[show_avatar email=db@iwenttoashow.com align=left avatar_size=62]When The Rum Drum Ramblers took the stage, the temps and humidity were high, but that didn’t stop the boys from wearing wool pants or delivering their own brand of pickin’ blues.  It almost seems appropriate that Rum Drum was on the outdoor stage at one of the hottest points in the day. If you closed your eyes and forgot you were standing on an asphalt parking lot, you could have very well pictured yourself sitting in some dusty 1930s saloon that didn’t have one of those fancy new air conditioning systems.  We’ll be checking them out at Benton Park this Saturday (June 12th) to open up the Benton Park Neighborhood Association Concert Series.  It’s a free show and the weather will probably be stupid hot again and I know how much you love both of those things.  New Belgium will be selling beers and the proceeds go to the park fund.

What’s not to adore about The Monads?  Fast-paced and aggressive bluegrass is the name of their game and they nailed it to the wall this past Saturday.  Fortunately, a large shadow had been cast on the parking lot that served as the home to the 11th & Washington stage.  Conditions were tolerable, but only the youngest in the crowd felt like it was dancing weather.  Funny thing about kids, they don’t care how hot it is.  If there’s a song playing and they want to dance, they’re just going to dance.  Those of us that are older than 10 years old could probably learn from that mentality, and thankfully, the Monads helped us out.  When they unleashed hundreds of beach balls into the crowd, everyone was a kid again and gladly kept the beach balls bouncing around the parking lot for the rest of The Monads’ set.  Their high octane acoustic assault was the perfect soundtrack to the beach ball party and their entire set was a standout Showcase memory for me.  They’re performing at a crawfish boil on July 10th at Off Broadway and I sure as hell will not be missing that!

Beth Bombara may be more commonly known for her delicate solo work and her multi-instrumental feats of amazing-ness as The Lonely Pine, but when she saddles up as Beth Bombara and the Robotic Foundation, it’s a whole new ball game.  Crunchy electric guitar riffs and a few solos to prove the lady knows her way around a fret board are all part of the Robotic Foundation’s modus operandi.  Even when a guitar strap lets go mid song, she finds a way to make it work and plays it off as no big deal.  With Bombara’s husband, Kit Hamon, on the electric bass and Drew Bailey on the drums, the Robotic Foundation songs sounded great live.  If you have the chance, I definitely suggest you check them out.

Quickly, we had dinner at Lola before the Robotic Foundation set and I think I can speak for our table of six when I say it was delicious!  Lobster corn dogs, bacon wrapped lamb burgers, boat drinks.  And now you know the rest of the story.

The Dock Ellis Band is probably one of those bands that fully grown adults and “real” music fans probably shouldn’t admit to enjoying.  My thought on that is, screw those people!  Dock Ellis Band’s main character is Jesse Irwin, and if you know anything about Irwin, you know that he works a little blue.  When I say a little blue, I mean the guy cusses into the mic like it’s his job (he’ll be the first one to point out to you that is his mother-f’n job).  Irwin was in fine form this past Saturday at The Dubliner as he and the band ripped through their raunchy honky tonk originals.  I counted no fewer than four beers that he kicked over during the 45 minute set and if you think that sounds obnoxious, you’re right.  It’s completely obnoxious and I love it.  Humor aside, the band is a group of really talented musicians that can back up their antics with well played tunes from the days when “country music” meant music for outlaws.  I don’t think I can sum it up any better than this tweet from @STLTransit…

What’s left to say about Theodore?  I whole-heartedly agree with Jess’ original assessment of them being on the brink.  Their Showcase set at the Over/Under was nothing short of amazing.  I had a couple people with me that had yet to catch Theodore live, and I kind of feel like there were a lot of people there that night who were seeing them for the first time.  Looking around the patio area where the make shift “stage” was set up, people seemed a little bit in disbelief about the sound coming out of that tiny corner of the patio.  Theodore was putting a great amount of energy into their set and everyone knew it.  To the most intimate parts of their songs to the all out thrashing, the band had everyone’s attention from start to finish.  I may be putting myself out there when I say this, but I truly do believe this band is going places and I have very little doubt we’ll see them hit one of these days.

After Theodore’s set, we spilled out onto Washington and tried to hustle down to The Side Bar to catch the end of The Humanoids, but we just missed the end of their set.  We slipped into Rue 13 for a few minutes of Bunnygrunt (they get my nomination for best band name), but that’s when my Advanced Age Condition (AAC) started acting up.  Ten hours of bouncing from band-to-band and bar-to-bar caught up with me.  It was time to call it a day.

Just a couple notes to wrap this up.  First, big high fives to the RFT, Entertainment St. Louis, and all of the bars and bands that made this happen.  From my vantage point, everything went smoothly and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.  Good job you all!  Second, Washington Avenue was B-U-Z-Z-I-N-G when we headed for home at midnight.  I don’t hang out down there late night too often so I don’t know if that many people on the street is normal, but every place we walked past had packed sidewalks and packed bars.  It was awesome and really made me hopeful for downtown St. Louis.  It felt like those few blocks of the City were wide awake and ready for whatever excitement was just around corner.  It felt good to call St. Louis City home that night.