It has been a couple of weeks since we’ve caught everyone up on the story of Fun DMC. So here’s a bit of a recap from our recent shows:

October 13th found Fun DMC at Northend staple, Weebles Bar and Grill. It was a gorgeous night in what has turned out to be quite the undulant October weather wise. It was the first time the band had played at the new Weebles beer garden which, if you haven’t had the opportunity, you should definitely make a point to stop by. We are very thankful to Don Thompson for having us out and Robin McCoy for being a wonderful host on sound and lighting. A photographer from a local publication was onsite to grab a few pics of the band but more on that later. There was a bit of a controversial stir pre-show when guitarist Robert, proud of his recently acquired size 34s, showed up in stylistically distressed jeans, effectively mismatching him from the rest of the band. Much like the crowd at the Newport Folk Festival during Bob Dylan’s infamous electric set, band bassist Aaron Stanley reminded Robert and anyone else who would aspire to be an individual that unlike Vietnam, there are rules in Fun DMC.

The next night, the band arrived at Springfield’s Island Bay Yacht Club for Waldoberfest, an HSHS Foundation fundraiser. In case you missed it, Waldoberfest is a mashup of themes pertaining to both Oktoberfest and Waldo, the evasive striped and bespectacled character from the book series. With a lovely view of Lake Springfield and a food spread of Deutschland’s finest selections, Fun DMC spent the evening entertaining the crowd of Waldos, St. Paulie Girls, and men in lederhosen. Evening activities also included traditional German activities such as drunkenly driving nails into a log and a holding-beer-steins-at-arms-length-contest known as Masskrugstemmen.

The next week found Fun DMC at Long Bridge Golf Course. Notably, it was also the debut of Fun DMC’s dual video screen display. A project that has long been in the works by Aaron Stanley, after several attempts and technical setback, the debut was a stunning display of the possibility on click track innovation. The screens are currently in the Alpha stage with endless possibilities beyond sync’d videos with live performance. That in itself however, is an incredible sight to see.

On October 21st, Fun DMC showed up at the Pickett residence for what would become one of their favorite weddings to date. For this author, the event was somewhat of a reunion with longtime friends, some of whom I have not seen in over 10 years. The wedding ceremony was held on the back half of the family property along a beautifully constructed display built by the father of the bride. Following the ceremony was a lovely reception inside of an adjacent tent where the band found custom place settings cut from felled trees on the property. The band was able to create a bit of meta innovation when photographer Matt DeBackere supplied them with a photo of the bride and groom taken only hours before. The photo became a backdrop for the stage courtesy of the band’s video display once again emphasizing the band’s penchant for curating memories.

To say that the dance floor was lively at the Cook/Pickett wedding would be an ugly understatement. From the moment the first song was launched, the dance floor was a furious gathering of multi-generational celebration. For myself, this was quite possibly one of my favorite weddings we have ever played. It was a room full of friends and family and it’s always a special time whenever I can bring my wife and daughter to a show. Watching my daughter dance with the children of old friends had quite the surreal impact on me and if we had the material, I would have asked the band to play indefinitely.

On Thursday, October 26th, after weeks of relentlessly campaigning with our notorious “can your band do that” video series, Fun DMC was awarded Best Hip Hop Band by the Illinois Times. The publication’s most widely read issue publishes an annual list of local favorites including restaurants, venues, events, and more, all selected by their readers. This year we were honored to be named among the winners. That evening, we took the stage at their Inaugural Best Of Springfield Celebration at the Bank Of Springfield Center. We were honored to share the stage with Champaign’s Brat Pack and celebrate with the rest of the very best of Springfield.

On Halloween weekend, the band performed back-to-back shows at Mowie’s Cue and The Boar’s Nest. For month’s we had been planning out our costume theme and on Friday night at Mowie’s Cue, we unleashed our old school WWF cast of characters including Sgt. Slaughter, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, and The Undertaker. During our Mowie’s show, a very large crowd of witches who were celebrating their annual Witches Night Out showed up and danced with broomsticks and black cats before reluctantly departing for their next stop. Saturday night at The Boar’s Nest concluded our three night run and while I’m sure we were glad to get out of those costumes, I think there was a small part of me that wanted to keep the costume gimmick going. Sometimes there is something kind of liberating about being somebody else. That said, it was much better to get out of those vinyl pants and knee high boots.

Next stop: Nashville, TN for the #GLAM wedding.