It is always a party when Blackberry Wood comes to town, even when nobody shows up. They played their hearts out for all of 10 people who must have been taken back by the scene unfolding on stage.

 They always blow fantastic horn and have an array of crazy costumes. Bumble bees were the theme of this night as the band, including saxophonist Jenn Charter, drummer Ryan Trigg, trumpeter Shelder Footz and frontman Kris Wood sported an assortment of black and yellow garments.

 Footz in particular took it to the extreme, sporting a pair of wings and antennae, even painting her face. She was a sight, rolling all over the stage, between Charter’s legs and  into the audience. She was enjoying herself to the hilt. Both Charters and Footz wandered into the middle of the audience with their instruments as Wood jumped up and down on stage, keeping the gypsy energy going strong.

They were tight and then some even with all of the insane antics.

 Their cover of “I Don’t Want to Grow Up,” was a highlight. They even tried rapping a “hick hop number”
 Their set was non-stop energy which could have carried on until dawn, though they wound things up at about 2 a.m.

 A good sized crowd relived the ’70s and ’80s with Kenny Shields and Streetheart at Average Joes, Sept. 27.

 I only caught the end of the set, arriving just in time to catch the big ballads including “What Kind of Love is This,” which turned into an extended jam but featured some really nice three part vocal harmonies. Their reworked  version of the Rolling Stones’ “ Under My thumb also turned into an extended jam.

 While Shields looked exhausted by the time I arrived, he still has an impressive voice and was a gracious host as he held out his arms and told the dancing crowd “You guys are sharp. You’re sexy and you look great. Thanks for coming out.”

They knew the words of course and chanted “One More Time,” along with the chorus of one of their most popular numbers. They ended their show on a couple high notes including “Snow White,” and “Action.”

I figured Joel Plaskett would have a great turnout  at his Geomatic Attic presented show at Southminster United Church, and was right, Sept. 27. I’ve never heard acts sound as good as Mo Kenny and Joel Plaskett did at their show.

 Fellow Nova Scotian Mo Kenny was up first with a stunningly beautiful set of really laid back folk from her new CD which she recorded with Plaskett in his Dartmouth studio. She told stories and joked about bringing so much water on stage and probably could have played all night long for the enraptured audience of approximately 300 people.

She’d be back later in the evening to sing a couple duets with Plaskett.

But everyone wanted to hear Plaskett, who beamed ear to ear as he sang songs from throughout his career, though concentrating on a lot of songs from his “Ashtray Rock” CD.
 One girl in the crowd shouted out “I love you Joel,” which only made him grin wider.

Peter Elkas added  excellent harmonies , guitar and some  keyboards as Plaskett switched between several different guitars including a couple acoustic guitars, a 12 string guitar, an electric guitar for one song and a four string tenor guitar which he used for much of his set of “blue eyed soul”.

 Winnipeg’s Greg Rekus can sure make a racket on acoustic guitar.

He proved to be a one man show, Sept. 26 at the Owl Acoustic Lounge as he jumped up and down, banging out rhythm on a massive box he set up and miced on the stage. He sang with frenetic energy and leaped all over his stage while strumming heavily.

 He sounded a lot like Social Distortion’s Mike Ness’ country project, but had a sound all his own. He sang several songs from his latest CD “ The Dude Abides.”

 He got the audience of about 20 people worked up and singing along like a  crazed kitchen party
 Opening act Ian MacInnes played a somewhat more sedate show of acoustic folk  sounding like a mix of Bob Dylan and Elliott Brood. He sang  several originals as well as respectable covers of the Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers,” and several others.