As far as (newly seasonal) things to do, there will be enough sand to be kicked in the faces of dozens of 90-pound weaklings — OK, there are no such wimpy people around the stellar Hudson nightlife scene — as Dick’s Bar and Grill pours its middle room dance area full of the grit for its annual beach party. Other places do this too, but this in the first one so far this season to celebrate the (eventual) coming of spring. That warm weather has made its initial appearance really late this year, so as far as dress choices you won’t have to worry about getting sand in your bikini.
The party is Saturday night, April 26, although the sand will be poured-in such as through the proverbial hourglass much earlier than the beginning of the dancing. The mountains of the stuff were scheduled to be moved in starting at 8 a.m., according to the flyers all over Dick’s.
The New Skinny kicks things off by performing with a 7 p.m. start, and there is a shift in the sands, with deejay dancing after that time, all the way until close.
Another band, this one new to the local scene but sure to be in the mix in the future at the Smilin’ Moose, was Junk ‘Em on Friday night, which as a highlight brought a young woman on stage to sing part of a pop-punk verse, only to have her tell the frontman that her name is Simply Awesome, a pronouncement that he said he didn’t dispute, but still said he had trouble believing. Incidentally, that frontman looked a lot like Kid Rock, (think the early years with the hat like worn on album covers).
The band was loud and could be heard well up the street, but not nearly far enough so to drown out an even louder performance, that by a midnight fire truck with sirens wailing as it went through the Locust Street intersection. It’s worth mentioning that on the street on the Moose opening weekend, in the lone parking stall in front of the bank, some people from the Twin Cities arrived driving a Bentley said to go for about $270K.
One more snippet to serve as a mini-music review, of a solo act that continues to recur locally, especially at Guv’s Place in Houlton, found that an unusually talkative Kyle Kohila was adding additional flourishes to a non-electric version of the guitar solo to Free Bird that was long enough to close out the evening. He also threw in some quick staccato, same-note picking at times.
One last note on the bartender Andrea wedding of the century from earlier in the month — OK she’s not that old — people are probably now sobered up from the experience, which featured overnight stays in nearby motels just to be safe. One of the patrons reportedly lost his shoes on the six-block walk to get to his room, and there’s no word yet as to whether he ever found them again. We can report that Andrea, who is always in demand for singing the National Anthem at pro sports events, did sing at her own wedding — she hooked up to do that with one-man-band guy Jeff Loven, before hooking up with her new husband a little while later. (A note on the sly, I actually had a dream a couple of nights earlier about the two of them checking into the motel at the front desk).