Teeming.


Three down and one to go. Round three of the Showcase was the weirdest, wildest yet. Who knew that so many folks want to hear live local music on Valentine’s Day? Sticky Fingerz was packed. At one point, there was a line out the door. People danced most of the night. Jeff Allen, from the Point,  came through to help out with hosting duties. We threw candy. Belvis was in the building again. (He chided me for suggesting that he was “nationally famous.” Said to add an “inter” before that. He also wanted me to pass along that he’s available for private parties and corporate events. Best Belvis line overheard: Dude making conversation with Belvis: “What’s your favorite Elvis song?” Belvis, huffy: “Man! That’s like me asking you which grandma is your favorite.”)

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To the music: Before I get into the rundown, I want to invite folks to chime in on last night’s contest. I’ve got a survey going here. You don’t have to sign up or anything. It’s quick and painless. Something new we’ll likely be doing a lot in the near future that I wanted to try out.


Brian Martin and the Circulators. Damn, that cymbal is high. Photo by Brian Chilson.

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Hats off to Brian Martin and the Circulators, from Hot Springs. They won the judges scorecards handily. Their swinging folk-blues has clearly built em a loyal fanbase in Spa City — a good deal of them were in the house on Thursday, singing and dancing all the way through. Martin sang and carried himself with the ease of someone who spends a lot of time on the stage. His songs touched on keystone barroom themes — dancing, drinking, getting high, Southern women — with several ditties about rambling to keep it folk. The singer/songwriter strummed his guitar adeptly, too, but I gotta think his band put him over the edge, particularly the efforts of Greg Batterton on harmonica and trumpet. At one point, he made his harmonica sound like that awesome trill-cheer Middle Eastern women do. Martin and the Ciculators join 607 and Epiphany and One Night Stand in the finals on Friday, March 7.


Ace Spade and the Whores of Babylon singing of sex and death. Photo by Brian Chilson.

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Ace Spade and the Whores of Babylon kicked off the night in awesome fashion. They looked amazing. They had two TVs playing old B-movies. Their set covered all your favorite Valentine’s themes — murder, necrophilia, corpse brides, meth. Ace has a killer punk holler. Mr. Del Liliah, on bass, told terribly great jokes. Sofira N Brimstone, on drums, kept time like a champ. Ace was bummed that his chainsaw didn’t fire and that the smoke machine puttered out, but their act was far and away the best in terms of theatricality. They edged out Benjamin Del Shreve for second. Make sure you catch them at Downtown Music on March 14.


Benjamin Del Shreve. Photo by Brian Chilson.

Benjamin Del Shreve played third. It was easy to see why he and his band have become all the rage in Fayetteville. Del Shreve and his four-piece backing band played with a lot of swagger. Girls danced. One even came with flowers to throw onstage during “Flower Gazer.” A lot of folks I talked to before and after their show thought they had it locked up. I haven’t gotten all the judges feedback yet, but pretty much across the board, they got killed on originality points (which along with song quality count for more than the three other categories). Possibly because they did a cover medley (Humble Pie, Johnny Cash, maybe something else). They also may’ve been hurt by their sound. They’re the only band so far that’s brought their own sound guy. It was a little muddy and way overpowering. Stick with the Maestro, next rounders. Still, look for BDS to continue to do big things. Catch them on Saturday at Maxine’s in Hot Springs.

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Rockst*r with Sixstring, Sean West and Dirtbag. Photo by Brian Chilson.


Rockst*r closed down the night impressively. I’ve seen him a handful of times and his live show is really coming together. There was no backing vocal track and Sixstring accented all the material with electric guitar. That’s Sixstring, who also plays in last week’s winner One Night Stand. Don’t know how they would’ve handled that if Rockst*r had won. Lots of sharp guest appearances from the likes of Sean West and Mista Mayhemm. Dirtbag kept the crowd hype throughout. Definitely make it a point to catch Rockst*r at the FRESH Goods show on Feb. 29 at Vino’s.

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Tons more pics after the jump.

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