Crash’s Look Back at 2014 Entertainment Around The Region

I don't know what happened to 2014. It doesn't seem like it should be over already. I was home for Christmas and talking to friends and family about some of the shows we saw this year and thankfully in the age of Facebook, it gave me a chance to look back at the shows I remember very well (and will likely never forget) and some of the shows that may have slipped my memory. One thing is for sure: 2014 was a GREAT year for entertainment!

My entertainment year started at Grand Falls Casino in January with one of the runners up from TV's "The Voice" when Nicholas David came to town with an evening of soul music from the talented Twin Cities musician.

In February, The Beatles 'Rain' touring production took over the Washington Pavilion with a new show that had the sold out crowd dancing in the aisles!

In March and April, we were back at the Pavilion for former Styx singer Dennis DeYoung and the Friends of the Bob & Tom Show Comedy Tours!

April also brought blues/rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa to the Pavilion for a fantastic evening of original music both acoustic and electric.

In April my wife and I made two trips to the Twin Cities for shows. One to see the Experience Hendrix tour with Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Doyle Bramhall, Cesar Rojas, David Hidalgo, Dweezil Zappa, Mato Nanji, Eric Gales, and many more. And then we went back for a night of blues at the Cabooze with Sena Ehrhardt Band, Samantha Fish and Indigenous.

The summer concert season always kicks off in Sioux Falls with RibFest and 2014 saw the biggest RibFest in history with attendance in the 50,000 range and a lineup that included Lynyrd Skynrd, Loverboy, Rick Springfield, Honeymoon Suite, April Wine, Foghat, Dee Snider, Stephen Pearcy, Tom Keifer and many more.

June saw Downtown Sioux Falls Block Parties kicking off including friends the Cole Allen Band and Sena Ehrhardt Band, and also brought the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band to Grand Falls Casino.

July featured the 19th annual Hot Harley Nights to benefit Make A Wish South Dakota with AC/DC tribute band Rock n' Roll Damnation and about 35,000 people while overall attendance may have been down a hair at JazzFest from the past couple of years, but it was probably my favorite JazzFest ever with strong performances from Gov't Mule, Gary Clark Jr., George Thorogood, Here Come The Mummies, Samantha Fish, Kelly Richey, Josh Hoyer & The Shadowboxers, Kris Lager Band, Mat D. & The Profane Saints and MANY more!

In August we held the 2nd annual Downtown Riverfest in Sioux Falls with a group of South Dakota Rock & Roll Hall of Famers calling themselves Deeper Than Square, along with Burlap Wolf King, Jami Lynn & Dylan James, Billy Lurken, Greyson Schultz and Main Avenue Warehouse.

August also saw the grand opening of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, Iowa which has brought, on average, three to four shows a WEEK to the region! In just the five months they've been open, we were to see: Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, Robert Cray, JJ Grey & Mofro, Devon Allman Band, Nick Moss Band, Coco Montoya, Shannon Curfman, Indigenous, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Sena Ehrhardt Band and Trampled Under Foot! And they've announced that the Thursday night Blues Series will continue into 2015!

Trampled Under Foot also said goodbye to Sioux Falls on their farewell tour this fall as part of Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society's concert series, though both Danielle and Nick Schnebelen have their own bands and will likely return to the region in 2015!

We also opened the new Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls. The sneak preview night featured Starship and recently announced 2015 member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Joan Jett & The Blackhearts! We also were able to play host to one of the most unique shows to ever come to town with Cirque du Soleil Varekai!

The District in Sioux Falls continues to host shows in every music genre imaginable including The Cult, Foreigner, and the Pomp Room Reunion show which was a blast!

We had long time Bob & Tom Show favorite Rodney Carrington come back to Grand Falls this fall. My wife and I also made our annual trek to Omaha/Council Bluffs to see the tour kick off of Trans-Siberian Orchestra (and we're taking the show in at the Xcel in St. Paul December 30th to wrap up our year!)

It was also a year to say goodbye to Motley Crue with special guest Alice Cooper when they played the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City.

And this list doesn't even touch the list of the fantastic local and regional musicians that we went to see including our friends the Jukebox Zeroes just this weekend as they have decided to call it a career after 14 amazing years with the same five talented musicians. There are so many really talented people that live and perform in Sioux Falls that on any given weekend, if you walk into an establishment offering live music, chances are, you'll hear something you like.

I had the opportunity to have Chris Duarte, Nick Moss Band, Cole Allen, Sena Ehrhardt, Burlap Wolf King, Terry Quiett, The Copoetics, Useful Jenkins and Ken Valdez in studio with live performances. I also got to interview Devon Allman, George Thorogood, Samantha Fish, Shannon Curfman, Mato Nanji, Corey Taylor, Dee Snider, Tom Keifer, Mike Reno, Warren Haynes and many more as well.

You can see a lot of the interviews and live performances on the B102.7 You Tube channel.

Again, it's been one hell of a year in 2014 and I'm grateful for the opportunity to do what I do and see the shows that come to our area every single year. With all these fantastic venues already rolling out shows for 2015, I have no doubt that the next year is going to be as good if not better than this.

Until the next show. Peace, and thank you so much for listening and allowing me to be a part of your lives.