First time blogger here, and the english ain't what it used to be, corrupted by too much technical writing over the years I imagine, but anyway, thought I'd offer some thoughts on the CD101 show I caught at the LC in CBus last weekend.

For those not from the area, CD101 is pretty much the coolest radio station I'm aware of, privately owned and operated out of Columbus, plays an excellent mix of new indie rock and such, with the requisite U2, Pearl Jam, etc thrown in to appease the masses. Check them out online sometime of you get the chance. They throw a big concert every spring with a collection of bands for the bargain basement price of $5. This year the lineup consisted of The Whiles(the token C-Bus band), Zox, The Duke Spirit, The Switches, The Whigs, and Von Iva.

We arrived a little late, missed The Whiles, who I've seen plenty of anyway, and only caught the last couple songs from Zox. Zox was solid, pretty catchy couple of tunes, some dude getting down with an electric violin of some sort (we call it a fiddle where I'm from, and they're usually not plugged in). Definitely stoked my interest. I'll check em out again if I get the chance.

Next up was The Duke Spirit. First I'd ever heard of them, a 5 piece from London, with a drummer who was a dead ringer for a young Bob Dylan and a smokin hot blonde lead singer with a nice set of ....pipes. They were a lot of fun too, but shoulda closed with their second last song, which really had the crowd going.

The Switches followed. Apparently they appeared on Letterman last week, but I was unaware as that is way past my bedtime and, well, Letterman ain't been funny since before I could stay up and watch him. Pretty young bunch of kids, also from England judging by the singers accent. As far as the music...meh. Radio pop. I'm sure they'll get a big record deal if they haven't already. The lead singer spit a lot.  

The Whigs were really the only band that belonged in that size of a venue (2,000+ I think). An excellent 3 piece, brought some serious noise, and the best part was that they set up right at the front of that big ass stage. Thoroughly enjoyed the show, the drummer beat the hell out of those skins, the singer/guitar player was outstanding, despite the Bama Bangs, and they just seemed really tight as a group. I'm guessing they've been doing this for a while, though I've only heard of them recently.

The closer, Von Iva, was a complete disaster. A 3 piece of white girls in makeup playing a cross between what I would call white girl rap and some sort of techno business. It was unbearable and cleared the joint out after about 3 songs, aside from some hecklers. The hecklers however, were quite enjoyable.

We called it quits after about 15 minutes and went outside to laugh at the cowboys and girls stuck in the parking lot trying to get out of the Skynyrd and Hank Jr concert next door at Nationwide. Amazing how entertaining the big trucks, cowboy hats, and near fights between drunken knuckle draggers can be after a few beers...