Partying with Toledo Bands Dec 5th
2 responses, Dec 09, 2008Last Friday we decided to go out on Friday instead of Saturday to see some bands. This time we wanted to see some people we hadn’t seen before, so we made a plan to go and see people at 4 different places. The great thing about Toledo is that there are so many diverse bands you can see. You can find blues, alternative, indie, death metal, karaoke, acoustic acts, classic rock, techno, dance music, both classic and modern country - and more! You could see bands all night long and still see only a small portion of who was playing in town. This is what we did last Friday night…
Don & Rachel Coats
Don Coats has been playing in and around the Toledo area for the last 25 years. For the last 3 years Don and his daughter Rachel Coats have been performing live 4-5 nights per week as a Father Daughter Duo! We stopped by Tres Amigos Cantina on Secor in Lambertville, MI to see them play and eat some dinner. A graduate of BGSU in Music Education, Rachel teaches during the week both at Village Electronics and in the Sylvania schools. You can tell music runs in the family. We heard them run through songs by the Beatles, Carly Simon, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, and more. To catch their show you can usually find them on Tres Amigos on Fridays and Dorr St Cafe on Saturdays. You can also catch them at Avenue Bistro and The Village Inn in Sylvania. Check their MySpace profile for where they will be playing next!
Andrew Ellis & the Setting Sons
You can’t get much more blues in Toledo than Andrew Ellis and the Setting Sons. Going to see the band is almost like being in a time capsule. Close your eyes and be transported back to the days of the juke joints of the South with tin pan roofs and dirt floors. The days on Robert Johnson and Jelly Roll Morton come to mind. I’m not an blues expert by any means, but I am a guitar player - and I can definitely say Andrew Ellis is one of the best slide players I’ve ever seen live. His growling gritty voice howls along singing along with the band as if it were an instrument of it’s own. If you like blues, if you like searing licks from a masterful guitar player, if you just want to see a good band - Andrew Ellis and the Setting Sons are a pretty good bet. Visit their MySpace profile here.
Here’s a video we took of them performing live at The Blue Devil on Laskey that night:
Andrew Ellis and the Setting Sons Live at The Blue Devil performing “Best Wishes”
Haywire
After the blues, it seemed time to listen to some country! We went down Monroe and headed up Main Street in Sylvania to Main Street Bar and Grill (formerly Sodbusters) to see “Haywire”. The parking lot was pretty full when we pulled in, and once inside there really wasn’t a seat anywhere at all to sit - not even at the bar, the back, or by the pool tables. I would have liked to stay longer, but was only able to hear a few songs and snap a few pics before we moved on. What I did hear was a really tight, jumpin’ band - I heard a little classic rock and and a little country - we will definitely be checking them out again soon for a longer visit. View their MySpace profile here.
Here’s some pics I took of the band when I was there:
Liberty Beach and Hot Rodney Parker
For the last stop of the night it was over to Joe’s Walnut in Petersburg to see Liberty Beach with Hot Rod Parker. Liberty Beach is a six piece country band that includes guitar, bass, acoustic guitar, drums, keyboard, and pedal steel. They play both modern and classic country covers and originals for Parker’s debut CD “Hot Rod”. We watched the band roar through an incredible set of country songs that included Copperhead Road and Beer in Mexico. The band puts on quite the slow, largely in part from the musical history of the members of Liberty Beach.
John McAfee is on lead guitar - you may know him from local area bands over the last few decades like “The Affair”, “Big Game”, and the original “MASFiNA” lineup. He has also played (and continues to play for) the local favorite band “Bonkers”. On bass is Randy Monk - who happens to be the founding member of Bonkers, which he still plays in today with John. He has also toured in the country rock band “Locoweed”. Bruce Burkhart is on drums, who spent many years playing with 80’s/90’s The Rize Band. Wes Waters is on keyboard and he’s played with Lynyrd Skynyrd tribue band “Second helping”. Randy Meeker is on Pedal Steel guitar, and has been playing it since his early 20’s. He also runs “String Music Productions”, which is also the local management team for Hot Rod Parker.
Which brings us to the man out in front of Liberty Beach “Hot Rod Parker” himself. His debut CD “Hot Rod” was recorded in Nashville with members of the Dire Straights Band under the guidance of producer / arranger Gary Earl. You can pick up his CD at any Liberty Beach show! If you like country music (and maybe even if you don’t), you sure can’t go wrong seeing a live Liberty Beach show with Hot Rod Parker at the front of the stage. Visit their MySpace profile listed below, or one of the band members or side projects listed below. Hot Rod Parker also performs with both The Delta Kings and Locoweed in and around the Toledo area.
Hod Rod Parker and Liberty Beach MySpace Profile
Hot Rod Parker web site
Hot Rod Parker MySpace Profile
The Delta Kings MySpace profile
John McAfee’s MySpace profile
Bonkers MySpace profile
Randy Meeker’s MySpace profile
Randy Monk’s MySpace profile
Here’s some pics we took of the band in action live on stage when we saw them at Joe’s Walnut Bar & Grill in Petersburg, MI:
