A pu pu platter at a Chinese restaurant typically consists of egg rolls, spare ribs, chicken wings, chicken fingers, beef teriyaki and crab rangoon, arranged on a platter. A dollop of sterno is placed in a little container in the middle, and is set on fire. Voila! Kitschy deep-fried Chinese American tastiness.
Bear with me, folks. This will all make sense in a moment.
So why am I bringing up pu pu platters in a weekly column ostensibly about live music in eastern Maine? Well, because there’s a show at The Grand in Ellsworth next Saturday, March 13, that’s pretty much a pu pu platter of local bands. The Grand Jam, which kicks off at 7 that night, will feature six of the area’s best groups, spanning genres from blues funk to Celtic punk to tribal acoustic jams.
For three hours and just eight bucks, you get to sample some of the coolest music eastern Maine has to offer, all in one neat package. You bring your own duck sauce, though. Might want to check with The Grand if sterno is OK. I’m going to guess it’s not.
The Bar Stuards: The darlings of the Bangor live music scene, the Celtic punk wild men are just finishing up recording their full-length album, an as-yet-untitled collection of smart, funny, heartfelt songs, balancing the rockers with the ballads. Falling somewhere in between the Pogues and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Bar Stuards have routinely packed downtown Bangor bars like Paddy Murphy’s and the Whig & Courier, as well as The Rack, near Sugarloaf. A Bar Stuards gig is a bit of a hootenanny — but at the Grand Jam you’ll have the rare chance to see them in a larger, more open setting. Look them up on Facebook to have a listen to their stuff.
The Eric Green Party: Chances are, you’ve seen the Eric Green Party live. If you haven’t, you probably don’t go to shows in Maine. Green is undoubtedly one of the best all-around musicians in the state, switching seemingly effortlessly between guitar and piano and playing as much Johnny Cash as he does Professor Longhair. Green, along with his longtime collaborators, bassist Nikadimus Cody and drummer Paul Bosse, has made a racket in these parts for the better part of the decade, after returning from a stay in New Orleans. Blues, funk, country, rock. Dig it.
Stiff Whisker and the Driftwood Kids: These guys have been making a name for themselves in the area for the past two years, thanks to regular gigs in Ellsworth, Bangor, Camden and Sugarloaf. What started as a group of friends jamming out at an open mike at Chummies in Ellsworth turned into a self-titled full-length album and a devoted following among eastern Maine live music fans. Stiff Whisker combines both hand and kit percussion with harmonized vocals and a groovy, folk-rock songwriting style, with vast appeal for fans of everything from the Grateful Dead to Paul Simon.
The Tumblers: These guys play “northern soul” — a term used to describe the soul and R&B music played by young people in northern England in the 1970s. It’s a working-class, steady groove machine, and the Tumblers play to that, busting out spirited takes on classic funk, soul, R&B and rock. Think the music in the film “The Commitments,” or the more soulful side of Van Morrison, filtered through a steady diet of James Brown. Nearly everyone in the band sings, especially three lead singers, Amy Briggs, Stesha Cano and Annie Schwartz, who provide crisp three-part harmonies.
Whoopy Kat: Sometimes, you just want to rock. And to those about to do so, we salute you. That’s what Whoopy Kat are all about, a popular classic rock cover band from the Ellsworth area. They have been tearing up the dance floor at area bars and clubs for a while now, blending standard classic rock with other, less traditional covers.
The Jon Wood Band: An up-and-coming group from Ellsworth, Jon Wood is a brother to Gabriel Wood of Stiff Whisker and the Driftwood Kids, and a fine songwriter in his own right. Wood plays bluesy folk in the style of Tom Petty, Neil Young, James McMurtry and Jon Hiatt, and will perform at Grand Jam with a band composed of a number of local musicians. For many, it will be their first opportunity to see Wood perform.
Grand Jam starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at The Grand. Tickets are $8 at the door. For more information, visit www.grandonline.org.
