February 26 - 2005
Private Party

February 25 - 2005
Wilberts: (Norman & The Guys opening up for Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers!!!) New club Downtown Cleveland across from "The Jake" (Jacob's Field)
9 p.m. -  1 p.m. - Fri.
Full house, love that! Norman said he was excited to be opening for blues legend Jimmy Thackery. He said he talked to Thackery and said he was gonna kick everybody's ass. "Boilermaker" started the festivities off on the right note. A powerful version of "Rock N' Roll City" followed. "Mr. Right Now" put a smile on everybody's face as did "Who Dat, Do Dat". A rockin' version of "End Of The Line" shook the house. Norman then called longtime Thackery drummer, Mark Stutso to the stage. The lazy bar room shuffle, "Down To MY Last Million Tears" gave Stutso room to soul shout. "Victoria's Secret" flat out rocked the house. Then Stutso crooned the Otis Redding sounding tune "You Go Your Way". Hey! This guy Mark Stutso sings his ass off! An old classic cover song "Work Together" kept things rollin'.  Stutso then crooned the ballad "Three Times Your Fool" and left no doubt that soul music is alive and well. The set closed out with Norman, Whitey & Harry singing background vocals to straight up rocker "Heartbreak Shake". Very cool gig tonight and a great way to open a Jimmy Thackery show!

February 19 - 2005 Map
Billy's Road House: 10150 Old Perry Hwy Wexford, PA 15090 (724) 934-1177
9:00 p.m. - 1 a.m. - Sat.
Norman started off nice n' easy tonight. It was like he was tryin' to get the audience comfortable before he whipped the whole hammer out and that's the way it came down because by the end of the night it was ragin'!"You Go Your Way", "Million Tears", "Over, Said & Down" and "Sick N Tired" all stood out in the first set. The second set rocked way hard. "Wild Yonder Blues" soared, as did "Burnin' Up". The last set started with an old Pittsburgh rock n roll classic "Easy Money".  Norman then turned bassist Harry Bottoms loose for two lead vocals..."Pots N Pans" and "King Of The Road" which both got serious rounds of applause. Pittsburgh rock n roll in the burbs...Love it!

February 18 - 2005 Map
Moondog's: 378 Freeport Rd, Blawnox, PA (412) 828-2040  
10:00 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Fri.
Hockey Hall of Famer, Mike Lange was in the club all night. Kenny Neal badass blues man performed tonight doing an early 8 o'clock show. Kenny was still on stage at 10:15 just rippin' up the joint! Norman didn't get on until 11 o'clock. He immediately banged out "Boilermaker" and went straight into "Rock n Roll City" which he followed up with a great version of new song "Graceland". At this point, Nardini called Kenny Neal back up to the stage. Kenny sang a great up tempo version of the old classic "Big Boss Man". You could see Whitey and Harry smile as they banged out the rhythm while Kenny sang and played harp. Then the guys backed up Kenny on a very soulful version of "I'm A Man". Louisiana Blues meets Pittsburgh Rock N' Roll! It was quite a sight to see and hear! Norman's set lasted 2 1/2 hours. Manful indeed!

February 12  - 2005 Map
Buddies:  555 W High St, Waynesburg, PA 15370 (724) 627-8129
10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Sat.
Tonight just sounded good. You could really appreciate the rhythm section of Whitey Cooper and Harry Bottoms this evening. They both just seemed to exude power and confidence. Norman sent out the song "Shackin' Up" to Bobby Moore, an old friend in the audience. The second set started with "Nightclub" straight into "Loverboy" (Norman doesn't play "Loverboy" enough). New song "Wild Yonder Blues" gave Norman a chance to blow some serious slide guitar. Two local singers got up, each to sing a cool cover song. Dave, sang Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl", Larry, did the Stones' "Dead Flowers". Both guys did a good job and gave Norman a chance to just play guitar. Great show tonight. The boys from the burgh did not disappoint.

February 11 - 2005 Map
VFW Turtle Creek:  Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 207, 912 Penn Ave, Turtle Creek, PA 15145 (412) 823-3260
10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Fri.
Valentine's Day Part party! This is always a great party with lots of great food, booze and Norm & The Guys Rockin' The Night away!
"Lazy Bones" and "Looks Are Deceivin'" got it all started. "Minimum Wage" found that good rockin' groove. During the first set, a lot of the guys were dancing with a blow up doll. It was pretty weird. The newer songs sounded great tonight, especially "Shackin' Up" & "Wild Yonder Blues". Norman sent out "Bow Legged Woman" to his sister Ann. Whitey Cooper sounded great tonight singin' "My Girl", "Shama Lama Ding Dong" and "Mustang Sally". The second set ended up with the Rat Man jumpin' up on stage and singin' "Wild Thing". He ended up in his shorts on top of a table with a top hat and cane...kinda like an x-rated Fred Astaire. Not pretty!

February 10 - 2005 Map
Moondog's: 378 Freeport Rd, Blawnox, PA (412) 828-2040  
10:00 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Thurs.
Slow night but Norman and the guys made the most of it. The guys played a lot of different songs. An old Norman song showed up big "Latin Shuffle" hadn't been played in quite a while. Old friend, Chuck Kohler got up and sang a couple songs including an old song called "A Man In Love". Harry sang Roger Miller's "King Of The Road" and got a great round of applause. New Norman songs "Shakin' Up" and "Wild Yonder Blues" sounded great tonight. Award winning club owner Ron "Moondog" Esser got up and sang some good ole fashioned country music.

February 9 - 2005 Map
Tangled Up In Blues Presents!!!!
The SUPER BOWL of BLUES at The Cellar in Struthers Ohio with Norm as special guest opening show for San Francisco Blues Man Tommy Castro -162 S. Bridge Street - Struthers, Ohio Phone (330) 750 - 0199 Also see The Cellar Official site for more info!
8:00 p.m. - 12 a.m. - Wed.
Big PA, packed house and the hottest show in town! Cornel & Casey from the Wolf CD 93.3 FM Youngstown, OH got up and got the crowd goin'. "Boilermaker", "White Trash Tragedy", "Rock n Roll City" , "Graceland" and the joint was rockin! Norman pulled out a slide and did "End Of The Line" and "Down to My Last Million Tears". Whitey and Harry were both drivin' so hard you could feel the power. Norman then dedicated a seldom played tune "Minimum Wage" to Cornel. "Send You Back" and "Smoke Two Joints" closed out a serious set. Tommy Castro took the stage and did his thing. He really put on quite a show. For his encore he brought Norman up to jam on three or four tunes. It was a real treat hearin' Norman and Tommy tradin' licks. The good rockin' fans of Youngstown got all they bargained for tonight. Magic was in the air.

February 8 - 2005 Map
Jonny's Restaraunt: 876 E Midlothian Blvd Youngstown, OH 44502 (330) 788-6459
9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Tues.
A Cleveland band, Colin Dussault's Blues Project was on stage when we arrived and the club was packed. Cornel Bogdan of Wolf Radio CD93.3 in Youngstown, Ohio kept the crowd busy during the stage change over. His insane banter got everyone ready for Norman. There was no pussy-footin' around tonight. It all came tumblin' down. The Manful Pittsburgh rock n roll poured off the stage touching these Ohio rock n blues fans in their hearts. "Burnin' Up" stood out in the first set as did "That Ain't Gonna Happen". "Smoke Two Joints" closed out the first set. The second set was a more intimate affair with a lot of laughter.