Norman Nardini Gig Updates!

Gig Updates

June 30 - 2003 - Carhops, Pittsburgh, PA
Monday night Jam w/Norm a special guest
Great Night. Norman decided to mess with the house band and make them play some of his brand new original songs. The 2 new songs were "Mr. Right Now" and "Who Dat, Do Dat". It was great night for the house band with Norm.
Notables in Attendance: Martha, Rich & Margie, Crash

June 28 - 2003 Birdie's Landing Marina "Rock on the Yough"!
What a beautiful night right down on the dock on the Youghiogheny River. A gently sloped hillside facing a small deck where Norman and the guys set up, backed by a dock filled with boats. Imagine the beautiful Yough River under a clear evening sky, a fantastic barbecue under a tent done by Maverick, plus Coors Light on ice at a buck a can! Yahoo! It was just shy of 300 great people all just wanting to get down. Some brought kids, some brought their parents. The working poor of our great nation and a perfect Saturday night. The band started off groovin' with "Lazy Bones". Then went directly into "Good Rockin' Man". They were off and runnin' from there! A great guy named Don and his beautiful family from Chicago, had recently been contacting us by email. He and his lovely wife Maureen and 2 gorgeous baby daughters Amber (3) & Mallory (1) were also there. The daughters' wanted to hear their favorite song "Love Dog". They were called to the stage to help with the barking vocals and did a fabulous job to everyone's delight. The band played for 5 hours and did one of the best versions of "Smoked Two Joints" they ever did, (after the kiddies were gone and in bed, of course) ;-) Also, Harry Bottoms did a surprise lead vocal on an impromptu version of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" to the dancing fun of America's working class. Can't wait do it all over again next year. Also, thanks to Bobby Betters for the appearance on the harmonica.
Notables in attendance: The entire Betters gang, )everybody missed the dearly departed Nicky Betters...truly a one of a kind). Al & Pat from the old "Al's Riverside", By the way, Norm wore an "Al's Riverside" t-shirt that night, Biker Tom, (minus Sue who was out watching male strippers). Don, Maureen and daughters, Amber & Mallory from Chicago, Aby with her boyfriend and her sister, Jen & Little Bobby.

June 27 - Carhops - Pittsburgh, PA
It was an especially fun night. Norman was crazy and talking all kinds of wild Lenny Bruce type shit. The lead singer from a lounge band that Norm used to play with in 1970, Tony Iriti got up to sing with the band. He sang a great version of Moon Dance (Van Morrison). He also sang a great version of "Ain't To Proud To Beg" (Temptations). Another old drummer friend who just moved back to Pittsburgh from LA got up to help the band close out the night and is name was "Crash".
Notables in Attendance: Ted Thompson & Alan Land

June 22 - 2003 - Donzi's (Bike Night) - Strip District, Pittsburgh, PA
A beautiful sunny Sunday evening with a parking lot filled with beautiful choppers. The band started off playing mostly bluesy stuff and then shifted directions into a mess of country tunes including a killer version of "What The F%$#". Then the second set they mostly did rockin stuff with a cool version of "Rock n Roll City". The band is looking forward to the next biker night jam at Donzi's and looking forward to seein' you there too.
Notables in attendance: Eric & Chris (haven't sent them in a while), Ted Thompson, Marina

June 14 - 2003 - Excuses - Pittsburgh PA- Excuses, South Side:
It was a little bit slow after the giant part Friday night. But once again the band managed to get as much fun out of it as could possibly be had. Lenny Ferrari, Lou Reed's old drummer came out and sat in to end the first set. They did 2 new songs again, Mr. Right Now, & a really hot version of "Who Dat, Do Dat". Rat happened to be in the audience and he did a killer version of Me and Bobby McGee. He was on good behavior until the very end when he ripped his shirt off and had a woman's tutu on. George the club owner, laughed his ass off.
Notables in Attendance: Wonderful Tom, Marina, Rat & Chooch, Once again Mike Lange of Hockey Hall of Fame notoriety was sighted taking pics of the band.

June 13 - 2003 Moondog's: (Norm's Birthday! Friday the 13th!)
Not only was it Friday the 13th, but it was a full moon! What more appropriate a place for Norm's birthday to be held than at Moondog's no less! Many thanks to Moondog for putting on one fantastic party, complete with a full spread of wonderful foods, birthday cake(s), Kazoos (that didn't work) and an appearance by the Moondog mascot in full costume. (Pics coming soon)
The place was packed front to back and several great Pittsburgh legendary rockers showed up to honor the Love Dog himself on his birthday. The first guest up to sing was Norm's dad. He sang the "Just Because" polka. Next, came amazing axe grinder, Dave Granati from The Granati Bothers who did the old Rolling Stones song "The Last Time" then, the old Elvis song "Blue Moon Of Kentucky". Then in walks legendary guitarist Glenn Pavone, who sat in on several tunes playing his signature kick ass leads. Surprisingly, he first sat in and played the drums while Whitey sang "I Got My MoJo Workin". At the end of the song, Whitey played an insane slide guitar solo...even though he doesn't actually doesn't play guitar!! ;-) Never knew Glen could pound the skins so well either! In addition, Young Zack Weissinger, Norm's protégé and an amazing blues guitarist on the rise, played a few times throughout the night during the first and second sets. He did a great version of "Bull Legged Woman", a great tune Norm's wrote. They ended up the set with Glenn and Zack on guitars playing together with scorching lead jams. It was great to hear two different generations of great guitarists jammin' together. Meantime, Norm stopped playin' and just decided to sing and dance while the band got down. To end wrap up the night, Shades stood in and sang "Tossin & Turnin" and then Moondog sang "I Shall Be Released" by Bob Dylan. Paul & Joe from the SPUDS where there but I heard they were feeling no pain and left before they had a chance to sit in. The crowd was amazing and it was a joyous event for all including Norm who was beaming with joy all night. You should have been there!
Notables in attendance: Laurie Andrews (who came all the way from Mississippi to see Norm and also supplied a gang of pics and other memorabilia to add to the Tiger Days section coming soon), Martha, Jerry Farine (Norm's old neighbor who took the pics of Norm & Jack McGee in his yard. See them here), Ron & Lynn of the famed yearly New Years Eve parties, Cathie Norm's ole lady, Sue Bottoms, Marcia & The Presidential Don, Glenn & Nancy Pavone, Dave Granati, Shades, Dave & Carol, Alan & Debbie (Alan is No Bad JuJu website designer who gave me a CD of pics from Carhops which I'll post right away, many thanks!), Toni Martelli & Mark Bridge, , Lisa Mahoney & Crew, Bother Ron & Patti, Norm's sister Ann & husband J.P., Gil & Sue, Art & Eleanor Nardini Norm's parents, Judy Rosenfeld & Eric Wisnewski, Cindy & Alisha, Bob & Pam, Marc the vet, Grant & Tammy, Ted Thompson who will be supplying the pics, Craig the doorman, Cheryl & Jon Gonzalez, Zack Weissinger, Wies & Charmain (Zacks parents), Murph, Danny Murray, Mary & Billie (bartenders), Larry from Starlite, Bob & Rosa Wagner, Paul & Joe of the Spuds, Wesley & Doug. Whew! Glad we brought a pen and pad along!
Footnote: Dave (Dave & Carol) who regularly attends Norm's events gave Norm's website a major thumbs up and said that Moondog usually places an ad in the Post-Gazette about Norm's birthday, but for some technical reason, it didn't get in this year. Even so, the house was packed and he felt that many of the folks who came found out from our website. Thanks Dave & Carol and to all those who have expressed their appreciation for documenting Norm's legacy online. Your feedback really makes all the work worthwhile into bringing this info to you and the rest of the fans. Norm and the band are also thrilled and honored that so many of you come and visit the site and then to come see them play as a result. It fuels the band to keep rockin' their best and bringing good times, fun & love to all. I get my kicks with maintaining the site just for the honor, new friendships and fun of being part of it all. Hats off to all our website and events fans! As DeNiro said to Billy Crystal in "Analyze This & That" You....you...you're good!

June 7 - 2003 Wilberts: New club Downtown Cleveland by
"The Jake" (Jacob's Field)
Norm was the first out of town band to play this new venue. What a beautiful room it is! Once again they played a 2 hour opening set and mixed a lot of old and new songs. It included "Nothin To Lose", "Boilermaker", and some new songs. They took a short break and ended up playing another hour and a half. Wound up the night with a great version of "Smoked Two Joints".
Notables in attendance: Joni, Peanuts, Perry & Ronnie came all the way from Pittsburgh to see the show.

Friday, June 6 - 2003 Wild Rib Cook Off & Music Festival - Norman featuring Jake's Blues Downtown Erie, PA under the Gazebo
Jakes Blues went on first and was fantastic! He's one of Norm's most favorite bar room rockers on the planet and ours too. Then Norm came on and had a blast playing for so many people outside under the gazebo and the place was packed. During the set, Norm got a couple boys from the audience to come up and bark onstage to the song "Love Dog". After that, a mess of girls jumped up onstage and danced the rest of the set. To close out the set, they brought Jake up to play with the band which turned everybody on because he's the best out of that whole area. They also got Jake's drummer Nino up to sing on the last couple songs. The show was supposed to be over at 10 o'clock but no one wanted to leave so they ended up playing till 10:30.
Notables in attendance: George and Jan Donachy and their 3 beautiful kids, Jake's wife Shelly and her family

Monday, June 2 - 2003 Carhops
It was the anniversary of their Monday night jam. The place was packed! The whole evening was filmed and audio recorded by Jim & Rich from MCA TV & Jon R Gonzalez set it all up for everyone to be on TV, free of charge.. Joe Grushecky opened the show and did a short set and sounded great. Then Norm, Harry Bottoms on bass, Herman Granati on keys and Bruce Logan (the club owner on drums), came on and did a short set. They opened with "Love Dog" the old Canned Heat song "Work Together" and the last song "I Shall Be Released" by Bob Dylan. They had a great set and kicked everybody's ass. ;-) After that, a young group came on between 14-18 years old by the name of "Strastosphere" They were really good especially for their age. After that, a guy named Bruce came on and sang a couple Journey songs and did a really good job. The night was closed out by Monday night jam regulars, Sugar Ray, Craig King and Jo Be.
Notables in attendance: Dave & Carol, Alan Land & Debbie, Ted Thompson

News Flash: Norman had Phil Brontz (Tenor Sax Player of 8th Street Rox Band) in the studio this week working on a couple of songs for Norman's soon to be released CD tentatively titled "Recycled". It will feature 18 songs that Norman wrote between 1977-1987. Stay tuned for availability!

Stay tuned for the latest updates! Better yet, come to one of the shows and experience "The Manful Handful" himself, first hand!

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