What a magical night to kick off Dunn Dunn Fest 2016! With great shows lined up all over town, I went with my gut and picked the Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes show at Beat Kitchen. Once again I was made to look like a genius-the Nashvillains blew the roof off the house just as I expected. The opening acts, Chicagoan Jared Rabin and Kansas Bible Company, were both great as well.

Rabin played a bunch of tunes off his latest LP, which I reviewed just a few weeks ago. Backed up by some talented musicians, Something Left To Say came to life as a rockin party filled with nimble electric guitar work.

  
Kansas Bible Company, wholly unknown to me before last night, turned in an electrifying performance with horns and guitars blazing at every turn. Another Nashville-based band booked for Dunn Dunn Fest and it’s no wonder why they call it Music City with bands like these!

  
Daniel Ellsworth and the Great Lakes put on a predictably brilliant show. They’re putting out a new EP in a couple weeks and the new songs sound amazing and weird. Daniel felt a little more frenetic than when I’ve seen him in the past, and that was balanced out by a slightly more restrained Timon Lance and Marshall Skinner. Joel was still pretty wild on the drums, though.

  
Dunn Dunn Fest continues tonight and tomorrow. Find me at Lincoln Hall tonight for Alanna Royale and Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, Saturday at Schubas for Frontier Ruckus, Martin Van Ruin, and Mooner. Check out the festival site for many more shows this weekend.

You can find more photos of each band over on our Facebook page!