Blue Moon Rock & Blues Bar
So overall, this night was quite disappointing. Usually I try to find out who’s playing and when before I check out a venue. But with Blue Moon, it was impossible for me to get any information. They don’t have a website. Their Facebook page has no event calendar and is not updated on a regular basis. On Wednesday, 1/4, I had left a message on their page inquiring about who was playing. Then I left another message the day of the show and never got a response. They have no direct phone line to the bar. If you call, you get a message. The message that played was from Tuesday, 1/3 and announced who was playing that night. But when I’m calling two days later to see who’s playing on the 5th, that message is pretty useless. So already I have the impression that this bar is very low tech and doesn’t really care about getting people in there for the music. Well, I went anyway. Blue Moon is in a pretty prime location on 6th Street. There was a chalk board with the name of the band playing that night (Catfish) in front of the entrance. I asked the door guy when they were starting and he told me in about 15 minutes. About 20-25 minutes later they finally did start. The bar was completely empty when I walked in at 9:00, save for the band members and Blue Moon employees. I was immediately approached by the shoe shine guy who attempted to tell me that my brand new boots needed to be polished. I bluntly told him that he was NOT gonna convince me to get a shoe shine, so he finally left me alone. The bar itself almost seemed like a “pop-up” joint. It didn’t have a feel of permanence about it. It’s very minimalist in a sparse way. More people finally started coming in at about 9:30 pm. The band was a “rock/blues” band, but of the more generic variety. I never felt drawn into the music. They were a bar band, playing covers, and not very convincingly. They didn’t really seem connected to the music, so I didn’t feel connected to them. The sound in the bar was also pretty bad. When I left, my ears were still ringing 10 minutes later. The most exciting part of the night was when a chick from Minnesota jumped onstage with the band and sang a song with them. She brought life to the show because she was just so happy to be up there…and she could actually sing. That’s really all I have to say about this. It wasn’t a great night for music. I’m sure Blue Moon is a cool place to hang with your friends for cheap drinks and when music is more of just a background thing. But if you’re looking for a venue that has great music, keep looking.
