Shows are becoming harder and harder to find these days, unless you know where to look. This site is one of those places, but I can’t know everything. For example, yesterday afternoon word leaked out of a free Ladyfinger show at O’Leaver’s last night, apparently a warm-up of sorts before the band heads into the studio to record their next album on Saddle Creek Records’ dime (No, they haven’t been signed to Creek. The label is paying for the recording and will decide if they’re interested after they hear the final product). Last Friday night Simon Joyner played with The Bruces at The Antiquarium — another show that wasn’t listed on the usual online calendars (You would have found out about it had you checked out the Webboard, though). So it pays to be sharp. O’Leaver’s, which lately has hosted a lot of interesting gigs, no longer updates their website or sends out weekly schedules. Unless their shows are One Percent productions (a rarity these days — there are no O’Leaver’s shows currently listed on the One Percent calendar) or Someday Never productions, you’re not likely to find out about them too far in advance (It must be some sort of marketing ploy to get people to come into the bar every night.).

Just glancing at the calendars, January and February are going to be unusually slow months for shows. One Percent only has 14 shows currently scheduled, almost all booked on Fridays and Saturdays at Sokol — quiet a contrast to the huge number they were doing a few months back. While Someday Never only has two shows slated through February. This draught happens every year — last year, One Percent only hosted 16 shows in the first two months. Driving across country in a shitty van is hard enough for bands without ice- and snow-covered roads and below-zero temperatures. Bands prefer to stay home. Fewer tours also reflect fewer releases this time of year, when consumers are licking their wounds after the holiday credit card binges. There is, however, no excuse for local bands to take a holiday. Fewer shows mean a rare opportunity to draw larger crowds to your gigs… because nothing else is going on.

That said, if you hear of a last-minute show, drop me a line. I’ll update Lazy-i on afternoons when new gig info hits my email box. It’s yet another reason to click to lazy-i.com multiple times a day!

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