Tuffcurls plays 'weird' doubleheader at the Bluebird

Comedic cover band Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press arrived in Bloomington on Friday to launch their first-ever doubleheader at the Bluebird Nightclub.

A few hours before the opening act took stage, the bandmates set up their instruments up on the stage. During the time they had before warming up, they sat side-by-side on one of the long benches running around the border of the room, their “home away from home,” according to the band’s website. The band has a loyal fan base in Bloomington.

The band entertained this fan base both Friday and Saturday nights.

“Bloomington really knows how to party,” band member Rod Tuffcurls said.  
“It’s a particular blend of really smart kids who get all the weird stuff we do,” drummer Dick Celebrity immediately added in.

The Bloomington fan base has started going to other shows, Tuffcurls said.

“A lot of them showed up at our gigs in the Chicagoland area,” he said.

Because it was the first doubleheader anywhere, Celebrity said there would need to be something especially unique besides humor to bring crowds to the Bluebird two nights in a row.  

Celebrity said besides a costume change, the two back-to-back concerts would have completely different music.   

“We are gonna play an entirely different set tonight as tomorrow night,” Celebrity said.
Tuffcurls said they tried to match their songs to what the Bloomington fans like to hear.

“We try to mix it up somewhat...a big thing for us is night-to-night, whatever the crowd is like, whatever the gig is like,” Tuffcurls said. “So if it’s like party, we will do more party jams and dance numbers.”

Three hours after warming up and hanging out on the side of the stage, the once-empty nightclub was filled to the brim with a lively crowd. Announced by a brightly colored fog that inched its way through the dark room, true to their word, the four members of the band took the stage dressed in their usual uniform of colorful gym wear and played their multi-generational set list.  

Before the nightclub opened, Bluebird door worker Meghan Morrow said something that was fulfilled in the scene described above.

“They will bring in a big crowd, they always do,” she said.