Blotto in Cortland

Blotto Jamming in the Marketplace Mall Parking Lot.

Not everyone can say they saw Blotto perform in a parking lot in Cortland, NY -- but I can! You might think, is that a good thing? Well, yes it was! Blotto appeared on July 20, 2007 as part of the city of Cortland's summer concert series "New Wave Night" held in the parking lot of the Marketplace Mall. The weather was a bit chilly for a mid-summer evening, but fortunately the rain had stopped. It was an all ages audience; many families with young children were in attendance. I believe that most of the crowd, (if you could call it "a crowd") were friends and family of the band members. Kah of Radio Hidebound came up from DC for the weekend; he noted wryly that the toddlers running about took a bit of the edge off of the event.

The Flashcubes

The evening's entertainment opened with the Cortland-based Hurtin' Units, a high-energy quartet with hard-driving guitars and percussion. Up next was one of the Syracuse's biggest 80's bands, the Flashcubes. Front men Arty Lenin and Gary Frenay were in top form. Kah compared them to RadioHidebound favorites, the Spongetones.

Blotto took the stage a bit past eight. I've always been impressed with the way the band blends their off-beat humor with impressive musicianship, but I was really surprised with how much fun they were live. We got a two-fer here, a rock concert AND stand-up comedy. My husband heard "Goodbye Mr. Bond" for the first time and was absolutely blown away. Kah posted his review and play of the show along on RadioHidebound.

It was a bit disappointing that both Hurtin' Units and the Flashcubes drew more people than Blotto. We saw several folks tend to drift away once the band had begun to perform. Kah speculated that they just "didn't get Blotto." He also said that he felt a bit bad for the band, but I really felt sorry for those folks who left.

Zippychik & Kah Enjoy the Show