Hartford Advocate Grand Band Slam 8/3/05
This year's Hartford Advocate Grand Band Slam was a hit despite the lower numbers (due to having it on a Wednesday night rather than the usual Thursday night). It was a warm, humid night, but few seemed to complain about the weather. Most were milling about the 13 stages, checking out the wide variety of music the night had to offer.
The festivities kicked off around 7pm. The turnout was rather sparse at this point. I took the opportunity to check out 2 Piece Nastee at the Up or On The Rocks Outdoor Stage, a band I'd heard quite a bit about. They managed to exceed my expectations. Their singer has an amazing voice and plays both guitar and sax very well. The drummer and bassist created an intoxicating groove that was hard not to dance to. Unfortunately, there weren't many people in attendance of this particular show as it was definitely one of the highlights of the night.
My band, WorthyCause, took the stage next to a very similar crowd. About halfway through the set people finally started showing up, and we managed to keep a decent audience for the rest of our 45 minute set. I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere as we played.
The next few bands we watched all did a great job of working the diverse crowd. Members of 2 Piece Nastee joined with Concrete Jungle at Up or On The Rocks to perform a mix of hip hop both old and new. The key was to use a live band. I was very impressed with the band, especially their lead singer.
On the way to the Standing Stone to cool off we we stopped to listen to Jive Miguel (winners of Best Groove Band). They put on a killer set of covers as well. It was at this point we realized the theme of the night: saxophones. It seemed a key instrument in a lot of the bands we saw. And Jive Miguel put theirs to good use. Once at the Standing Stone we caught a few tunes by the Sawtelles. An interesting mix of what they termed "nerve rock." They were one of the more original acts I've seen in a while.
The last band we took in before ending the night early was Accidental Groove at the Brickyard Outdoor Stage, whose singer Deanna took home Best Female Vocals and band took Best Original Band. They were another of the original acts of the night. They seemed like very seasoned players and put on a great show to a very large audience; many of whom I noticed singing along to every word of songs I had not yet heard before.
We ended the night early (I gotta work afterall), but we had a great time checking out all of the bands. The Advocate, once again, put on a stellar show and we look forward to next year's Band Slam!
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