Saturday, November 21st, 2009
November Foxtrot Whiskey and My Little Trotsky
WMNF 88.5 fm's Cafe Hey Concert Series #4
<>@ Cafe Hey
1540 North Franklin Street
Downtown Tampa, Florida

This was the fourth in an ongoing series of concerts sponsored by WMNF 88.5 fm and hosted by Cafe Hey, downtown Tampa's favorite eatery.  A slight departure from previous shows, this one featured just two bands, My Little Trotsky and November Foxtrot Whiskey.  This was my first time seeing My Little Trotsky and to tell you the truth I was more than pleasantly surprised.  Apparently they're usually a three-piece and from what I saw and heard tonight I'd have to imagine that they'd only be even more enjoyable with their absent drummer.  Between the two of them they played keyboards, bass, guitar, accordion and viola, unless maybe I forgot something else.  Fairly laid back songs, most with dual vocals that blended quite well, they ramped it up a bit here and there and got their rock on while some songs were absolutely poppy, I enjoyed their set well enough.  The second, and last, band to play tonight was November Foxtrot Whiskey, a band that I hadn't run across for what seems like a pretty long time.  Kind of a blend of electric blues with a little bit of honky-tonk, a drib of rock and a drab of twang.  Not the kind of band I'd normally rush out of the house to go see but a good band nonetheless.  Both bands played good sets and I didn't have any complaints.  Well, except for the fact that there was a lot of audible crowd chatter the whole night, people inside and people outside were talking so loud that it interfered with the music, it seems to me that if you're at a show and you can hear people's conversations above the bands that are playing then chances are that those people aren't really paying attention to the music that's being played.  I know that's generally considered "normal" but if I really wanted to hear people talking during bands sets I'd just go see bands play in regular bars, where you're more than likely to find that kind of "atmosphere".  The truth of the matter is that if I'm going to see a band it's because I want to hear them play and I'm not looking to have to try and filter out a bunch of loudmouth conversations like I did tonight.  Ok, you can say I'm a bit of a grump about that if you want, but for me it's all about the music, first and foremost.  If you're at a show and feel the need to socialize then try to do it either in-between sets or quietly.  That would be my two cents.  My thanks go out to the bands for having played, Cafe Hey for offering up their space yet once again, WMNF for their continued support of this concert series and all the people that came out (especially those that kept their yaps shut while the bands played).  Next up is concert #5 in this series, it's on December 10th, 2009, at Cafe Hey.  I just hope I don't have to resort to using my "instant lockjaw spray".