The man is guaranteed. A good time, on time, in tune, guaranteed. Whether he is bringing fronting Bodega Cat, bringing along some new friends like Brock Butler, or playing every member of his one man band - Will brings it. 24 years of performing live leaves some grizzled and battered, but Will has emerged polished and shiny as if he had spent the years in a rock tumbler. This past Thursday on the Bud Light Stage, Will's band consisted of himself, his guitar, a loop pedal, a strong PA, and a superlative-worthy red carpet smile. It feels like every time he is on stage is an award won, and his smiling performance is the acceptance speech. He's so prepared I feel like he just keeps all of those things in a bug-out bag, ready at a moment's notice. The little man (I say that with all the love - he's travel size) with the big sound belted out "Use Somebody", "Sweet Melissa", "Bittersweet Symphony", and "Wolfman's Brother." Sprinkled in the mix were his own originals, like his original video I included last week for "Ain't That Strange?"
The heat showed up for the show, but luckily the humidity took a sick day. The Alley was filled with families and their dancing children, drooling dogs, and our favorite Amp Groupies. It felt like a family reunion cookout in the park, and Will's voice and smile was the group hug that wrapped around everyone. Will has been giving back to the music scene lately with Broken Compass Presents. Check him out on Facebook and see the great talent he is getting behind in the CSRA.
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This Week on the Bud Light Stage - A Kick Amp Surprise!
Not only are we getting Johnathan Wilson, which was going to be awesome all on its own, but we are also getting Michael Baideme, Keith Petersen, Brooks Andrews, and Justin Benson. You all have seen Keith many times with many different bands, but before the CSRA was gifted the Keith Peterson experience they had Baideme. The amount of guitar talent on the Bud Light stage is going to be unreal. This is one you do not want to miss.
Here are Johnathan and Baideme for a little preview.
We've got a new number!
I'm still working out the new text services. I was going to send all of you a text, but since we are new to this platform I can only text a few of you at a time to start out with. That being said, expect those text to start coming in soon. Like I said before, it will be a 10 digit number, in fact, it will be this number - +1 803-335-5584. So if you see a text that starts with "Amp:", just remember, that's us.
Amp 2024 Part Deux!!!
I'm not sure who started the weird rumor, that was then picked up by the local newspaper, but we are not ending any time soon. We are rocking all of the way through October. In fact, Halloween serendipitously falls on our last show, so that should be way too much fun. We've picked up some more local bands, Ruskin and Cam will be making another showing, plus we've got some jam grass, a lot of horns, some big Florida Man Energy, and some Hair Metal out of Columbia. In the famous words of President Thomas J. Whitmore
"We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive!"
Sept 5 - The Grumble
Sept 12 - Whiskey Business
Sept 19 - King Size
Sept 26 - Low Country Locals
Oct 3 - OGR
Oct 10 - Trae Pierce & The T-Stones Oct 17 - Awen Family Band
Oct 24 - The Experiment and the I-20 Horns
Oct 31 - DAZR
Moose's Dinner
This week I saddled up to the bar at Southbound Smokehouse and grabbed a bite during Amp. I'm a sucker for a sampler, mostly because I can be a child and don't like making decisions for myself. What if I order something and I don't like it as much as that other thing I wanted? Straight up - I get irrationally angry if I pay for someone else to cook my food and it isn't good. I'm not talking about feeling a little adventurous and paying the price for it, don't be that person, just because you don't like something doesn't mean it isn't good. It simply means you don't like it. Sorry, that was 20+ years of food and beverage coming out of me. I'm reasonable, I know when something doesn't agree with my sophisticated palate that is trained and completely in tune with the nuance and complexity of Dino Chicken Nuggies! Yes, ground brown honey mustard can ruin those, give me the pastel-colored stuff... but I digress.
Luckily, this was not an issue at Southbound. In fact, they found a way to make chicken snacks even better! They SMOKE em! That's right, smoked chicken wings. In fact, according to the menu, they are famous smoked chicken wings. 10 of these juicy bad boys are smoked and tossed in their famous sauce: a thick, semi-sweet, BBQ wing sauce. If you are looking for heat you may need to opt for the devil wings which promise wicked heat. I was just fine with the famous wings and side of homemade ranch. With that whole sampler issue that I have; the 10 wings were not enough, so I also ordered the Soul Rolls. These smoked chicken, Southwest Egg Rolls are pretty awesome. For the record, the Famous Wings or the Soul Rolls, for that matter, were probably enough. They were enough. I ordered both for science. I finished them both, in their entirety for a separate science project. I'm happy to report that in test 1 - I found both specimens to be yummy and worth the money. In test 2 - I survived. So I'm proof that you do not have to deny yourself options.
Awesome!