Jaded Reviews

After a couple of pitchers of margaritas on the home front, the night was off to a good start as it was. It would have only taken a crappy band to blow the rest of the evening out of the water and ruin what had begun as a terrific evening. Luckily for us, that was not the case.

Can I just say that BoneSauce rocked the freakin’ house down!

Once again, we headed out to Crossroads for a rockin’ night of music, friends and spirits. We had no clue who was playin’, as it’s been a short spell since we’d found ourselves at Crossroads. You know, sometimes life just gets in the way of what we want to do. As we climbed out of the truck, I glanced at the road sign and saw the band for the night was BoneSauce. I recognized the name, as Jamie had spoke of them to me before and told me just how amazing this band was.

Oh.my.lord. Amazing is an empty understatement. BoneSauce epitomizes finger lickin’ good on more levels than I can even put to words!

There wasn’t a bad set the entire night. Their talent as vocalists and musicians didn’t need to be overshadowed by fancy lighting, sound affects or outfits. Jeff “DOC” Jarvis of Doc Rox Stage Lighting did a perfect job of creating an atmosphere with his talents behind the scenes. The band members all dressed as though they had just stepped off of the back nine, save for Terry Hodges, the drummer, who more resembled that of an 80’s hair band rock god.

Trent Ash took the lead vocals by storm. His sound is reminiscent of STP while his unassuming and almost humble presence was a pleasant contrast to the power of his performance. Taking on contemporary songs such as NIN’s “The Hand That Feeds” brought butterflies of excitement to the entire crowd and an energy that was unstoppable. Being able to pull off a multi level skilled performance such as that of Trent Reznor with a three piece band was extremely impressive.

With Mike Conrad on guitar (whose hat I really really wanted, btw) and Jeff Vanosdall rockin’ out bass, BoneSauce put on a show worthy of a much larger venue, greater audience size and notoriety. Every song they played was something that I would have on an iPod playlist that would stay around forever.

One thing that I use to gage live bands is the audience reaction. That seems quite obvious, even elementary when said aloud like that, however, you have no idea how easy it is to lose yourself within your own tastes when listening to music for review purposes, forgetting that the entire world may not share your views and you, as the reviewer, could be way off base. As I watched the crowd, I saw each and every person before me enjoying, truly listening to and falling victim to the sound that BoneSauce was feeding them. Folks were on their feet dancing, singing and losing themselves in the music. Even I, the great jaded one, got up and shook her groove thang on the dance floor. My voice, as well as many other patrons I am guessing, was hoarse and fading come this morning’s sunrise. One man in particular stood out in the crowd of fans, the one we dubbed “McLovin’” and watching him was nearly as entertaining as BoneSauce themselves! There is always that one fan that brings out fits of giggles and utter enjoyment when there is a gathering of folks like this. When that one person is as fun and good natured as McLovin’ was, it makes it all the more entertaining.

Thanks BoneSauce for an awesome performance! We are looking forward to catching your next performance Friday June 19th – RJ’s Pub in Galesburg. Thanks for the bumper stickers and the t-shirt too! Love me some swag baby!

Thanks to Crossroads for providing an awesome venue for relaxation and for booking such great music! Love you guys!

A special thanks to McLovin’ for making us all smile!