A Festive Labor Day Weekend: Sunday Triple Dippin' at "Chappa-palooza", "Nibble & Noshfest" & "Beer & Whiskey Fest"

Chappa-palooza is the coined term for Randy Chapman's annual celebration concerning his day of birth.  We all miss his wonderful mother, but it does still provide a chuckle to be reminded that she went into labor on Labor Day, um, back in the day.  Randy is of course my very multi-talented friend that I've shared many stages with over the past 25 or so years.  Every should know this guy.  He is the real deal and serves a great purpose in bringing us all together on occasion.  The party was held, as it has for many years now, at the Northside Tavern.  This place is a classic roadside blues institution.  The energy and and vibe are second to none.  The band he typically assembles is smokin' hot - all veterans and multi-talented in their own right.  The guilty parties:

Randy Chapman: guitar & vocals
Lee Griffin: guitar & vocals
Ron Roper: organ, electric piano, vocals
Kevin Thomas: electric piano, organ
Bill Burke: bass guitar
Derryl Rivers: drums & vocals

They sounded so amazing.  Tight yet loose.  Get this, I brought my bass so that i might sit in.  Bill Burke saw me up front and offered to let me play his sweet Fender Jazz bass.  He was very generous and let me stay up for 4 or 5 tunes.  I felt like I was up there for quite a while, as each of these tunes can easily last 10 minutes or so.  I remember us playing Right Place Wrong Time, Lowdown, & Be Thankful For What You Got - all tremendous epic tunes.  Henry Turner sat in on guitar while I was up there.  I think we played Cissy Strut with him.  I'm counting this as Sunday because it actually was.  By the time I got up with the band, it was after midnight.

Later on, Derryl sang that old Stylistics classic People Make the World Go 'Round.  That may have been the highlight of a long night of "Chappy Chart-toppers!"  That one, and their closing number, Redbone's Come and Get Your Love.  I snapped some pics as I made my way around the parlor..

Last Call reprised their appearance at TKE's Noshfest for the 2nd year in a row.  As it is always guaranteed to rain on Labor Day weekend, we were pleasantly surprised to play under a partly cloudy sky.  Perhaps it was partly sunny?  It was hot for a good part of the day.  With Davey bringing the goods in the deluxe van, we all swarmed and set up our band-centric PA, complete with snake and all of the trappings.  We need the system since we have electronic drums and everything runs direct.  The system that TKE provided would not support the lows and really everything we send to the mixer.  It was a wise move on Davey's part to bring what he did.

The set was a real nice mix of favorites and some newer things as well.  With the stage facing the other direction, we had a better outlook on the whole proceeding.  Everything was much better than the year before.  I had fun and thought we sounded great.  It didn't hurt that we had performed twice in the previous 2 weeks.  There's no substitute for live performance as far as helping a band tighten up.  Davey, Ira, Karl, and Farrel Anne were great and very generous with their time and energy.  Chuck took some nice pics below utilizing his iPhone, as well as the corny group shot above with my phone.

It felt good to bask in our glory.  We made it through and relaxed after packing the system up in record time.  What are you going to do at Noshfest?  The short answer is nosh!  That we did, and before long I knew I had to motivate homeward to walk and feed the dog and then scamper towards Buckhead for the next show.

The Beer & Whiskey Fest is a fundraiser benefiting the Path Foundation.  This year it was held at the Buckhead Saloon.  This place is nice and big, with a decent stage.  Running With Desire has played here before, only out on the patio.  I think I like the vibe on the patio a bit more.  Inside is just kind of dark and dreary.  The sound was a bit off.  Somehow, after checking our monitors, we were seemingly without any vocal mics in the monitors.  You would think the soundman would take a little bit of pride in providing a decent service.  Also, after checking and tuning my basses, somehow my input jack on my P-bass feel inside, as the nut worked itself loose and fell off.  I couldn't find it, but I did find the washer.  At least I had my J-bass with me, as well as my Ashbory, which I used on the opening few U2 numbers.  Our rehearsals paid off, although I think we ended up cutting the newer adds in the Van Halen set.   It went well, but I was worn out by the end, as you might imagine.  Great news in that Marty's health is much improved and he looked good.  So glad about that.

Shane took care of us and later sent a link with a plethora of pics taken by a staff photographer.  I was glad as I didn't take any that night worth keeping.  These are low res that I captured, cropped, and tweezed into submission.  Apologies for not purchasing the hi-res downloads and posting these without permission.  The logos are embedded, so maybe my marketing will right the wrong.  Try the Larceny, it looks top shelf.