Ok, OK, I was working on this for a while....
Going around town, seeking music and good wholesome fun, I stopped a few nights ago at
Sparrow.
This popular small club with fancy painted murals of famous faces, is Unit D (around the corner) at 1078 E. Montague near Park Circle.
"Funky" comes to mind when thinking of music and entertainment I've seen there. This is one of my favorite "hole-in-the-wall" bars.
This evening the place was jam packed.
The
Resonant Rogues brought a variety of entertainment - and Vaudevillian dancer Evelyn DeVere
- ably backed by a first class band, headed by
Sparrow Pants.
Yes, I know,
"Sparrow" is her name, appearing at a club by that name.
Miss Pants, and her band, are from Asheville. She leads the quartet, plays the accordion, dances and sings.
Miss DeVere, the featured ecdysiast, does amazing thing with feather fans and can magically make her clothes disappear.
Last night, at the Pour House, we saw the last stop on the tour by the
Two Man Gentleman Band.
Well this "tour" included only the show here and a city in North Carolina the day before.
Because the "Councilman" Fuller Condon, on bass, lives in nearby Folly Beach, he sits in with several local bands.
His partner Andy Bean lives in Los Angeles, working on projects for Disney.
Some of the local band members were invited to join them onstage last night. A joyous sound was heard.
At the end of the evening - early this morning - all the instruments were unplugged and the entire expanded band stepped down to the floor to continue playing.
They held quite a jam session as we all crowded around, dancing and clapping our hands.
Talking with Andy, I mentioned we first saw them perform at Tin Roof and I still had the free kazoo they were handing out.
He recalled he was wearing
knickers (Plus-fours) and said they still fit. He added that would have been about 2009.
This night they wore "matching" red jumpsuits and, during an impromptu Q & A, an audience member shouted out
"Do you like the group DEVO?" Then I could imagine them with flower pot-like hats on their heads.
We had seen
Devo perform at a Mid-Town Music Festival in Atlanta many years ago.
A nice pattern is emerging: a flurry of musical activity (a Trifecta), followed by several days to sleep in and get my breath back.
Did I mention I just turned 76?
So I knew what an ecdysiast was.
And actually wore knickers as a kid.
Labels: Andy Bean, Devo, Ecdysiast, Evelyn DeVere, Musical Trifecta, Resonant Rogues, Sparrow Pant, The Councilman, The Sparrow, TMGB
"You may feel a little pressure..."
I invited a friend, a fellow member of my photography group, to join me for a beer last night.
Knowing he liked offbeat and dive-y bars, I suggested
The Sparrow in Park Circle.
My last few visits there were later in the evening with only a couple of regulars hanging out.
I like the murals that were painted on the walls and especially Gandhi and Bill Murray, almost side-by-side.
Marty asked if his son could join us and I asked if he liked beer?
"Do we like cameras?" he responded.
The place was trying out a new approach to
Happy Hour and was staging
Carnivalesque. The bar was packed and it was still light outside. Yikes.
J. Honea, the MC and Ringmaster was also known as the
"pain proof man."
Earlier he had walked - and jumped up and down - on a large area of broken glass shards placed on the stage.
This, however, was the highlight. The final part of his performance.
It involved an industrial strength staple gun and the invitation to the audience to "attach" dollar bills to various parts of his body.
$1 goes here, a $5 goes there and $10 gives you even more interesting choices. Apparently nobody had a $50. Whew.
Marty lamented
"Of course, THIS is the night my camera is at home."
The Carnival / Burlesque combo evening started with a pretty lady spinning hula hoops around her scantily-clad body.
She was followed by an energetic Fan Dancer swirling around the stage as the rapt audience kept looking for an opening.
Feathers flew!
The bartender was working hard pouring craft beers - and opening PBRs - and management must have been pleased with their show biz decision.
The founder of this admittedly seedy performance troupe is Evelyn DeVere.
She introduced this in 2011 as a definite counterpoint to the popular
Spoleto Festival of the Arts.
Because I happen to like a lowbrow dive-bar atmosphere, I found it a great concept.
What would Happy Hour be without some crowd participation?
As Marty, his son and I sort of stepped further back, three volunteers agreed to perform in a tassel-twirl contest.
The winner would get some bar prizes and probably make some new friends in the place.
The winner - and top bra gyrator - had gone the extra audience-pleasing step of removing his shirt.
The Fan Dancer gave technical pointers and enthusiastic support.
Things got a little edgy as the "Clown" took the stage and asked for ideas on what Balloon Animals to make.
Several patrons later were wearing oddly-formed balloon hats.
There was a definite theme and prominent shape to all of his critters.
We relaxed a bit as a "traditional" stripper came onto the stage, looking rather over-dressed.
She began to remedy that quickly in time to lively "bump & grind" music.
Her garments were shed and tossed around like confetti.
This Hour was indeed a happy one. Or two.
(Click on the photos for more details.)
Marty said he enjoyed the bar outing with me.
Interesting entertainment.
I said I could send some pictures for him to show to his wife.
He decided I did not have to go to all that trouble.
As the Fan Dancer could have said...
That's
THE END.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hope we will do this again.
Labels: $1, $10, $5, $50, balloon animals, Carnivalesque Show, dollar bills, Evelyn DeVere, Fan Dancer, J. Honea, MC and Ringmaster, Pain-proof man, PBR, staple gun, The Sparrow, titty-tassel-twirler, Zahrah the Belly Dancer
