Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More
Astro Fang is hot off recording some new tracks with the Motel Beds‘ Darryl Robbins, and this Friday night you can catch them at Blind Bob’s along with Spiderscorpion. These two great local bands with be joined by Columbus’ Karate Coyote and Soft Speaker from Chicago. The show gets started around 9pm and is $5.
In the meantime, check out Super Rat, one of the newly recorded tunes from Astro Fang.
SUPER RAT by ASTROFANG
Wednesday nights at the Oregon Express just got a lot more musical. C. Wright’s Parlour Tricks have signed on for a weekly gig playing what they’ve coined as ‘pizza parlor boogie.’ The show is free every week and for the first month, they’ll be joined by opener Rob Heiliger. To get a taste of the tunes before you go out, check out Kaleidoscope on Wednesday at 8pm on WYSO. Chris Wright will be in the studio talking about the band and spinning some of their recordings. Wright will be joined on the air by former Luxury Pushers bandmate, Eric Purtle who’ll be talking about his band, Dark Backward’s upcoming CD release (more info on that later this week on Dayton Most Metro).
Wednesdays at South Park Tavern are usually reserved for the Rock-n-Roll Play Date, the open mic night we told you about in an earlier post here on Dayton Most Metro. Tonight, however, is an exception. Do-Tell Records is bringing Minneapolis band Off With Their Heads to town along with Dear Landlord (also from Minneapolis). They’ll be joined onstage by local punk band, Raging Nathans. This all-ages show is $7 and gets started around 9pm.
File this one under “Super Cool Free Event.” Saturday evening Dayton is lucky to have a Bluegrass legend performing at Island Metropark for Five Rivers Metroparks’ Annual Bluegrass Concert. Dr. Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys will be performing in the bandshell along with Dale Ann Bradley beginning at 6pm. Stanley has been playing Bluegrass for over 55 years and casual fans will recognize his music from the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou. This is a great opportunity to see a legendary performer in a great outdoor setting – and did I mention that it’s free?!
This weekend marks the first-ever No Stress Fest at c{space (20 North Jefferson Street) in Downtown Dayton. This two-day festival features 26 local and national bands. South Carolina punk band, The Independents will headline Friday night of the festival with Cincinnati’s The Dopamines headlining Saturday’s show. Local bands on the bill include 8-bit Revival, Akillis Green, Rad Company, Marijuana Johnson and many more. The show is 18 and up, and doors open at 6pm each night. Tickets are $10 per day in advance or $15 at the door. You can also get a two-day pass in advance for $15. For a complete lineup and information on advance tickets, visit c{space’s website.
On Wednesday night, you’ll have the chance to hear some classic Pink Floyd songs live right here in Dayton in the comfort of Canal Street Tavern. Eclipse is a Pink Floyd tribute band from Nashville that includes local musician Tod Weidner (Shrug) and former Daytonian Patrick Himes (Flyaway Minion) in its lineup. The band will present a three-hour show that highlights the best of Pink Floyd’s catalog. Tickets are $10.
Dayton’s in for a treat this Saturday night when Monte Montgomery brings his trademark electrified acoustic guitar music to Canal Street Tavern. The Austin native will be playing at Bonnaroo later this month, but his music will be right at home in Canal Street’s intimate setting. Tod Weidner from Shrug will open the show, which begins around 9:30pm (doors open at 8). Tickets are $14 in advance or $15 on the day of the show.
Here’s a YouTube taste of Monte Montgomery’s music:
This weekend you’ll be able to get your hands on a copy of yet another of the year’s great local releases. Me & Mountains will be celebrating the release of their debut album on Saturday, June 5th at Blind Bobs. The band will be joined onstage by Okay Lindon and the Harlequins (Cincinnati).
The self-titled album was recorded by Darryl Robbins from the Motels Beds and is being released under his Fictionband Mechanics label. Me & Mountains is offering a bonus CD of demo tracks to anyone who buys the album at the release show on Saturday.
You can also catch Me & Mountains performing live on Kaleidoscope tonight. The show is 8-11pm on 91.3FM WYSO and can be streamed online at wyso.org.
Ladyfest Dayton is still a few months away, but this Saturday night you can get in the mood and throw some support toward the festival all while hearing some great music. 10 local bands will take the stage at Blind Bob’s starting around 10pm and pay tribute to their favorite girl groups and riot grrrls. The $5 cover charge will go towards the expenses of this year’s Ladyfest Dayton, which will be August 9-8th at c{space. Here’s who’s playing:
Los Esposos
This Friday night is your chance to celebrate yet another great release from one of our local bands. Human Reunion will unveil their new 7″ inch, Carbonics at their show at Blind Bob’s. There will be a limited number of white-vinyl copies available at the show as well as standard editions on gold vinyl from Detroit’s Five Three Dial Tone Records. Also available that evening is Prelude to A Miss Volume 1. This is the first installment of a cassette series from Five Three Dial Tone and will feature demos and instrumental versions of songs from Carbonics.
If the music collector in you isn’t already lining up for this show, then the rest of the lineup will have you sold. Human Reunion will be joined onstage by the Motel Beds (who just sent their new album Feelings off to press) and Pittsburgh’s Summer Lungs.
Pairing well with the warm weather in the Dayton region, Blind Bob’s is hosting an evening of some great Americana music. Local folk singer Wes Tirey and Dayton/Springfield bluegrass duo Sawgrass will welcome the Young Republic, a folk-rock group from Tennessee. This show should get started around 9pm.
As a preview for this great lineup, check out Wes Tirey playing live on WYSO:
Jonathan Larson's RENT at C{Space June 3-5 www.RENTdayton.org ~ Win Tickets Below!
On June 3rd Encore Theater Company will open it’s summer season of musicals with a show which has become a cornerstone for the musical theater world of the past decade and a half. ETC will present Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical RENT in C{space on three evenings next week, and if you don’t plan ahead, you just might miss out this highly provocative production in a truly unique downtown venue (Saturday is nearly sold out & tickets are selling fast for the other performances).
The musical, which is based loosely on Puccini’s opera La Boheme, follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing Bohemian lifestyle in New York’s East Village. AIDS and both it’s physical and emotional complications pervade these characters as they struggle to find their place in a quickly changing world.
We think of RENT as this iconic “rock opera” legend but what RENT was saying and how it was saying it was revolutionary in 1996 and the theater world has never been the same. The number of doors RENT opened for new musical theatre writers was unprecedented. Shows that have followed – like SPRING AWAKENING & 2010’s AMERICAN IDIOT (Yes, the GreenDay one) – are indebted to Larson & his show for their success. RENT’s influence is still profound in shows opening today, fourteen years after it quietly opened it’s Off-Broadway run the night after Larson died of an aortic aneurysm.
When talking with cast members of the show, it’s interesting, almost comical actually, to realize that for many of them, their first knowledge of this show was the 2005 film version. As depressing as that is to this almost-40-year-old, who could’ve been in the original Broadway cast (if he could act & sing that is), it’s also refreshing. This cast is approaching this material with such an infectious energy! They are exploring the souls of these characters, but through a new point of view, in a very different world.
“To be able to experience something so beyond myself in sharing with my fellow castmates and it’s viewers, the very real struggle that these characters live through has been life-changing. This chance to live in love, to spread the message to carry on and be thankful every single day has been a gift.”Drew Bowen, “Roger”
“Being a part of RENT is something deeply profound that I’ve strived for in my art and I finally have the chance to play my dream role. I’ll carry with me the artistic lessons that I’ve learned from this production as I pursue my stage career.”JJ Parkey, “Mark”
Since ETC carries as its mission the development and preservation of new musical theatre, it seemed only fitting that we honor Jonathon Larson – the pioneer who made our work and our mission possible. Along with a unique group of collaborators including C}Space, Sinclair Community College Theatre Department, AIDS Resource Center of Ohio, and Project Runway Finalist Althea Harper, ETC invites you to rediscover why you fell in love with RENT all over again and see this generation-defining musical in a fresh innovative production against the backdrop of one of Downtown’s Dayton’s most unique spaces.
Jonathan Larson’s RENT will play June 3, 4 & 5 in downtown Dayton’s C{space at 7:30pm each evening. An additional 11:30pm performance will take place on Friday, June 4th. Tickets for the event are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. You can order tickets by visiting www.RENTdayton.org
WIN TICKETS to RENT!
It’s easy! Just COMMENT to this post before midnight Saturday, May 29th to be entered into a drawing to win a set of tickets to the Encore Theater Company production of RENT. We will be giving away one set of tickets for each 7:30 performance (Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 1 winner per performance)…but you can help DOUBLE the number of tickets we will be giving away! If 50 readers “SHARE” this post, by clicking the FACEBOOK SHARE BUTTON before midnight Saturday…we’ll give away two sets of tickets for each evening’s performance! Start Sharing!
Tuesdays at Canal Street Tavern are traditionally reserved Musician’s Co-Op, but every once in a while Co-Op goes on hold for a week for a special event. This Tuesday Austin’s White Rhino will stopping by Canal Street as part of their national tour for some good old fashioned rock and roll. They’ll be supported by locals Electric Smoke with Fuzz Hound opening. This show gets started around 9:30pm and is $5.
Musician’s Co-Op will return next week, but if you’re really missing it, check out this great mini documentary about Co-Cop by former Daytonians Angelle Haney Gullett and Steven Gullett.
Great live music doesn’t stop just because another Urban Nights has come and gone. There are lots of great shows happening both Friday and Saturday nights this weekend. Here are some of the highlights:
Friday:
*The ever-funky Romeo Champagne will headline Canal Street Tavern. The show gets started around 9:30pm with Cleveland’s Deja Voodoo and is $5.
*If reggae is your thing, you won’t want to miss Seefari at the Trolley Stop. This show also starts around 9:30pm.
*For local blues, check out WG Blues Unit at J’Alan’s on Ludlow.
*The Black Who’s will be playing at The Brewery in Troy with Fuzz Hound and Valley of Visions. The Black Who’s performed live on Kaleidoscope this week, and you can stream that set from WYSO’s website.
Saturday:
*New Vega and Ed vs. Radio will play host to Louisville’s The Fervor. This South Park Tavern show gets started around 9pm.
*If you’re in the mood to dance, local DJ Jay Madewell will be hosting Fab Gear at Blind Bob’s. This dance party combines some of most danceable tunes from the soul, funk, Motown and disco genres.
*Over on Brown Street, C. Wright’s Parlour Tricks and Nine False Suns will be rocking the stage at Jimmie’s Cornerstone Bar.
*Regional favorites the Psychodots will perform at Canal Street Tavern with WYSO Excursions host and musician in her own right, Niki Dakota opening.
So Dayton – which shows are you excited about/playing in/can’t miss this weekend?
Another great weekend of music in Dayton kicks off Thursday at South Park Tavern. Local favorites the Smug Brothers will will join the Turkish Delights in welcoming Columbus’ Kyle Sowashes to town. This all-ages show gets started around 9pm – perfect for grabbing a later dinner at South Park Tavern.
Burlesque shows have been enjoying a revival in recent years, and this Thursday night Dayton will get a taste of the glitter and glamor when Brooklyn’s Dangerous Curves Ahead come to town. Billed as “Burlesque on the Go-Go,” this cabaret-style show at Gilly’s starts at 8pm and is only $10. Several members of this year’s show performed to rave reviews in last year’s Monsters of Burlesque, and they’ll be joined onstage by local burlesque performer Champagne Shock.
Bonnett’s Book Store in the Oregon District is helping to promote the show. Kevin Bonnett says, “Burlesque is racy, but it’s about stagecraft and performance; not pole dancing and dollar stuffing. Regardless of the ‘sexy’ involved, these folks know how to put on a show that will make you smile!”
