It was Saturday night in Toledo, and the Funk Factory was performing at the Golden Road, a shrine to the Grateful Dead.
It was a fitting conclusion to a year in Glass City rock ‘n’ roll that reminds everyone that live music is still alive and well in Toledo, even as the America as we have known it prepares for great change.
True, 2024 has been a year marred by tragedy. Andrew Ellis, a great Toledo musical force of nature, passed away in January and Toledo’s own punk legend Mark Van Winkle of the London Boys infamy just went to play in that great punk venue in the sky.
Plus, the Ottawa Tavern shut down amidst social media whisperings of strange unsavory things taking place inside the popular venue, which was/is a great place to catch a young, up-n-coming Toledo band. Rumor has it that an ownership transfer of the bar is going on behind the scenes, so here’s hoping it reopens in 2025.
This year was also the year of music controversy. Hunter Brucks came to town and took over the summertime riverfront concert series that met with mixed success, as some shows went on, others didn’t. But it made for a surreal and awesome moment to see cult band Here Come The Mummies doing their comedy horror movie schtick in front of a Toledo crowd. A boatload of ’80s metal bands came and rocked the Maumee River , including Vixen, Great White, Slaughter, and the guy from Ratt. But Toledo regarded Brucks with some suspicion and skepticism, particularly since he was also the mastermind behind the failed Waterville amphitheater project. In hindsight, Brucks did an adequate job for the first time of bringing the music to a “here we are now, entertain us” city like Toledo.