You know you're hardcore when all this snow still can't cool your jones for the blues or BBQ. So after seeing Molly Ringwald in Sweet Charity (it's about hookers, you know), me and the better half braved the precipitating precipitation and headed to the Dinosaur for some grub ‘n' grind. Too Tall and the Howlin' Mercy Blues Band supplied the beat in which to eat. Too Tall positively dwarfed his Strat but still made it sound as big as he is. I got to sit in on a coupla shuffles after they dug into the Prince library. Four white dudes playing "Purple Rain" in a blizzard. And the dish ran away with the spoon...

Thursday night trident troubadour Eric Bibb held the modest German House crowd in the palm of his hand. His slick finger style plucked and chimed, traveling warmly beyond the blues or folk as he baritone'd his stories on top. I dig cats like this so much ‘cause inevitably I'll get zapped with a thought or theory that won't leave. In passing, Bibb remarked that our concept of past, future, and present tense probably isn't what we think it is. I can't explain why, but I think I know what he meant. Adding some enchantment to the evening was Derek Campbell, who played some sweet call-and-response sacred steel in Bibb's second set.

Brooklyn's Phonograph brought asphalt Americana to the Bug Jar Friday night. Each song the band played seemed perched on the edge of an epic, as it explored and wrung all the possibilities over the heads of the audience. Well written songs neighboring chaos.

Eddie Nebula and the Plague absolutely rocked Dub Land Underground Saturday night. The band doesn't sacrifice power for fun and Nebula has got an enormous upper-vocal register --- and that's without falsetto, baby. Dub Land is an oasis; a cool, live music basement joint in an area that is for the most part soulless and lacking when it comes to live, original music. I kinda got a vintage Scorgies vibe as I descended the stairs. The fist-pumpin', drink-spillin', ass-shakin' crowd was rambunctious and rowdy as it ate up Plague classics like "Rochester Girls" and "Devourer Of Souls."