One Zootown Week--June 12-18, 2011

Summer Carnival

The carnival kicked off the week with jugglers, kids' games and other family entertainment early,

moving on to more adult themes in the evening, including my favorite fire eater

with a soundtrack by Voodoo Horseshoes.

Meanwhile, at the Missoula Winery

The Ed Norton Big Band,

under the direction of this man,

was swinging away in front of a happy crowd.

Jazz Martini

Later, Margi Cates joined the Front Street Jazz Band on stage at the Badlander, during Jazz Martini Night. For those who don't know, Jazz Martini is a weekly, Sunday night event at the Badlander. Bands alternate weeks, and Front Street will be back tonight, Sunday, June 26.

This night was fun for all.

Out to Lunch

Members of Zeppo also had a good time on the Caras Park stage for Out to Lunch on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. Anybody visiting Missoula should plan on Wednesday, for lunch, or Thursdays 5:30-8:30pm for dinner. Lots of vendors offer their foodstuffs, and the live music is free at both events. 

Hot Harleys

On Friday night, the annual Harley rally brought a bunch of hot bikes to Caras Park. 

Mudslide Charley was one of the bands providing the music,

and, of course, a good time was had by all.

Christian and the Sinners

Overlapping the excitement in Caras Park was a show at the Top Hat featuring a group new to me, Christian and the Sinners. That's Christian up front, and there are some marvelous musicians backing him up, including Bethany on the cello and Grace Decker on the fiddle. 

More images of every band and event in this post has a set on the flickr archive. Grace also performs with Cash for Junkers, while Bethany seems to be everywhere, but particularly with Wartime Blues and Butter in the archive. 

In the Streets

In Zootown, you can find music everywhere, and some of the travelers playing on the streets are very talented, not to mention varied and diverse in material and style.

Week 4: Downtown Tonight/Out to Lunch

Blue Collar Swings



It was evening time, when the sun seeks you out to sear your skin and pierce your retinas. It glared off the water and bounced from windows and windshields. Kayakers waited to ride the wave at Caras Park, and Downtown Tonight was in full swing. Blue Collar played oldies with verve and made them rock, while dancers filled the grass. Although the Downtown Tonight crowd was a bit smaller than Out to Lunch, the previous day, thanks to the band, it was livelier.

The heart and soul of Blue Collar sits at the drums, keeps the beat going and sings in a powerful bluesy voice.



Big Band Doesn't


Momma told me, if I couldn't say something good, don't say anything. OK. Let me think...

Benny Goodman's Sing, Sing, Sing was so exuberant, even this band couldn't dull it down, thanks primarily to the driving beat maintained by the drummer. To satisfy a request from the audience, Peter Gunn was the next number. It, too, was well-played but abbreviated.

This is my first negative review on the blog, but big bands are supposed to swing, not drag. Perhaps, this is a weekend hobby for the members of the Ed Norton Big Band, and practice time is limited, but often they didn't seem to be on the same page. Another point: big bands didn't play 70's rock. Why would anybody play 70's rock?

But the food is good
There was a good crowd attending the Out to Lunch event, and the vendors made up for the first cold and slow weeks. Here, the staff of Thai Spicy cheerfully serves their specialties to a long line of hungry folks.