Well your favorite mashup band certainly has been on a whirlwind of traveling and performing these last couple of weeks.

Lock Stock & Barrel, Decatur IL

Things began in Decatur for the grand reopening of the well-established local haunt, Lock Stock & Barrel. Fun DMC had been invited to perform as part of the announcement of the Decatur Celebration’s headlining acts for 2018. It had been a while since the band had performed in Decatur and it is safe to say that they were long overdue. Lock Stock was packed from the stage completely to the other end of the room for the duration of the night and things never slowed down even for a second. The show ended and the band quickly tore down their stage setup knowing they had to be on site the next morning at their first appearance at Springfield Pridefest. Along the way Talon and I learned a very important lesson concerning late night travel: no matter how good it may sound, Hardee’s at 3 o’clock in the morning is a bad idea.

Pridefest and Race for the Cure, Springfield IL

The band arrived on the corner of 4th and Capitol for their show at Springfield Pridefest. Following a long and cold winter with barely a Spring to be had, the band performed on one of the hottest days of the year to date. The crowd at Springfield Pridefest was more than welcoming to the mashups and medleys of Fun DMC and one of the highlights for me personally was being able to see my daughter, fearless at 4 years old, climb up on the stage and hula hoop like a pro for about 7 minutes solid. Upon finishing our set in the afternoon heat, Fun DMC quickly dismantled the stage show and made their way to blocks west to set up at the stage for the Susan G Komen Race For the Cure. It was our second year playing at this event and even though the band as a whole was completely exhausted they still gave an incredible high energy performance. The evening closed out with the traditional display of pink fireworks and of course a very loud slow-moving train because Springfield.

The Upside Down, Curve Inn, Springfield IL

Last Thursday night the band gathered for an event that has been over two years in the making. In Champaign, Illinois there is an annual musical event known as The Great Cover-Up where bands from the area will perform a set of music from an artist of their choice complete with costumes. Fun DMC adopted the idea for Springfield only with a twist – the bands participating must choose an act that is not currently in their set list nor is the genre close to anything they currently perform. In other words, we didn’t want country bands picking Travis Tritt or pop bands picking Michael Jackson. Being as that the entire band are all fans of the Netflix series Stranger Things we decided to call the event The Upside Down. Fun DMC appeared as Detroit legend, Kid Rock and even included guest guitar player Brian Connelly and local turntable alchemist, DJ Yatti. Performances from other bands included Tennessee Borderline as Motown Revue, The Fireside Relics as Guns and Roses, The Get Down as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 90’s Daughter as Boston and Smashtag starring as Garth Brooks. The evening culminated with a “We Are the World” type moment as members from each act made their way to the stage to sing along with “Sweet Caroline.” In total, the band raised $1850 for the music program for Grant Middle School. The event turned out to be a great success and we are very much looking forward to the next one where we can hopefully do some more good for the music programs for other area schools.

The Blue Grouch, Springfield IL

Finally on Sunday Night, Fun DMC played their first Blue Grouch show of the summer. The beer garden was alive and well, the Coors Light was cold and flowing, and the show even included a few guest vocal performances from Lydia Tate of ReMix and Brooke Thomas.

This Friday Fun DMC makes their debut in Virginia, Illinois at their annual Virginia BBQ and on Saturday afternoon we return to The Legacy Of Giving main stage. Hope to see you all out somewhere soon.