(Images and video: NYCDreamin Archives)
Central Minnesota hard-rockers Division Nine returned to the Bonfire Bar & Grill in Litchfield, Minnesota on Saturday evening to deliver three sets of classic rock/hard rock/heavy metal to an eventually fair sized crowd who came out to rock along with them and blow off some Saturday night, holiday weeked steam.
The last time we saw D9 at the Bonfire, back in November of 2010, a late evening ice storm made our return trip home after the show a real nightmare. This time we had no such worries. The Gorgeous One and I arrived around 7:30pm, just as the Bonfire's 2nd Annual Smoke Out dinner (details on the official bar flyer below) was winding down - too bad we missed that! A rather loud and obnoxious group of ladies from what was obviously a bachelorette party was boarding a party bus to leave - we were glad to see them go.
After I crushed out my cigarette, we popped inside and went and said hello to the guys in the band - they were busy getting set up in the other room, so we went back to the bar and had a seat and ordered up a few bacon-cheeseburgers. They arrived in short order and were quite tasty, nothing to write home about, but pretty good all the same. They were served with a generous portion of golden, crispy tator tots. While seated to eat our meal, I took a few photos of "Bonfire" related items in the bar. First up, a Budweiser/Bonfire neon light...
...and this cool hand-made Bonfire Bar Rock Hawks wall plaque. They're serious about their rock and roll here at the Bonfire.
A short while later, burgers and tator tots having vanished at an alarming rate, a few more of our friends arrived, along with some friends of theirs. We had a nice little group and we all comandeered a few tables up front near the small stage area and conversed among ourselves, waiting for the band to finish their last minute preparations and begin their first set. Just after 9:00pm, the members of D9 materialized near the stage and a few seconds later, the sleepy little Bonfire Bar was transformed into a - uh, sleepy little bar with a rock band blasting away in the back room. Taking a look around, we were all hoping for the bands sake that a few more people would show up - the 9:00pm crowd was barely cracking double digits, freinds of the band making up the majority of those in the room. There were a few more people up front in the bar, but they seemed content to stay up there, glued to the TV, oblivious to the history making rock and roll event that was occuring in the other room. I was pretty sure a few more people would show up though - and sure enough, by 10:00 or 10:30, things were looking quite a bit better as several small groups of people arrived and joind our little party.
Meet the guys in the band!
Chad!
Steve!
Rob!
and Mikey!
Now...let's rock! (The videos that follow are only a random sampling of the material D9 performed and are NOT in sequence. We're not even starting with the first song here - these are just the ones I randomly decided to film...)
*[applauds wildly] Whooo-HOOOO! Yeahhh!! Skynyrd! SKYYYYNNYYYRDD!!
Sky-NYRD! Sky-NYRD! Sky-NYRD!!!
...dude, I don't think they're gonna play any fuckin' Lynyrd Skynyrd...
By this point a few more people had shown up, the drinks of those around us were going down at a, shall we say, frequent pace (J. and myself, we were each having a Sprite - because we're all harcore like that), and the band was in a groove and the ladies were beginning to get up and dance a bit...
This is Bert, D9's go-to sound and lighting guy...he doesn't mess around!
Hey! What the hell is this?!? The band takes a break and the first thing you know, Bert's messing around, yakking it it with Rob, distracting him, telling him, "Hey, man, come here and check out the pretty lights!" like some hippie acid casualty or something.
Hey, you two! breaks' over - quit staring at the fucking lights and get back to work!
That's more like it!
The band slows things down for a few minutes and play a suitably mushy number and the couples hit the dance floor. I ask the Gorgeous One, since we are indeed a couple, if she'd like to dance. She smiles and offers me her hand. I lead her to the dance floor and we have a moment...
Whoa! What the HELL was that? That was kinda freaky!
Sky-NYRD! Sky-NYRD! Sky-NYRD!
What? Break time again? Already?! What the hell?!
Thirsts quenched (well, as quenched as a Saturday night beer thirst can be quenched anyway), our heroes return to the stage once again for one more set, rocking out as if their very lives depend on it, making lots of sweet noise and strange faces in the process...
Steve!
Chad!
Rob!
Mikey!
Time for one more song then we gotta say our goodbyes and get the hell outta here...it's nearly 12:15am and the Gorgeous One has to be at work at 6:00am...and I don't think these fuckers are gonna play any Skynyrd anyway, so...
Dangerous Toys? Nice! That beats Skynyrd ANY day!
For those of you who would like to see more D9 madness from this show...and, really, why wouldn't you? Just click HERE to see all the photographic evidence of the madness that ensued.
All right, we're out of here...thanks to our friends Division Nine for keeping it Skynyrd-Free!
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