For a few years now, The Strutt has almost invariably held an Open Mic every Tuesday evening from 8pm to close. It’s a fast moving, well-oiled hyper-fest of 15-minute acts ranging from absolutely baffling to drop-dead amazing.In short, it’s usually a recipe for a good time.

Now The Strutt is a welcoming place by nature, and so it only makes sense that at the open mic, it’s real easy to come down by yourself with a guitar (or without one – the house provides a backline of standard gear) and end up playing with a full band. This ‘jump-in-and-jam’ mindset is one of the many ingredients that, in my opinion, consistently puts the Strutt’s open mic a cut above the rest.

Well this ingredient, for the last few weeks, has been a feature of the end-of-the-night on Tuesdays. Essentially, a host of the Strutt’s usual suspects grab the stage about 1am or so. At this point, the drums start thumping a beat specifically engineered to get a body moving. This is the first sign that a Jungle Jam, as it has been lovingly christened, has come under full swing.

Next, the bass and guitar jump in with anything from southern foot-stompin’ to afro-cuban groovin to cha-cha to whatever might strike the fancy of the impromptu orchestra. Then, the auxiliary instruments ice the cake with strange percussion and andassortment of ornamentation. Finally, the remainder of the bar – patrons and staff alike – get out of their seats, push the tables to one side, and dance like nobody’s watching. Of course, nobody is watching. Everyone else is busy getting down.

The 21st century scholar and philosopher G. Clinton once said this, on the subject of health, wellness, and the general existential crisis that each of us is faced with on a daily basis: Free your mind, and your ass will follow. Now I don’t have a medical degree, but I have been watching a lot of House, so I feel safe to say that if you’ve got the night free and can stand to get a little less sleep for a night, you should come on down to the Strutt open mic. It’s for your health.

Tonight, No Fun is fielding one of those bills that almost-but-not-quite fits together. While all three of these bands are quite a bit different, they all share the fundamental similarity of being most excellent.

Courtesy Midair's Myspace

First up on the bill is Midair, a mildly-experimental, very atmospheric outfit from Richmond Virginia. Through clever use of counter-movement and mixed time-signatures, and a masterful touch from the hands of each band-member, these guys create a swirling, moving wall of sound that tends to envelop and surround the listener in a very big way. If you like experimental music, these this is absolutely your cup of tea (Or rather storm in a teacup?).

Cool moon thingy courtesy Pistolbride's Bandcamp page

Next Up, Pistolbrides are on loan from Grand Rapids. An up-and-coming outfit, these fellas know how to write rock-and-roll. Equal parts surf-tune, Americana and just plain excellent music, the jams these guys kick are clean, solid, and are money-back-guaranteed to make you dance. I know I’m gonna be dancin’, anyway.

Photo by Jarab Selner

Finally, local yokel James Duke will be pickin’ and grinnin’ all your favorite Son Drop songs. He writes about love, long drives, and getting your shoes wet in the winter time. He plays songs about roughly the same things. If you haven’t seen Son Drop before, this is a great chance to get to know the music. If you have seen Son Drop before, then you already know this is a rare acoustic performance. Either way you slice it, it’s gonna be a good show, so try and stop on by.

Angry Octopus Jerry Reed demands it.

and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die. What a mouthful.

Photo courtesy of The World is... 's Bandcamp page

At any rate, these two excellent bands are going to be tearing up the No Fun Basement.

TWiaBPaIANLATD is an emotive guitar-driven band with teeth and claws and everything, similar to our home-grown heroes The Reptilian. Long story short, this is an excellent and awesome-billed-show waiting to happen. Come on down and rock with ’em.

Show starts at 8:30 NO PUNK ROCK TIME. Make sure you’re there and ready to get down, ‘cuz we gonna get down

The Reptillian gets no credit at DIT(K)

This here’s the Saxsquatch in case you didn’t know. He plays the saxophone like a drowning man who can see the shore, just like Captain Beefheart would have liked it (God rest his soul).

Saxsquatch can be spotted cranking out the jazz with his main bandfellows, Bridge Band, and blows all over many Kalamazoo acts, including the Dynamics, Max Dandyslax, Graham Parsons and the Go Rounds, Duke & the Loose Cannons and many more. On December 30, he’s bringing all of the wildest players he can find out to the Strutt for an All-Star Revue of Epic Proportions.

NO COVER! DRINK SPECIALS! WILD TIMES! BE THERE!

Mr. Gitis Baggs is a conspicous face in the local music scene. You can catch him blowin’ up with the Go Rounds or shaking maraccas with Tiny Rhythm, but what many folks don’t know is that Baggs is an accomplished recording artist and songwriter hisself. Its like the Beatles and the Byrds and Bryan Wilson all together. You’ll like it.

Joining Gitis at the Strutt tonight will be haunted folksinger Peggy Wray and mysterious space warrior Birdfingers. Door is $3, show starts at 9.

Happy Holidays!

photo thanks to kasey, a stranger and her camera phone

From Everyone at DITKalamazoo!

If I owned a circus hall of mirrors, I’d pipe Robin Parrent through the loudspeaker. Why? He’s got that perfectly spooked-out soul sound that can be fun and unsettling at the same time.

Jungle-Kraut-Rock dance party starters Tiny Rhythm are gonna keep it loud and wild. These guys got the place rattling yesterday at open mic night. Don’t miss em.

Tonight, three excellent acoustic acts take the ‘stage’ at the House of Love. On a bit of a road-trip, Chris Darby is coming in from Chicago to strum his guitar and sing his tunes about life on the road.

Tim Tapper will also be bring his new project – the Useless Worries – to light tonight in it’s first official live performance. No telling what is in store exactly, but tell has been heard of protest aplenty.

Finally, The Almanac Shouters will be bringing their own brand of foot-stompin’, song-shoutin’ punk-influenced folk tunes. High-energy is the order of the day with these guys, and they always promise to put on a good show.

The House of Love is in a secret spot, but if you email ditkalamazoo@gmail.com, we’ll let you in on it. See you guys there!

Indiana’s TV Ghost are the kind of noisy rock n roll band that you want to listen to while drag-racing a stolen car. They’ll be freaking out at Louie’s Trophy house tonight with criminally cool rock outfit People’s Temple and local guitar experiment Forget the Times.

Tickets are $8 at the door. Show starts at 10 pm, 18+.