I told Gerard — or as I know him, GUARAD (courtesy of a Starbucks order gone wrong) — that I was ready for my next assignment up here in the Lehigh Valley. To reward my eagerness, he presented me with the opportunity to take photos at Billy Bauer Band’s Dave Matthews Band tribute. It took place inside the Musikfest Cafe at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, and featured an opening set from Cass Noelle (who was recently a part of our Musikfest coverage).

First of all, Cass is always top notch. Not only did she do her originals, but she did some covers and put her own spin on them. Sometimes, it took me a minute to realize it was a cover! And then she pulled out her cover of “Zombie” by The Cranberries. And boy — her chops really shone through on that one! If you can pull that off, you can pull anything off, and Cass definitely can.

Onward to the main event. Full disclosure: I was never a Dave Matthews Band fan. Many people threatened to unfriend me over that fact, but I just couldn’t get into them.

With that said, I started to actually listen a little bit more a couple years ago. Listening to Billy Bauer Band (with a couple members of Chasing Daylight, for good measure) actually made me want to dig into the DMB discography! Maybe because Billy’s voice was just a little smoother than Dave’s, or because the band was super tight. I’m not certain of the reason, but I WILL go see this tribute show again. And, in general, I plan on getting out to see the Billy Bauer Band and Chasing Daylight much more.

Till next time, this is Rockin’ Ronnie, UMC’s Lehigh Valley Correspondent, signing off…