We hadn't been to much live music during the lockdowns. Only a short spell in Asheville, NC had satisfied the itch. So when we spent much of February in the Free State of Florida, we checked out the happenings. We knew the Funky Biscuit was having shows, and we had some friends down for the weekend, so what the heck, we figured we'd give it a whirl. The Funky Biscuit All-Stars were playing, which is basically a glorified house band kind of thing. They were shuffling about and exchanging instruments, playing covers, and what-not. We got there early to have dinner, which was shockingly good. I'm not kidding you, this is the best live music venue food EVER. Anyway, while we were finishing up our food, the All-Stars started to jam. It was fun. They are very low-key, chatting and having a good time with each other. And while the song selection wasn't my favorite (Jim Croce, are you kidding me?), they did the first live version of the Beatles' "Day In The Life" that I had ever seen, and that's an ambitious undertaking. You know what? They did a credible job with it. See that dude singing in the picture above on the left? He owns the joint. I don't think I've ever seen a venue owner sing before (but I haven't been to Daryl's House yet). He was ... ok. I'm super happy that he has the venue open, however, and so I'm giving him a double thumbs-up! Here's a couple more shots of the All-Stars - Mom jeans alert on the first one: After the All-Stars warmed up the crowd, the main event came on. Turns out to be a blues guitarist from Philly named Tom Craig. We gave the "Philly's in the house" shout-out, which I think he appreciated - he mentioned a story about a Wawa incident later and gave us the nod for knowing what a Wawa is - and he played a nice little set of his own tunes. Craig is not widely known, but I enjoy live blues, and he's professional and solid. He has a new CD that just came out, and I'm going to link to one of the tunes. I can't say that I remember the names of any of the songs, but the first track that he played was really strong. It slip-slided along from there, but we were good with it. Like I said, it was a nice little set and the performances were well done. Here's a couple of pics and a Tom Craig track from YouTube: Tom left, and then a motley crew of others joined the stage. There was a woman with a tambourine who looked thrilled to be up there, and a dude with the longest dreads I have ever seen. Take a look and tell me I'm lying: I don't know his name, but it was open-mike night quality. Yeah, terrible, and we split. But let me show you one more dude who strolled onto the stage during this very weird ending to the evening: That dude had been kind of walking around the club the whole evening, and then the next thing you know, he's up on the stage. Unclear how all of this was supposed to work, but I think that the biggest room in the house at the end of the night was the room for improvement.
But DO NOT get me wrong. It was GREAT to be there. We had a helluva lot of fun, saw some good music, ate some wonderful food, laughed and partied. And it was live, baby, live. It was brilliant. And it set the stage for us to come back a few days later and see Allman Betts Band, which was the real deal. And then, a week or so after that, we came and saw a Miami-based jam band called Tand. I've enjoyed the heck out of the Biscuit and am darned glad that I was in the house to see the All-Stars. That's it for today. Come back soon because I'm up and cranking again. You hang in there and live your life - time's a wastin'. Don't let anyone steal that from you.
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AuthorMy name is Bill, and I live in the greater Philadelphia area. I love music, and I have a lot of opinions. This site is primarily focused on music, but sometimes I get off track. I hope you enjoy. Archives
November 2020
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