Tunes for the drunk and sober

Did you ever notice that whenever you are having a conversation with someone who brings up someone else’s band, such as his brother Reggie’s band “The Lint Traps” or something, that band is always “actually pretty good.” Always. Take for example this imaginary dialogue:\n“What are you doing Friday? My hairstylist Roxanne and her all-girl heavy metal/country fusion group are playing a gig at this ramshackle tool shed near that truck stop on State Road 37. You should come. They’re actually pretty good.”\nIt’s almost as if people have this all-known consensus that local bands that play at bars, in general, are bad, and therefore these people feel the need to clarify when they say that said local band is “actually pretty good.” And despite the fact that it always seems to go down like this, I think that for a lot of people there is a general assumption that all live bar music is bad until proven good.\nAnd there’s a reason this notion exists, and I’d bet it has something to do with the fact that bar music is – more often than not – just absolutely heinous. It’s probably the no. 1 cause of alcoholism in Bloomington. For example, it’s been proven (by yours truly) that it takes roughly four Long Islands and two Jager bombs to drown out the Clayton Anderson Band. It’s simply science.\nBut, recently, I guess you could say I’ve been experiencing a change of heart. I’ve been overwhelmed with more live music than I’m used to at the bars recently, and I have to admit: I’m impressed.\nFirst there’s Dot Dot Dot, and despite the fact that the Bluebird thinks it can charge $6 for cover to see them (umm, it’s Indiana), I have to say that they consistently put on one hell of a show. The band has a great energy, plays the songs that everyone wants to hear, and – it has to be mentioned – the woman on lead guitar is sexy enough to turn me off men for life.\nNext, I have to give props to the Michael Jackson tribute band for bringing the glorious Gary, Ind., vibe downstate. But seriously, that lead singer is one white glove and a brother Tito away from actually being Michael. (Well, hopefully there’s a few more things that separate their identities ...) I’ve always thought that if you’re going to be a cover band, you need to do one of two things to be successful: Change the music significantly to deliver a fresh spin on each song, or be the band. And, no doubt about it, these guys are the band, and who doesn’t love to “Beat It” every once in awhile?\nEven this weekend I found myself totally digging Third Base, a local band that was playing at Jake’s. I have to give a shout out to these completely adorable men in suits who put on an awesome show – any group that opts for James Brown and Earth, Wind & Fire over Journey and Lynyrd Skynyrd wins my affection. \nSo I guess I’ve changed my mind about the live music in the Bloomington bar scene ... it’s actually pretty good.