ATTN: Music-Lovers — HELP SAVE THE BRASS LANTERN
Due to the relentless recession, the steady decline of patronage, and for various other reasons (any thing that could possibly break in the last year, HAS), the Brass Lantern joins the long list of privately owned companies in serious danger of closing its doors forever!! The venue is currently on the market and will continue to be, until sold or until their business begins to thrive again.
The Brass Lantern has been a landmark for live music in Reading, Pennsylvania since around 2001, hosting prime national touring acts such as Melvin Seals & JGB, DJ Flow (of the Chappelle Show), The Recipe, RAQ, and Michael Glabicki (of Rusted Root), just to name a few. More importantly, it has been the “stepping stone” venue for hundreds of smaller jam bands, building solid fan foundations for bands such as Lotus, Pnuma Trio, Quagmire Swim Team, Juggling Suns, Frog Holler and many others.
These bands played (and some are still playing) multiple shows at the Brass Lantern in order to capture the hearts of Reading live music fans and create the “travelling music fan” in an era where live shows (and turnout for live shows) is in direct proportion to keeping each band travelling and performing, thus keeping the band together. Some of these bands have moved on to bigger venues and large festivals largely in part to building their fanbases at the smaller clubs across the country like the Brass Lantern.
By consistently providing the quality live music stated above, and using mainly word-of-mouth promotion with bits of Internet blogs and posts by its proud staff and satisfied patrons over the years, the Brass Lantern has gained the reputation as “PA’s Best All-Around Small Venue“, and truly is a hidden gem (although scuffed) nestled in the city of Reading. People connect at the Brass Lantern, whether it’s over a fine craft beer or a top-end mixed drink, over a game of darts or pool, or over some top notch live music; all patrons, whether it’s their first time there, or they’re a regular customer, are assured a safe and fun time. It is for this reason that people want to come back. Many patrons who come in from out of town remark, “this bar reminds me of my hometown bar” and it’s because we treat bands and out-of-town concert-goers so kindly and with open arms (yes, this is still possible in the heart of the city).
Simply put, the Brass Lantern is the reason PlusVibes Productions was even created.
So, I plead with you to KEEP THE BRASS LANTERN ALIVE.
Come in and spend a little money – have a drink or have a bite to eat, catch up with good friends and good people, see the best live music that Reading has to offer, and TELL SOME FRIENDS ABOUT the Brass Lantern. We honestly have some of the best food & drink specials around the city and we absolutely need all the business we can get, plus we love seeing new faces!
I actually bartend every Tuesday evening from 5pm until 2am, with our $1.25 Taco special (chicken, beef, or beans, 7-10pm) along with $6 domestic pitchers. I am also usually playing some of the best Brass Lantern live show recordings from over the years on our soundsystem. Do you have a request? Do you want to talk about good music? I would love to chat.
Is there a live show from the Brass Lantern that you would love to have a copy? I personally extend an invitation to anyone wanting a copy of a live recording to come in, have a couple drinks, maybe eat some tacos, write down the show you want, and I will personally make you a copy for free(first come, first served). It will be ready for pick up the following week (there, I got ya’ for two visits). All I ask is that you buy a drink or two each time you stop by!
I thank you for your continued support of live music in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, and I hope to see you soon.
Chris K
Founder, +VIBES Productions
Entertainment Director, The Brass Lantern
More information, including a full band schedule can be found here.
The Brass Lantern
1350 North 12th Street
Reading, PA 19604
610/372-9311
Hours: Mon thru Sat 5pm-2am
Roots, Rock, Reggae Weekend @ The Brass Lantern
November 1, 2009 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
It’s another edition of ROOTS, ROCK, REGGAE at the Brass Lantern starting Thursday, December 17th and running through Saturday, December 19th.
Beginning on Thursday the 17th is the final edition of “Thirsty 3rd Bluegrass Thursdays with the Manatawny Creek Ramblers” for the year. Daniel Bower’s traditional bluegrass (roots) group has been faithfully providing foot stompin’ throw downs every month bringing traditional tunes to the forefront, in addition to catchy original numbers (of course with that bluegrass feel). The Ramblers have brought in some quality guest musicians such as Kris Kehr (mandolin) and Johnny Kilgore (guitar) over the months to make every night a special evening of friends and music at the Brass Lantern.
Friday the 18th brings 2009′s final “Grateful Dead Night” at the Brass Lantern. Matty Cullen’s troupe of seasoned Deadheads comes together to bring another 4-set night of authentic Dead tunes (rock) with opening sets by Pangea Acoustic and the NeoTrio, and then a full two sets at the end of the evening with a collaboration of the two opening acts coming together to form the full band, the Good Lovin’ Jamband.
These nights bring out all kinds of guest musicians. In October they brought a second percussion kit, manned by drumming veteran, Rob Wolfe, and the night was filled with the authentic feel [of two drummers] that the Grateful Dead brought to the stage every night. And we’ll let you in on a little secret – scheduled in March, during the world re-known Berks JazzFest, Grateful Dead night will have a little jazz twist in it, with the guys bringing in very special guest, and Grammy Award winning guitarist, David Cullen for an extremely rare “Jazz Is Dead” set at the Brass Lantern.
Stay tuned for more information on that show coming in early 2010.
Saturday the 19th completes the triangle with another “Reggae Night” at the Brass Lantern. We are pleased to announce a special one-night-only show featuring our old friends Mystic Rebel and special guest Jah Witness.
Mystic Rebel has blessed the Brass Lantern with many irie reggae nights in years past, showcasing mainly the music of the legendary Bob Marley and the Wailers, and we are very happy that they will be reuniting for another special evening of positive vibrations.
+VIBES Productions is very excited for the fantastic music coming up THIS weekend. It is very important during this holiday season that we bring you the music that makes you smile! So we encourage you to take a break from your holiday shopping (aka the “craziness”) and come out and let loose with your family in music at the Brass Lantern.
We hope to see you there.
Here’s all the information:
Thirsty 3rd Bluegrass Thursdays
with the
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
9pm – 12am
21+ only
$4 at the door
————- – ————- – ————- – ————–
Grateful Dead Night
with the
with opening sets by
Pangea Acoustic and the Neo Trio
Friday, December 18th, 2009
10pm – 2am
21+ only
$5 at the door
————- – ————- – ————- – ————–
Reggae Night
with
Mystic Rebel and very special guest Jah Witness
Saturday, December 19th, 2009
10:30pm – 2am
21+ only
$5 at the door
All shows are at the Brass Lantern.
Dragonfly Music & Arts Fest on Saturday, September 26th
August 12, 2009 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
We are excited to annouce festival number three (out-of-four) that PlusVibes Productions is sponsoring this year. This round it is the Dragonfly Music & Arts Fest at Blue Falls Grove, near Reading, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, September 26th, 2009.
It will be the final outdoor event this summer, at least in the Reading area – one remains on October 3rd at Snipes Farm, Morrisville.
This one-day festival (with camping available*) is in celebration of the Autumnal Equinox (on 9/22) and features our friends and jam band veterans, the Juggling Suns headlining the pavilion stage.
Festival organizer, Todd Jones, returns to Blue Falls Grove, approximately 10 miles north of Reading, after a successful 1st Annual Jammin’ For The Animals Benefit show for the Humane Society of Berks County back in July 2009.
The primary sponsor will be Dragonfly Studio and Glass, in West Reading, a prominent glass, art, and tattoo studio owned by David Dragonfly. David has always been a kind friend to the live music & arts scene in Reading over the years, building a faithful clientele for his business along the way. He will be doing tattoos all day on the festival grounds, for those of you up for some true body art!
The festival features live music from 1pm until 10:30pm with a side stage to provide music while the main stage is in transition. A LARGE camping area is on site, not far from the stage, with car-side camping, and tree lines on both sides for shade, although it stays cool because it sits right off the water on a low level area.
Overnight camping is encouraged and the family-friendly event will include a kids pavilion (dedicated to activities for kids [or adults who feel like kids]), hula hooping and juggling workshops, swimming (at a small additional cost), and assorted food & arts vendors in between the pavilions.
A solid four-punch-combination of live music is this round’s primary focus, with the jabs coming in the form of bluegrass powerhouse jam band Cabinet, out of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania starting off at the main pavilion, followed by excellent West Coast newgrass string band Montana Slim String Band out of San Francisco.
Cabinet is a 6-piece blugrass ensemble, pushing the limits in the “duels” of each jam, creating beautiful improvisational moments, and making their shows both dance-filled and jaw-dropping (from back-and-forth seamless duels) from beginning to end.
They are a Pennsyl-tucky favorite that have been filling up rooms such as the Brass Lantern and the River Street Jazz Cafe for the last couple of years, and currently are scheduled for a very special holiday celebration, billed as “Christmas with Cabinet“, at the Brass Lantern on December 26th.
Montana Slim String Band, hailing from San Francisco, is a SOLID bluegrass 5-piece known for their “invigorating live performances, peppered with dueling melodic fiddle, mandolin and acoustic guitar improvisation.”
They most recently set up and played impromptu sets each night at Yonder Mountain String Band‘s Northwest String Summit, in North Plain, Oregon in early August 2009 and a writer for Jambase.com described them as, “Tenacious troubadours from San Francisco with snappy rhythms that inspired some delightfully dirty dancing, they won over several new fans before the weekend was over.”
They will be doing warm up shows (2 full sets) at Zeno’s in State College on Thursday (9/24) and at the Brass Lantern on Friday, (9/25) to make a run of the time that they are in the area. So show your support if you are able to attend any of the 2-set shows.
The fight then moves on to the body shots, with conscious dub, roots reggae rockers, I Yahn I Arkestra. Hailing from the “boondocks of Baltimore”, Kaseopi and Jah-D relocated to Philadelphia and, since forming in 1997, they have been sharing their positive conscious Rastafarian vibe to many of the city’s hottest jam band area clubs, such as The Middle East and the World Cafe Live.
They have grown to become one of America’s most unique and original reggae bands, offering up cosmic rhythms – psychedelic, herb-induced soundscapes with an uplifting message and positive vibes.
The smooth riddums, Rastaman chants, including spoken word by “Joseph I”, and Nyabingi drums are the perfect opportunity to trance the mind and open up your consciousness for the knockout punch that is the called the Juggling Suns.
The Suns have been tearing up the jam band circuit since 1997, shredding up clubs, halls, theatres, and festivals along the way, and often referred to as extremely under-rated.
Their original songs have been covered by the Disco Biscuits and Keller Williams, and the Suns have hosted numerous guest musicians up on stage beside them, including Buddy Cage, Tom Constanten (Grateful Dead), Martin Fierro (Legion of Mary) and Jon Gutwillig (Disco Biscuits).
Guitarist Mark Diomede, who has been on the road as a musician since 1989, received the Asbury Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. Diomede has shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Herring, Santana, moe., Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, and many more.
This event is fully packed with talented musicians on the bill, and will surely be an epic celebration of the beginning of the Autumn season.
PlusVibes Productions will be providing security, front gate meet & greet, and most importantly, spreading the word throughout the live music scene about a great festival in the Reading area.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please contact Dragonfly Studio & Gallery in West Reading.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Superb guitarist & singer/songwriter, Mike Miz will be kicking off the festival at 1pm with a very special set, and also immediately after Cabinet during changeover to Montana Slim.
We hope to see all of you there!
A limited number of tickets are also available at the Brass Lantern (see ChrisK).
Celebration of a Prophet
January 29, 2009 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
Born on February 6, 1945 to Cedella Booker and Captain Norval Marley, Robert Nesta Marley has established a fan base that has exponentially grown, even after his death on May 11, 1981. His legacy will continue to thrive for years to come, uniting all peoples with the message of “One World. One Love.”
We at PlusVibes Productions acknowledge the strength & importance of Bob Marley’s message. It is so important that we based our company name on his philosophy of positive vibrations to ease the soul.
“When you need to refer to a certain situation or crisis, there will always be a Bob Marley song that will relate to it. Bob was a musical prophet,” said Judy Mowatt of the I-Threes.
The Magic Cube aka Dragon Hill 2 rip This reiterates the PlusVibes purpose of being - supplying the quality music to the music appreciating peoples, letting it be that crutch you need to lean on in times of emotional need.
The Queen, Kaseopia
On February 6, 2009, PlusVibes will honor our company’s mentor with a roots, rock, reggae show featuring I Yahn I Arkestra and special guest DJ Geoffro, also known as the Golden Chalice.
The I Yahn I family broadcast their positive message like no other. Jah-D & Kaseopia (and their family) provide a conscious reggae show, backed by deep dub beats, and even some intense spoken word thrown in.
What can we possibly say about Geoffro? He’s a bad, bad man! Respect! to him. He’s THE best conscious reggae DJ we have ever worked with, and he definitely gets the dance floor hoppin’ each & every time. Ya know?
Mad Monster Party? movie full Journey Into Fear film It’s going to be a night of pure positive music. Come feel the vibes! Asterix Versus Caesar buy
We encourage all to pay honor by wearing the Jamaican colors of green Kicking the Dog dvd , yellow, red, & black to invoke Bob Marley’s spirit!
One World. One Love.
Bob Marley Birthday Bash!
featuring
I Yahn I Arkestra
with special guest DJ Geoffro
Friday, February 6th, 2009
@ The Brass Lantern
21+ only / NON SMOKING show
$6 at the door
9pm showtime