Sunday our friend David had a birthday celebration at a new club in Woodstock called Connect Live, and we went along to check it out.

Connect Live is not much to look at from the outside, looking like many Atlanta area industrial buildings, but from the inside it is awesome! The space is divided into a very large performance area and listening room and a coffee shop. They serve delicious coffee and soft drinks. No alcohol,, but you can bring your own! For food, they have pizza and calzones, and yesterday they had pulled pork plates, They also offered delicious baked goods like danishes, cannolis and so on. For David’s birthday, the baker made one of the best cakes I ever tasted.

The performance space features a large stage which can easily handle a five or six-piece band, with a big screen in back for effects and the band name. There are some long tables and some short round tables, plus multiple rows of seats. The sound system is excellent.

Even the bathrooms, judging by the women’s, are large and sparkling clean. It really is a great new venue!

On this occasion, the band was a local favorite, Funky Bluester. The band members are Dustin Petersen, Russell Boyer, Corey Ellis, and Myles Mattison. They are a fantastic group, and this time they had a special guest from Macon, Don McComb, who was a stellar guitarist and added extra shine to an already brilliant show. With Dustin Peterson on lead guitar and vocals and with the support of the rest of the band, they tore through classics from Elmore James to Robert Johnson to the Doors! It was a fabulous show!

I give an A+ to Funky Bluester and to Connect Live! Keep an eye on my weekly This Weekend roundup and see what they have to offer!