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Related links at Entertainment Ave!
None yet.
Other Links:
Official Site:
www.iguanas.com |
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The Iguanas
A Concert Review |
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When I heard The Iguanas were going to be playing on a
Saturday night at Cubby Bear, my first reaction was to look at a
Cubs schedule. Yep, the Cubbies had a 3:05 game against the Padres
that afternoon, and that sealed the deal. The forecast called for
sunny skies and temperatures in the nineties; as Harry would say,
"It's a beautiful day for baseball".
Trash and I got up to Wrigleyville by noon and had secured a
couple of bleacher tickets by one. So, with a couple hours to kill
we hit The Sports Corner, a cool little bar at the corner of Addison
and Sheffield, just down the street from the El station. They have a
pretty good selection of beers including some microbrews, and of
course the Wrigley standards , Bud and Old Style. It is a good place
to meet before games because its small and they have a nice patio
area right on Sheffield so it's easy to see and be seen.
After a couple beers it was off to the game. To make a short
story shorter, the Cubs lost. It was now about 5:30 and we still had
a few hours to kill until the show. That being the case it was off
to our first stop, dinner at The Raw Bar which is on Clark just
north of Wrigley. They have a nice selection of fresh seafood (for
the Midwest anyway); the steamed clams in white wine sauce are a
good appetizer, and the chocolate mousse cake was a killer, I can't
believe I ate the whole thing.
After dinner it was over to Sluggers for some post game drinking
and dancing. Sluggers is a larger bar consisting of about three
separate bars on the lower level and a game room upstairs, as well
as a sidewalk patio. This is the place to go after games if you want
to get down with your bad self! After games the DJ plays a good mix
of classic dace music from "Greased Lightning" to
"Paradise By the Dashboard Lights." Here we ran into a Cub
legend, Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wicks. For those of you who have
no idea who I'm talking about, he isn't the Cubs newest pitching
sensation, but the way thing are going he couldn't do worse than
Bullenger. Ronnie is an older guy who walks through the bleachers in
a full Cubs uniform yelling "Woo" and the name of a Cubs
player, as in "Woo Ryno!! Woo Sammy!!." I guess you kinda
have to be there, but he can really get the crowd fired up. After a
few more beers, we headed up to the game room which consists of
batting cages, some arcade games and two Hi-Ball games. Hi-Ball is
played on a trampoline which is divided into four sections by a
seven foot mesh wall. In each section there is a goal which is a
hole about one foot around about a foot above the wall. The object
of the game is to jump up and throw a ball into an opponents goal.
Watching four drunks on a trampoline is hours of entertainment.
Well, after I crushed a few balls in the batting cages we were off
to Cubby Bear for the show.
We watched the opening act, whose name escapes me, from the annex
which is a separate room from where the stage is located, but unlike
the main room, there were tables and chairs and the band could be
seen on closed-circuit TV throughout the bar.
Now it was time for the real reason we were supposed to be here,
The Iguanas. I knew very little about The Iguanas going into the
show. I knew they were on Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville record
label, that they had opened for him in the past, and that he joined
them on stage occasionally, but I never new what kind of sound they
had. Now for the hard part, (this is the reason it took so long to
finish this review) trying to describe the show.
The Iguanas are a five piece band from New Orleans, and there is
a hint of that in their music, but it is far from a Cajun or zydico.
Just a listen to their new CD, Super Ball, will show their
musical diversity. The first track, "Rock Star," sounds a
little like the Dead meet the Beach Boys where as "I Moved Too
Slow" sounds more like the Bodeans. "Don't Blame Me"
has a country twang to it, and "So Tired" is very bluesy.
They even use a mix of different instruments, ranging from a basic
power trio with dual saxophones and the occasional accordion.
This is a band that is impossible to classify, which is what
makes them so cool to see. Even if you don't like one song, the next
one will be totally different. The show itself was a great time. You
didn't really need to know the songs to have fun. Everyone was
dancing from the first song and one couple was even trying to do the
Lombada. In a nutshell, The Iguanas rocked. They are great musicians
who can play a whole host of different types of music, all of which
can get a room jumping. The Iguanas get TWO THUMBS UP from me. I
plan on seeing them again, and maybe Jimmy will show up, you just
never do know.
Till later Peace Out and Hang Loose. |
