White Iron Band @ Famous Dave's Uptown 3/16/13 - Review

9:22 AM

After hitting the St. Paddy's Day festivities in St. Paul for a bit, just to soak in all the drunken Irish we needed, our crew ventured across town to one of the best White Iron Band shows we've seen in quite a while.  On any other Saturday night, Famous Dave's is packed to the gills when WIB is on stage.  This time around however, the crowd seems to have been distracted by all the green beer and cabbage fare available all over town.  A welcomed surprise, if you ask me.

St. Paddy's Day was actually on Sunday, not that it prevented Minneapolis and St. Paul from partying from Friday to Monday, but Saturday was officially Saint Urho's Day.  Yeah, I had never heard of it either, but it sounded like a good enough reason to join the party...  White Iron Band front man Matt Pudus and others mentioned it on a number of occasions.

The evening kicked off with sets from both Absolute Gruv featuring Mark Andrew and Pistol Whippin Party Penguins.  Matt "Dubs" Wacatne wrapped up his set with PWPP and then sat in with his former band mates White Iron Band on the bass.


WIB dusted off a few of their old fan favorites to entertain the crowd that had converged on the stage.  Eddie Juntunen got to showcase his skills on the keys absolutely killing "Sesame Street Blues".

Sorry for the video quality on this one.  Equipment upgrades in the works.

One of my favorites of the evening was the title track from their new album "Damn the Nighttime", their 6th studio album.  Apparently I wasn't alone in appreciating this one either, space on the dance floor was a hot commodity.


They also had a couple more familiar faces on stage with them.  The addition of John Moline on fiddle is always a welcome sight.  He adds an energy and vibe to the show that the entire band seems to thrive off of. Plus, who doesn't love a little fiddle?  Also joining in was Pudus' brother Mark Andrew.  He did The Band's "Up on Cripple Creek", and had the entire place singing along.  It was quite impressive.  He will be on the upcoming season of The Voice on NBC, starting March 25th.  

We have seen a few White Iron shows over the last couple of years, and I'd have to rank this one right near the top.  The cast of characters, set list and overall mood of the show had the entire place on their feet from minute one.  They were by their own definition "Foot Stompin' Honkey Tonkin' Good Ole American Music".

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