Staggering Cardoons bring audience to their feet at 123 Pleasant Street

The Staggering Cardoons brought a full house to their feet with its floor-shaking performance Wednesday night at 123 Pleasant Street.

The Appalachian rock band took the stage after midnight to greet an enthusiastic crowd.

3rd Round Knockout started the show around

10:30 p.m., and Bobby E. Lee & the Sympathizers kept the crowd moving until the Staggering Cardoons took the stage.

3rd Round Knockout started the show with a high energy rock performance.

"They rehashed a lot of punk guitar," said Jesse James, a senior English major at West Virginia University.

According to James, the second band, Bobby E. Lee & the Sympathizers, had a better technical performance than the first, but James came out to see Staggering Cardoons.

"They are fantastic," James said, "I like the traditional style they aim for."

The Staggering Cardoons are getting ready to branch out into the touring circuit.

They plan to begin working on their new album tentatively called "Breakfast in Osage" after they gets some more shows under their belt. Their debut album, "Thundermug," came out a year and a half ago.

Bobby E. Lee & the Sympathizers came from Baltimore, Md., to bring their bluegrass sound to 123.

The rockabilly-and-folk musicians who call themselves Bobby E. Lee, Bear, Honkis Fleabottom, Tom

Foolery, Jimmy Crow and Uncle Thomas played an upbeat set.

"Their energy is contagious, and it's very catchy. It gets the crowd involved," said Jessica Johnston, a counseling graduate student at WVU, who came out to support Bobby E. Lee & the Sympathizers.

Band members switched instruments during the performance, showing off their multi-talented players.

Ian Finch, also known as Honkis Fleabottom, started out on the drums and later took a turn on both the bass guitar and trumpet.

When the Staggering Cardoons' set began, fan's anticipation subsided and the crowd fell into the rhythm of the Cardoons.

Not all band members were in attendance but the Staggering Cardoons newest member, drummer Gregg Lowley, seemed excited for his fifth show with the band.

Although the band was experiencing technical problems, they put on a great performance.

Lowley said because the sound monitors weren't working properly, they couldn't hear themselves, but their Celtic rock sound came through loud and clear to the crowd.

"Regardless of (whether) the sound system (functioned), if we have fun, people in the audience will have fun too," Lowley said.

And they did. Throughout the entire set, audience members were going insane – cheering on the band, dancing to the music and putting off a great vibe for the band to react to.

"It's a gamble when you play on a Wednesday night," Lowley said. "A lot of friends came out so it was a good atmosphere. It was a lot of fun."

The Staggering Cardoons' next show will be Friday, Oct. 14 at the Morgantown Brewing Company.