OCTOBER 16, 2008
Best of Springfield 2008
Entertainment & nightlife
Best Cover Band
F5
The Dirty Ernies
F5 has won this category so many times it's practically a given, and with good reason. No other local group consistently draws such large crowds at various venues, year after year, than F5. Tom Gaskins, the last remaining member from the original F5 of umpteen years ago, acts as manager, agent and producer as well as key musician and vocalist. The group keeps the music fresh by bringing in new songs hot off the charts, attracting the young, going-out crowd so important to maintaining the most popular cover band in Springfield.
But wait a minute, what's this, the Dirty Ernies pulled a tie for first place with F5? Can it be, Lee, say it ain't so, Joe, is it the truth, Ruth? Yes folks, F5 shares the honor of Best Cover Band for 2008 with the Dirty Ernies. The up and coming rock band does a nice assortment of familiar tunes, doing what front man Courtney Grimes calls "something for everybody." Recently the winning bands split a bill during a local bar show and made a very nice pairing. With F5 jamming contemporary, beatbox-driven songs, and the Dirty Ernies doing classic and current rock, the two bands had your average crowd's typical musical wants well covered. And that, my friends, is exactly what the best cover bands are supposed to do.
