Recovery Sunday

I will give a more in depth blog about Squarefest later but right now I just want to say it went fabulously. Here's a review of what I caught at the pre-Squarefest party at Top of the Roc and the Uptowner.

On Friday, there was a pre-party that was supposed to take place at the old Woodchuck house but the show kept getting bigger and bigger until it needed to be moved to the Uptower and Top of the Roc.

There were a few new additions to the Charleston music scene on Friday. Black Girls played their first show that night. Sadly, I missed much of it but caught the last two songs. Many of Black Girls' bandmates have contributed to other Charleston bands that have had strong fan bases, so people were very excited for this show. If I wouldn't have known, I would have never guessed it was their first show. They were put together well with a great Mowtownish soulful blues sound. They definitely hold a bright future in the Chuck music scene.

That same show brought some guests: Champaign favorites The Dirty Feathers and The Leadership. Hopefully we will see more of both of these bands not only playing in Charleston but playing in Champaign with Charleston bands! Please check out their myspaces and friend them on facebook:
http://www.myspace.com/thedirtyfeathers
http://www.myspace.com/theleadershipmusic/music/albums/frontiers-17465001

The Uptower ended with a great performance by local favorites Iron Tigers who also played at Indio Cigar Factory on Saturday night. Iron Tigers brought a lot of energy and dancing with their old-time country/folk sound. Everyone especially loves their cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

I also headed over to the Top of the Roc for Phil Riley who was previously the drummer for Charleston band Tommy Gun Geisha before moving to Denver. He came back to Charleston for Friday and Saturday night performances. I had no idea Phil could sing but, boy, can he! I overheard someone say he had a 'hypnotic' voice. Combine that with his powerful, emotional lyrics and there's no way you'll want to leave his set. He sold out of his $3 CDs that I was hoping to get. Hopefully this will not be the last we see of Phil Riley. Chucktown wishes him the best of luck in Denver.

I'll get to Squarefest later. If anyone wants to contribute with reviewing it, I'd appreciate it because I obviously couldn't be everywhere at once but I know on Recovery Sunday it's hard to remember much about last night. I did get video of a few bands that will be up soon.

Also, if you are not doing anything tonight, you should head over to the Uptowner to support Caleb Cook's free acoustic and end the weekend of music!