Local bands: Back on their grind

It’s one thing to talk up those big-occasion shows, the once-in-a-while concerts bands play that get the full treatment: fliers made and handed out, MySpace bulletins obsessively sent out, mass text messages painstakingly typed out down to the part that has to be done in all caps. A key component of local music, though, is the weekly show, the event that gets none of the above because that would mean a lot of work to do every week and, well, who has time between The Day Job, relationships and mowing down row after row of zombies on an X-Box 360 or Playstation 3? Yet bands come to their bars and restaurants and hold it down for hours at a time with little fanfare and, sometimes, little attendance. For that, we wanna give you some love, weekly warriors. Click below and find out who plays where and when; you might be surprised how many options you really do have on those off nights.

We’ll start with a caveat: We KNOW our list isn’t comprehensive. There are many, many places in Springfield with schedules to keep track of (yes, bands, we said it), many of which do not promote their own schedules, that there are weekly gigs going on that we simply don’t know about. We want to, and we hope you’ll help. Here’s how: Bands, give us the day of the week, location and showtime (cover charge, if applicable, is helpful info too) in the comments section below and send ’em our way. We’re gonna take these and load them into our calendar so they reappear automatically each week. In the meantime, here’s what we know/can remember, starting with two of Springfield’s longest running first:

Shawn & Marcus Sunday nights at Ebbets Field: Key members of Speakeasy have been putting on this show every non-touring Sunday for more than seven years. Rags To Rich’s guitarist Richie Rebuth is a regular at this gig, too. “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” as a closer is a classic.

Art Bentley Sunday nights at Springfield Brewing Company: Another show pushing the decade mark, this show routinely packs the room upstairs at Brew Co, especially in nicer weather when people can also listen from the deck. The real treat to these shows are Bentley’s originals, although the set fills out with a lot of covers during its three hours.

BringYourGreenHat/Green Hat Duo/Green Hat Trio Mondays at Ebbets Field: This gig isn’t quite a year old yet, but it has gained quite a following and keeps momentum going for the group’s full-band shows on weekends.

Reggae Wednesday at The Magic Bean with Jam Room: Luke Acker and Jimmy James are a potent combination, both very talented and with relentless energy playing live. You can see the full band somewhere most weekends, but there’s no letdown with the core duo.

Urban Legends (formerly Platinum Social Club) Wednesdays at The High Life Live Martini Lounge: Improvisational live-instrument hip hop. You’ll even catch some of Springfield’s finest MCs dropping by the club to spit a few rhymes once in a while.

Open Mic Night Tuesdays at The Outland: It may not be one band each week, but this weekly tradition still puts some of Springfield’s most under-the-radar talent onstage each week. Singer-songwriters, comedians, rappers, it’s all there.

Tuck & Abney Sundays at Coyote’s Adobe Cafe: CAC is quietly becoming a go-to spot for good weekly shows (more on that later in this post), and it started here. Acoustic guitar and fantastic percussion.

Art Bentley Thursdays at Roadhouse Saloon: Arthur is pretty much uncontested as Springfield’s resident weekly-show road warrior. There is no such thing as an off night for the man. Thursdays he holds it down at one of Springfield’s best-kept secrets among live venues, and it’s arguably his best weekly performance.

The Detectives and The Boogeymen Thursdays at The Outland: Two bands that bring a retro feel to the old axim “bring the girls in, and the men will follow.” The front row is always full of dancing babes here, twisting and shouting to the classic rock ‘n’ roll tunes of The Detectives and the Morricone-meets-surf-rock feel of The Boogeymen. Some even come in costume, sock hop-style. A great escape if you’re looking for one.

Shawn and Marcus Mondays at Coyote’s Adobe Cafe: Get a spot near the big screen TV for this show. No, you won’t be watching the game on it; it’s where the band sets up. You’ll be sure to get in requests this way. If Sunday isn’t Fun Day for you, perhaps Monday can be.

Tuck & Abney Wednesdays at Whiskey Holler: To be honest, we haven’t had a chance to get to Whiskey Holler yet. We hear good things. Most of the bar’s shows are on weekends, but a nice Tuck & Abney break in the middle of the week sounds good just about anywhere.

Santa Fe Thursdays at The New Key Largo: The Largo happens to host one of the most lauded Texas country acts every Thursday night. Whoda thunk, eh? Bring a dance partner!

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Tags: abney, art bentley, boogeymen, brew co, bringyourgreenhat, bygh, concerts, coyote's adobe cafe, detectives, Ebbet's Field, four four, fourfour, high life, jam room, jimmy james, key largo, live, local, luke acker, magic bean, marcus, music, open mic night, outland, rags to rich's, reggae wednesday, richie rebuth, roadhouse saloon, santa fe, shawn, Shows, Speakeasy, springfield, springfield brewing company, thefourfour.com, tuck, weekly