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Saturday,
October 28-2006
Excuses: Southside-
Pittsburgh, Pa.
A bit of a
slow night at the bar. Thanks to our regulars for coming
out and sticking around. We really appreciate your
support. A gang of 20 somethins, all halloweened out
their minds stumbled in so, I asked them to dance "The
Monster Mash". Dance they did, beautifully. To keep them
on the floor, we did "Ring Of Fire", "Folsum Prison
Blues" and "Sham A Lama Ding Dong". I said dong, cool
huh? These young attractive people ran outta gas and
left to haunt someone else's house. We kicked a few
songs a**es tonight. "Two Story House", "Sidewalk
Romeo", "Son Of A Gun" and "In These Dreams". I tried to
sing "Jingle Bell Rock" for the first time. If at first
you don't succed.................
Wednesday,
October 25 -2006
Moondogs: Blanox, Pa.
Bill Toms on
acoustic guitar, Phil Brontz on tenor sax opened the
show and did a fine job setting the table. I was lucky
enough to have P.K. Lavengood play guitar with me for my
short acoustic set. We opened up with "Playin In A
Rockn'Roll Band" and followed it with "This Is Where You
Kiss Me". The folks seemed to be enjoying our
performance, which pleased me. We then did another
novelty type tune "Today I Stepped In Somethin". I
normally wouldn't do two goofy songs in a row, but I
thought about tonight's headliner John Eddy's often
comic material and figured, if not tonight, never. New
song, "Hell's Highway" gave Mr. Lavengood a chance to
rip some bone chilling licks off...powerful. Before we
went on stage, P.K. mentioned a song he and I had
written years ago "Laughin Just To Keep From Cryin", I
wanted to hear it again, so we played it. I was glad we
did because people responed very well to it. We closed
out our set with "Sick n' Tired" and "I Was Blind". John
Eddy took the stage for almost two and a half hours and
did what he's been doing for years, rocking strong. New
drummer Rick, is really jellin with legendary bass man
Kenny AAronsen. Late in the show, myself, Phil Brontz
and local Pittsfield singer Andrea Pearl got up on stage
and helped John and the boys slug their way through a
bunch of ole covers. "Honkeytonk Women", "Sweet Home
Alabama", Cheap Trick tune, "Mommy's all right, Dadddy's
all right"................Moondog's was da place to be
Wednesday night.
Monday,
October 23-2006
Moondogs: Blanox, Pa.
Most of the
people in the audience had seen us play before, but not
in the past 20 years. We played a very sophisticated
show for this crowd. I wanted to do a few old tunes, but
also show who we are today. "Old cow died with a rag in
his a**" was the first thing you heard; "Dearly beloved
we're gathered together here" was the next thing you
heard. The pounding drums of "Rockin Roll City" put out
notice that, although tonight's headliner was bringing
the Liverpool beat, me and my boys was throwin and
showin Pittsburgh rockin roll, man style, all over da
place. You wanna git in da ring wit me? I didn't tink
so. "Somethins Cookin" came rolling off the stage real
manful. I was proud as a ruttin buck to bring this
masculine music to these nice people. "We Come A Long
Way" had extra meaning because we played to folks who
hadn't seen us in ages. Old tune "Ready Freddy" felt
good, we hadn't played it in months. "You Go Your Way"
got a soulful vibration going. "Hell's Highway" took
everybody down the road and up around the bend. Whitey
Cooper was blowing minds on "Sick n Tired". All along
the way here's me, talkin sh*t. Surprised? Not really.
"That Ain't Gonna Happen" and "I Seen Too Much" took my
own breath away. "Lovedog" reminded everybody not to
take anything to seriously. WE KICKED A**. Next up "The
man who put the beat in the Beatles, Pete Best and the
Pete Best Band". Very cool act. Four strong singers,
great material and "The man who put the beat in the
Beatles...........................
Saturday,
October 21-2006
Molnars: Elizabeth, Pa
Halloween
partys like this are cool cause everybody's laughing all
night. That works for me. Great food, I had some of the
brains-they were delicious.We played pretty well on this
fall evening. Lots of cover tunes, a few dancers. "Ring
Of Fire", the Johnny Cash tune, came off real well for
the first time. Whitey was playing his tail off all
night. I didn't start off playing well but as the night
went on, I caught fire. Harry seemed to be hitting it
hard. "Into The Mystic", the Van Morrison tune, was well
received. All the girls got up on the floor as we did
"The Monster Mash"........and my monster from his slab
began to rise............
Friday,
October 20-2006
Chesapeake Steak House:
Pittsburgh, Pa.
All Norman
songs all night. "Bulldog", "Boilermaker", "Somethins
Cookin", "White Trash Tragedy"... we was just plowing
thru the music that means so much to me. We was also
just laughing out loud at any thing that was falling
outta my face. Yea, it was one of those gigs. I don't
know how to explain these informal shows that end up
being so much fun. I use the term, "talkin sh*t" but I'm
sure that terminolgy doesn't quite describe the miracle
that occurs between us and the audience when the sh*t is
flyin. I remember saying, "this music is a powerful
force, in spite of the fact that at times I may behave
like an idiot." This was a magic performance. Ya shoulda
been der.
Sunday,
October 8-2006
Bedford Fall Foliage Festival:
Bedford, Pa.
On a beautiful
autumn afternoon in the hills of Pennsyltucky we had a
blast. The audience sat on bales of hay as we played,
under a gazebo in a park-like setting, in the center of
a very cool small town. "Lazybones", "Boilermaker", "Somethins
Cookin"........I was getting a good feeling from those
gathered. It's fun to play for folks that wouldn't
normally see a band like ours. Sent out "We Come A Long
Way" to a guy in the crowd with an old Decade T-shirt.
Got some locals up on stage to dance to "Steeler
Nation", they all had Steeler jerseys on. An older girl
got up to dance & I joined her, just to watch peoples
faces. Set two opened with "Nightclub". We then did a
couple covers: "Folsum Prision Blues" and "Help Me Make
It Thru The Night" followed by "Mr. Right Now" and "Who
Dat Do Dat". Harry did a well received version of "Pots
n' Pans" & Whitey hit a homer singing "Sick n' Tired"
all high tight n' white n' nat. Closed out the show with
Elmore James "Shake Your Moneymaker". Some guy had a
T-shirt that said "Who are these kids? And why are they
calling me daddy?" This was a fun date, new faces, the
P.A. sounded great, under a blue sky..................
Friday,
October 6-2006
Cafe Supreme: Irwin, Pa.
Everybody in
the house was there to hear Pittsburgh rock n' roll.
"Rock n'Roll City" and "Nothin To Lose" really stood
out. The request to do "That's Enough About Me" scared
me a little cause we hadn't done that song in a couple
years. I'm F'd up for not playin that song more often.
Local celebrety Jimmy Sinclair sang "Long Haired Country
Boy". Cousin Pete Oddo played drums on "Chain Gang" and
"634-5789" while Whitey sang. We then satisfyed a
request for "Up Jumps The Devil". "Smoke Two Joints"
sent em' home smiling.
Thursday,
October 5-2006
Rex Theater:
Southside-Pittsburgh, Pa.
It ain't easy
opening the show for a guitar legend like Robin Trower.
It becomes even more difficult when Whitey and Harry are
nowhere to be found, solo acoustic is rough work. I
think I did fairly well, although I never did get the
joint to totally quiet down while I as playing. "I'm A
Man", "Look What You Done", "Playin In A Rock n' Roll
Band", "Today I Stepped In Somethin", "Hells Highway",
"You Go Your Way", "Steeler Nation", "Sick n' Tired",
"Smoke Two Joints"... If it don't kill ya, it makes ya
stronger. This show was sold out in advance. Maybe I
made some new friends.
Sunday,
October 1-2006
The Boardwalk: Strip
District-Pittsburgh, Pa.
Hundreds of
bikes, classic cars, and a carnival-like atmosphere
brought life to the parking lot. We brought the good
rocking sounds to the waterside stage. "Lazybones",
"Till The Cows Come Home", "White Trash Tragedy", "Somethins
Cookin"..............The DJ Chuck jumped into the water
display, going above and beyond in pursuit of a party
atmosphere. Nice work Chuck. Special request for "Nothin
to Lose" was a good idea, cause we ripped it. |
