Loud Guitars & Lemon Bars; January 11, 2010; High Noon Saloon

Benefit concerts are always a good idea. The bands donate all the money they make to a good cause and we all get to see a good show. But pairing a benefit show with a bake sale was an absolute stroke of genius. It’s hard to imagine a better crowd to which to market baked goods, cookies go surprisingly great with beer and the folks who may have been ingesting other less legal substances always need snacks. I made three trips to the two pool tables full of treats as more goodies arrived, and spent nearly twenty bucks on cupcakes, bars, and a couple of adorable stocking hats, one with “lover” knit into the band, the other “supervillain.”

Today’s benefit was to ease the financial burden from medical bills for Jack and Shawn, a music-loving couple with a lot of friends in bands. Judging by Shawn’s sincere and tearful introduction to start the day, this effort was greatly appreciated. The first band on the solid four band bill was Tornadic, a cover band composed of members from two of the other bands playing. Lisa Marine and Julia Zeimer from the Pointy Birds, and Jason Jensen and Bill Borowski from the United Sons of Toil played a short set of well-chosen covers. Most were sung by Borowski, who I’d never really heard sing despite the fact that he is the lead singer of the Arge, and does backing vocals in the Toil. His vocals in those bands consist of more screaming than singing, so it was a very pleasant surprise to find out he can sing. I can also say he looks pretty adorable in an argyle cardigan.

They were followed by the best named band in Madison, the Hemlines. They have been playing pretty much the same set since I first saw them, but it’s always entertaining. It is hard to resist Erika Zar’s earnest vocals and charming songs. They were followed by the Pointy Birds who I was seeing for the second time in a month after having missed all of their previous shows. I still don’t know their songs well enough to tell one from the other but they do sound good. At the end of their set, Pete Kaesburg was called to the stage and he and Zeimer (as the Judge & Julia) covered Neil Young’s “Marlon Brando, Pocahontas, and Me,” a great song well suited to their voices.

The Toil had been taking a bit of a break after an ambitious tour through the Midwest and near-weekly local shows, so it was good to see them back on a stage. I think they missed playing as much as I missed seeing them. Lead singer/guitarist Russell Hall sang and played with fiery conviction while the solid rhythm section unleashed a pummeling behind him. It was pretty awesome. And just like that five hours had gone by. Everyone in the large crowd seemed to have done their part at the bake sale but a surprising amount of goodies still remained, and Shawn encouraged everybody to take what they wanted. I passed since I had already satisfied my appetite for sweets and for music.

Tornadic




The Hemlines


The Pointy Birds




The United Sons of Toil