Add to Google

Subscribe in NewsGator Online

Mostly Entertainment

entertainment ave!
Read our stuff.

 

  Home    -    Our Blog   -    Our Podcast   -   The Concert Hall    -   The Movie Theater    -   In Your House    -   Stu & The Dude    -   The Alley    -   Mail Us!    -   The Office


Related links at Entertainment Ave!
None yet.

Other Links:
Official Site:  confederaterailroad.net

Confederate Railroad
A Concert Review

December 12, 1994

Whiskey River

Chicago, IL

A Review by Big Cooter &
The Dude on the Right
Photos by The Dude
Archive Photo
The Dude on the Right
There are certain bands out there who belong on a big stage, in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, with elaborate stage shows and lights, sometimes making more money than any man should ever be allowed (except me of course). And then there are bands who belong in another place, a smaller place, where as nice as the money of the big shows might be, it's just so much more fun here. That place is a bar, and one of those bands is Confederate Railroad.

I've never seen Confederate Railroad before, much to my slight dismay, but I'm glad I did, and I'm glad I was able to see them where they belong - on a small stage, in a good ol' country bar, where the people were packed in liked sardines and the band could just have fun.

Now, Confederate Railroad is a band that, I must admit, has a whole bunch of hits I just plum forgot were there - but the night reminded me of a talented band that can shift gears from "She Loves Elvis" to "Jesus and Mama Always Loved Me" and then into a Waylon Jennings medley, and not miss a beat. They played a great version of the
Archive Photo
Skynyrd classic "Simple Man" which can be found on the Skynyrd tribute album, and I've never heard it before, but "I Wish I Was Stoned Somewhere Playing Pinball" is a song I think most people can relate to, including me, at least once in their lives. But the band really let loose on the Bee Gee's classic "You Don't Know What It's Like." Yep, that's right, a Bee Gee's song, because as the night went on, it also turned into impersonation night. A great Elvis, Johnny Cash, David Alan Coe, and others were all spotlighted. It was so cool!

And as the night began to come to a close, "Trashy Women" brought some treasured Trashettes on stage, and the band even played a second encore for the guy from Alabama, and what better song than "Sweet Home Alabama" to do it with.

Yes, you can probably already figure that I had a great time, and I think everyone else did too. Quite a good band, and when they cruise back around in possible bigger surroundings, it will be interesting to see if the band can transform their energy to the masses instead of the few lucky ones to see them, maybe at their best, in a bar.

And so, drum roll please, Confederate Railroad get TWO THUMBS UP from me! I enjoyed the show, was impressed by the talent of the band on stage, and was truly impressed by the number of Jack Daniel's shots I saw downed. What a good night!

That's it for this review. Keep your eyes peeled for more. Party Smart, and as always, Rellim Reeb, Rellim Reeb!!!

 

Archive Photo
Big Cooter
Well, school's out and yet here I sit having to type out yet another article. That is correct, we have expanded our musical prowess to include the big shows and to not end with the end of our school's paper ends. We have expanded by the use of the Internet and with such we will be reviewing bands during the off periods of school. So that means you need to subscribe to our mailing list, or be a constant reader of our World Wide Web page. And to do that just send mail to eavenue@entertainmentavenue.com, and join our still small but ever growing mailing list. With that said on to this article's review.

The place was Whiskey River, a place that I haven't been to since I saw Ronna Reeves there about a year ago, and the band was Confederate Railroad. Yes, this is a country band but any kind of musical stigma placed on them would be wrong. These guys came into a bar to play because they really wanted to have a good time, as opposed to the seemingly rigid constraints of being on a bigger arena type tour. As a matter of fact, one thing that they said about playing these kind of venue's is, "Don't let professionalism get in the way of having a good time." And a good time is what these guys did have at Whiskey River.

Now for a quick aside, Whiskey River is not that small a place, but it is not a really huge place either, but people were sure as hell packed into it like this was the best thing since sliced bread.
Archive Photo

Okay seeing that my partner did a pretty good job of telling you all what tunes the band played, I will tell ya alittle bit about the band. These guys struck me as a Lynyrd Skynyrd type band. And by that I mean they really seemed to have the same styled presentation as Skynyrd. And no sooner did I make that annotation in my little set list book did Confederate Railroad go into a tribute to them, Simple Man. It was quite good I might add. These guys basically had two front men, the lead singer/acoustic guitarist and the keyboard player. Both of these guys were very charismatic and willing to show just how much fun they were having.

With that said, I guess I will go ahead and tell ya that I did indeed enjoy myself and was quite surprised at the variety of tunes that we were presented with during the course of the evening. And I was also impressed with just how well the band interacted with the crowd and how much they got into the whole show. So, I am gonna give Confederate Railroad TWO THUMBS UP! And seeing that my partner and I agreed on this rating, it gives them FOUR THUMBS UP total. Must say it was a good day.

So until the next review everyone take it easy. Boy, I am stumped for a witty ending, seeing that I can't tell you all to study. Well, I guess you will all just have to deal with it. L8R!

 

Copyright © 1996-2010 EA Enterprises, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
www.entertainmentavenue.com
eavenue@entertainmentavenue.com