Yesterday I went to the Bethlehem Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA. It's an annual music festival and most of the performers are outside and it's free. I saw some really great bands there (including one band that I paid for, The Bad Plus, and I'll get to that later).
One really standout band was called Fruit (I know, it's a wierd name, but the band was really good!). They seemed to be the only free band I saw with a pretty good number of people who seemed to know them. I got their first cd and it's great. They are comprised of an acoustic guitar player/vocalist, a bass player (I think she had a few small vocal parts as well), a keybord player, a drummer, and a horn player/vocalist (I say "horn" because she played a little bit of everything...trumpet, sax, baritone horn, french horn, etc...) Their website is at if you want to check them out.
Another great artist that I saw was a blues artist by the name of Amber DeLaurentis. She was just solo and played piano. Unfortnatly, I didn't get to see her whole show, but what I saw of it was really good.
The last band I saw that night was one that I knew - GrooveLily. They're a three-piece band with a violinist, keybord player, and drummer, all of whom did vocals as well. I got their new cd which isn't officially being "released" until the 26th. I really recomend you check this band out
I also saw a few other bands which really weren't something I would go out of my way for, but they were fun to see anyway.
By far, the highlight of the night was the pay concert with The Bad Plus. Before I saw this show, I would have said that the best concert I had ever seen was Our Lady Peace last August in Philly. Now it's a toss-up between that and The Bad Plus. The hall held probably about 200-250 people, but was only about half full (or half empty, depending on your perspective). I was in the 5th row from the front and right in the middle. For those of you who don't know, The Bad Plus is a three-piece jazz band consisting of a piano player, a bass player (upright acoustic bass), and a drummer. They are known for many original works as well as jazz renditions of songs from bands ranging from Nirvana to Abba to Aphex Twin. The 3 of them were all equally amazing on their respective instruments. They opened with the first song from their newest album "These Are The Vistas" called "Big Eater." They also played "Everywhere You Turn," "1972 Bronze Medalist" (a personal favorite of mine), "Guilty," covers of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Every Breath You Take," "Flim" and they also played several new original songs (new album soon?

). I had brought my copy of "These Are The Vistas" for them to sign if I got the chance...I did! After the first encore, I went down to the stage (which wasn't blocked off or anything, actually the first row of seats was on the wood of the stage). I got Reid's attention (the bass player) and he signed the cd and even thanked me for coming down! The other 2 members were already leaving the stage and I don't think they had seen me. I was still happy to have one of their signatures. Then, as Reid was leaving the stage, he looked back at me and motioned for me to come back with them! Back there I got the other 2 to sign the cd and I told them how much I loved the show. They all seemed really cool. I didn't stay back long though because they were going to do a second encore. Then, I walked out on to the stage with the band and took my seat as I watched one more amazing song! I'll see them any time they're back in the Philly area which I hope is soon!
I'm going to try to post a picture of the signed cd...never posted a pic here before, so we'll see if I can figure it out!
:::troy:::