Showing posts with label Dance Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dance Party. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Snapshots from Our 60th Anniversary Dance Party @ The Sports Garden

Born Too Late brought back memories from before their time.
Sunday evening we celebrated the 60th Anniversary of Buddy Holly's Dance Party at the Armory. Born Too Late opened the show, featuring lead singer Rokkyn, Bella lead guitar, Taylor on bass and Traxx on the drum it. And the kids were all right, warming up the crowd with some old time favorites--Burning Love, Be My Baby, Folsom Prison Blues and Johnny B Goode.

Todd Eckart & his team then rolled out an hour of rockin' tunes from the 50s, followed by a second set of Buddy Holly originals. George (bass), Matt (drums) and a wailin' Jimi Cooper set peoples' feet to stompin' and rompin'...

If you couldn't be there, here's what you missed.
(Photos courtesy Michael K. Anderson unless otherwise designated.)

Smokin' Todd Eckart and his Roadhouse Boys packed the house.

Secret of their success? It was in the shoes. High tech & solid gold.
Photo courtesy Donald Jay Olson

Photo by Ed Newman, of Michael Anderson documentarian & winning dancers
Photo by the author

The temp here today is 40 below, a very cold morning and reminiscent of 60 years ago.
When Buddy Holly and the Winter Dance Party played at the Duluth Armory, it was weather these Texas and California boys could never have imagined. When the bus left Duluth that evening it was 20-below with a 40-below wind chill. Halfway across Wisconsin in the middle of nowhere the bus broke down. You can read about the rest of that frightening night ride here. Drummer Carl Bunch got frostbitten feet and was unable to play in Milwaukee the next evening.

Meantime, life goes on... Stay warm.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Only 10 Days till the Music of Buddy Holly Tribute Featuring Todd Eckart & His Band

And the joint was a-rockin', goin' round and round...  Photos Nelson French
We're already mid-January. Time to start thinking about the Winter Dance Party.

But First: A Correction. 
THE DOORS will not be opening for TODD ECKART as I originally announced. Rather, the doors will open at 5:00 p.m. at the Sports Garden in Canal Park with the show commencing at 5:30. BORN TOO LATE is the band that will open for Todd Eckart's Tribute to the Music of Buddy Holly and the Late 50's.

The event is 
Sunday January 27
@the Sports Garden

This is the 60th anniversary of that fateful Winter Dance Party Tour where Buddy Holly rolled into Duluth with a busload of stars that included Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, drummer Carl Bunch, the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson), Ritchie Valens and Dion and the Belmonts.

Hosted by the Armory Arts and Music Center the show is billed as A Benefit for the Historic Duluth National Guard Armory.


THE INVITATION READS:
Join us for an evening of great music and memories to celebrate the revitalization of the historic Duluth Armory and relive the energy of that cold night in 1959.

SILENT AUCTION - an amazing array of deals - come ready to bid!
DANCE CONTEST - dance your heart out!
COSTUME CONTEST - come dressed to impress!


Gonna party like its 1959. Superior Ballroom Dance Studio dancers
Todd Eckart and His Band will rock the night away! You don't want to miss this show!


Related Links
A very cool site featuring

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Throwback Thursday: It's Another Winter Dance Party, 59 Years Since 1959

His birth name was Charles Hardin Holley, and the gift he gave the world was a sense of the joy of life. Music was his method. At sweet 16 his career as a performer was underway. Six years later it was over.

It was his mother who nicknamed him Buddy, saying that his birth name was a bit big for the lad. Music was part of his life at an early age, his parents more than supportive of his ambitions, as demonstrated by a letter to the editor that they wrote in defense of rock 'n roll.

Holly formed a band as soon as he graduated high school and was soon opening for national gigs that came through town. His bandmate said that the night they opened for Elvis Presley in 1955 was a turning point for the skinny guy with horn-rimmed glasses and a love for making music. He wrote and recorded his first hit with the Crickets in 1957. "That'll Be The Day" was the first of 7 hits that climbed the Pop 40 charts. The song hit #1 just 500 days before his untimely death.

Trivia: What Buddy Holly song became the Rolling Stones' first top ten hit? (see end of this blog post.)


It's been 59 years since ’59 when Buddy Holly and the Winter Dance Party graced the stage of the Duluth Armory! Join us to relive the energy of that cold night with Todd Eckart and His Band, one of Duluth's many talented performers. Kick back and enjoy the music or shake a leg to the timeless tunes of Holly and early rock ’n roll!

WHO: TODD ECKART AND HIS BAND with special guests the Superior Ballroom Dance Studio

WHEN: Sunday Feb 11th from 6:30 to 9:30 (doors open at 6:00)

WHAT: A TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF BUDDY HOLLY AND THE LATE 50’s

WHERE: Grandma’s Sports Garden

TICKETS: Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and are available at Electric Fetus or online at Eventbrite.

The evening is a fundraiser for the Armory Arts & Music Center and its Music Resource Center program. There will be a silent auction, dance demonstration, dance contest, and prizes for best 50’s attire.

Special thanks to event sponsors, WIPFLI and Grandma’s Sports Garden.

RELATED LINKS
Jim Heffernan shares memories of Buddy Holly.
Details of the Winter Dance Party Tour of 1959.
Details from the first portion of this blog post came from Biography.
Trivia Answer: "Not Fade Away"

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

A Few Northland Happenings for the Week of February 21

"Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet." ~Plato

I don't think the Plato quote has all that much to do with this blog entry other than I thought it interesting, as I think several of this week's Twin Ports events look interesting. Have you ever wished you had a few clones so you could do it all? (I mean, part of me wants to just stay home so I can read, write and paint.)

Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra: Chamber Music at the Underground
One of the strong memories from my youth was my dad's habit of reading the Sunday paper while listening to his albums of classical music. Most memorable of these were Dvorak, Beethoven, Tschaikovski and Echoes of Offenbach, among others. Tonight there will be a special performance of chamber music by the DuSu Symphony Orchestra at the Underground (inside the Depot). At 5:30 there will be a social time in advance of the 6 p.m. music. Erin Alridge will be playing a piece with two percussionists and another piece with a string quartet (Dvorak). In addition, Betsy Husby has organized Villa Lobos, an 8-cello piece with a singer, and the symphony's brass section will be featured on Poulenc Trio Sonata for trumpet, trombone and French horn.

The Explorers Club @ the Zinema
The Zinema's weekly Tuesday night series is designed to stimulate new perspectives and give you a chance to venture off the beaten path of cinema. UWS Philosophy Professor Dr. Sarah LaChance Adams will guide us through one of the great minds of modern thought, Slavoj Zizek in "The Pervert's Guide to Ideology." Cultural theorist Slavoj Zizek is once again teamed up with director Sophie Fiennes (The Pervert's Guide to Cinema) for a romp through the crossroads of cinema and philosophy. Zizek essentially dissects a number of epochal films in order to explore and expose how they reinforce prevailing ideologies.

What appeals to me here is the invitation to see films I've experienced analyzed from an alternate angle. According to the invitation: As the ideology that undergirds our cinematic fantasies is revealed, striking associations emerge: What hidden Catholic teachings lurk at the heart of The Sound of Music? What are the fascist political dimensions of Jaws? Taxi Driver, Zabriskie Point, The Searchers, The Dark Knight, John Carpenter's They Live ("one of the forgotten masterpieces of the Hollywood Left"), Titanic, Kinder Eggs, verité news footage, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and propaganda epics from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia all inform Zizek's stimulating, provocative and often hilarious psychoanalytic-cinematic rant. Dr. LaChance Adams will give a small talk after each film and then lead a discussion with anyone in the audience who wants to explore the ideas brought up in the film further.

Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, psychoanalyst and cultural critic. He is a senior researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. No matter your ideological bent, it can be an interesting and often enlightening experience to see perspectives beyond the confines of one's own established convictions. The show begins at 7:00 and is $9 for adults, $7 for students, and $6.50 for seniors.

Art Openings @ the DAI
Thursday, February 20, from 5-7pm the Duluth Art Institute celebrates two new exhibitions: The Space Around You featuring photographs by Kristen Pless & First Spark, the annual K-12 art show featuring the work of regional students

AAMC Dance Party
This Friday… Why the Armory Matters Winter Dance Party. MUSIC, DANCING, FOOD and MORE! Here's another creative fund-raiser to help the Armory Arts and Music Center and its program the Music Resource Center commemorate the 1959 Winter Dance Party featuring Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Dion and the Big Bopper that was held at the historic Duluth Armory. Rock-a-Billy Revue will provide 50's music to dance to. There will be a brief demonstration of 50s dancing at the beginning of the night for those interested in learning a few steps. There will also be hors d'oevres, cash bar, and a silent auction. Event to be held in the Greysolon Ballroom, 231 E Superior St. in downtown Duluth.

The Winter Dance Party will feature ROCK-A-BILLY REVUE playing the biggest hits of the 50s.

Tickets available online NOW - see Get Tickets above. $30 General Admission - $20 Student with valid ID

FIFTIES ATTIRE NOT REQUIRED - BUT WILL BE ADMIRED

Have a good time and get your dacing shoes on. It's a throw back to the '50s including live music, cash bar, hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction with some very special items.

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO benefit the Armory Arts and Music Center and its music resource center program. The historic Duluth Armory was the site of the 1959 Winter Dance Party concert featuring Buddy Holly. Get Tickets Here.

Some of the businesses that have donated items for the silent auction: Rosewood Music, Superior Ballroom Dance, Adeline Inc., Bent Paddle Brewing Co., AJ's Tanning, Lizzards Art Gallery & Framing, Self Discovery Adventures, Country Inn & Suites, Cascade Lodge, Schmitt Music, The Tent Guy, Shannon's Stained Glassery, Lynnette's Portrait Design and more. Thank you.

READ "Making a Case for Preserving the Armory" HERE

MORE REMINDERS
Twin Ports Stage and Wisconsin Public Radio will present Episode 5 of their live radio soap opera "Twin Ports" at the Belknap Lounge, 130 Belknap Street near the campus of UWS.

Next week, on Thursday the 27th, the Two Harbors Public Library is having an opening reception in recognition of the fabulous installation by Tonja Sell and Nancy Miller. Here's yet another example of the value and power of public art. If you are able, Two Harbors is just a hop, skip and a jump from the northeast end of Duluth on one of the most scenic highways in America.

The soon to be dedicated installation at Two Harbors Public Library.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Engage it!

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