A touch of the Past, December 23, 2005
all pic by montana's camera phone
rest your mouse to see the caption
review by montana


touch of the past is one of those low key reggae spots that's been around forever (at least for the past 5 years, since i've been in chicago) and just keeps on going and going.  it's on the far west side in bellwood and you get an interesting mix of locals and reggae regulars.  they have a format similar to exedus in which a band rotates with a selector playing recorded music.  now, the bands in rotation include indika and dub dis. 

this night, dub dis was in the house.  when i arrived, around midnight, the selector was playing some regular commercial reggae tunes and the crowd was pretty thick.  a light green light gave the place a different kind of ambience. it's like a corner bar mixed with a dance club. 

devon brown put on an nice show with his new protege who is also a great singer.  they also had a dj with them with a tiger-esque voice who added some spice to some of their numbers.  the usual cover tunes, you can see that dub dis is a well rehearsed band who's perfected their craft over the years.  casper, the drummer, casually threw his left drumstick up in the air and easily caught it on it's downward spiral every few minutes or so and when they played the doctor's darling riddim, it was almost better than the original.

130 is closing time around these parts. so, if you're looking for a casual spot to sit down and talk or to dance, get there early.  dress code is anything from jeans and tims casual, to spaghetti strap club snappy. (apologies for the low qaulity 'spy camera phone' pics!!)