Everybody loves them some Cheebo

NOTE: This blog was published on the date shown at www.TriadLiveMusic.com and is reposted here for archival purposes.  

Cheebo

Sat-Jun14-2010

    The first time I caught some of Koozie's music was last year but I was only able to stay for a couple of songs before I had to leave. Those couple of songs though were enough to make me vow to catch them live again as soon as I could. Since that time I have made good on that vow a few times. Koozie is in my opinion one of the top three or four bands in the Triad area. But the band itself draws it's persona and public identity from their front man, a performer who goes by the single moniker of "Cheebo." Sporting long hair fashioned into dreadlocks, baggy clothes and always a drink in one hand, Cheebo's appearance is instantly identifiable but his voice, one of the strongest in the triad, is one which can wrap itself around the lyrics of any song and make it instantly a Koozie song.
    During the week I had built up Cheebo and Koozie so much to my date Friday I had started to worry I might have built them up so high that she would expect too much and be disappointed. Thankfully Cheebo and company didn't disappoint and she was sufficiently impressed, enjoying the music and the outlet to dance it provided her.
    As the band took to the stage for their opening set at After Hours Tavern Friday night, the crowd was thin in number and I worried that the event may not have been publicized enough during the week, but as the set continued on the crowd increased and bodies were moving en masse on the dance floor. Cheebo doesn't jump around on stage, prance back and forth or even move very much, he doesn't have too - his vocal work is a magnetic force that reworks the songs the band covers, songs from artists as varied as the Eagles, Commodores, Steve Miller Band, Kid Rock, Alice In Chains, and Nickelback. But don't make the mistake of thinking you'll hear a duplication of the original artists songs, once Cheebo and Koozie lay into a tune they "own" it, often merging multiple songs from different artists together into one and just as often Cheebo melds his special blend of "normal" vocals with the rage of "screamo" and the result is off the chain!
   Much too soon, the 2:00 am last call came and with it Koozie wrapped up their final set. But once more I vowed to catch Koozie again at the next opportunity I have. I think my date will like that too. ;)