It’s a shame February is the shortest month of the year. There are only so many good things you can cram into 28 days. With this, this, this and, of course, this already scheduled, it’s a pretty busy music month and there is no letup in sight. February is also the month when Queen City Shout, Springfield’s annual festival all about bringing local music to the masses who either can’t or don’t want to venture into bars and clubs to see it, takes off with some of the city’s finest playing each Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the month. QCS is back for its fifth edition this year, a great milestone for any event to reach, and the lineup of performers piling into Borders Books (3300 S. Glenstone Ave.) is as strong and diverse as ever. Here is the latest lineup:
Friday, 2/5: Skylines & Cityscapes (6 p.m.), Lyal Strickland (8 p.m.)
Saturday, 2/6: Giulia Rusciano (2 p.m.), Mason Mercer: The Musical (4 p.m.), Shadows Move (6 p.m.), Brother Wiley (8 p.m.)
Sunday, 2/7: Dan Cogell (2 p.m.), TBA (4 p.m.)
Friday, 2/12: Ben Harrel (6 p.m.), The North Decade (8 p.m.)
Saturday, 2/13: The Nova Heat (2 p.m.), Organic Soul (4 p.m.), Archimedian Point (6 p.m.), Sweetwater Abilene (8 p.m.)
Sunday, 2/14: Dallas Jones (2 p.m.), Two Wheel Neil (4 p.m.)
Friday, 2/19: A to the B (6 p.m.), Cindy Woolf (8 p.m.)
Saturday, 2/20: Call Me Beta (4 p.m.), Euphio Question (6 p.m.), Truett & The Traitors (8 p.m.)
Sunday, 2/21: Ellis Ayres (12 p.m.), Ken Hopper (2 p.m.), Aubrey Morrow (4 p.m.)
Friday, 2/26: Captain Black’s Sea Dogges (6 p.m.), Canto 17 (8 p.m.)
Saturday, 2/27: Brian Hom (2 p.m.), Nathaniel Carroll (4 p.m.), Brock Wade Band (6 p.m.), Night-Music Observatory (8 p.m.),
Sunday, 2/28: Alan Phillips (12 p.m.), Josh Nimmo (2 p.m.), The Cropdusters (4 p.m.)
Friday, 3/5: The Detectives (7 p.m.)
Saturday, 3/6: The Electrics (7 p.m.)
As has become tradition with Queen City Shout, the mixture of performers is equal parts popular and undiscovered, and it wastes no time in bring you both with the combination of the never-heard-of-before Skylines & Cityscapes with widely followed singer-songwriter Lyal Strickland. Other such combinations include A to the B playing just before the incomparable Cindy Woolf on Friday, Febuary 19 and Alan Phillips and Josh Nimmo playing sets ahead of The Cropdusters Sunday, February 28. Also in the mix you’ll find the mainstream rock of Shadows Move, the roots-rock jams of Brother Wiley, the sublime pop-indie stylings of The North Decade, a songwriter-heavy Saturday on the 13th bookended by The Nova Heat and Sweetwater Abilene, a pirate band–yes, a pirate band (Captain Black’s Sea Dogges), melodic piano pop with Nathaniel Carroll, ’60s rock and pop covers by The Detectives and feel-good rockers The Electrics, fronted by QCS organizer Eddie Gumucio. Best of all, every show is FREE and all-ages, since they’re held in the friendly confines of the bookstore’s cafe lounge area. We would like to formally submit a request for a February extension. Just another week. Please.
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