Friday On My Mind, Part 2: Premium Power Pop From Last Call at Coldbrews

Here's a fun band, Last Call, that I've befriended through James Terry's Gong Crazy Productions.  They specialize in a lot of tunes that I don't get to play in other bands.  Namely, a plethora of '90's alt-rock and '80's college rock (that's what we called in back then, anyways).  They also do a fair amount of Tom Petty -  the chicks (meaning, the wives of the band members and their bff's) dig it.  We're all, shall I say, of a mature age in this collective.  I get to sing some lead and play my NS/Stick as well as I can.  It's a very fun, unpretentious romp through some good times.

This was my second time up on stage with these fellows.  My first time we were an opening band on a benefit gig.  This time out, we had the night to ourselves, at a place they've played before: Coldbrews Sports Bar & Grill in Roswell.  Nice bar scene, nestled smack dab on that heinous stretch of Holcomb Bridge Road between GA 400 and Hwy 9.  Good food, with a decent selection of Tex-Mex to go with the burger fares, as well as a large range of brews on tap.  I enjoyed an Ode To Mercy, a coffee-infused Imperial Brown Ale from Wild Heaven Craft Beers in Decatur; took me back to my stint at the beloved Decatur coffeehouse scene of Java Monkey.  Friendly service, great staff, a plethora of widescreen monitors (all tuned into some March Madness action), and, best of all, a real stage with some semblance of a P.A. system.  Easy load in, too, with a door nearby to alleviate schlepping through the front and convenient parking to boot.  At any rate, what I was getting at before (see top of paragraph to refresh) was that I had a sizable portion of their book to learn.  I was afforded the luxury of cherry picking the list for that first gig with them.  This time out, I had to learn all of the ones that I had shot down before.  A bit overwhelming.  I downloaded the tunes (it's been a long time, but I can remember the days of buying an album just to learn one song, so $1.29 still isn't so bad for a semi-decent mp3, particularly with inflation and deluxe hi-res artwork from great sites such as Album Art Exchange).  I made some charts, forgot a few, worked on some we didn't even have time for, but overall, it came together in a very nice way.

The band on this date features David Falkenstein on guitar and vocals, Ira Kramer on drums and vocals, Karl Rosenblum on electric violin, and myself.  We got together a week ago to go over the newer tunes.  They met a few times without me.  A lot was accomplished, as we sounded tight.  People were surprised that we haven't been together all that long.  The set list was a nice arrangement of upbeat tunes.  We don't do any slow ones that I can think of.  Some highlights for me included Grand Funk's Bad Time, a sugary pop ditty that takes me back to WEAM, AM 1390 on my then state-of-the-art green L.E.D. display clock-radio.  I sure did listen to a lot of AM radio back then, we're talking the early to mid '70's, before getting hip to the album rock of DC 101.  Another pop nugget we blasted through was Go All The Way, this time being much more convincing.  I have practiced those harmony vocals over and over - it's really still a mystery as to what they did, or what I should try to do.  A great set of changes on that one.  Eric Carmen did a good job on writing the ultimate power pop ditty.

I spent some time working on the "quite difficult to discern" bass lines that young Mike Mills plucked on Driver 8.  When it's crunch time, like say, 10:45 at night and I'm waking up at 5:30 or so, I'm not above resorting to YouTube to watch some other bloke instruct me on how to do it.  The mix on Fables of the Reconstruction is a bit too "roomy" as far as the bass goes.  I could never quite get what was going on.  We all hear the guitar loud and clear.  The bass part is a whole other counterpoint melody; busy yet complimentary.  Glad to know it a bit better.  Thanks to you, Mr. YouTube Bass Lessons Hawker.  You taught me well, and you held my interest.  I also learned from you that we could all benefit from a lighter touch every so often.  It drove home the point that there is a time and a place for plectrum usage.  I think it's just cleaner to play it with a pick - that's how Mike did it.  We all took verses on our versions of The Byrds' version of Dylan's My Back Pages and Green Day's version of Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone.  David slyly threw out a few we had never tried before, not even rehearsed (not that I was there for all of those rehearsals, mind you): TP's American Girl, with a clever "Dylanesque" spoken intro and R.E.M.'s The One I Love.  

In the heat of the moment up there, I lost some of the finer points as far as my two-handed technique on the NS/Stick.  I had some cool things worked out; they just didn't work out for me.  Some chordal things did work, with some nifty new effect patches; I even got a compliment afterwards on the sounds from a discerning ear.  At least I know my place and that is to hold down the bottom, perhaps at the expense of the top end.  I felt that Ira and I grooved a lot better this night.  That means a lot.  The older you get, the more you realize that the rhythms are more critical than the note choices.  If it ain't groovin', well, even the non-musically-inclined can tell, shall we say.  We were locking in and having fun with it as well.  Karl was stellar on the violin parts, adding so much and spot on with intonation.  His playing on "Heroes" gave me goose bumps.  Gotta love it - such a cool instrument.  David's new Rick was beautiful - such a rich and full tone that made the songs jump up and stand at attention.  It's the perfect axe for this man who loves this music.  Now that I think about it: Townshend, Buck, McGuinn, Sweet, Petty, Lennon (alas, we never got around to She Said She Said) - that's a lot of Rickenbacker guitarists that we were honoring!  Dave let loose a few times, ripping off some searing runs that are all the more effective as he doesn't go there so often.  The man doesn't show all of his cards, I tell ya.

We're working on details for another show, back at Atlantic Station from what I know.  I'll report here when it starts to coalesce.

David Falkenstein wielding his Telecaster

Karl Rosenblum prepping his electric violin

Johnny with his NS/Stick

Ira Kramer on electronic percussives

Digging Dave's new Rickenbacker - he's in the tone zone!

My Fender got some attention during the first set.

The dancing ladies inspired the band and the crowd!

Friday On My Mind, Part 1: Under the Big Top with Sweetwater Junction, March 22nd at Atlantic Station

Late evening view of the tents from our parking area at Atlantic Station.  Note the Bank of America building poking over the "horizon".

From the pages of atlanta-wineauction.org:

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Vine-to-Table
Friday, March 22, 2013

A New Event For A New Vintage

Reception, 7:00 p.m.
Dinner, 8:00 p.m.
Attire: No jacket or tie required.

In keeping with the changing times, the 2013 Wine Auction is inaugurating a new event for Friday night—the Vine-to-Table feast. This year we’re taking a simpler, fresher approach to our Friday night dine and dance party. Big tables. Big platters of food. Easier mixing and mingling. Big fun. The seating is still reserved, and the winemakers will be right there with you as always, but there’s a looser, more relaxed vibe in the air, right down to the music we play. Come get a taste of the new Friday Night Vine-to-Table feast for the senses. Special Guest Chefs include Chris Hall of Local Three, Greg Hardesty of Recess in Indianapolis, Chris Hastings of Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, and Patrick Owens of Langdon’s in Mt. Pleasant. A Silent Auction and music by Sweetwater Junction will keep you entertained well into the night, as we welcome our new Uncorking Cru to the Wine Auction.

A lot of words just to have our esteemed Sweetwater Junction's named in print as it was.  It was a swanky affair, held in big, billowing tents near the park off of State Street in Atlantic Station.  We enjoyed a nice, large stage and a massive dance floor.  Did our best to keep it filled.  Can't help it if many of the attendees sampled a bit too much of the wine that was being thrust upon them.  It makes sense when I think about it.  We played a typical set of neo-retro country-tinged rock and modern classics.  It seemed to work for the setting; not too stuffy and not too forced.

Panoramic view of inside the great tent.  Really only the second time I've tried this on my phone.
Jack showed it to me - guess I need to start getting used to that!

We loaded in early.  Scratch that - Brian, Mark, and Pete loaded in early.  I wasn't too far behind.  I brought  my GK head along with both SWR cabinets; I knew it might get loud.  It always takes a while to set up for this band, since we do our own monitors and run our signals to the mixer for front of house.  This time was a less than ideal.  We have more inputs than our mixer can accommodate; nothing unusual.  They had a 4 channel mixer serving the subwoofer.  This meant that the kick drum and bass guitar would go through the sub, but not through the mains.  That meant lots of bottom but no definition.  I was asked to add more clarity to my signal.  I added more mids, but what good does it do when it is getting rolled off via the low-pass filter of, say, 100 Hz that the sub bestows upon it's incoming.  I can only theorize that Mark's kick suffered from the same brick-walled treatment.

My poor old SWR Goliath II is showing its age.  The spring in one of the handles is stuck in an "open" position, so that the handle is at half mast.  Worse though, is that the attenuator for the horn is shot.  It does nothing, but when it is reduced (ie when the horn is set for more resistance), then a strange distorted noise comes through the signal.  At least I figured that out, possibly one or two gigs too late.  It's subtle and I wasn't sure what I was hearing.  Now I know.

A crafty musician covers his equipment.

We had some neat jams in the beginning.  Mark gets credit in my book for always pushing to jam a bit and loosen up.  I don't do that enough, and it felt nice.  Pete has amazing facility on the keys, so he can just go.  So can Mark.  Together, they can take off and I try to make it funky or something like that.  After sound check, we got in Brian's ride and jetted to his new abode in Little Five Points.  Nice apartment with French doors and a very hip overlook.  We ate at the Corner Tavern, a dark place with an extensive drink menu and decent blackened chicken sandwiches, although I opted for the Black and Blue burger.  Our side salads weren't enough, so we all ordered french fries (for dessert)!  Not so healthy, but it was to be a long night.  That's my justification for meals like this.  Plus, I had just had my annual physical exam.  My cholesterol levels are nice and in the middle.  No diabetes.  Good EKG.  So far, so good.  Everything in moderation.

Pete Orenstein

Mark Letalien

Chris Garner - perhaps the best shot of Chris I've taken all of these years.

The party was over too soon...

...thank you for having us!

Highlights of the night were the extended funk jam that keeps 'em dancing: Standing On Shaky Ground --> Superstition --> Play That Funky Music.  Who you callin' White Boy?!  We took one break, but not for long, and we were back.  Around 12:15 or so, we were given the sign to cut it off.  We were in the middle of The Doobies' Long Train Runnin'.  Well, we took that as it was the last song.  We didn't even extend it, but the man got visibly upset with us when we didn't stop right then and there.  Yikes!  We just wanted to finish it.  Can't even end with an appropriate closer?  Hey, you, get off of my cloud!  I thought he might find the extension cords and start ripping them out!  A terse moment in an otherwise celebratory night.  Hopefully, we helped in raising some funds for Atlanta's beloved High Museum of Art

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St. Patrick's Day at Meehan's Public House in Sandy Springs: Where The Mean Streets Have No Name (U2 vs. Van Halen)

Here we were again, this time honoring the "holiday" on the actual date, March 17.  Sunday, and another warm sunny day.  Also of note was that the gig was close to home, for me, in Sandy Springs at Meehan's Public House.  We had a great time slot, from 5 pm till 7:30 or so.  It allowed us to play our U2 set, break for the costume change, and then play the Van Halen set.  Just like we did the day before.  Sabina brought the boys and hung for the U2.  My Last Call band mates David, Ira, and Karl showed up and were most congenial; you guys made me proud to know you!  They met Sabina so two worlds came together for a short while.  All in all, we were tighter and stronger once again.  Shane played the first set on drums and obliged with letting Sam handle the second set.  Cool to play with both of them.  We still all made some bad blunders, no surprise.  My train wreck of note was trying to cop the syncopated hits in the solo on Unchained.  Man, I nailed it years ago when we played at Wild Wing with Mark on drums.  I guess I lost that magic, but it will come back.  Sam was nice to suggest that we simply need a rehearsal to go over these trouble spots and make it fool proof.  Rehearsals lately have been just a run-through of the sets.  That's not enough to make it tight.

Closing out the night was the very fun cover band My Favorite Baldwin. 
The front man is someone I look up to, as he stands at 6' 6" tall.
I was captivated by perhaps the most well realized version of Snoop's Gin and Juice I have ever heard.
Now, where's my endo (Indo')?

3 Tribute Bands - 2 Events - 1 Long Journey

Life in the fast lane: driving to Toccoa Friday evening, singing some high harmonies...

This weekend was the debut of a new band, a project carefully assembled by my good friend Brent Whiten.  The band is an Eagles tribute called New Kid In Town.  I have been listening and absorbing this music for close to 2 months now.  As the baas player with no defined vocal chores, my part is quite possibly the easiest.  I worked on the high harmonies just to be prepared.  We met Friday night in the basement of the Elk's Lodge, located in Toccoa, Georgia.  I met the other 3 guitarists, Jason, Tim, and Brad, for the first time.  My extended musical weekend began after clocking out from work (already a long day that began with a thorough annual physical exam and then a shortened day at work albiet minus a normal lunch).  We hashed it out from 9 pm until 2:30 am, fueled by Bud Light (with a twist of lime for me) and tequila (thanks Jason)! 

The next morning, after a restless night sharing a rather down-trodden motel room with Jason, I was up early to make my way south to Lake Lanier's Peachtree Pointe Amphitheater.  This was the inaugural event of this facility after a lengthy reconstruction of this outdoor venue.  A man working security told me he has lived in the area for 4 years and never knew it was here.  The band was Running With Desire, our not-nearly-ubiquitous enough U2/Van Halen tribute package.  James "JT" Terry, The Martay, and mighty Sam Owens convened on this beautiful afternoon to play through 2 complete sets of Irish and L.A. based rock music.  The crowd was understandably thin at this early hour of a full festival day.  Thanks to JT, we had a photographer capture many of our best moments.  A concise collection of his pics can be found here.  Adoring women clawing at your clothes may help, but nothing makes you feel more like a rock star than a professional photographer snapping pics while you cavort around making silly gestures and ugly grimaces.  It also helps to have a full Ampeg SVT rig to pummel more low end than is necessary.  I actually turned down at one point!  A nice rig indeed - perfect for this band at any rate.  We had a couple of rough spots, but overall it was one of the best gigs this band has enjoyed.  The vocals were decent, many times they are the low point.  Mad props to Michael Anthony!  He was an early butt of jokes in my high school circle, but he played his arse off on those 6 albums that we draw from.  We are finally almost-tight on Beautiful Girls.  Sam reinforced the notion that the very first note that Eddie played was the pickup note to the first full bar.  The one is the 2nd note!  Interesting.  Thanks to Tim Delaney, Sam's rhythm section buddy in most everything else he does, I have Van Halen charts at my disposal.  Great transcribing Tim!  Seriously detail oriented!  I mean, wow!  Without his handy work, I may never have come this close to getting these tunes down.  It was a lot of fun with absolutely perfect weather to boot.  We did our full show, complete with costume change.  I got a meal before we started, thanks to the promoter.  A great afternoon indeed.

After the show, I didn't waste any time.  It was back on the road to Toccoa for the evening Eagles tribute show.  Jason Bozik assumed the role of Glen Frey, playing acoustic and electric guitars and even taking some key solos on Tequila Sunrise and the intro solo to Victim of Love.  Tim Turner played the part the mighty Joe Walsh, evoking his voice and stellar slide parts.  Brad Newell had the task of recreating those clever Don Felder parts that add so much to the songs.  Brent wore many hats, but on stage he was a clean cut non-fro-wigged Don Henley, ably singing the leads and playing the drums.  He also handled keyboard duties, playing piano and singing lead on I Can't Tell You Why and Desperado.  Jason moved to drums for those and was rock solid.  Awesome versatility guys!  Brent had some serious nervous energy - it was a homecoming concert in many respects for the man.  His fine wife Renée (whom I couldn't remember until she reminded me, but she did have shorter hair since I saw her last - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) was the principle videographer and photographer of the evening.

Brad Newell as Don Felder

Jason Bozik as Glenn Frey

The elusive Tim Turner as Joe Walsh

John Hancotte as Timothy B. Meisner (or is it Randy Schmidt?)

Brent Whiten as Don Henley, also invoking the keyboard stylings of Glenn Frey and the occasional vocalizations of Timonthy B. Schmidt.

I tried my best to offer some other tones, using my NS/Stick on the Joe Walsh tunes.  I had tried to work out the sample-and-hold ARP Odessey synth from Life's Been Good.  Between what Jason and I did, we kept it interesting.  I simply engaged the flanger effect for Rocky Mountain Way.  I had thought about an octave effect on the right-hand higher-pitched strings, actually a rare use of the "2 0ctave Down" effect as found on the Boss OC-3 (or the older OC-2).  Couldn't locate it on the GP-8, which was serving the guitar side.  Rats.  The lesson, of course, is to not wait until you're at soundcheck to try out new effects.  It had been a while since I'd even played with the settings on that unit; it takes a minute to relearn the tweak and save functions.

It was a lot of music.  Like I said, these songs have been played to death on classic rock radio for so long.  To my credit, I did it all without charts.  To my detriment, I still screwed up possibly the song I've played the most over the years, and even with consciously going over it in my head, that being the confounded bridge in Tequila Sunrise.  I even corrected Brent on his chart (last chord of the bridge is A7, not D7, before reurning to the verse in G).  Somebody once told me that you can go to the tonic from any dominant chord, as long as it's a dominant.  I guess the A7 would be considered a V of a V.  Just because a chord has a flat 7 in it doesn't mean it's a dominant.  Your thoughts are welcome.  My mistake was going from the Am to the B7, instead of the D.  Yuck.  Not really any other blunders I can think of.  I'd like to hear the recording.  It's hard to get a handle on harmonies when there are so many talented singers in one band.