So, way back when, I had a friend who rhetorically asked me what would
make a great band better, and he answered his own question by stating:
dancing girls – of course, I couldn’t disagree – they always improve
the atmosphere. Now I know what would make that better – a trio of
good looking young women who happen to be terrific belly dancers.
Rachel Brice & the Indigo can dance – now that’s an understatement –
they also perform vaudeville-style comedy routines (their routine with
the passed out girls legs being used for the singer’s legs was a
hoot!), and danced solo routines and as a trio (I guess that would be
tribal-style, according to Rachael’s website, but they seemed to be
pretty well rehearsed for that) to a variety of styles of music, from
old timey string band tunes supplied by The Crow Quill Night Owls, to
pre-recorded Gypsy and Tin Pan Alley tunes from the 20’s and 30’s.
Now, I’m not a belly dancing expert, but the women around me seemed to
appreciate the sensual gyration of their torso as much as I did, and
they also noticed how they moved their hands and arms gracefully as an
extension of their dance movements, and I did too, once I was able to
drag my eyes away from their undulating belly buttons. (This is hard
to do for a guy :-) And the trio is really easy on the eyes. Check out
this YouTube appearance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhHQ_xuSXI8&feature=related

The Crow Quill Night Owls / The Gallus Brothers (I couldn’t really
tell the difference between the two bands) looked and sounded like a
old timey band from the 1930’s – playing 1920’s jazz, jug band music,
ragtime country blues, and Tin Pan Alley dance music. I was impressed
with how distinct the individual instruments sounded – you could pick
out all the different instruments (and there were a lot of antique and
unique instruments) – but I was especially impressed with the washtub
bass – it could have been a standing bass if you closed your eyes. The
band sounded like the R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders albums I
have (vinyl) – but I’m willing to bet that R. Crumb didn’t juggle
balls under low ceilings or have both guitarists switch their
strumming and fret hands while playing!
It’s time to give Low Spirits Bar a shout out for volunteering the bar
for this show and for all those bands that AMP brings in – I call Low
Spirits a “Boomer Bar” because they bring in acts that appeal to those
who are, well, boomers – I think of this (my) generation as the last
one that was exposed to all sorts of different musical styles. I’m
also really glad that Low Spirits allowed the amazing and wonderful
Flozilla and her crew to bring in chairs, because the bar seating
leaves something to desire (sorry Low Spirits…). I had brought my own
chair, since I was familiar with the bar stool seating there – and
Flo, if you’re reading this, yes, I did finally figure out how to
collapse the chair. (Did I really get an engineering degree?) And the
two shows looked like they went off without a hitch, and the audience
was great. And Flo did a great job organizing this event. And DCF for
posting these tickets after all the magician tickets were won (less
competition). There – everybody is thanked for a great night out!