Folks, The show that Mr. Babers Neighbors played on the 4th of July was a pulse raising, old dirt road, sundown, porch picking adventure. They enlightened senses, along with pride in the establishment of Iowa, as a major player in the Midwest music scene. Those who were in attedance can agree, we saw a dandy, that helped to kick off the festival, settting the tone for what was to come during this two day event. The 1st annual 80/35 music festival, in downtown Des Moines, Iowa was a success and much of that can be attributed to Mr. Babers Neighbors. I can say without a doubt that it may have been one of the finest and most memorable 4th that my short life has produced. The weather and the atmosphere at dusk was serene. The streets began to fill up with people, many with beer in hand and no idea what to expect in thier minds. This was a new festival, who cemented itself with national acts, but, relied heavily on the local music reputaion in Des Moines to be the driving force of the two days worth of events. Keeping with the local flare, the beer that was being consumed was flowing from kegs produced by a local microbrewery. Just by looking around and observing for a few minutes you could feel, from head to belly, belly to feet, that something amazing was about to ignite, people were in tune. you could feel it as you walked through the vendor area, smelling the food sizzling on the flat grills and listened to the idle chatter. " We should go down to the West stage for a bit, but, we have to see Babers" one guy told a buddy. Another group was walking past and with excitement in thier voices they were reveling about Babers. I myself had heard them before, but, this had been a couple of years past. I knew with what the day had already produced, I would not be let down. The band took the stage and went full bore, enticing the crowd to whooting and hollering. It was a non-stop sensory overload for 50 plus minutes. The sound was tight and crisp, it pulled at my chest and ripped at my guts. The sound of this ramblin Iowa bluegrass ensamble is like none I have ever heard. They reach out and pulled me in and didn't let go until they were done laying down thier brick in this exciting new expierence for Des Moines. They played hard and showed how far they have come, showing what they are capable of while offering insight into life. You can't help but open yourself up to thier little piece of mind into our exsitence here in the state of tall corn, rye whiskey and community. If you get a chance track these fellas down, you will not be dissapointed, and you will not be undone.
