out a band like this and staying about 50 miles away from the nearest karaoke machine.

http://www.myspace.com/fivetildawn

Later,

Nick

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