So I mentioned the NPR Monitor Mix bass solo contest a few months back. Whatever happened of this promised contest, you may ask? Who won, and what did it sound like? I’m guessing nobody knows, because the blog went on vacation in May and not a peep has been heard since. I guess I should be used to bassists being ignored or overlooked at this point (and it’s not about contests anyway) – it’s just cruel to raise hopes and then dash them again. Sigh . . .

The Vollrath has The Founders, Emulus, EdWord in my Pocket tonight and Deals Gone Bad with New York to Nowhere tomorrow.

The White Rabbit Cabaret features performances from Hassenpfeffer both Friday and Saturday night.

If such bawdy entertainment isn’t for you, consider the Blue Skies Big Band over at the Fountain Square Theater for Swing Night.

Arthur’s Music hosts a bluegrass jam Saturday afternoon – they note that well-behaved dogs are welcome, but still will not be allowed to play. All they want to play is nu-metal, anyway.

Finally, there’s jazz at Maria’s Pizza tonight and lounge music at the Brass Ring all weekend long. Enjoy!

Also, tonight is the opening night – A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum opens this very evening at the Athenaeum Theater in beautiful Indianapolis. I love returning to this venue (even if my amp is picking up radio stations again – that’s why they make DI boxes with ground lifts, no? Thanks, SansAmp!), and the production is tremendously funny. Tickets are available through bobdirex.com, and the show runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for the next three weeks. Hope to see you there!

Well, not see. We’re secreted up in the mezzanine, and your attention shall be focused directly on the stage. But you’ll hear us, and I’ll no doubt perceive a friendly presence in the hall.

Quiet, Halloween. This isn’t about you.

Those of an artistic and creative bent should probably check out this year’s event, scheduled to coincide with the Fountain Square Art Festival and Masterpiece in a Day on September 18th. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can see just how weird the entries can be. Between this year’s 4th of July celebrations (complete with black market trunk sales of fireworks) and the dancing bear/fairy video I saw shot on my street a few weeks ago, however, it make take a little effort to stand out from the local flair. I encourage a hearty and well-fought competition. Have at it.

• Cheap.
• Recyclable

But isn’t it time to move beyond smashing instruments at this point, even those designed for that purpose? You have better things to do with your stage time than create excess splinters. Just sayin’.

The Vollrath brings in Bloody Knives and Black Heat. Tomorrow, there’s a private party that you’re probably not invited to. So there.

The White Rabbit Cabaret hosts the Cultural Cannibals’ Balkan Beats tomorrow night. Get down.

As always, there’s jazz tonight at Maria’s Pizza and lounge music all weekend at the Brass Ring. Enjoy.

My new iPad holds quite a bit of sheet music in PDF form, and so far it’s been a good resource for such storage. The resolution is high enough to be useful, and the screen is big enough to show the entire page in legible form. It’s still a little slower on the large files, and normal PDF files aren’t convenient to scan through (Real Book fans, take note). But it’s awfully convenient for storage, a quick touch changes the page, and it’s hundreds of dollars cheaper than the MusicPad Pro (a device designed just for sheet music, although it does come with a foot pedal for changing the page). I wouldn’t be surprised to see this showing up on tons of music stands soon.

The Vollrath tolerates none of that futbol stuff. Instead, they present the Burnt Ones CD release show on Saturday. Said show includes Vacation Club and Holy Ghost Canyon as well.

Swing Night at the Fountain Square Theater hosts the Tim Brickley Group, and Hassenpfeffer performs at the White Rabbit Cabaret. Toss in live jazz tonight at Maria’s Pizza and the lounge music at the Brass Ring, and you’re good to go. Enjoy.

EDIT: Jess K. and Rebekah play the Calvin Fletcher Coffee House tonight.

And, as it turns out, there’s no Great American Trailer Park Musical show tomorrow due to actress injury, so my run with them is done. There’s going to be two more shows next week, though, so make the effort to see their last weekend in the run. Music rehearsals start Sunday for the next BobDirex production, so that’ll be more than enough to keep me busy.

1. Bad cable – lifetime warranty doesn’t beat the spare cable (or the Stage Ninja cable when I was told the backup cable was too long for the stage
2. Radio station in the amp – really? In a grounded bass amp with no other indication of issues? Managed some gain and EQ tweaks to minimize, and I’m not going through a PA anyway, so it’s not noticable
3. Lightbulb on music stand goes out – alright, that’s not my fault. Stage lights and a quick replacement carried the day.

I suppose that’s why I keep the spares around, but I’m moving on to another musical this weekend, and I wonder what’s going to break there . . .