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November 24, 2007-Saturday
P.D.’s
Pub: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Da joint was packed from da git.
“Lazybones”, “Nightclub”, “Till the Cows Come Home”, Amo,
Saf, Gator and Carmine was all in da house representing
da ole neighborhood. We banged out “Stiller Nation”
towards the end of the first set, applause, applause,
applause. As always, we sent “Poor Little Rich Kid” out
to Frankie. We also did a short but sweet “Bobby Joe’s
Wedding Day” for Bobby Joe. Harry sang the P*ss outta
“Pot’s n’ Pans” and it was swang’in, yea it was swang’in.
“Burnin Up” came outta the box with smoke on it. A
moving version of “Weekend” kicked off set three. Donny
Dread got up on stage with us to sing “Mustang Sally”
and “My Girl”. This guy has a great voice and a smooth
delivery. Check out his band sometime, The Freedom Band.
Young Katie Ramone sang “Dead Flowers” with a bunch a’
heart. “Smoke Two Joints” was a big crowd pleaser.
Whitey was banging real good; this inspired the dork boy
to great heights on the guitar.
November 23, 2007-Friday
Moondogs: Blawnox, Pa.
A revived version of the ole
Pittsburgh band Torn n’ Frayed, Five Star Dive opened
the show with a one hour set of new tunes. Their new
drummer did a nice job. Guitar player Daryl, has picked
up some new licks and sounded great. Bass player Rocky
LaMonde was solid as a rock. The vocal harmonies between
Mark and Vinny haven’t lost their charm. A job well
done. Vinny played guitar with us for our two hour set.
“Nightclub”, “Rock n’ Roll City”, “Ready Freddy”, “I
Seen Too Much”, “Who Dat Do Dat”, a strong version of
“When God Took Paul” rocked da joint. “Graceland” and
“Rich Kid” both came off extremely well tonight. Vinny
sang “You Better Move On” and got a bunch of applause.
Whitey Cooper got some folks dancing with “Shama Lama
Ding Dong”. Chuck Koler kept the momentum going with a
nice take of the ole Elvis classic “Teddy Bear”. Katie
Ramone sang “Dead Flowers” for the first time, it came
off well. I jumped all over Chuck Berry’s “Round n’
Round” a special request for “Ole Number 21” calmed
things down. “I Shall Be Released” washed away our sins.
November 21, 2007- Wednesday
Bill’s
Place: Austintown, Ohio
This, our second show at Bill’s,
was a definite upgrade. I think we had a more musical
crowd this time around. “Lazybones”, “Boilermaker”, we
did a great version of “White Trash Tragedy” early in
the first set. Ole buddy, Cornel Bogdan gave us an
incredible intro before each set; this added a certain
wildness to the eve, which I appreciated. I like a guy
who can throw some bullcrap around. Not a ton of
dancers, but enough to keep it rock’in. Club owner
Frank, got up with us and sang “Johnny B. Goode”. I sang
high harmony the first half of the tune and then sang
the low part the second half of the tune, don’t know
why. Folks got into “Amazin Grace” in a big way, don’t
know why. Set three kicked wit “Shackin Up” and “Hoochie
Mama” tonight’s DJ Billy, was doing some dirty dancing
to the lewd rhythm of this trashy music. “Weekend”
pleased the gods with its passion; do know why, because
it was right as rain, man.
November 17, 2007- Saturday
Excuses: Pittsburgh,
Pa.
We’ve been playing Excuses for almost twenty years now,
ain’t dat something. The amazing thing about it is, the
number of special and magical shows that we’ve been a
part of in those, almost twenty years. This was, once
again a special and magical show. “Bulldog”, “Somethin’s
Cookin”, “Yesterday’s Gone”, “People Takin Care”, there
seemed to be a few folks in the house that hadn’t seen
us play before. “The Older I Get”, a special request for
“Easy Money” and “When I Die And Go To Hell”. We closed
out the first set with a medley of “Ring of Fire” and
“Help Me Make It Thru The Night”. The second half kicked
off with a crushing “Weekend”. Young Katie Ramone got on
stage to sing “Little Things”. I promised her the last
time she sang that song with us that the next time we
did it, I would put her in a better key. The new,
slightly higher key, gave her a good edge, she sounded
great. Ole buddy, and former Lou Reed drummer, Lenny
Ferrari was in the house so, he jumped on drums while
Whitey sang “Shama Lama Ding Dong” and “Testify”.
“Burn’in Up” was the final thought. I give thanks, for
special and magical nights.
November 15, 2007- Thursday
Nita’s Pint:
Chester, West Virginia
We always enjoy the opening act slot on a John Eddy
show. I got a chance to tune up with ole friend PK
Lavengood, out in the van before the show. I also hung
with rock legend bass player Kenny Aaronson and
introduced him to a star struck Vinny Q. This evening
also gave me the opportunity to talk with John about
“Low Life”, his song that Kid Rock just included on his
new CD. How cool. Our set jumped out with “Night club”,
it felt good having Vinny on guitar for this short set.
“Rock n’ Roll City” got me talkin loud. “Reddy Freddy”,
this ole simple tune still feels good. An expressive
“Weekend” woke up the joint. “I Seen Too Much”, this
number gave the folks the impression that we meant
bidnit. Wow! Here comes a lush and warm “Rich Kid”
rising to a fever pitch. Wow! “Graceland”, pourin off da
stage like hot lava. A menacing “Burn’in Up” said all
there was to say. We banged out “Money maker” as we said
our hasty goodnights. Hey John, “they’re all yours”…
November 10, 2007-Saturday
Pizon’s: Uniontown,
Pa.
“Bulldog”, “Nightclub”, “Rock n’ Roll City”, “Ready
Freddy”, lots of folks in attendance who used to see the
Tigers, back in the 80’s. Vinny Q joined with us tonight
on guitar, he did a great job. “Shackin’ Up”, “High
Times”, “Love Dog”, Vinny sang “You Better Move On”.
People really got into it, he should do more lead
vocals. Set two opened up with “T-Bird” with Vinny
playing the lead, he smoked it. “Amazin Grace” gave me a
chance to rip some slide, as did an unusually slow take
on “You Go Your Way”. We banged out a couple cover tunes
“Let It Bleed” and “Help Me Make It Thru the Night” that
both hit the mark. Set three kicked with “That Girl” and
“Nothin to Lose” by dis time everybody was rockin, love
it. A few of my old friends brought their kids out to
see the show, passing it on to the next generation. How
cool it is to be a part of that. “Graceland” was a late
night standout. We did “Steeler Nation” as an encore
because a mess of these late night rockers was planning
on gitting up early and going to the Steeler game in the
morning. Both Whitey and Harry played their *sses off
all night, which gave me and Vinny a chance to shred
some serious guitar mayhem. Love you long time.
November 3, 2007- Saturday
Scottdale Fireman’s Club:
Scottdale, Pa
It had been a couple years since we played da Fireman’s
Club, why did we wait so long? Whitey did not feel well
but he came to play anyway. “Lazybones”, “Till The Cows
Come Home”, “White Trash Tragedy”, The older couple that
ruled the dance floor in the first set was precious. We
played “The Older I Get” for the first time in years
tonight, why did we wait so long? New song, “Hoochie
Mama” felt great. Harry got a big ovation when he sang
“King of the Road”, Boxcar Willy would have been proud.
Bossman Jeff requested “Burn’in Up”; sometimes I forget
how good it feels to play that song. We had a few folks
out on the dance floor although I wanted more. That’s
just like me, always wanting more. Look for us back at
da Fireman’s club sometime dis winter. “Smoke Two
Joints”, “Lovedog”, and “That Girl” dominated the last
set. We snuck “Son Of A Gun” in and it pleased me
greatly. |