Hello and welcome, once again, to the blog with the information about the sensation, Appealing Arts. I apologize for the hiatus, but nice weather and beautiful women caused me to lose focus temporarily. However, I’m back, this time reviewing one of Champaign’s finest bars, Blind Pig Co. Now the first thing that stands out to me about The Blind Pig is the smell. Most of the bar is wooden, and the rich scent of timber greets anyone curious enough to enter. Something else unique about the place is the overall absence of smooth. Apart from the actual bar and the table tops, almost every inch of the Blind Pig is rough and imperfect. The decorations are eclectic, and wonderful, with old beer bottles lining the rafters, and business cards pressed under the glass table tops. Giant, cave-like booths can be found near the rear of the bar, in case you and your friends want to temporarily seclude yourselves from the rest of the patrons. They have a fairly fantastic beer and liquor selection, which allows you literally millions of different combination’s with which to get drunk. Now, as for the sounds, there was something special in the air when I visited. Emerald Rum, a local Irish session band, was laying down some sweet Celtic melodies, as they do every Sunday from 5-8. Emerald Rum don’t look all to Irish. In fact. I didn’t see red hair or freckles on a single band member. However, their musicians, clad as they were in sandals and overalls, played some really wild music. There is honestly few things more enjoyable to listen to while drinking a fine beer, than a well played Irish tune. If you enjoy drinking on a Sunday as much as I do, then head on down to the Blind Pig and listen to Emerald Rum play a few songs. You’ll be wondering how you ever started the week off without some accordion.

Hello, and welcome to the very first post of Appealing Arts. I recently had the pleasure of heading down to Memphis on Main to catch a musical act from a band named MPH. What MPH stands for I have no idea. My first guesses were”miles per hour”, “men playing harmonicas”, or “mostly pleasant harmonies”. Sadly, this riddle was never answered. MPH played mostly classic rock with a little bit of blues. Some of the stuff was original, but they also covered some bands from the 60’s, like The Troggs, and The Electric Prunes. The melodies were thick, the bass heavy, and their drummer was wearing this super-fly multi-colored vest. Memphis on Main is aesthetically pleasing. The lighting is balanced, and the colors all work well together. I particularly liked the stain glass fruit bowls along the main the bar. The whole place is immaculate, and I could not see any sign of dust or grime anywhere. The only smell I picked up on was perfume, but ever since the smoking ban hit Illinois, this is the case in a lot of bars. The bar seats are soft leather, and extremely comfortable, far superior to what you’ll find at many places. Memphis on Main has the reputation of being somewhat of a biker bar, so I wore my Harley Davidson shirt to try and fit in. Though some of the patrons were wearing leather jackets, I found there to be a delightful diversity among the crowd. Furthermore, they have an adequate selection of draft beers and hard liquor to choose from (I drank Budweiser, cause I’m broke). Thankfully, a little sign on the bar explained that the show was free due to the recession. Now who says there are no benefits to an economic crisis…