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And I wouldn't have it any other way
Feb. 19th, 2007 02:03 amPat DiNizio is my rock and roll hero tonight. But more on that in a moment.
Tonight Phil and I went up to the city to the Red Devil Lounge for my yearly excursion. We circled his tiny car until we found a parking space into which we could squeeze. Then we discovered that we'd managed to park half a block from the venue!
Of course, that was where our streak of luck ended, because although the program said the doors opened at seven-thirty it was after eight-fifteen before the queue actually moved anywhere. By the time we got in, the opening act had already started (and in fact had only about three songs left in her set). She's a chick with a guitar, and she reminded me a great deal of Dar Williams back when she was folk. She got screwed over by the whole doors being closed thing, but she took it very well and had a charming stage presence.
After a set up period, the second band took the stage. They were... amazingly mediocre. My final impression was "What if Danny Bonnaduce had created a John Cafferty tribute band but then decided that the lyrics were too fresh and edgy and so decided to write original songs?" This was really exemplified by the opening lyrics of the opening song: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, good evening ladies and gents, are you ready to rock? They seemed to be local regulars, but I suspect that's due to availability. Phil later confirmed that it was the tired/bored looking backup vocalist who was dragging the band offkey, but the lead singer was at least amusing. He'd watched a lot of Mtv and so he knew the things that rock stars do. Things like coming at the microphone sideways and sneering at it, you know. Rock star stuff. And he did all those things very earnestly. However much he was selling, nobody was buying. They closed with a lacklustre Cheap Trick cover, and we settled in as the sound guy started playing the White Album.
Of which we nearly heard both discs in their entirety. There was a considerable gap between bands. And here is where I diverge briefly to say that the average Smithereens fan is a good four to six inches taller than your average Californian. I am not accustomed to people being taller than me in such numbers. So there was much of the show that I just plain missed out on. Anyway. The band finally came out, and Pat croaked that this morning he'd lost his voice but he was damned if he was going to cancel the show so he hoped we would be forgiving of him while he drank and smoked his voice into behaving. And then we watched him destroy his voice for the next two hours because he refused to surrender, thus making him my new rock and roll hero. Although on any other night Jim Babjak jumping up onto the bar to do the guitar solo for Blood And Roses would have totally won. The band did a lot to try and relieve Pat's distress; two or three minute instrumental jams in the middle of songs, an impromptu rendition of 'Radio Free Europe' by the bass player (a friend of the band standing in for Mike Mesaros, referred to only as 'the thrilla from manila'), and an audience sing-along to 'Behind Blue Eyes'. The format of the new album (Meet The Smithereens, a track by track tribute to Meet The Beatles) helped as well, since Jim Babjak sung the lead on the George Harrison track 'Don't Bother Me' and Dennis Diken did Ringo's lead vocals on 'I Wanna Be Your Man'.
I did balk at paying $20 for a CD that's essentially half an hour long, but the Smithereens took all that 'Rock Star' stuff that the previous band had done, did it with a smirk and a wink, and made it about three hundred times more effective. They even did a god damned encore.
And now my hips ache and my kidneys hurt and it's three am and I have to go die.
Tonight Phil and I went up to the city to the Red Devil Lounge for my yearly excursion. We circled his tiny car until we found a parking space into which we could squeeze. Then we discovered that we'd managed to park half a block from the venue!
Of course, that was where our streak of luck ended, because although the program said the doors opened at seven-thirty it was after eight-fifteen before the queue actually moved anywhere. By the time we got in, the opening act had already started (and in fact had only about three songs left in her set). She's a chick with a guitar, and she reminded me a great deal of Dar Williams back when she was folk. She got screwed over by the whole doors being closed thing, but she took it very well and had a charming stage presence.
After a set up period, the second band took the stage. They were... amazingly mediocre. My final impression was "What if Danny Bonnaduce had created a John Cafferty tribute band but then decided that the lyrics were too fresh and edgy and so decided to write original songs?" This was really exemplified by the opening lyrics of the opening song: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, good evening ladies and gents, are you ready to rock? They seemed to be local regulars, but I suspect that's due to availability. Phil later confirmed that it was the tired/bored looking backup vocalist who was dragging the band offkey, but the lead singer was at least amusing. He'd watched a lot of Mtv and so he knew the things that rock stars do. Things like coming at the microphone sideways and sneering at it, you know. Rock star stuff. And he did all those things very earnestly. However much he was selling, nobody was buying. They closed with a lacklustre Cheap Trick cover, and we settled in as the sound guy started playing the White Album.
Of which we nearly heard both discs in their entirety. There was a considerable gap between bands. And here is where I diverge briefly to say that the average Smithereens fan is a good four to six inches taller than your average Californian. I am not accustomed to people being taller than me in such numbers. So there was much of the show that I just plain missed out on. Anyway. The band finally came out, and Pat croaked that this morning he'd lost his voice but he was damned if he was going to cancel the show so he hoped we would be forgiving of him while he drank and smoked his voice into behaving. And then we watched him destroy his voice for the next two hours because he refused to surrender, thus making him my new rock and roll hero. Although on any other night Jim Babjak jumping up onto the bar to do the guitar solo for Blood And Roses would have totally won. The band did a lot to try and relieve Pat's distress; two or three minute instrumental jams in the middle of songs, an impromptu rendition of 'Radio Free Europe' by the bass player (a friend of the band standing in for Mike Mesaros, referred to only as 'the thrilla from manila'), and an audience sing-along to 'Behind Blue Eyes'. The format of the new album (Meet The Smithereens, a track by track tribute to Meet The Beatles) helped as well, since Jim Babjak sung the lead on the George Harrison track 'Don't Bother Me' and Dennis Diken did Ringo's lead vocals on 'I Wanna Be Your Man'.
I did balk at paying $20 for a CD that's essentially half an hour long, but the Smithereens took all that 'Rock Star' stuff that the previous band had done, did it with a smirk and a wink, and made it about three hundred times more effective. They even did a god damned encore.
And now my hips ache and my kidneys hurt and it's three am and I have to go die.