July 23rd, Corner Pocket
July 24th, Helwig's
Well, well, well. It has taken me a few days to gather my thoughts on last weekends gigs. This was the first time in a long time we did gigs on back to back nights. Wait until August 7th when we do two gigs in one day!
Friday night was the Corner Pocket gig that we took last minute. Our buddies Darik and the Funbags couldn't play, so we filled in. It was a hot muggy night. So much so that I was seeing things...was that Steve's old green drum set on stage with us? Yup...it was. We had the whole night to ourselves again. We did three sets, including a really long second set. To be honest with you, I really can't remember much about this show. Was it that uneventful? No. It's just that you tend to remember the last show you did...and that was Saturday.
Helwig's was the place. Our second trip to this bar in Milford. I don't even know where to start. How about a list:
NO SET LIST: Okay, Steve and I messed up...we thought just calling audibles all night would work. NOPE. What do you want to play? I don't know, what do you want to play? (We put a list together for the second set)
JESUS CHRIST: We had a J.C. look alike in the house. He was tripping on acid and was twirling around the bar, spilling his drink all over himself and the floor. At one point I walked out behind him with my bass and mirrored his every move...he didn't notice.
HOOCHIE MAMMA: So a very drunk and attractive women began to do this love dance in front of the stage. She was dancing around like a stripper except she never took off her clothes (maybe next time). Later in the evening she got a hold of a mic and started howling, meowing, and making sounds like Charo! Yikes!!!!
NO FIGHTS: Self explanatory
NEW GEAR: Dave broke out his new Marshall cabinet and Tony busted out his new rack setup. Tops on the list was our new p.a. system....compact....light....heaven...
NEUTRAL GROUND: WOW! If you saw these guys when they opened up for us a few weeks ago at the Corner Pocket and thought they were okay, you should see them now. New bass player...new attitude. They sounded like a different band. Awsome guys, thanks!
Glenn
Cool Breeze Cafe
Okay, so I'm a little late with my posting this week...sorry...
It had been a few months since we had the pleasure of doing a full night without an opening band. Don't get me wrong, we all enjoy sharing the stage with our friends, but it's nice to do it on our own every now and then. So I wrote out a set list that had over 40 songs in it, and Steve says..."what were you thinking putting a set list together with over 40 songs in it..." Well, we played over 40 songs, and by the end of the night we felt like it.
Our first set included some old stuff that we hadn't played in a while, and a couple of new tunes. We all realized after the first set that this was going to be a pretty special night. Nobody screwed up all set, and our sound was really on! We finished up the first set with some Metallica and the place went nuts. By the end of the set we already had a great crowd.
The second set was almost exclusively new material. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun playing it. We also enjoyed the group of young ladies who danced and sang along the whole time. It was at some point during this set as well that we realized that our very own Tony was ON-FIRE (or on something). The boy was on his knees like Jimi Hendrix, he was all over the bar...he was INSANE!!! It's kind of ironic, because he always gets his stones busted for "just standing there"...not this night! YOU ROCK BROTHA! By the way, a special thank you goes out to Tony for showing us his name tatooed in a strategic location on his friends anatomy...thanks to her too!!!
By the third set we were all feeling pretty good. We had the usuall suspects hop up on stage and sing along. To be honest, I don't remember a whole heck of alot about the last set. Steve Gorenberg played bass on Shimmer as I bellied up to the bar, and then some other dude was playing drums. I wasn't even introduced to him, but he sounded good. Then we ended up playing War Pigs...it's all a blur. Over all, it was a great night. If you missed it, it truly is your loss because it was one of our better shows.
Next up is Helwigs in Milford...it should be a good time!
Saturday June 26, 1999
Do you remember learning about Murphy's Law as a kid? You know, if something could go wrong...it will. Let me tell ya, Mr. Murphy (whoever he is) had a good laugh this fine night. If you were one the many who were with us, you know the story.
The night started like any other night. We all meet at Dave's house to pack up the gear and bring it to the Corner Pocket to set up. At this point Steve tells us that he really feels out of it and needs to go home and rest a bit before the show...no problem right? WRONG! I ran back to his house to pick up some cymbals only to find him sprawled out groaning on the living room floor talking about needing to get to a hospital. The man was totally dehydrated with a 102 fever and a massive sinus headache. I wasn't a pretty picture. At first I thought we should cancel the gig, but Steve wouldn't hear it. We called Arnie from the Eclectic Nobodys to sit in with us. GOD BLESS ARNIE!! Kevin drove to his house and dragged him out of the shower. During this time Steve was trying to nurse himself back to health. Did I mention that we are all having massive panic attacks during these few hours? Lets get to the actual show shall we?
Neutral Ground was our guest for the evening. Thanks guys! They were prepared to play longer if needed. Luckily we somehow made the night work. A pale and weak Steve showed up as were about to start. He played about 8 songs with us before he couldn't stand anymore. The game ball for the night obviously goes to Steve Savo. I know what it's like to be sick on a gig night (Last July I hurled 6 times during a show). He gave it everything he had. Arnie played everything else with us. We debuted a bunch of new material that went over really well. It was also a night of special guests. Rich Lenoti of Prime Element and POLE fame joined us on stage for a few songs including a couple of originals we had written together with our previous line up. It brought back some fun memories. Thanks Richard, you still got it! In the second set we were joined on stage by Mark from Prezens who sang Lakini's Juice by Live and Machine Head by Bush. Want some more statistics on the night? Okay...3 drummers (including Tony on Shine), 4 lead vocalists (including me on Basket Case) and 2 bass players (including Tony on Basket Case). YIKES!
Thanks to Jeff for running our sound. Great job as always! We are looking forward to having a "normal" night this Friday at the Cool Breeze. We'll see you there!!!!!
TOADS PLACE
It was our first time playing Toads with the current line up, and it was Kevin's first time on the Toads stage. Before I get into the events of the evening, I would like to thank all of YOU for coming out and supporting us. We love to see you at all of our shows, but in order to get invited back to Toads, we have to bring in people. YOU people made it great! We had over 170 of our "yellow tickets" through the door!! Thanks to YOU the night was a huge success.
It is never easy playing the first spot on a Friday night. We hit the stage at about the time people are usually hitting the shower at home. Nonetheless, we started playing at 9:05 to a less than impressive number of people...(we don't blame you). As we continued through our set, people were streaming in. By the time we finished we had a nice crowd. The set went well. Thanks to Matt from Darik and the Funbags for letting Steve use his drum kit. That worked out really well for us because Toads had all of the other bands set up their drums off to the side, and that really sucks if your the drummer.
We were followed by DOA2000. These guys (and girl) are one tight unit. I strongly recommend checking them out if you get a chance. Prezens and Darik and the Funbags finished up the night. I don't need to comment on them, as their reputations as musicians speak for themselves.
Tony's Tan-O-Meter was kicking again this week with an 8 out of a possible 10. Will he ever get to 10? My money is on yes with the summer months ahead. Kevin gets the game ball for the night stepping up and singing his ass off despite the butterflies that he will never admit that he had. Over all...a great time was had by all.
We are going to take a few weeks off to learn some more new material, but we look forward to seeing you in June!!
The Cool Breeze (Take 2)
Okay, this one was the show that WAS on the schedule. In case you missed it, we played the Cool Breeze last Saturday night as well. It was a last minute thing. Check out the previous gig diary for details.
Thanks to Mistreated for opening up the night for us. These guys really rock out.
I'm not going to say much about our first set. It started off with us butchering Detroit Rock City. So much so, that we decided to play it again (the right way) as the last song of the first set. Oh well...it happens to the best of us ya know! After the set Kevin and I were enjoying a little fresh air on the patio and we were discussing the crowd. We were commenting on the fact that people don't really seem to be getting in to it as much as they usually do. Why is this? Do we suck tonight? Nope...we sound pretty good (except for the first tune...see above). What could it be? Well, we head inside to start the second set and low and behold, the place is even more packed.
From the moment we hit the first note until the manager turned the lights up and started pointing to his watch (in other words...get off!) the floor was packed. People were dancing, people were singing, we were dancing with the people, the crowd was on the stage singing with us. AWSOME NIGHT!! I'm having a hard time remembering any specifics from the set. The entire thing rocked! Did I mention that there were some very attractive women dancing in front of the stage the whole time? YUPPER!! At one point Kevin was attempting to get one of the lovely ladies to lift her shirt...she did...quickly...we only got a bra shot. At the end of the night we did get a very nice thong viewing! Thanks to all of you for making the night a HUGE success. This is the way we like it to be. We get pumped up, and the more we get juiced up, the more the crowd gets up! It just gets better and better.
Speaking of better. Tony hit the tanning booth hard last week. As a result, Tony's Tan-O-Meter is up to an 8 out of a possible 10. A few more weeks like that and he can freely roam the streets of Bridgeport after midnight! Also, expect to see many hats on Tony's head for the next few weeks. He gave himself a hair cut...nuff said.
Next up for us is this Friday night at TOADS with Darik and the Funbags, Prezens and DOA2000!!! We need everyone there. This is a big night for us. We want to prove that we can hang with the big dogs. So why not come on down and check us out with that great TOADS sound system and light show! We have some free tickets left. If you need some, just drop us an e-mail and we will make sure that you get them. SEE YA FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE TOAD!!
SURPRISE!!
Cool Breeze Cafe
So I'm at Yankee Stadium watching the Yanks get their asses kicked by the Mariners...it's raining...I'm drinking ( plenty)...little did I know that I would be playing a gig a few hours later. I'm driving home from the game at about 7:30 and check my voicemail. It's Steve, "We have a last minute gig tonight, see you there"...WHAT? SHIT!! So I fly home, grab my gear, change my clothes (quickly) and head to the Cool Breeze. I run in the door at the very last second and.......I count 10 people in the place. I'm thinking, oh well...it's nice to get paid to have a practice. Nobody likes to play to an empty room, and EPIC is no exception. Our regular crowd wasn't there because they didn't know we were going to be there, shit...we didn't even know. As the night progressed people starting showing up to check us out. We saw some new faces and added some new names to the mailing list. Thanks to Matt Chirsky from the Funbags for helping out with some vocals (see ya at Toads on 5/21). Over all we had a good time. We rocked so hard at the end of the night that we induced some dude to do the fish in front of the stage. If you don't know what the fish is, it's when you flop around on the floor like a fish that was just dropped on the dock.
We will be back at the Cool Breeze this Friday night for our "scheduled show". It will be nice to see our regulars back. We are expecting a packed house, so get there early. The first 5 women to take their tops off will get Kevin's drool on their breasts!
Glenn
Saturday May 1, 1999
Corner Pocket, Orange CT
First of all, as always, I need to say thanks to our friends for making it possible for us to hang out and drink before the show. I'm talking about the "opening act." I don't know how we ended up with a proven headliner opening up for us, but we did. Matt's Altar rocked! These guys have been doing the club thing for years, and they get better every time I hear them. If you get a chance go check them out. Thanks guys!
I'll have to admit that I was a little worried early that the crowd was going to be small for a Saturday night. WOW...was I wrong. I guess people know that we usually don't go on until 10:30 or 11:00, so they do their bar hopping before we go on and show up just in time to catch the show. I wish everyone got there early enough to see Matt's Altar.
We now set our sites on COOL BREEZE on May 14th. It's a Friday night, and once again....we expect to see your sweaty smiling faces.
Glenn
Milford, CT
July 2, 1999
Glenn
The Corner Pocket
Glenn
May 21, 1999
Glenn
May 14, 1999
Glenn
May 8th, 1999
Some side notes from the evening were Steve's new hair cut...well...it's really short. He used his beard trimmer and gave himself a buzz. YOUR IN THE ARMY NOW BOY!! At the end of the night Gary from the Cool Breeze had Steve's van blocked in and told Steve that it belonged to some drunk dude that must have gotten a ride home. After about five minutes of anxiety, he let Steve know that it was his. Score one for Gary!
The new addition to the gig diary is Tony's Tan-O-Meter!! Tony spends more money on tanning than I do on gas. This week, due to his cold, his tan rating was only at a 6 out of a possible 10. Get back in the booth you bastard!
Our sound was really ON this night. Thank you, thank you, and one BIG THANK YOU to Jeff from Naked Dylan for coming down and "tweaking" our sound. He can come down and drink on our tab anytime (and I'm not just saying that because he's a Primus fan either). Our new friend Frank got a crash course in running lights, and did quite well at it to. In fact, these two guys were having so much fun that they hopped up on stage with the boys from Neutral Ground and sang backing vocals on Rock and Roll All Night. Nice job dudes! We added a ton of new tunes over the past few shows, and the Pocket saw the debut of some of those including FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO PAAAAAAAARRRRRTYYYYYY by the Beasties. In fact, the night was so nuts that at one point Kevin and I broke in to Staying Alive by the Bee Gees...the sick part about that is that the crowd ate it up and sang along. What is this country coming to? Thanks to Tony's brother for coming out to the gig. Now he knows what his bro is up to on the weekends. Speaking of Tony, after much begging by Dave, Tony has joined the rest of us by going wireless. COOL!! We were all over the joint. At one point, Steve was the only one on stage, and that is only because it's a pain in the ass to carry his drum kit around. We almost broke a band record for all-time high bar tab for the night....almost...Steve took the night off from drinking. We might have had a shot otherwise!