Day 174 - September 1st 2009
What happened to the summer. Sometimes it seems like it went by so fast other times it seemed to be never ending. Soon the weather will cool and the kids will be back in school and I won’t have to hear racket all day.
First stop was my guitar lesson. I’m down to one student at the moment (should pick up in the fall) and I have to say that I am pleased with her progress. Once she gets her rhythm together (which is the hardest part in my opinion) she’s got a couple of songs she wants to learn so I have her on a time table to get them finished. She has about two weeks left. Hopefully she practices.
Next stop was World Café Live for Cream: The Best of Philly Rising. Tonight we had to crown monthly winners for June, July, and August. We’ve got to pick between some of the best acts we’ve ever seen come through the open mic. For those of you who read this that have never been to Philly Rising it’s definitely worth checking out and if you’ve never been to a Cream Event it’s DEFINITELY worth seeing. The competitive atmosphere makes for an entertaining experience.
First up was June, we only had two winners in June because of various cancellations so it was gonna be a grudge match between the smooth soul of Damon and the Electro Hip Hop/Pop of the Kowabunga Rage Crew. Two distinctly different acts One relying on bright lights, high energy, a fog machine, songs about sexting, and hot half naked dancers, the other on a laid back vibe, vocal harmonies, no drums, sexy lighting, and love songs. It was a hard choice as it should have been.
When it was all said and done Damon Hamilton emerged the Standout for June. Although I think The Rage Crew will are gonna make a million dollars sometime down the road it was good to see Damon go through to the next round. Often people like him that appear at the Open Mic regularly are often passed over when it comes to getting votes from the pannel. Damon’s extremely talented and I think he’s gonna make a strong case for himself when the yearly competition rolls around.
The July competition featured two white girls with brown hair…and that’s where the similarities end. Melissa Clampffer a CAPA alum for vocal, sat down at her piano with her two friends (Michael West on acoustic guitar and congo and another background vocals) and delivered a stripped down, heartfelt, set with a little humor injected. Right behind her was Gabrielle Christine, a drop dead R&B Powerhouse with a black, all female band (a helluva concept) when her drummer hit that church roll I knew it was on. She banged through a set of cover tunes, her stage presentation was strong, and vocally she was in fine form, extremely entertaining. This was going to be a tough choice.
Melissa Clampffer would be our standout for July, I don’t think the pannel could ignore the person who wrote and performed their own material. Gabrielle has fine future and once she develops some original material she‘s going to be hard to ignore in this or any other forum.
If the night was spectacular enough we still had yet to get to August which featured probably four of the best bands I’ve ever seen share a stage. We opened up with Mike Short and Downtime, a young college aged country band. We don’t get much country music at Philly Rising so it was exciting to have them. Mike flew up from Nashville to perform and his solo album is spectacular. They played great. Damien Anthony would follow and he would drop a funk rock explosion that I rarely see unless I’m looking in a mirror ;-) leading the crowd in sing a longs more than once, truly incredible. The Good News would follow with their own blend of Jazz, Soul, and Blues. A relatively young band compared to the rest in the pool but they held their own, they have a really amazing energy that’s going to carry them pretty far. We ended the August competition with City Line who delivered a potent combination of pop and rock. Singer Mike Mitchell’s voice is so soulful that it will eventually distinguish the band from others that sound similar.
In the stiffest monthly competition to date City Line were our Standout Performers, standing out amongst acts like these is no easy feat so I take my hat off to them.
All in all it was a pretty unbelievable night. All the acts really raised their level of performance and are gonna have no problems establishing themselves in the Philly Music Scene or anyplace else.
Lickety’s tomorrow, hopefully the Dog Days of August don’t trun into the Dog Days of September.
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