New Orleans Rockers Cowboy Mouth played the Famous Dave’s BBQ and Blues club Thursday night, July 14, 2011 bringing their brand of Rock N’ Roll to Minneapolis. Having toured extensively over the past 20 plus years they have developed quite a following. They have played in front of crowds large and small and have opened for many acts including Minneapolis’ own Soul Asylum. Opening for “The Mouth” was Minneapolis band 4 On The Floor. 4 On The Floor, like Cowboy Mouth, has a unique way of rocking the crowd. Sitting in front of each musician, including the drummer, was a kick bass drum which each musician stomped in time during each song. They brand their music as “Stompin’ Blues and Roots Rock”. Two of the songs that got the crowd moving were “King Of The Jungle” and “Drunk On Tuesday”. They are a agroup that loves interacting with their fans. They offer their music on vinyl and CD and they also have a camera on a laptop where you can pay $1 and get your picture taken which will appear on their Facebook page. Chris Holm is the Lead Singer and they are a fan of beer. The stomping on the stage is infectious bringing it to the crowd where you start stomping to their songs. 4 On The Floor tours regularly throughout the Midwest and their website will give you their show upcoming show dates. They are a band worth seeing. They played a set that lasted for an hour and they yielded the stage to the headliners Cowboy Mouth.
Cowboy Mouth came out on stage and opened with their positive attitude anthem “Easy”. They kept the show rolling with some of their hit songs and some new ones as well. After playing “Easy”, Drummer and Lead Singer Fred Le Blanc grabbed a wireless mic and headed into the crowd and stated one major rule at their shows, nobody sits down or stays still. Cowboy Mouth brings in a high impact energetic show on stage with them. After taking a sip from somebody’s drink Le Blanc came back to the stage and played. A Cowboy Mouth performance is not merely a concert but an experience. Instead of stopping between songs and chatting with the crowd, the music kept going while Fred kept the crowd pumped up for each number. They even played a crowd favorite “New Orleans”. Other songs featured were “Man On The Run”, “All American Man”. A major crowd favorite they played resulted in the shortage of red spoons in the Twin Cities area. That song, “Everybody Loves Jill” describes Jill with everything being red. In keeping up with the tradition of the song, the crowd held up red spoons until the line “she eats a red cake along with her favorite red spoon” when the stage was pelted with red spoons. The song was written by John Thomas Griffith for a woman in Houma, Louisiana named Jill Allemand. Jill was followed by a song from their album “Voodoo Shoppe” which pays tribute to classic punk rock “Joe Strummer”, which was started and then restarted after the only pause in the show due to some technical difficulties. They saved one of their biggest hits, “Jenny Says” until towards the end. They finished their set with the title track from their first post-Katrina album “Voodoo Shoppe”. For their encore Fred came out on stage alone and sang a song made famous by Minnesota native Judy Garland, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.
Fred Le Blanc talked on playing in Minneapolis “ I love coming to Minneapolis. Minneapolis is fun, it’s a great music town. It has a large history. We’re all Prince fans, we’re all replacements fans, we’re all Husker Du fans, we’re all Soul Asylum fans that music goes back to my really really young Punk Dock days. I played a lot of shows in another band, (Dash Rip Rock) with The Replacements and this band (Cowboy Mouth) has done a lot of shows with Soul Asylum over the years. I love Minneapolis because there‘s a unique rather intense sort of feeling in the air which the music pushes you. In New Orleans the music sort of just sits back here the music just pushes needing to get it out. In New Orleans it’s sort of ‘relax’ and you hear that in the music. You hear that in the way the people talk and the way people act. The music in this town has this kind of push. A lot of it has to do with all the cold weather. The weather and extenuating circumstances always affects the way people express themselves. One of the reasons the music in New Orleans is so lazy is because it’s so hot most of the time. We have that casual laid back feel and a lot of it has to do with the weather.”
They are in the process of recording another album which has helped them take a little break from the road. According to Le Blanc the songs are written and they just have to have them recorded and they hope to have it finished by the end of the year for hopefully a release early next year. One of the songs off that album was played “Drama”. The Minneapolis “Fred Heads” got their first taste of “Drama’ and accepted it well./After the show the crowd stuck around to get autographs and to chat with band members. They couldn’t stay too long due to them having a show the next night in Chicago. To the chagrin of the Viking Nation Fred Le Blanc said, tongue in cheek, regarding the Saints’ victory over the Vikes in the 2010 NFC Championship game, “Thanks guys. This is a Who Dat Nation, it’s a Who Dat World.” Cowboy Mouth has played a major role in helping rebuild New Orleans and keeping the soul and spirit of the Big Easy alive and sharing it with the world. Seeing Cowboy Mouth is an experience and a must see. Keep checking their website for tour dates and send them an email, rather flood their email letting them know you want them to come back to Minneapolis and pass a good time.
Famous Dave’s has live music every night and occasionally brings in nationally touring acts. Famous Dave’s BBQ and Blues club also features what they are famous for, their award winning barbecue. Famous Dave’s BBQ and Blues Club is located in Calhoun Square in Uptown Minneapolis.
On The Web:
Cowboy Mouth:
4 On The Floor:
Famous Dave’s:
http://www.famousdavesbluesclub.com/
Famous Dave’s, 4 On The Floor, and Cowboy Mouth are also on Facebook
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