25 Jun 11

Welcome, blogspot readers, to the largest picnic in the park! It's that time of the year again when all diet rules are broken during the annual run of Taste of Chicago. Until July 3rd, hundreds of thousands will have consumed large quantities of pizza, ribs, corn on the cob, ice cream, bbq turkey drumsticks and more. However, there's more to do at the Taste than eating. There's daily cooking classes featuring guest chefs, family fun activities and of course - FREE live music. This year, the organizers did something different by giving Celtic, Country/Western and other music fests their own special featured days at the famous Petrillo Music Shell as well as live local acts like Yeah Dude, Empires and Funkadesi at the Illinois Lottery stage. On this day, SouthSide was in attendance to see her friends, Don Drake & The Shakes rockin' and shakin' things between bites of delicious pizza.

They're Chicago's only organic local rockers with an orchestral feel and look while performing under a lively mix of Americana/pop/folk/alternative sound ...full of high energy, melodic rhythms and dynamic emotionally charged falsettos. SouthSide's speaking about her friends, Don Drake & The Shakes and their rockin' hour long set at this year's Taste on the Illinois Lottery stage. She met this group of musicians last year when they entertained a crowd of Taste goers. Again, they rocked and shaked a larger crowd (under a delightful cooling summer breeze) with vibrant yet soulful music which would please all ears from classically infused to folk. The music itself had a certain but unique sound that breathes a fresh wave of life during each of The Shakes' songs thus creating a rhythmic groove that had some dancing in front of the stage. Try listening to Rattles and Snakes if you want to shake along with The Shakes, blogspot readers, that featured plenty of rockin' Americana/folk music and high energy. That's what this band was all about - having fun while rockin' the stage in the summer sun. Even while in a downtempo sound, fans will be able to hear how vibrant the music can be under a slight upbeat rhythmic melody and tempo in which also wonderfully highlights Jon's intense falsetto range within heartfelt words - for example, listen to Elizabeth Johnston and Margie.

SouthSide highly suggests visiting http://www.jondrakeandtheshakes.bandcamp.com or http://www.myspace.com/jondrake for more music and information on when and where this band will be shakin' things up again on stage.