By Chad Martel
Badfish
By Jimmy Britt
As summer starts to wind down, so does the Downtown Rutland Friday Night Concert Series. The Downtown Partnership has already brought in great performers this summer like Taylor Hicks and Paul Gramm.
It’s no surprise that the series would finish strongly Friday, July 22, with the “Sublime” tribute band, “Badfish.”
“Why not come to Rutland,” Scott Begin of “Badfish” chuckled. “We play some other spots in Vermont, mostly Burlington. But this seems to be a pretty cool event.”
Though he has only passed through Rutland in the past, Scott Begin is looking forward to playing in a new place.
“We do a pretty wide range of size venues. From really small bar gigs at times to rock club size places and all the way up to larger theaters like The House of Blues where there might be a balcony and holds 2,000 people,” he said. “That’s sorta where we kind of cut it off unless we do an outdoor festival with other bands.”
Recently “Badfish” has been sticking to a familiar set.
“Generally speaking we really try to mix in the songs that we know people will know. But we also mix in some of the less known stuff that hard core “Sublime” fans will know,” Begin said.
“Sometimes we just gotta go off the crowd. If they want to hear the more rocking heavier stuff we might lean more that way and if it’s more of a reggae vibe we’ll tweak it that way. There’s always room to play on the fly to accommodate what the crowd is really feeling at the moment.”
“Our goal is to party as hard as the audience does, if not harder. We hope it’s a really cool mutual good time for everyone,” Begin added.
Downtown Partnership Executive Director Michael Coppinger said he knows that “Badfish” will be a hit July 22. The concerts are geared towards people ages 30-50 years old and the Partnership tries to find acts that will fit in with the audience, he explained.
“They appeal to the audience we have here, so they were a good choice,” said Coppinger. “I think that they definitely will put on a great show. I think that it will be one of if not the biggest crowd we get this summer.”
The Downtown Rutland Friday Night Concert Series doesn’t just bring in music, it also brings in business.
“We get new people coming in with our usuals and, it’s a good ratio. There are no draw backs, it helps boost business and the economy of Rutland,” said Nicole Flanders of The Coffee Exchange.
