Welcome all to Ocean City where the fun never stops. So you thought the second season would be the slow season, huh? NOT! By now you’ve heard and seen the gorgeous hot rods rumbling through town for Endless Summer Cruisin’. Americans have a long-standing love affair with cars and that will certainly be evident this weekend when you’ll see crowds lining Coastal Hwy. to watch them ‘on parade.’ The Inlet parking lot will be full of vehicles of all makes, models and classic years, and the event also features live music.
    Live music is continuous at the annual Oktoberfest being held this weekend at the Convention Center. Get out your lederhosen, bundhosen, dirndls, pettipants, mieder, vests and platterhosen and you can even get in free (admission is minimal anyway). On Friday and Saturday nights after 6pm, you can enter free just for wearing suspenders. Now this is where I come in. Friday at 7pm Oktoberfest is having their first Ocean City Has Talent Karaoke contest! Yours truly will be a judge along with Delegate Jim Mathias and others, and there is a cash prize involved here, so come on and sing your heart out. Saturday’s entertainment will feature several dance contests, also with cash prizes. The featured bands this year are The CowPolka’s and The Pennsylvania Villagers playing all three days - the event begins at 11am Friday (TODAY!!). I always enjoy the authentic Bavarian dances performed by the Alpenrose Dancers. In addition to all the fabulous entertainment, there are more fun contests such as the “Knockwurst Eating” contest on Sun. at 1:30pm and the Stein Holding Contest, also on Sun. at 11:30am. Plus so much more. What a fun way to spend the weekend - fun for the whole family - OKTOBERFEST!!
    I’ll be dashing over on Friday after starting my evening at the annual ‘Jammin’ For a Cure’ being held at Seacrets, 5pm. Marco mentioned opening act, Chris English, in his Sonic Notes article and I thought I would tell you a little more about this accomplished performer. English is a native of Salisbury who began playing guitar at age 11 when his older brother introduced him to the blues in the ‘60s. Using open tunings, he taught himself on slide guitar and harmonica. His love of the blues has been his life’s passion, striving to preserve an American musical artform, primarily what is referred to as the Delta style blues. His performances are mesmerizing as he sings, plays slide guitar and harmonica, and stomps out the rhythm, sometimes on an old coca-cola crate. He’s dedicated to the authenticity of the sound, playing vintage guitars from the ‘30s. Chris and his band, Brother Lowdown (formed in 1986) could be heard playing around the area and his first CD, “Live at the Avalon,” was recorded in 1996. More recently, “Lowdown in the House” was released in July of 2004, a live, solo collection of traditional and original blues tunes. English teaches a course in Blues at Salisbury Univ. titled “Blues, the Roots of Rock and Roll.” Come out to hear him and get a little education as well as great entertainment and help a very worthy cause. On tap the rest of the night is Pompous Pie, and Fuzzbox Piranha. All more than worthy of the small price of admission that, of course, goes to Breast Cancer Research.
    The World Famous Monday Deck Party at Fager’s Island hosted by DJ Batman will have its final party this Mon. It will really feel like the end of summer after this weekend. After the Deck Party, Fager’s Island will present its final Mon. night show with an awesome performance by The Glimmer Twins. This may well be the one to top all other tribute bands we’ve seen this summer. I know there are hundreds of Rolling Stones fans in our area who rave about their shows and many more like me who would love to see them. This is our chance to see and hear a very accurate recreation of a Rolling Stones performance during what is considered to be their most creative period from Beggar’s Banquet in the late ‘60s  through Exile On Main St. and beyond into the ‘70s when their live performances were creating such a frenzy. The Glimmer Twins capture the raw energy of the most electrifying performances throughout The Rolling Stones career, presented in such a way that audiences are able to experience the same sensation of what it was like to be at a Stones concert in their heyday. As their promo says, because of the uncanny resemblances to Mick Jagger & Keith Richards in their prime coupled with the special attention given to the minutest details both musically and visually, The Glimmer Twins are a cut above all other tribute bands on the circuit today. Here’s the lineup: Keith Call as Mick on vocals & harp; Bernie Bollendorf on guitar/vocals; Mike Rubino on guitar; Chris Bollendorf on drums; Ben Poore on bass; Mike Dancik on keyboards; Valorie Steel on vocals; and Keith Oldt, sound tech. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen the Stones live since 1967 and I’m really looking forward to this - Monday night at Fager’s Island.
    Don’t forget Tuesday is Claim To Fame at Fager’s Island. This is a great opportunity to get your music out there, especially your originals. This week’s winners were Dave Sherman and Tim Cyphers who will compete in the finals in December. Grab your guitar, or whatever (but no drums) and come show us your stuff next Tuesday.
    What a fun time at Seacrets last Sat. for the final beach party with the Jim Long Band. The Party Bar fans outdid themselves with their doctor/nurse theme costumes. And Jim was thrilled that I presented the original Kathy Denk cover art from Sept. 18 issue with thanks for his 14 years of incredible parties at Seacrets. You may recall that Jim Long was my first “Entertainer of the Year” back in 1999.
    Seacrets continues to provide excellent entertainment on the weekends and live music at the Tiki Bar on Sat. at 5pm is always a big winter happening, this week with the Jon Maurer Trio. If you’ve never heard them, do yourself a favor - get to Seacrets Sat. Jon plays keyboards and sings just about any kind of music you can think of. His trio rocks!
    The Ocean Club will be rockin’ this weekend, too, with music from a very accomplished group called Level 4. I remember a conversation with Edgar telling me that the band plays with different lineups and this one features Tina on vocals with Edgar, Michael & Roger - four members, Level 4 - from the group most of you know as Smitty on the Edge. So, you won’t hear Smitty this weekend, but you will hear great music from one of the best groups in the business.
    Alas, a few more closing parties are happening this week. First, the beautiful Skye Bar high atop Galaxy 66, will close down for the winter, but they’ll do it in grand style with music by the Philly George Project. Let’s pray for good weather for this event.  Remember that Friday Jazz Night has been really hoppin’ featuring Philly George this week. And Bryan Russo is still jammin’ Wed.
    The other closing? Macky’s. Yes, this fun restaurant on the bay will have to ‘batten down the hatches’ Sunday when the closing party will be hosted by DJ Wax. They’ll be partying big time all weekend with DJ Casper both Fri. and Sat. nights, too. I know many of us are really going to miss Macky’s.
    Hey, Full Blown Cherry returns to the Steer Inn Sat. night. This high energy trio will amaze you with their onstage antics and swingin’ music. Have fun and party safe!