Your all-time favorite band

"Rosewood Bitters" came across the iPod the other day when I was on the treadmill. Such a great song, deserved a much wider audience.

 

Saw them a lot in college. A. Lot.

 

Wish I had seen them more. I was a little young for concerts when they were in their heyday. But their 1992 reunion show at Blossom, when every guy who every played a significant role in the band, including Jonah Coslin and Kevin Raleigh, were there, was among the top 10 or so shows I've ever attended. Just electric.

 

If you are of a certain age and grew up in Ohio, you know MSB. His music is an indispensable part of the soundtrack of my college life.

 

Leaving aside my Springsteen obsession, the best live shows I’ve seen were Living Color, Foo Fighters, Fishbone and Pearl Jam. I loved the Gap Band and EWF.

 

If you're from just about any age and grew up outside of Ohio (or even south of Columbus) you may never have heard of MSB. Although they had a video in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV.

 

And the Cleveland kids took MSB to college all over the state. That's how I found them.

 

True. It was still kind of funny how they'd play three sold-out (21,000) nights at the Richfield Coliseum, then go play some 800-seater in Cincy that had tickets available at the door.

 

I saw one of MSB's New Year's shows at The Coliseum, and the following summer they played at a <1,000 gym at my college. Donnie Iris opened. And they brought the same energy at both venues.

 

There are bands like that in Canada that can sell out arenas in the winter and sheds in the summer but play clubs in the US and elsewhere. I saw the Arkells, a very popular band that sells out big shows across the country play in a 200-seat club in Dublin that was full of Canadians a couple years ago.

 

had it on cassette

you are not alone

 

Kind of like if you grew up in Wisconsin in the 1980s, (I didn't) you were probably a huge BoDeans fan. Another great band that had a huge regional profile, and a much smaller national one for 2-3 years before kind of disappearing.