Cabinet, Cafe 611, Frederick, MD

    Hello everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. I did what I normally do; had a big dinner at my mom’s featuring a ham with a brown sugar peanut butter glaze, watched the tournament, and saw some raging live music.

     Easter weekend has always been a pretty good music weekend. Devolver never took off for the holiday. In 2003, saw Widespread Panic on Good Friday in Washington DC and Sat in Philly. In 2007, saw them Friday and Sat in Washington DC. You’ll read about those shows in 2023 and 2027 respectively if we don’t get hit by a comet. But today it’s all about that Northeastern PA bluegrass that I love so much, as created by Cabinet.

     I met my friend Amii down in Frederick, MD. They were playing at the Café 611, in the heart of downtown old town Frederick. I waited for her outs ide the café. I watched Cabinet load in, which is my second least favorite part of the rock and roll life style. My least favorite? The load out after the show.

      Nice area with many different bars, restaurants, and hair salons. I saw an actual genuine record store on North Market St. if you’re looking for a place to go to on National Record Store day on 4/20 this year. Of course, some of you may have something else to do on that day.

     Café 611 is a sweet little place. They serve food, Southern American cuisine, when not hosting raging music. Tiny little stage with a low roof, but plenty of room to dance and an easily accessible long bar. Bartenders were very nice and laid back, as opposed to a club. Totally missed the opening act so Cody Berlin isn’t getting any love here.

Cabinet, Café 611, Frederick, MD

Doors, Poor Man’s  Blues, You Don’t Know my Mind, Susquehanna Breakdown, Caroline, Wine and Shine, Diamond Joe, Eleanor, Mr. Spaceman, Hit It On the Head, Pike County Breakdown, Home Now, Oxygen, Shady Grove, High on a Mountaintop, Heavy Rain, Guitar, Carry Me in a Bucket, Nashville Blues, 54-46 Was My Number, Kentucky Bootlegger

You can stream it here

http://archive.org/details/Cabinet2013-03-28.matrix.flac16

Photos by Amii Limpp

    Cabinet came on around 10 and proceeded to favor us with a little over 2 hours of that high and lonesome sound. They did their cover of Mr. Spaceman by the Byrds which I was really hoping to hear.  The highlights of the set were Eleanor, Caroline, Diamond Joe, Heavy Rain, and Nashville Blues. Shady Grove was another standout.  The peak was 54 -46 was My Number. A rocking little tune with a reggae beat had the crowd raging and more than a few chicks dropping it like it was hot.  Cody Berlin came out for verse. They ended the set with Kentucky Bootlegger sung A cappella, with Mickey, JP, and Pappy huddled around the mike. Pappy thought it would be fun to switch to double time in the middle of the song, which almost led to a drunken train wreck. But that is somewhat fitting for a song about moonshine.

     So once again, Cabinet brought IT and a splendid time was had by all. They had a show the next morning at Hempen Hill BBQ, their annual Wake and Bake Good Friday show. I got shutout of tixs for that but like it is for most of us musical vagabonds, the road goes on forever.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll

Blind Ellis 3/9/2013 Winner's Circle, Hanover, PA

     Hello folks. Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful early spring weather we are having. Just a quick one today as I sing the praises of a local band, Blind Ellis.

     Not gonna go into a long bio about the band. I certainly can’t do anymore justice explaining what this band is about than their own website,  http://blindellis.com/. And by the way, their alternate name is outstanding.

     They were playing at the Winner’s Circle in downtown Hanover and we rolled in after they had started playing. It was myself, Adrian and Paul. Things I learned last night

·         Paul has only seen one show in Philly and it was about 120 degrees in the shade.

·          I’ve seen more shows in Philly than any other city; Hanover is not included in calculations.  

·         And the worst show Adrian ever saw was Stevie B. He lucked out though. He had the option to see MC hammer and Vanilla Ice.

     We walked in and they were playing a Moe. song. Can’t remember the title but they jam they threw down was OUTSTANDING. Pretty good when I get floored by the first song.  They played Let’s Dance by David Bowie, which I thought was great as no one covers Bowie songs. Jim Grinnin has the cool Teutonic sound of Bowie’s voice down flat. They did a couple of originals, one of which was Wanderlust and it was pretty good. They finished off the first set with Hey Joe and 46 Days which they nailed. Makes me wish a certain band from VT would get around and announce some Summer Tour dates. 

  

   I talked to the guitarist Matt at set break. He too is from the glorious region known as Northeast PA. Nice to talk to someone from the area on the day of the Scranton St Patty’s Day parade. I used to rage this event back in the day. A friend would rent a school bus and we’d hit all the local Irish bars. They have more local neighborhood bars in Scranton than Tour has wookies. I even went in one bar that was playing modern Irish folk songs. The lyrics were mainly about killing the English soldiers based in Northern Ireland. 

     Second set was just as good. They opened with a killer "Got to Get Better in a little while" by Derek nd the Dominos. Fantastic! A few solid originals and a Sand>Psycho Killer that had to put a smile on your face if you love music.  I left after that because

1) Daylights Savings Time and it was already late

2) I wanted to go running this morning, as I have to get into shape for Tour

3) I just don’t rage like a stimulated fueled wildebeest anymore.

     So please check out Blind Ellis if you get the chance. They’ll be at the White Rose in York this weekend (sorry don’t remember if it Friday or Sat) and Sunday, March 17^th at the Holy Hound Tap room in York.

Dave Kemp

BA American Studies

PhD Rock and Roll