OM Daredevils stir crowd
Staff writer
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils started "Churnin'" (their opening tune) about 27 minutes late Saturday night, due to a broken string on a fiddle. But the crowd found the band well worth waiting for.
The band's third number was "Chicken Train" (laser beam, in my dream, etc.) and got the crowd hopping. A mosh pit of sorts, with a horseshoe-shaped border of hay bales, developed in front of the main stage in Central Park, as the featured band for Chingawassa Days 2003 strutted its sounds and stylings.
The quintet, four of whom call Springfield, Mo., home, proceeded to "Stand-in' on the Corner of Live and Learn," "Fly Away," "Follow the Southern Cross," "I'm Still Dreamin'," "Stand-in' on the Rock," and "Country Girl," their first recorded song.
"You remember records?," bass player/vocalist Supe du Jour Granda asked the crowd of about 1,000 at one point. He joked about 8-tracks, too, and said, "We just recently learned to spell 'CD.'" He said, "I feel safe here. That Marion water tower reminds me of the Tin Man."
Before long, they broke into "Jackie Blue," their biggest single hit, from the "It'll Shine When It Shines" album. It featured lots of falsetto by John Dillon, rhythm guitarist and fiddler, also lead vocalist on most of the songs.
Granda at one point, when it was plenty cool weatherwise, said, "So much for global warming."
Even though they are not thought of as a Christian rock band, they did one God-praising number that was extremely well-received, "You Made It Right."
Granda boogie-woogied on "I'm Gonna Buy Me a Car."
When the band went into its signature song, "If You Wanna Go to Heaven," about 10:34 p.m., one knew the set was just about over. The fans demanded an encore, so the five came back onstage to do "It'll Shine When It Shines."
Steve Cash sang lead on some of the songs, and was great on the electric harmonica, the castanets, and the tambourine. On the "harp," he sounded like the great Charlie McCoy.
The harmonica is a must-have part of this great band's trademark sound.
There were times, such as on "Bad Road," when they sounded like ZZ Top, and that's not bad at all.
