Dayton, Ohio bands and beyond do their best originals, and unique spins/covers of other Dayton, Ohio bands from the past and present. The only show like it in the world, literally! Both international hits and local favorite tunes will be performed and more. Don’t miss out, always a packed house.
Dayton Does Dayton
Annual Music Festival Returns to Dayton: An Interview With Dayton Does Dayton’s Louie Wood Jr.
February 14th and 15th mark the fourth anniversary of the Dayton Does Dayton showcase, this year at Gilly’s. We sat down with the organizer of the D-does-D Fest, Louie Wood Jr., a life-long Daytonian at an area restaurant to talk about the event, the history of Dayton Does Dayton, and plans for the future.
Starting as a club dj and music fan inspired by underground dance shows and nightclubs in Dayton and Columbus, Louie was moved to start his own event where music, avant-garde performance, and creativity combined in a gestalt of music-inspired experience. “Dayton has always been a fertile ground for music. People love the underground in Dayton.” Following the influence of Tony Wilson with the 24 hour Party People movement that led to Factory Records and so many alternative bands and music, Louie followed the example of building community in the city of Dayton. “If we bring people who love music, dancing, and new experience, then we are really building something that matters.”
Given a lack of progressive music opportunities in the city, like many Dayton music fans, Louie contributed to the effort in Dayton to establish more opportunities for bands and musicians. The Do-It-Yourself attitude and aesthetic common to the post-punk movement of the ’80s alternative music scene nationally (The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode) and locally (GBV, The Breeders, Branniac) led to such innovations as the Dayton Dirt Collective, Canal Street Tavern, and Dayton Does Dayton.
“We were trying to do something that was more than just something to do,” Louie told DaytonMostMetro on a sunny yet all too cold January 13th, “we brought like-minds together from around the area to create a music experience.” And people appreciate the effort, Louie noted: “Even in a middle of a blizzard, we can have 100 people show up.”
Without resources several years ago, a collective of musicians, performers, and people looking for something more from the music scene came together. In the beginning this started as a band-focused tribute show. “Our first tribute show was for The Smiths – our very first show was a Smiths/Morrissey tribute we called Every Day is Like Sunday, and the project grew organically from that idea of trying to introduce music lovers to indie, local and new music.” The theme of covering other bands was used purposely as a creative device to introduce people to music that was not offered in the shrinking number of music shops and the increasing dominance of malls and the alienating and haphazard experience of online music shopping. “We discovered that you could use songs and bands that people were familiar with to also introduce them to new songs, new music.” So, the idea of a combination of covers and originals became central to the Dayton Does Dayton approach as a way to bring people together in community through music. The Dayton Does Dayton experience had from the beginning only original bands performing both their own music and doing covers in the band’s own style. This is an important part of the experience, doing covers as a way to introduce the bands and their sound, not being cover bands.
In true punk rock style, people contributed time and energy to build an event that while keeping a format that includes both originals and covers, still remains true to the original idea of creating a space for new music. Louie recalled the development of what becomes known as Dayton Does Dayton: “Jay Madewell worked as a stage manager and contributed his drum kit and bass for the weekend so that set changes between bands could be fast. Rich Reuter helped organize this first event.” As Louie told us about the coalescing around his idea, he noted that Chris Wright made posters that captured people’s attention — all of this in order to fill an untapped need in the city. “People pulled together.” He went on to note that the effort, several years later remains focused on the community-focused organizing approach. “This is not a show built on a single crowd, we avoid cliques, and we want to remain true to the idea of bringing bands that people may not have heard of together alongside established bands and musicians. People come to these shows for the music. And that is the reason for Dayton Does Dayton.”
In order to present so many bands in a short time – the fifth festival has over twenty acts – “we ask bands to practice two to three months before the show. We keep things tight. Each band has the same amount of time thirty to thirty-five minutes with a short ten minute switch in-between bands.” “Bands understand. Musicians understand. They know – and they need to know and understand the process that we are following. We want to show as much music as we can in a short amount of time.”
And the approach has worked. Many bands, estimates range to over thirty percent of original area bands have found opportunities to play at the Dayton Does Dayton show which creates connections between music lovers and bands doing original and creative music. Bands like Broken Lights, Gathering Mercury, Sleep Fleet, and many more have found that Dayton Does Dayton is an opportunity to make connections to the community. Louie noted that fact is one of the key to the longevity of the festival. “Every band is different. Lots of genres are represented in what we do.” This is not just an accident but remains part of the purpose of the festival. “If we are trying to introduce great music and bands to the city, we need to create an opportunity for bands that sound different. We cannot just have one band after another play who all sound the same. Originality, creative differences between bands, sounds… that is important.”
If this sounds like a demanding opportunity for bands, it is not. Most of the bands who are contacted stay on the bill. “Most of the bands stay with us. Very few bands will drop off the bill. And that is important. We get general public interest in the bands. They bring their friends to the show and they not only see their friends play but they see other bands. Even musicians become introduced to something new.”
Thinking about the event in February, Louie noted that there are several new and important changes for the Dayton Does Dayton show: “this is our first time playing Gilly’s. For the past five years we have been at the Canal Street Tavern. So, this show marks a change for us. We have a new venue, several new hosts [Niki Dakota, Rev. Cool, the Dean of Dayton music Mr. Don Thrasher] and even a secret guest MC.” Louie noted that the secret master of ceremonies, “if you are there it will blow people’s minds.” This effort to evolve is as central to Dayton Does Dayton, as to the music performed itself. Louie also noted that this is the only festival that has since it started incorporates a full array of experiences. He noted that Dayton Does Dayton will not only have 20 bands but also belly dancing — courtesy of The Fire Lillie’s — and burlesque featuring Miss Theresa Burlesque Presentation with Veronica Laine as part of the show. “We can’t just do the same thing each show with the same bands. We have to evolve. It like the saying that people not from here [Dayton] say about us: ‘They keep truckin’ in Dayton.”
When asked about the future of Dayton Does Dayton, Louie noted that he is organizing an R.E.M. tribute tentatively titled ‘What’s the Frequency, Dayton?’, more 80s rewind shows, more local tributes (The Breeders, Guided by Voices, Branniac, The Ohio Players), and seeking out the mix of creative music, performance, and experience that have been a hallmark of the D-does-D experiences of the past. “We are the only show that I know who has belly dancers, MCs, so many different bands, and more.” In summing up the Dayton Does Dayton experience, Louie noted that “We want to continue to provide a unique opportunity for bands. The Gilly’s show demonstrates that fact. “The upcoming show at Gilly’s is the first time some bands will have performed in that space. If we can help create those connections, then that helps move the level of the music experience in Dayton.”
“The reason to come to the show is simple. Experience the bands.”
Dayton Does Dayton Fourth Anniversary Show
Gilly’s, downtown, 132 S Jefferson Street in downtown Dayton
Friday and Saturday Feb 14th and 15th, 2014
$7 per night, with free parking.
The show begins 8:00pm sharp on both nights.
Dayton Does Dayton is presented by Louie wood Jr aka DJ MisterKid/MidWest Promo, and Mick Montgomery/Canal Street Concerts.
Approximately thirty minute set per band/musician, with a short ten minute wait in between each band/performer. Dayton Does Dayton will be hosted by Rev. Cool, Niki Dakota, Don Thrasher, and a SECRET GUEST MC for this show.
Dayton Ohio bands at this event will be doing their originals, and unique covers/spins of other Dayton Ohio bands that have influenced them, both from the past and present. The covers include international hit songs, local hits, and local favorites. Louie noted that: “We have the taste and styles of all kinds of Dayton music at this show. It is the only show like it in the world, literally.”
Featuring live band performances and more by:
Gathering Mercury
Cinder Home
The Repeating Arms
William The Accountant
The Broken Lights
Dark Backward
The Leap Years
Free Fall Theory
GEM CITY
Libby Gill
Emma Woodruff And The Ruffians
the Curious Sound
Reyna with Dana Farley
Paradijm Shift
Curse of Cassandra
Paige Beller
Dave Frickin Berry with Adam West
Kevin Heider and band.
The Fire Lillie’s Belly Dancing Presentation (Friday)
Miss Theresa Burlesque Presentation with Veronica Laine (Friday)
This is a DJ Mister Kid Presents MidWest Promo/Mick Montgomery/Canal Street Concerts Annual Event
Concept by Rich Reuter
Direct correspondence about Dayton Does Dayton to [email protected]
More information can be found on the Dayton Does Dayton webpage!
Sponsored by:
Marion’s Pizza
Thai 9
Fifth Street Deli
Go Cupcakes
Hauer Music
Sound Force
LONDON
Amanda Barbosa Photography LLC
DaytonMostMetro.com
2013 Dayton Does Dayton: 5 Bands To Watch For
Of all the concerts and shows that people have attended at time or another, there has usually been a cover a song that the act performs. The artist or band will put their spin on it, either by playing a different riff on the guitar, or by singing it a different way. A lot of artists will even go as far as recording the cover and releasing their version. It’s the sincerest form of flattery to be able to have people care that much about the original artist/band’s song to go on stage and perform it live to an audience.
One of Dayton’s rising events focuses primary on this concept, and presents bands from all over town and come play live. The event is called Dayton Does Dayton, and the two day event will be going on this weekend, Friday and Saturday at the legendary Canal Street Tavern. The event will be entering its third year by local promoter Louie Wood Jr. Each band will perform songs from Dayton bands past and present, along with their own material. With over 25 local bands scheduled to take the stage over 2 days, it would be difficult for most to see all every single one. Here are 5 bands that you should at least get a chance to check out.
City of Kings
City of Kings is an up and coming band that you should be keeping your eyes on. The 5 piece group got their start in the small town of Marion, Ohio. Dalton Sipes, Matt Woodrum, Drew Mosley, and Kevin Hardy all played in different groups in town, playing in battle of the bands shows. Eventually the guys are synched up and soon realized that their small town wasn’t going to be able to give them the chance to showcase their talent. So, the guys all packed up and moved to Dayton. They met lead singer Jake Rose at a wedding of one of the band member’s family. The group’s unreal psychedelic sound mixed with garage rock flair is unreal, and the lyrics to the songs are simply mystifying. City of Kings is a tour de force that is only slated to become stronger over time. Be prepared to fall into a trance when listening to these guys. Their debut album, The Foundation is simply a music lover’s delight.
Jah Soul
Reggae is extremely popular throughout the world, with the great Bob Marley giving us music that has become a staple of our lives. The up-tempo, funky beats along with the loose play of the guitar makes anyone and everyone stand up and just to become unrestricting and free from all the problems that they have. It’s all about having fun with reggae music, we have a band that offers it-Jah Soul. With their combination of not only reggae, but soul, funk and disco, Jah Soul will be supplying the good times with their music. The eight member band gets the party going and has the positivity flood the club in the only way the can. Jah Soul will be bringing a different flair to the weekend that will be anything but boring.
The New Old-Fashioned
The Midwest is considered to many to be viewed as a hardworking, blue collar area of the United States. The New Old-Fashioned conveys that feeling in their music. With the influences of Tom Petty and The Old 97s, The New Old-Fashioned is slowly building a rapport with their fans with incorporating rock and roll with country music. The lyrics of the band represent the life of living in the lush, beautiful Americana land. When listening to the band, you instantly notice the band’s outstanding harmonies. The New-Old Fashioned recently released their self-titled debut in 2012. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing The New Old-Fashioned, do yourself a favor and go see them live this weekend.
Cinder Home
If you have ever listened to Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford and Sons, and Fleet Foxes know that each of these bands have a folk sound that stands about apart from most. These bands have seen their popularity rise as of yet because of the low-key vibe and beautiful instrumental play. Cinder Home belongs with these bands in the picture as well. The band began with two of the band members hanging around playing music. They both realized that they had something amazing, and decided to add a couple of members. Cinder Home not only brings a new age folk sound, but also add elements of bluegrass roots. The passion of the band playing live is nothing but astonishing. The crowds that will fill Canal Street are going to be treated to a band that will bring they got, and will without question give everyone something to talk about for days to come after their set.
William The Accountant
William The Accountant’s sound is anything but ordinary, and that is why they are a band that can’t be missed. The band brings all types of instruments into their music, including a didgeridoo. Don’t be surprised if William The Accountant brings a saxophone and some ukulele to their shows. As far as their sound?! Try one moment hearing alternative rock to jazz to Caribbean music. Each of their songs brings an emotional aspect to the front. Don’t be shocked if the band’s performance stretches beyond the five members.
Dayton Does Dayton will be celebrating its third this year with no plans of stopping. It has become yet another reason to celebrate the amazing music that continues to be played each and every night. To check out these bands, and to see the others lined up, Dayton Does Dayton will taking place tonight and tomorrow night, starting at 7pm at the hollow grounds of the great Canal Street Tavern.
A Quick Taste of Dayton Does Dayton
Canal Street Tavern is well known in the Dayton music scene for its great sound, up-close atmosphere, and excellent shows. Nearly every night, one can find all kinds of local acts putting on a show on the Tavern’s stage. Outside of regular shows, Canal Street also enjoys putting on different kinds of specialty shows, such as the well-known Dayton Band Playoffs. One of these shows took to the stage this past weekend, stretching over two evenings: Dayton Does Dayton.
Only in its second year, Dayton Does Dayton invites a number of local bands from many different genres to take to the stage and, alongside their own songs, cover tracks from other local bands. None of the bands that play the show are “cover bands” per se, they’re just there to put their own spin on other local acts that they enjoy, that have influenced them, or any other reason at all.
The sheer number of bands interested in the show this year caused the event to be spread out across a full weekend…or rather, the important part of the weekend (Friday and Saturday). The great thing is that this much time allows more bands to come out and play. The difficult thing is that it causes busy people (such as myself) to only be able to catch a part of the entire show. As excited as I was for the show, it landed on a terrible weekend for me, so I was only able to see the first few bands on Saturday night. So, rather than a whole review, here is just a taste of what you may have missed this past weekend.
I arrived much too early for the show on Saturday night, so I was one of the first ones in the door. This gave me a chance to chat quickly with one of the staff at Canal Street, who told me that nearly 280 people came in for the show the night before. Considering the size of the venue, this is a rather fantastic number, and soon enough, people began flooding through the door and filling the floor. By the time the first band went on, Canal Street was nearly standing room only.
The first to play this evening, out of Yellow Springs, was the band Wheels. A five-piece mostly-acoustic act, Wheels decided to focus on covering one specific band this evening alongside their own songs. Their band of choice, also out of Yellow Springs, was Sport Fishing USA, whose tracks they stripped down to fit the style they were playing: acoustic guitars, light percussion, mandolin, and upright bass. The instruments, though, played as more of background noise to the vocals, the focus of the band. The four-part harmonies were the star of the show, filling out the sound left behind by the sparse instrumentation.
The second band of the evening, straight out of Dayton itself, was Charge Scenic. This band’s sound was a complete turn-around from Wheels’ acoustic style: alternative rock with some electronic and synth elements. That, though, can only describe their original songs. The covers that Charge Scenic chose ran through a number of other genres, touching on pop rock and a bit of funk. They chose to cover a number of different bands: Guided by Voices, Zapp and Roger, and The Pure Plastic Tree. Throughout their set, Charge Scenic seemed to have a strong focus on the rhythm section, with the bass holding much of the band together, and the drummer getting a few solos between songs.
Up next, and unfortunately the last band I got to see, was Good English. This all-female, mostly-siblings band out of Oakwood has a chord- and riff-driven rock sound, with a feel similar to Foo Fighters. Good English chose to cover tracks close to their own sound by two bands: The Breeders and Southeast Engine. Almost every member of the band played multiple instruments, which each song prompting a stage switch. All around, these girls pulled together a number of basic melodies into some supremely catchy tracks.
The rest of the evening, and the night before, had sets from both well-known and less-well-known acts, including Gathering Mercury, Red Hot Rebellion, Dark Backward, and My Latex Brain. This is one of those times where I’m kicking myself for missing out on so many acts, but sometimes there’s not much that can be done! To those that went out to the show for one or both nights, I’m sure you could fill in some blanks for us! Feel free to leave opinions of the show and/or bands in the comments section. To those that didn’t make it out, hopefully this shows you what you missed and you’ll be able to catch Dayton Does Dayton the next time it comes to town!
Dayton Musicians Celebrate Community, Each Other This Weekend at Canal Street Tavern
The name Dayton Does Dayton may make your thoughts go all sorts of places, but it actually is the most accurate description of what’s happening this weekend at Canal Street Tavern. This is the second year for the two music festival that kicks off Friday (February 3rd) and continues on Saturday night. The concept came from Rich Reuter of Nine False Suns: an event that celebrates Dayton Music by having local bands perform both their own work and unique renditions of other Dayton musicians’ songs, past or present. Local promoter Louie Wood Jr decided to run with the idea, and last year’s debut Dayton Does Dayton festival was performed in front of a packed house at Canal Street Tavern.
20 bands are poised to take the stage this weekend for the festival’s second outing. You’ll hear the expected Guided by Voices covers alongside tunes by the Breeders and Brianiac, but then you’ll hear some groups reach back further and cross genres to cover the Ohio Players, Slave and Lakeside. The Fair Shakes will be joined onstage by Real Lulu’s Kattie Dougherty for a rendition of “Chief,” while Me & Mountains will perform songs by the Motel Beds and Roley Yuma. Additionally, all of the bands performing will play some of their own material to give you a taste of what you can hear right now in Dayton.
The music starts each night at 8:30pm sharp so get to Canal Street early for a good spot and the full bill. The cost each night is $5.
Lineup:
FRIDAY
Wild Forrest Blackberrri
A Shade of Red
Gathering Mercury
Dan Raridan and the Calientes
Akillis Green
Me & Mountains
Niki Dakota, Rick Good, Ben Cooper, and Israel Parker
The Fair Shakes
The Dirty Socialites
Wade Baker
SATURDAY:
Wheels
Charge Scenic
Good English
Al Holbrook Band
Nine False Suns
Red Hot Rebellion
Dark Backward
Ed Pittman and Jay Madewell
My Latex Brain
Music Video Monday: January 23, 2012
February 3 and 4th mark the second outing for the Dayton Does Dayton music festival at Canal Street Tavern. The two event celebrates our community’s music with a robust lineup of local bands covering each others’ work and performing their own original music. We’ll be bringing more info on the festival next week, but for now, let this video explain more.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GeqZRkwPYD0′]
This Week on Kaleidoscope: The White Soots
Formerly playing as Fuzz Hound, The White Soots have been gaining momentum throughout the end of 2010 and are poised for a great year in 2011. Late last fall, they released their debut album which you can download for free here. They’ll be playing at Canal Street Tavern as part of the Dayton Does Dayton show on January 28th.
We’ll talk about that show and more with the White Soots tomorrow night on Kaleidoscope, 8-11pm on 91.3FM WYSO. You can tune in online at www.wyso.org, and if you’re not close to a radio or a computer, the set will be available to stream on WYSO’s website beginning on Thursday afternoon. We’ve also got links to stream-able episodes of Kaleidoscope right here in the sidebar of the DaytonMusic section of Dayton MostMetro.
This Week on Kaleidoscope: Splattertude
Splattertude is a band, a comedy troupe and an internet radio show among other things. Born from the Ghastleee Movie Show hosted by A. Ghastlee Ghoul on DATV, Splattertude will be performing on January 29th as part of the Dayton Does Dayton show at Canal Street Tavern. You can check out event details on the Dayton MostMetro Events Calendar. I’ll be interviewing Splattertude tomorrow night on Kaleidoscope, 8-11pm on 91.3FM WYSO, and they’ll be playing some tunes live in the WYSO studios.
Our originally scheduled interview and live set will be accompanied by stories and memories of Barry Hobart aka Dr. Creep. In addition to Splattertude, we’ll talk to local filmmakers Andy Copp and Matt Brassfield, hear stories from filmmaker/musician Henrique Couto, an audio documentary about Dr. Creep from filmmaker Ann Rotolante and much more.
You can tune in online at www.wyso.org, and if you’re not close to a radio or a computer, the set will be available to stream on WYSO’s website beginning on Thursday afternoon. We’ve also got links to stream-able episodes of Kaleidoscope right here in the sidebar of the DaytonMusic section of Dayton MostMetro.