By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The crowd was back and chattering.
There was soccer and softball on the TVs above the bar.
The singers were on their stage doing their best to cut through it all.
And singer Bruce Lillie had the crowd shouting out the refrain of his song. “You’re a rock star!”
The Hump Day Revue was back at The Stones Throw in downtown Bowing Green in all its raucous, goofy glory.
The weekly showcase for local folk-rock talent returned to live performance last Wednesday after 456 days. And while they may not get rock star treatment, the performers have a chance to try out new material, and put their own twists on rock stars’ hits.
Founder Tim Concannon noted that Hump Day Revue, which started at Grumpy Dave’s, was just about to mark 10 years of local entertainment when the pandemic pulled the plug on night life in March 2020.
Then regular guest Tim South posted one of his oddball weather forecasts online, and a poet penned a haiku, and Concannon thought about maybe keeping the show on life support through Facebook.
His first show had him wandering around an empty downtown Bowling Green meeting some Hump Day regulars in odd places.
Hump Day on Facebook Live was launched. And for most every Wednesday, Concannon would pop up on the screen, sing the theme, and introduce performers playing in the living rooms or dens or basements. They’d trade comic repartee, or maybe have some serious discussion. As businesses opened up, Concannon did his part to promote local enterprise.
Then Wednesday was the night to relaunch the live show.
Nick and Shannon Appelhans were in the audience. In the past they’ve been on stage, sometimes performing with Mike DuBose, who’d just wound up his set. DuBose was glad to be playing to an audience of people, not cats at home.
The couple said they appreciated how the show has given local performers a stage.
“Any chance you get to put original stuff out there is a good thing,” Shannon said.
That’s true even if the crowd is loud. They’re into drinking beer, the performer is into singing their songs, she said. That can be less intimidating having an audience hanging on every lyric and chord change.
Nick, who works for the railroad, said he plans to take his days off mid-week so he can return to the Hump Day scene.
“The Hump Day Revue is a place to try things out and not feel dumb,” Concannon said. “As an artist, you don’t what to try something get new and get crushed.”
The show has its own dynamic, he said. The fans and performers create a support system for creativity.
On Wednesday it was fun to see everyone back face to face. “Everyone really enjoyed playing in front of people.”
Still the Facebook Live show had its advantages. “We were able to connect with more people,” Concannon said. Some locals can’t get down to the bar; others live too far to travel. People who were previously associated with the show now live in other parts of the country, and over the past year they’ve formed an online community.
Concannon said he wants to maintain that audience. So on Wednesday at 9 when the Facebook Live show would begin, there was a “Hump-a-mission” at The Stones Throw. On the large screen in the bar, Concannon appeared from the studio in his home, just a couple blocks away. He welcomed Jerry Schnepp from Chicago. They exchanged comic banter about how to write parody songs. Then Jack Schilb streamed in from Swanton to offer a couple original songs.
Concannon said this was an experiment. The Facebook show will evolve as the technical issues are worked out. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
Back in the club, regular Tim Tegge takes the stage. He was in the original Facebook Live Revue. Now 15 months later he had the perfect song for the occasion.
“On any given Wednesday,” he sang, “there’s a place I know where the people and the music get me over the hump.”
