Official Roots N Blues Afterparties at Rose

Friday

The Kay Brothers

When: Friday, September 29th. Doors at 10:00 p.m., show at 11:00 p.m.
Where: Rose Music Hall
Tickets: FREE with pass| $5 at door

Keep Friday night rolling with The Kay Brothers, a local stompgrass band from California, Missouri, and featuring our own Pat Kay, a talent buyer for The Blue Note!

 

Saturday

Dirtfoot

When: Saturday, September 30th. Doors at 10:00 p.m., show at 11:00 p.m.
Where: Rose Music Hall
Tickets: FREE with pass| $10

Penned by the band as “Gypsy Punk Country Grumble Boogie”, this Louisiana-based band has held many Roots N Blues afterparties at Rose in the past, and all have been some of the most high-energy shows the venue has ever hosted.

 

Sunday

Ben Miller Band

When: Sunday, October 1st. Doors at 8:00 p.m., show at 9:00 p.m.
Where: Rose Music Hall
Tickets: FREE with pass | Donations encouraged
Opener: The Driftaways

Note the change in time, because you don’t want to miss The Driftaways, a reggae-rock band from the St. Louis area, open the show on Sunday night.

Then end your Roots N Blues experience with some Ozark Stomp from Ben Miller Band to put an exclamation point on the entire weekend!

Michael Franti & Spearhead bring the love to Rose Summerfest

The near 100-degree weather yesterday didn’t phase Michael Franti when he and his band, Spearhead, took to the outdoor stage at Rose Park. If anything, the weather couldn’t have provided a better atmosphere for Franti’s positive reggae pop jammin’. The park was packed with a crowd that bounced multi-colored beach balls and danced throughout the entire show.

It probably helped that Franti had a chance to adjust to the heat before the show too. A couple of weeks ago, he posted in the Facebook event page and asked his fans to join him in some pre-show yoga. Franti says he does this before almost every show and we wanted to make it happen, so we teamed up with our friends at Logboat for some yoga in the park. About twenty fans showed up, many with gifts and stories to share with Franti after the final namaste. Hugs were given, pictures were taken and babies were kissed. (Yes, there was a baby that sat quietly through the entire session and was a fucking trooper.)

Franti and his fans get their dancing muscles warm before the show at Logboat!

 

Yoga sessions give the band a chance to meet fans and connect with them over a practice based on positive thinking and peace, something that Franti preaches and practices. For each ticket, a dollar went to Do It For The Love, a charity that Franti and his wife founded, which brings together various artists and uses music to “provide empowering moments for people living with life-threatening illnesses, children surviving severe challenges, and wounded veterans.” The foundation’s summer campaign has a goal of granting 1,000 wishes by the end of August. At the show, Franti said they have already reached over 900.

As for the show, it was one of the cooler experiences that Rose Park has seen. People from all ages joined to dance. Literally, at one point in the show when Franti asked the crowd to pair up with seven or eight people around them, hold their hands and dance in a circle. For his hit “Life is Better With You,” Franti brought his wife, Sara, up on stage to sing with him. As if it couldn’t get more adorable, he brought up a group of kids from the audience to dance and sing along toward the end of the show. He talked between songs about peace, loving your neighbor and listening to those around you. When he wasn’t spreading the message from the stage, he joined the audience to sing among the crowd. After the show, the audience trickled out. Among them, were some already wearing shirts they picked up at the merch booth that said “Stay Human” across the chest.

 

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Rebelution: Show review

Talk about feel-good, hip-swinging music. If you missed this, you missed a great concert. Try not to get too down on yourself about it though, because you have me to fill you in on what you may have (but hopefully didn’t) miss.

I have start by admitting that I was a stranger to Rebelution and their amazing music before this show. I had no idea what I was missing out on. I decided to go to the concert on a whim, and I am so glad I did.

Being a front row fanatic, I ran up to the balcony as soon as I got there so I could take it all in. This was the first thing I saw:

I instantly picked up on the infectious rhythm. I remember looking out on the crowd, seeing all the fans moving to the music and I felt it immediately. At that moment, I knew I had discovered a new type of music that gives me a euphoric feeling that I crave.

So I put my phone down, closed my eyes, felt a huge grin fill my face and let the music take over.

One of my favorite parts of attending concerts is the unique production that each band or artist brings to the venue. Rebelution’s production was out of this world and while I tried to capture it, there’s no way these pictures could do it justice.

And this amazing guitar solo. I got lost in the lights while recording this video.

I don’t know what it was about this next song but I couldn’t help but dance to it. This song had the best beat and rhythm and it made my soul come alive.

The name of the song is “Roots Reggae Music.” Here’s the record version for you to play on repeat in case you like it as much as I do.

One thing I absolutely loved about this whole experience was the overarching message that Rebelution stands for. In the middle of the concert, Eric Rachmany (the lead singer) paused, looked at the cheering crowd and said “We are on a mission to promote love, peace and acceptance for everybody’s differences in this world.”