Nick s Grill Live Music Concert

Concert Report 3 For my third concert report I went back to my hometown in Illinois last weekend to a local restaurant to watch my cousins and uncle play live music. Nick’s Grill (formerly C.J. Arthur’s Grill) is located in downtown section of my hometown right next to city hall. It is a small establishment that’s built into a long chain of other stores so it mainly has two large windows looking out into the street. The restaurant itself is a typical pub/tavern that is split into two sections. One section of the restaurant has big wooden booths and tables filling the dining area and a very large wooden bar fills up the other section of the restaurant. The restaurant has an ambient light-like feel as it is a little darker than most restaurants when going inside. The walls are scattered with random paintings as well. All these aspects of the performance setting came together to give a very similar atmosphere to the Runcible Spoon; it was very relaxed and modest. Most people at the restaurant did not come for the performance but for food so there was not a lot of attention or anticipation drawn to the performance. The performance happened late on a Saturday night right after a fresh snowfall. The performance setting was a clear floor section up near one of the large windows separating the restaurant section. Anyone who walks down the sidewalk past the restaurant can hear and feel the music before even passing by the window. The band consisted of one of my cousins on the drums, another on the bass, and my uncle on the guitar/vocals. While the music performance space was small it was still a great setting in a very relaxed atmosphere.
The music performed was always a cover of more popular songs with a few thrown in personal favorites from the band members. The musical structure of these varied greatly from song to song but almost all of them were polyphonic with the exception of solo parts. The tempo and volume of the performance also varied greatly from song to song. I was able to pick out a few songs I knew such as Tom Petty’s Free Falling. The order of songs played was fairly random and did not fit into any sort of theme besides maybe classic rock and folk. Overall, the music structures varied greatly from cover song to cover song but most were typical with classic rock or folk songs. The communication amongst performers was generally very little. They had a set list of songs they followed to and each song would usually be cued with an audible countdown to the beginning of the song. After some song’s they would complement each other on how well they played as well. I did get to ask them if there are any cues they use that I perhaps did not spot and they said they just have the initial countdown cue and that’s about it. They said that they have practiced enough that it just sort of comes to them naturally after practicing for so long. Overall, there was not much communication amongst the performers as they have practiced quite a bit and the music just “flows through them”.
The audience response was very similar to the Runcible Spoon. Most audience members would actively watch the performers before their food came out but once it did all attention was drawn to their meal. Also, most audience members would clap or whistle after every song as a show of appreciation. Sometimes in-between song’s or during breaks some audience members would go up and talk to the performers. I asked the performers what they would talk about and it was just general chit chat about how long they have been playing and where they are from. I also asked if they expect much from the audience seeing as it is a restaurant setting and they said all they expect is some clapping after each song. Overall, there was not much audience response as it was a seated restaurant and most audience members just came to eat some good food much like the Runcible Spoon. In conclusion, my experience at Nick’s grill was great escape especially right before final’s week. I had a decently sized burger on a pretzel bun with fries and it was delicious. The service at the restaurant was top notch and the food came out pretty quick as well. I definitely plan on going again sometime over winter break after the hell known as finals week. The performance by my cousins and uncle was also great and I had no idea they could play so well. They played a wide variety of songs with a great range of musical style and structure. Some of those songs included some great classic rock and folk songs that they had nailed down pretty well. The audience response was on the lacking side as it was a restaurant, but there were many rounds of applause between each song played. I hope to go back again sometime in the near future and see some more live music with a great meal.