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Gig Updates Saturday, March 31-2007 Moondogs: Blanox, Pa. Whitey, Harry, and I did a short but sweet first set that included a Happy Birthday song and shout out to Sue, a long time Moondog’s real music fan. “Boilermaker”, “Somethin’s Cookin” and “Bulldog” got it all rolling, “We Come A Long Way” and “Norman” closed out set one. We brought out Vinny Q to play guitar with us for the second set. I’ve been hanging with Vinny lately, teaching him our tunes. Ole V.Q. is really getting the hang of what it is we do. “Nightclub” came rippin outta da box with bad intentions. The stakes were going up. “Reddy Freddy” sounded just the way daddy likes it. Kind of like a garbage truck rolling down the alley. “Heat of the Night” had an urgency that I hadn’t felt in a long while. I like the effect Vinny brings to our music. “Nothin To Lose”, “Rock n’ Roll City”, “That Girl”, “Burnin Up”, “Lovedog”, “High Times”. That’s a whole lotta old Norman songs in a row, but it felt good doing it. We then did four newer tunes back to back. “Son Of A Gun”, “You Go Your Way”, “Shackin Up”, “Who Dat Do Dat”. Vinny sang the ole Arthur Alexander tune “You Better Move On”. Jill Simmons got up on stage and sang “Million Tears” and “Route 66”. This lady is really sounding strong. Set three featured “Weekend”, “Easy Money”, “Ole Number 21” and “Smoke Two Joints”. This was a good rockin night.
Friday, March 30-2007 Excuses: Southside, Pittsburgh Pa. This was one of those, ya shoulda been there kinda nights. All we did was laugh and rock. There were about five or six other bands in the house, just checking it out. A gang of roller derby chicks were also rocking with us, celebrating a birthday. The two hour first set was full of musical highlights, “Hells Highway” & “End Of The Line” were my favorite performances. Set two took off where set one left off. We let a guy from the audience come up and play harmonica. Normally I wouldn’t let that happen but, I was in such a good mood cause we was having so much fun. Rather than have this guy blow over a blues tune, we played “Lovedog” and gave him a chance to rock. It turned out to be a good thing. “Loverboy” hit a high mark, as did “Weekend”. This was one of those, ya shoulda been there kinda nights. Friday, March 23-2007 Old Large Hotel: Large Pa. What a beautiful building the ole hotel is. We had a blast playing for some folks that had never seen us before. Spending our breaks, hangin wit club owner Skinny, was quite an experience. This guy was cracking me up. Also saw some regulars in the house, love dat. It’s always a gas to play in a room that sounds good. We got a special request from Ron da wrestler, for “Who Were You Thinkin Of”-the ole Freddy Fender classic. This seemed to please the natives, I watched as their faces lit up to da happy sound of da music. I watched “Sick n’ Tired” calmly git under their skin without any fanfare. “Yesterday’s Gone” set da tone for subtle groove appreciation. Harry’s bass had a big sound all night. We did a version of “Steeler Nation” that really kicked. When was the last time YOU heard a polka dat kicked?
Saturday, March 17-2007 The Starlite: Blanox, Pa. Not a huge crowd but a lotta fun was had on this St. Patrick’s day. We had a bearded man dressed in green walking around asking folks if they wanted a lap dance. I took advantage of the opportunity to talk a whole lotta sh*t on this festive drinking holiday. And it was good. “Till The Cows Come Home” got things going. “Nothin To Lose” rang out in all it’s glory. “This Ain’t Gittin It” was like a pile driver. I gotta start callin dat tune more often. “Ole Cow Died Wit a Rag in His A**” got everybody’s attention. Shout out to dear friend Jake Banta da Pennsylvania plow boy, who taught me dat number. Ole buddy, Chuck Kohler sang a couple Elvis tunes and then closed out the night singing “For The Good Times”. For the good times indeed. Chucky has a special touch with a few Elvis songs, sometimes ending up on one knee, very theatrical. Love the theater. Maybe next time he’ll add a few karate chops to his performance, I look forward to that moment. Ran over to Moondog’s on my break and saw Glenn Pavone and his Cyclones rippin. “Hey bartender gimme a shot and a green beer”. Saturday, March 3-2007 Billy's Road House: Wexford, Pa. Lottsa young folks hangin out early doin some nice booze work, good for bidnit. How about Harry and Whitey just laying it down on this snowy evening. The tempos and the dynamics-so natural. Making it look eeeeasy. "Somethin's Cookin" stood out, as did "People Takin Care". We sang "Happy Birthday To You" for Carol, then rocked an ole Chuck Berry classic, "Oh Carol". I remembered most of the words, Whitey sang the verse to me that I forgot on the break. We got a special request for an old tune, "When Will I Ever Learn". Any damage that was done to this song in our perfomance was well over shadowed by the song itself. I had forgotten what a wonderful tribute to losers all over da world dis ole tune is. I gotta learn how to play it. Know it? I Wrote it. "Ain't It Amazin" and "Son Of A Gun" are my two favorite songs to play at this point. Set two got a lil' goofy, folks was dancin all wild n' havin a large time. "Nightclub" got off major. "Sick n' Tired" soothed the natives, and it was good.
Copyright © Norman Nardini 2002 - All rights reserved |
