Flatfoot 56 at the Raccoon Motel -- February 23.
Friday, February 23, 8 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Performing in support of their 2022 split EP with The Rumjacks that spawned the hit singles "Mud" and "Sorry". the Chicago-based Celtic-punk musicians of Flatfoot 56 return to the Quad Cities on February 23, their engagement at the Raccoon Motel sure to fill the Davenport venue with what IndieVision Music called “their rambunctious style that their fans have come to love.”
Playing a positive-natured brand of hardcore-tinged Oi! and Celtic punk, Flatfoot 56 has been touring its singular brand of Christian rock for more than two decades. Formed in 2000 by brothers and Windy City natives Tobin, Kyle, and Justin Bawinkel (the latter having recently retired from the group), Flatfoot 56 recorded its first demo in the summer of 2002 and followed it later that year with their album debut Rumble of 56, a work crafted in the Rockford, Illinois studio The Noise Chamber. The musicians' second full-length recording, 2003's Waves of War, found its song “That's OK” enjoying heavy radio play on stations across the Midwest, and its success led to the band's 2004 performance at Bushnell, Illinois' Cornerstone Festival, a Christian-music gathering at which Flatfoot 56 released its third album Knuckles Up. It went on to become the ensemble's best-selling record, and 2007's Jungle of the Midwest Sea solidified the group's reputation as an enticingly original recording and touring act.
Landing the band on nine separate Billboard charts, 2010's Black Thorn found Flatfoot 56 reaching a new level of national awareness, premiering at the number-two spot on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and proving that the musicians could consistently reach an expanding audience while treading in a genre not often associated with widespread success. The group's fame was advanced further with its songs being heard on the Golden Globe-winning TV series Sons of Anarchy and the video game Watchdogs, and in 2012, Flatfoot 56 released its sixth album Toil, a work that earned the band newfound praise both for its unique sound and its assuredness. According to Absolute Punk, “It’s not every day you come across a Christian group that’s unabashedly liberal politically. On Toil, it’s much less a gimmick and much more a reflection of the band’s genuity – their working-class roots and the ability they have to combine faith, culture, and song to stand up for them.” And Flatfoot 56's plaudits continued with 2017's seventh album Odd Boat, which Sound Renaissance called “a gem of our time” for its “infusion of melodic punk and anthemic rock n’ roll,”
Flatfoot 56 plays their Davenport engagement on February 23 with a 7 p.m. set by Running Man, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $15, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
