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September and No Loving Place at House of Rock PDF Print E-mail
Written by John Abbott   
Wednesday, 29 September 2010 03:52


No Loving Place at House OR_Sep10

Water street was nearly living up to its name last night as the Chippewa River continued to rise. Sand bags were in evidence, piled on top of "maintenance access covers" (The politically correct term for a manhole cover these days) in an attempt to keep storm drain flood waters below street level. The water was rushing just feet under the bridges.


But, other than the drama below the streets, it was a typical night of music at the House of Rock. The band was No Loving Place, recent winner of the number one spot for the category of Heavy Metal Band in Volume One's Best of the Chippewa Valley. It was a selection I agreed with.

It was somewhat of a divide and conquer Freaks & Geeks night. The Wife told me that Sons of Banner were playing House of Rock, (she was wrong) she isn't a big fan of the Sons compared to me. She was interested in hearing Left Wing Bourbon at the Red Parrot Nightclub (the former Woo's Bodega on business 53). I had just seen LWB, and, in this amazing venue, so I was open to something else. I dropped her off at the Parrot and headed downtown. Being married, and suddenly without my usual chaperone, I began to wander astray almost immediately. Rather than go to House of Rock, I went to the Mousetrap where Aquamarine Dream Machine was still setting up. Not a huge ADM fan, but there was a good sized crowd. I didn't want to wait.

Tony Stamm with No Loving Place at House of Rock
Tony Stamm lead vocalist with No Loving Place sings on stage at House of Rock
I rolled on down to the Bottle and Barrel where Phil Circle was mid-set. It wasn't a bad show. Phil on guitar, a guy on keyboards and a guy on harmonica. Eventually he brought up a female vocalist. I thought Phil was a pretty good singer. The woman he brought up didn't add much to the mix. But, I only stayed for two songs of the quartet. Phil seemed really good at acoustic guitar manipulations. He had it sounding very much like a solid body electric. His solos were fast and of fair complexity and in a finger picking style. Not your usual acoustic guitar fare by any means. No, musically, he wasn't all I was hoping for out of the evening when I was on my way to a metal show. But, if I was feeling the urge for a diverse play list, yeah, I would see Phil Circle again.

Now I don't really read a lot when I know where I am going. Arriving at the House of Rock, I didn't read the playbills on the windows as I was walking in. Therefore, I was surprised when I began to sense it wasn't an acoustic show being setup for. I texted The Wife, "this is not a sons show it is NLP" Yeah, I know, it was long text, its only the third message I have sent this year. But this was big news to me. I would have been really happy to hear Son's of Banner, the acoustic version of this band. But, I was going to be seeing the real thing.

phil circle at the bottle barrel
Phil Circle on stage at the Bottle & Barrel in Eau Claire.
The performance lived up to my expectations. A great way to open up the winter music season for me. Volume was perfect. If you remember, I bitched about it last time I saw this combination. But, this night, it was screaming metal at the perfect, just below pain threshold like it should be.

No Loving Place is going to be opening a big show in Milwaukee. They are opening for Powerman 5000 mainstage. November 19th. Great news for the band! Great exposure for them. There is also rumor their music will soon be available in iTunes.

Warming up for No Loving Place was Silenize, who I missed entirely. And, Electrolyte Empire who's set I mostly caught. They were high energy and good rockers. Though maybe they could use a little polish, they will get it as they play more. I enjoyed the warmup set and I would totally like to see these guys again.

Saturday night I saw Howard Luedtke at the Snout Saloon in Chippewa Falls. It was a fun night, checking in with a few friends I hadn't seen since the end of the Snout music season this spring. Howard put on a great show. Magic Deb, is wife and regular bass player was at a conference in Denver and so Howard had Minnesota bassist, Brenda King with him. She is a decent bass player and maybe gives the music a bit more of a rock and roll edge than Deb does. Also on stage with Howard was harmonica player, Steve Kaminsky and late in the third set he was joined by The Maxine's.  It was a good show. I gave up seeing Lucas K and the Coolhands at the Sheeley House to go to the Snout instead. By the end of the evening, I was pleased with my choice. Though I have to admit, it was close enough it could have been a draw anyway.

Electrolyte Empire
Lead guitarist for Electrolyte Empire on stage at House of Rock
So back to the Volume One awards. Here is my one guy opinion. I love Mojo Lemon. Great music and some very traditional blues. But, I would have flip-flopped the top two. As much as Mojo Lemon revolves around Josh, and his stellar performance on the guitar, Left Wing Bourbon revolves around its lead vocals. And where Josh is technically flawless, Faith, lead singer in LWB has passion. Her vocals are amazing, much more than just technique, and so the reason for my opinion.

As far as other awards. Many of them I disagree with completely. Best venue for music, Phoenix Park? Are you crazy? I hate Phoenix park! Rain? Baking sun? Not loud enough. Ends too early. What are all these children doing here? No, I am too much of a music fan to be an outdoor-music-kind-of-guy. Give me the Mousetrap, House of Rock or the Snout Saloon any day over Phoenix Park for music.

howard_blueMax_Snout_Sept10
Howard Luedtke and Blue Max at the Snout Saloon September 2010
I feel like I must have been gone on vacation the whole year because I missed Meridene and Jim Pullman at the Backstage, I missed Mojo Lemon at Owen Park. And, I really wish I would have gone to see Steve Martin play his banjo. Did I really miss the three best shows of the whole year? I don't feel qualified to comment on the Jazz section. I like Infinitea Teahouse for a venue, too bad they seem to book so many weirdo acts. I agree with the best Folk Performers, QuinnElizabeth and Brian Bethke are all fantastic folk artists. I have never seen Feathe but now I want to. Best Rock Band, South Farwell. ...Humm, is it the church ladies who vote on this stuff? Have these people ever seen a rock band before? South Farwell is a great bank, but it is a stretch to call them rock. Even more of a stretch to call the Sue Orfield band a rock band. I agree with Evergreen Grass Band winning the Best Bluegrass, and don't think East Hill Bluegrass deserves second place. I know The Excellent Adventure was very popular and I suppose based on that they got the first place for Jam Band award. Never understood the attraction myself. Sassy Magoo should have won something better than Best Band Name. I have never been to a good music festival, only Rockfest.

On Facebook, Jeff White asked his fans to not nominate him for anything. (Though at that point I really wanted to start a campaign to vote him him in as Best Pizza [Delivery].) But, he felt it is too much about a popularity contest and less about real talent. On some categories, I would have to agree with him.

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Phil Circle sings an old Bob Dylan song
Howard Luedtke sings the Sundown Blues while accompanied by the harmonica player Steve Kaminsky

I always learn about some stuff in the Volume One poll. I need to get out and see the band Brass Monkey, Volume One's _Best Cover Band_ I have had a few people who have told me to see the second place metal band, Truth Before Treason, and so I really need to get around to it this year. For the moment though, all the buzz is about Shoeless Revolution who is playing House of Rock this weekend. Show sounds like it will be good.

The Maxine's on stage with Howard Luedtke at the Snout Saloon
The Maxine's on stage with Howard Luedtke at the Snout Saloon
The afternoon of the No Loving Place show, I was in the twin cities for a wedding. One of those sort of free spirit, new wave things. They both work at a coffeehouse. You know the types. It was the kind of wedding where you get dressed up, but then without changing, look just fine at the heavy metal show later that night.

The wedding was in Minneapolis, at the Loring Park Pavillion. A fairly good sized structure setup for parties. It had hard adobe walls and polished wood floors. It was what you would call acoustically, very "bright". It seemed like the smallest sounds were amplified. We were seated along one of the side isles about three-quarters of the way back. Everyone was seated, waiting for the vows to start. I decided it was a good moment for a photograph. I leaned back and reached into my pocket for the camera. As I pulled it out, a coin was caught up in the camera strap and came out at the same time. A quarter. Nice mass. Very heavy. It was like time suddenly slipped into slow motion. That quarter came out of my pocket and bounced, on edge, on the wooden floor. And, then it bounced again, further away. I stared after it in disbelief. After a couple of bounces, began an agonizingly slow roll toward the bride and groom. The floor must have sloped ever so slightly because the coin lost no speed. But yet it was so slight, it gained no speed either. But what it was gaining more and more spectators. You have no idea how much noise a rolling coin can make in a room like this. The bride and groom were forgotten for what seemed like the hours and hours it took this coin to roll. I kept wishing it would just fall over, but of course it never did. Eventually the mother of the bride tromped it as it rolled past the wedding party.

Some bad news from the south, recent rains sent four feet of water into Sherri's Chippewa Club down in Durand. What makes it worse is the insurance company is trying to weasel out of paying on a technicality. The bar is closed now. Water is being pumped out, and it is hoped they will be able to open up again soon. Suffering a set back, for sure. Barring another eight inch rainfall, hopefully they recover and be staging music again. Time to buy some beer and support Sherri's flood relief.

Frost warning for this weekend. Can you believe it? Summer is gone.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 October 2010 06:02