New Year's Eve Eve Eve

• •  December 21st came and went, the world didn't end, and there are no more shopping days till Xmas 2012.  And just a few more days till 2012's last gasp.

    
    

    Once upon a time, "what-are-you-doing-New-Year's" demanded a definitive answer.  But it's not so important anymore. No plans are necessary; we'll find out when we get there.

    
    

    So I don't know where I'm going to ring in the New Year, but I DO know where this middle-aged rocker is going to be on the last Saturday night of 2012---and that's at Ziggy's for Mike Bennett and the "B" String All Stars annual Xmas jam.

    
    

    Saturday
  • 8:00pm
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• MIKE BENNETT AND THE "B" STRING ALL STARS BELOW THE LINE Mike B (owner of local guitar friendly rock store, THE "B" STRING) is back to do his annual Xmas jam. ALWAYS A FANTASTIC SHOW! Doors:8pm | Show:9pm | $5

Ziggy's

170 W. 9th St., Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101

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Michael Bennett and the "B" String All Stars delivered a stellar show at the Summer On Trade Music Series, August 25, 2012.

ROCK THE BLOCK

Time to Party Downtown at Rock the Block Remix!

Winston-Salem's annual musical streetfest happens on Saturday, September 22nd, from 11am till 7pm, spanning downtown from Corpening Plaza to Winston Square Park, to the green spot on 4th Street (I think it's got a name, just hasn't found a permanent place in my brain to reside), to 6th Street between Trade and Cherry Streets.

We get to rock 'n' roll to the sounds emanating from the Rock, Country and Blues stage being sponsored by Ziggy's.  This artist is very, very happy that we didn't get the beach music stage dumped on us.....Sorry, apologies to those of you who like "beach music."  If you don't know what that is, don't worry your rock-and-roll heart too much.

"Beach music" owes its heritage to the old 60's R & B music of the Tams, the Drifters, and the like.  It owes its name to the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina, where it got tons and tons of airplay.  And back in the day when everybody's summer vacation included at least one trip to Myrtle Beach, it became the sound track to everybody's vacation. 

Mind you, the stuff that falls into the oldies-but-goodies R & B category is pleasant, nostalgic stuff.  But then somebody went and wrote songs about beach music......"I LUV beach music..." and "Myrtle Beach Days" come to mind here.
The thing is, they've all got the same rhythm, same sound, same dance steps.  The band starts up and it's like a whole bunch of wind-up toys start dancing all the same steps, a dance they call the shag.

How this set of dance steps got called the shag, I'll probably never know.  All I know is that once upon a time back in my younger, more foolish days, I knew these 2 guys from England and I took them to a party that had beach music, and a couple girls started talking about shagging in the sand and there was all kinds of back and forth talk about shagging in the sand along with secret behind-the-back chuckles and winks and grins between our two Englishmen....So what was so funny about dancing the shag?  Finally I decided our guys had had enough fun at the girls' expense, so I  told them: in England, "shagging" is a slang term for having sex.

ROCK the BLOCK REMIX

The City of Winston-Salem is shaking things up!! Rock the Block,  the annual end-of-summer street party, was for years held up and down several blocks of 4th Street.

But this year, they're rotating the footprint 90 degrees and placing music stages at 4 different locations, from Corpening Plaza to Winston Square to Civic Plaza to 6th Street in the Arts District. This will allow the major streets through town to remain open and vehicular traffic to move around more freely.  PLUS it takes advantage of several made-for-music-and-crowds outdoor venues.

We are especially pleased that the Arts District will be able to take part in the festival for the first time, as the Rock, Country and Blues stage will be located at 6th Street, between Cherry and Trade Streets. 


http://visitwinstonsalem.com/special-events/view/rock