What a month it’s been. We wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for all of their help, love & support over the last 6 months. Wendy and I are moved in and slowly getting settled, turning this place from a house in to our home. Life is getting to a level of “new normal” as we adjust. We even adopted a puppy two days ago, much sooner than we had originally planned. Between the move and the adoption process, it did limit the amount of time I had to get out for live music this month so I apologize for a shorter article than normal. This next month will continue to settle down for us and I’m definitely going to start making up for lost time, capturing our great local music scene.
We start off the month with a two-fer: The Badlees once again did a 2-night stint at the beautiful Englewood in Hershey. Friday night, the show was opened by The Armadillos. The guys don’t play a lot of shows nowadays, but they certainly didn’t forget HOW to put on a great show. Excellent musicianship, great crowd interaction…playing songs like It’s Only Love, Dear Prudence, Dreams, and more got the ample crowd ramped up and moving. Next up, The Badlees took control of the stage with all the charisma and energy that any fan of them is used to experiencing. Songs like Not Here Anymore, Angeline, Fear of Falling, an amazing version of Locomotive Breath captured the hearts of everyone in the room. The following evening was opened up by a group that I was introduced to a few years ago at one of The Badlees shows…Hot Wing Jones. Playing their style of music that spans from classic rock to roots and even maybe a little Americana, the guys played with an energy and enthusiasm that did an awesome job of warming up the crowd for the evening. The Badlees then took the stage for night two. The first night was a great night, but something was just a little more electric for night two. I’ve no idea if it was the crowd, the weather, what the band had for dinner that night…but night two was just more “on”. With songs like Four Leaf Clover, Hindsight, Anodyne, as well as incredible versions of Amazing Grace and Paint It Black; it was a great night of music.
The following week, Wendy and I made the now short trip down to the Dillsburg VFW for a Vertical 4 Life St Patty’s Day Party. Unfortunately we got there just as AJ Cassatt was finishing up so I’m going to have to catch him here sometime in the future. We did however get to finally see the Colin Alvarez Band who I’ve heard so much about. Wendy and I agreed, it was worth the wait. Colin and the guys had a beautiful bluesy/southern rock sort of feel as they effortlessly cruised through songs like Statesboro Blues, Come Together, and Change in my pocket, as well as a few banging original tunes. Heck, the guys even played Free Bird when it was yelled out by someone in the crowd, and I believe that’s got to be the first time I’ve seen that happen LOL.
My last trip out was up to the famous Shermans Creek Inn for the debut performance of their new house band, Zavala. Troy somehow managed to put together a house band chock full of local talent and after only nine practices together, they put on a fantastic show for a packed house on a TUESDAY NIGHT of all nights! Look for them to play one or two Tuesday nights each month going forward. Zavala has a big party band vibe going to them covering songs like Valerie, Funky Town, Celebration, and even a really cool mashup of four or five disco tunes. It was a ton of fun and I even got to see Rachel Rocks and Zack there as well. The food was great as it always is (Tuesday nights are Taco Nights at the Creek by the way!), and as always, NO COVER CHARGE for the music.
So there it is, my month of music through my eyes and ears. I want to once again thank all the bands, venues, and everyone else involved in our incredible local music scene for everything they do. Just a reminder: if you’ve got a show coming up that I should see; make sure to send me an invite, shoot me an email or a message, let me know about it. Venues: please don’t hesitate to reach out to me as well. The majority of the shows that I go and shoot I find out about through invites from all of you or your friends. Hit me up on facebook: @chrisriderphotography or email: chrisriderphotography@gmail.com, stop me if you see me out, say hi. Until next month…go find some live music and give them and the venue your support, they truly need it more now than they ever did.
