If you’re looking for something to do for you post-holiday high try enjoying some music and food with the Whirlwind Bar Tour. The Whirlwind Bar Tour is event created to help those affected by the tornadoes in November. 13 bars will be donating 100% of funds raised during an all day pub crawl to relief efforts. Saturday December 28th this 21 and up event will have 8 hours of music in all 13 bars with free food plus free transportation! Because this is a charity event bars and bands will be donating their time to the cause. But some bars still have OPEN SLOTS for their music portion of the event and need your help! Bands, solo acts, or any form of musical performers are encouraged to play during the event. There are three bars that have pretty bare line-ups. Trading Post (731 S Durkin Dr), Jw’s Lounge (2266 S 6th St), and Celtic Mist still need of live music. While you are welcome to contact any of the bars listed on the tour some bars above only have one band playing and the event is supposed to have 8 hours of live music. Not only is this a great opportunity to help those affected by the tornadoes it’s a way to get name out in the community and play more mainstream venues. If you or your band is interested in playing a time slot at the bars above please contact the bar directly. If you run into any trouble contact James McCormick anytime at jamesmc349@yahoo.com or 217-741-2898. When explaining the event James said, “This is basically an alliance of people and bars and music people coming together to raise what they can. I thought of Black Sheep as a place where a lot of bands are coming together and thought that maybe some people are ready to get out there and get seen.”

You can sign up for slots at multiple bars as well and if you do play at the event don’t be afraid to show bar owners a demo or even record your performance from the event. This is a 21+ event but band members that are under 21 can still play. In order for that to happen band members need to contact the bar’s owner and talk with them about getting necessary signatures.

If you just want to come out to support and enjoy free music and food wristbands are $30. They will get you access to all of the bars from 11am to 7pm and can be purchased at any of the participating bars- preferably before the event. There will also be 4 buses will running every 30 minutes, once again for free.

For more information check out Whirlwind’s Facebook page. The page has detailed lineups for each bar and the route for transportation.

To stay on top of other community events outside of Black Sheep make sure to check out our Springfield Shows page.

We recently told you about Empire Board Shop, a new skate shop that has recently opened in Springfield. Empire Board Shop has been open to the public for a little while now, but they are celebrating their opening with a big event this Saturday, November 30th. The grand opening celebration will be from 3:00 to 8:00 pm at Empire Board Shop located at 1037 Junction Circle (near the intersection of Wabash and MacArthur). The celebration will include the give-away of some nifty prizes as well as an in-store performance by Springfield band Like… With Jetpacks!

You can find a facebook event for the grand opening right here.