Seriously good times in what "almost" feels like a secret, underground club. I found out why it's quickly becoming a favorite hang for a lot of people. Not only are the clientele friendly, the owners terrific and the drinks reasonably priced, the bands have a great time here too! It was not well publicized that David Childers would be playing a band show with Dave Rhames & The Westchesters, but luckily for us we found out from a flier posted at the owners' other hot spot, The Rat's Nest in NoDa. The Holy Smokes took the "stage" first and I was quite pleasantly surprised by their brand of folk/country rock. Rob Childers joined the duo on drums, which meant he would be playing all night long with all 3 bands. This is a good thing.
Dave Rhames & The Westchesters were up next and I realized how much I truly missed them, and how they really are one of my favorite bands in Charlotte..of course..it's mostly Dave since the members have changed throughout the course of their history (except for Rob Childers, I think.) Having Randy Saxon play guitar with them too?! Perfect. All this time, with the lack of promotion on their part, I thought the band/Dave was maybe retired, but come to find out not only are they playing out more often, Dave's been writing some incredible new songs and they're in the studio working on his next CD! That's exciting news.
David Childers took Dave's place and led the band as only he can. It's been SO long since we've seen and heard David play out, and it was great to see so many of our fellow DC fans come out to this "secret show" and catch the local legend once again. As anticipated, he played a fairly short set, but of course got the crowd on their feet immediately, and we all remembered why we love this man and his music. Equally impressive was the bass player, Glenn Gibson, who learned some of David's songs a day or so before the show so he could join him on stage.
The Westchesters returned and played on..I wish I could say into the wee hours of the morning..but Dave was exhausted after rocking out so hard with the band and finished up after a few more songs. But I am grateful he put so much into it all, and sounded so good. That voice, those songs, that energy and humor. Talk about one of Charlotte's best kept secrets. Hopefully you all will change that by coming out to his shows. Some country, some twang, some rock, some gorgeous ballads, and a whole lot of fun.
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