Daily writing prompt
What was the last live performance you saw?
View all responses

This is an interesting prompt from WordPress because we are experiencing a live music revival around our area.

First and foremost, Iowa seems to be a live music desert (unless you like country music, which I do not). We will listen to many different kinds of music. Iowa City has its JazzFest, Waterloo has its IrishFest, and the little burgs around here have their bands for their own local fairs and festivals. But good live music is tough to come by.

Last September, when went to Hennyville, a mix of rock, folk, rap, and some stuff that didn’t fit into a genre. It was amazing the variety of music we got to experience, along with some good food, some neat crafts, and just hanging out with cool people. We are old, so we stuck out a little bit, but as we left at 12:30 AM, we were loving life!

After that, it’s been kind of quiet until recently! Our local pub, the Green Door, had some great music in a couple of weekends ago. Jeni Grouws, lead singer in the “Avey Grouws Band“, a blues band from our neck of the wood. She’s got this bold voice and just blows you away when you hear her sing. She and another singer performed at the Green Door and it was just amazing. Plus, the place was packed with fans of hers, fans of the bar, and fans of live music! And as we were there, we heard about The Cabin Concert Series, a series of mini-festivals in the middle of nowhere, four-wheel drive is recommended. Two days of music, fishing, floating down the river, and music. We will go to one of these because we are part of the granola crowd now!

The next night, it was Winterland, a Grateful Dead cover band, which was also amazing. They were three guys just playing tunes and again, the place was full of people enjoying the music. It was so cool to see so many people just grooving and enjoying the live music.

Last weekend, we went to a local brewery called PIVO Brewery to check out a singer who would be a local festival this summer. Half of our local community happened to be there, so it was like walking into Cheer (think “NORM”). The woman was outstanding, covering so many different artists, but, like before, you had a big crowd there to enjoy the music.

I’m a music snob. I’m not going to a country band, which is what our community loves. But to see this variety around right now makes my heart happy. From rock to rap with a little funky jazz and folk thrown in, our area is seeing a revival in live music and I’m all for that energy!! 🙂