I took a chance on Friday, March 4th and went to The Cabooze to check out a different type of music. If you didn’t already know, I’ve mainly covered rock bands, but tonight I was going to check out bands that were classified as country rap and one that was southern rock. I knew this would be an experience, but I had no idea how much of one it would be! The bands on the bill, booked by McTerry Music, were The LACS, Moonshine Bandits, and The Plott Hounds. I got to The Cabooze right around the time doors opened and the line stretched half-way around the block! This was going to be a packed venue, which is good to see but I knew photos would be a challenge with no photopit area. This was a new venue for me and it’s a really neat setup there; long and a little narrow with the stage in the middle on one side and a balcony on one end overlooking the stage. I walked around looking for angles as the venue filled up and then it was time for the first band!
The Plott Hounds took the stage first and I have to say that I enjoyed their music. They reminded me of Lynyrd Skynyrd or The Allman Brothers Band, probably because they are also considered southern rock bands. There were 6 band members on the small stage, so it was a little crowded up there with all the other gear already on the stage for the other bands. The crowd already pushed up toward the front of the stage, which is something I hadn’t seen in the smaller venues at rock shows. They usually weren’t up by the stage until later in the night. It was a short set, but all things considered, The Plott Hounds put on a great performance! You can see the photos I took below.
Next up was Moonshine Bandits. I waited until the first band had taken down their equipment and most of the people had gone outside to smoke and then tried to push my way in by the stage. It wasn’t easy, but there were some nice people that let me get up almost to the middle of the stage. I’m not the best at remembering names, but I would like to say thank you to those people for letting me get my job done and then getting out of their way! As far as the band was concerned, Moonshine Bandits had a drummer and someone behind what appeared to be a DJ booth mixing the beats. There was one guy walking around in a full length fur coat that didn’t sing, but got the crowd going at the beginning. Then, the other two guys that did the rap/singing part rounded off the band members. These guys were extremely wild during their set. They got some women up on stage to dance during a couple of songs, which was interesting considering everyone’s level of intoxication! I don’t know if this was part of the show, but a guy dressed in only an American flag speedo, flag cape, and flag bandana came out and danced around a bit before turning his ass to the crowd and mooning them. I was glad I was off to the side of the stage for that. Even though it wasn’t my type of music, The Moonshine Bandits really know how to party on stage and put on an entertaining performance that the crowd loved! You can see my photos below, (no I didn’t get a photo of the mostly naked man!).
Now, I didn’t think things could get any more wild than the last band, but when The LACS took the stage, I realized I was wrong! I had trouble getting up to the same spot I was in before, but those same kind people let me in again! This time though, there were people pushing up toward the front still and if you’ve ever been front row, you know that means people pushing you against the stage or barrier the whole time. When the band started it got really rowdy at The Cabooze. During my two songs at the front, it appeared a fight or pit broke out behind me, drinks were spilled from people behind me and one drink ended up on my shoe from someone missing their grab of the drink on the stage, and I think a lady passed out a few rows behind me as well. Keep in mind, that was only the first two songs!! It kept getting crazier from there. It wasn’t until I got away from the front lines that I could pay attention to the band, but they were having a great time. Again, not really my style of music, but The LACS were fun to watch still. They consisted of two guys that did the rap parts, the drummer, two guitarists who also sang, and the bass player. Even with only their gear on the stage, it was still a bit crowded. It would be interesting to see what they do on a larger stage. The lighting was mainly from either side of the stage and was mostly pointed out at the crowd the whole time, but there was enough light to get some decent photos, which you can see below.
At the end of the night, I had really worked for the photos I managed to take! The lighting was quite tricky and I pushed my camera settings quite a bit. It was quite the experience, but all the bands put on a great show and the crowd loved it. That’s what matters in the end!
As always, keep supporting live music and I’ll see you out there!