The Perlich Post: Will Crum is Swedish for "very sneaky"

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Will Crum is Swedish for "very sneaky"

Bad boy roots rocker Will Crum hasn't exactly been suffering from over exposure at home in Orange County. You never heard his song A Drink With The Devil playing in the background during any heavy bar scene on The O.C. and both of his albums – 2005's Workhorse (Jackson Industries) and Will Crum and the Blue Maroons (Jackson Industries) from 2008 – can probably still be found in second-hand shops from Anaheim to Huntington Beach.
Tired of waiting around to be discovered, Will Crum figured that perhaps playing weekday night gigs at wine bars in Newport Beach wasn't the best way to maximize his outreach in ultra-conservative Orange County so he decided to take his music to the people with a bold new strategy: stealth shows!
Enlisting a few pals to carry gear. create distractions and document the operation, Will Crum and company rolled into the IKEA in Costa Mesa last year with shopping carts filled with amps, instruments, microphones and cable, quickly set up their stuff in the bedroom section, plugged in and knocked out two songs for puzzled shoppers before the yellow-shirted staffers realized that management hadn't hired a punk rock band for an in-store. While security checked the employee manual to determine the appropriate action to deal with a guerrilla-style musical performance on the second floor, Will Crum squeezed in a third tune for the appreciative crowd then split on the double (see clip below). It all worked so well (i.e. no jail time) that Crum and crew staged a surprise encore at a Wendy's in Costa Mesa which evidently went down well with Whopper munching crowd.
However entertaining Crum's stealth shows may be, they don't pay the bills so he'll be appearing at some more conventional venues in Toronto, namely the Cameron tonight (Saturday, August 7) at 9 pm followed by another show at Mitzi's Sister at 12 midnight and then tomorrow (Sunday, August 8) at The Press Club (850 Dundas West) at 9 pm. Although if you happen to be up in North York doing some back-to-school shopping at IKEA this weekend, don't be surprised if some dude with a blue Danelectro guitar starts busting out tunes near the modern kitchen showroom.

Will Crum's local appearances:

Sat Aug 14 - Battle Of The Two-Piece Bands III @ The Black Shire Pub (511 Talbot, London), 9 pm

Thu Aug 19 - The Press Club (850 Dundas West), 9 pm

Fri Aug 20 - Lola's (40 Kensington), 9 pm

Sat Aug 21 - Studio BLR day show, 12 noon - 2 pm

The Swedish Job: IKEA Costa Mesa stealth show