Jim Price
Moderator
Joined: 07 Dec 2002
Posts: 4817
Location: Altoona, PA
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 Posted: Monday Jan 27, 2003 |
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WEEKEND RECAP 1/27/03:
Although it was frigid cold this past week, at least there wasn’t snow, sleet or freezing rain, enabling me to do some out-of-town treks…
WEDNESDAY NIGHT 1/22 – I journeyed to the frozen tundra which is Loretto to catch the latest music/theatre collaboration involving Wine Of Nails. Drummer Dom Peruso and guitarist John Charney collaborated with performance artist Lori Howsare, providing musical back-up to her onstage persona, “The Mad Muse,” at St. Francis University’s JFK Student Center. Dom and John provided incidental music to help set the varying moods of “The Mad Muse’s” presentation; as Lori, through the use of poetry and acting, took the audience on a journey through their own personal “madness.” According to “The Mad Muse,” we all have our own personal madness inside of us, and tapping that madness gives us our individuality and creativity. (I concur, I found my personal madness a long time ago, which is why I now drive up to Loretto in single-digit temperatures to see live music and performance, lol!) Along the way, "The Mad Muse" touched on topics such as suicide, trauma, personal space, love, exploitation, anger, and being an "a**hole for decency." "The Mad Muse's" presentation was loud, proud, lively and boisterous, Lori is definitely an energetic performer who won't put you to sleep! Lori told me she hopes to take "The Mad Muse" beyond St. Francis to other areas, perhaps performing at gothic rock/techno events. If your band might like to have Lori perform during intermission at an upcoming event, you can probably contact her through Wine Of Nails.
Lori Howsare as “The Mad Muse.”
THURSDAY NIGHT 1/23 – Again a frigid night with a few scattered snow showers around, but it did not deter me from journeying to State College to check out Connecticut’s Psychedelic Breakfast at The Brewery. This is just one of a number of touring national/regional acts The Brewery has been presenting lately, bands and artists flying just beneath the radar of national notoriety and exposure. Psychedelic Breakfast, for instance, performed at the Woodstock Reunion concert in 2000 at Yasgur’s Farm in New York, and several of their songs were used on MTV’s “Undressed” series. Their CD just happened to land on my desk recently and I was checking it out, and then discovered that they were coming to The Brewery. Psychedelic Breakfast’s base sound is jam band in the tradition of Phish, but these guys mix in elements of jazz, funk, and harder rock. Onstage at The Brewery this night, they put on an incredible display, especially if you like heated instrumental exchanges and fiery jamming! All four of these guys are excellent on their instruments! On their CD, guitarist Tim Palmieri takes much of the spotlight; but in the live setting, the other band members get to shine more, particularly keyboard man Jordan Giangreco and drummer Adrian Tramontano. Adrian even executed an amazing drum solo towards night’s end, lots of detail and energy! Mostly all of the two sets I witnessed featured Psychedelic Breakfast original compositions that extended into all-out monster grooves and jams. “Beef Barley” from their “Deuce” CD, which takes just over 7 minutes on the CD, stretched into a heated 12-13-minute jam extravaganza onstage, with all four of these guys going full tilt! A number of other songs this night did likewise, and the group wrapped up their final set of the night with a heated jam version of “Roadhouse Blues.” The only disappointment this night was the crowd, which was small by Brewery standards. (I guess it was so cold that college students didn’t even want to brave the wind chills to go downtown and get drunk on a Thursday night, amazing!) But the folks that did brave the cold were into it, and grooving on the dance floor throughout the show. I was glad I made the roadtrip (and gave my car heater a workout) this night; Psychedelic Breakfast put on an excellent display, and it’s likely they will be returning to The Brewery sometime soon.
On a related note, The Brewery has a number of interesting names coming in, including Gordon Stone on Feb. 1 (Gordon is from Vermont and does funkabilly and jamgrass, he appeared on two Phish albums and two Strangefolk albums); also Schleigho on Feb. 15 (jam/jazz fusion, these guys are on Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks’ Flying Frog Record label) and more. You can check out the Brewery’s updated schedule on their website, www.thebreweryinc.com.
I also ran into Boost drummer Jim Logrando, who told me things are going well for Boost now that they have expanded to a foursome and are based in State College. He said their weekly Friday night shows at The Brewery have been drawing well. I plan to catch a Boost Brewery show in the next few weeks and see how things are going.
Tim Palmieri of Psychedelic Breakfast.
Adrian Tramontano of Psychedelic Breakfast.
Tim Palmieri and Jordan Giangreco of Psychedelic Breakfast.
Tim Palmieri of Psychedelic Breakfast lets more guitar fireworks fly.
Tim Palmieri, singing lead.
Adrian Tramantano of Psychedelic Breakfast, unleashing the fury during his drum solo.
Ron Spears of Psychedelic Breakfast.
FRIDAY NIGHT 1/24 – Once again taking advantage of negligible winter precipitation in the forecast, I headed up the mountain to catch my first look at NE-146, rocking down the Wild Cherry Inn in Portage. This Johnstown-based power trio features some familiar names, including singer/bassist Paul Hearn (formerly of Quest, Miztreater, Whatever and a few other bands) and guitarist James Forish (formerly of Inside Out and several other bands) plus drummer Mark Hockycko. These guys generated some good heated hard-edged rock'n'roll, mixing current and classic rock favorites from Jimmy Eats World, Judas Priest, Black Crowes, Ozzy, Puddle of Mudd, Godsmack, Nickelback and more. Highlights for me included their versions of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Paul's Axl-styled falsetto reached the heavens on this one!), Ozzy's "Bark At The Moon," the surprise rendition of David Lee Roth's "Yankee Rose," and Ugly Kid Joe's "Neighbor." These guys were solid players, with Paul showing off some good vocal range through the night, and James executing some crisp and clean guitar leads. While attendance was on the light side this night, at least a few folks kept the dance floor busy for NE-146 during the show's latter stages. This was NE-146's last show for a while; the group is taking a couple of months off to learn some new material and fine-tune their show. Look for them to return to action in March or April.
Paul Hearn of NE-146.
James Forish of NE-146.
Once again, Paul Hearn of NE-146.
With little headroom to spare, James Forish of NE-146.
NE-146, rattling the rafters at the Wild Cherry Inn.
SATURDAY NIGHT 1/25 – Another adventure in small town bandwatching, as I took in Roadkill at Glenn’s Place in Claysburg. This turned out to be a very interesting night indeed. As I arrived during Roadkill’s first set, a relatively light crowd was in attendance, mainly congregated around Glenn’s main bar. (Knowing Claysburg, most of the people saw ‘Roadkill’ on the marquee, ran in and were disappointed when they learned it was a band, and not some fresh-killed venison from old Route 220 they could take home with them.) And it was not a responsive crowd one way or another, they were very quiet after every song, not applauding or booing. (The band verbally reprimanded me for clapping after their version of Dylan/G’n’R’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door;” warning me if I got out of hand once more I would have to leave.) And, though small, the audience had its fair share of personalities who made themselves known this night, including “Dancing Guy” (he started dancing by himself on the dance floor from the first song onward and never let up), “Obnoxious Chick” (she kept bugging the band for songs they either didn’t know or couldn’t do), “Wheelchair Dude” (he was actually cool, he was into the band and rolling his rig around in front of the stage and jamming), “Indifferent Crowd” (already mentioned), and “Horny Osceola Couple” (they drove down from Osceola Mills to see Roadkill, but spent just as much time making out at their table as paying attention to the band; I understand that newlywed couples from Osceola often spend their honeymoons in Claysburg, perhaps these two were practicing up). Not to mention the worst freak in the audience, “PA Musician/Rockpage Camera Guy!” Before this three-ring circus, Roadkill mixed raucous original tunes such as their title song, “The Adam Stomp,” “Lost In The Woods,” “Not Your Fault” and their ode to Oreo cookies “Hardcoreo” with classic rock gems from Bad Company, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Golden Earring, J. Geils Band, Jimi Hendrix and more; all flavored with acid-tongued rhetoric and gospel from bassist, singer and lead megalomaniac Greg Majewsky. Shawn “Teach” Evans, not intestinally challenged this night (as he was during Roadkill’s recent “Backyard Rocker” appearance) kept the steady drumbeat (feel free to mail him toilet paper rolls and packages of Immodium anyway). And guitarist Sean McCracken let loose with some excellent solo displays, especially during Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile” and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “The Sky Is Crying.” Another observation after watching this band off and on over the past dozen years: the worse the crowd behaves, the better these guys get! Roadkill almost doesn’t know what to do if people actually cheer them on! When people boo them or ignore them, it only gives singer Greg ammo to start running smack on himself and his bandmates. And then, after the band concluded the show this night, I observed two women at the bar who actually paid more attention watching the band tear down their gear than to the actual show itself! A legendary night of bandwatching in Claysburg, ‘nuff said!
Sean McCracken of Roadkill.
Jamming down, Sean McCracken of Roadkill.
Because he doesn’t care, Greg Majewsky of Roadkill.
Belting out some voice on Stevie Ray, Sean McCracken of Roadkill.
Shawn “Teach” Evans of Roadkill.
Warts and all, Roadkill running 'em down at Glenn's Place.
Content because he didn’t need Immodium this night, Shawn “Teach” Evans of Roadkill.
Greg Majewsky and Sean McCracken of Roadkill.
SUNDAY NIGHT 1/26 – Obviously the first order of the evening was the Super Bowl, and for me, taking in one of the many Super Bowl parties. This year I watched the game at Peter C’s. Even Bandit the dog was decked out in Raider gear as the game began. Well, by now you know it was not Raiderfan’s night, and Big John conceded the game as a lost cause early in the second half. The Raiders made it interesting in the 4th quarter, but interceptions late in the game sealed their fate. I thought while the game wasn’t the most interesting, the commercials kicked ass! The Budweiser zebra commercial, the Pepsi Twist Ozzy Osbourne commercial, the Yao Ming Visa commercial, and the H&R Block Willie Nelson commercials were my favorites of this year’s Super Bowl crop, and had everybody at Pete’s howling. The Super Bowl halftime was okay, although Shania Twain needs lip-synch lessons. Okay game, great commercials, good food spread and a good time.
After the game concluded, I headed to Pellegrine's for the post-game party with Flight 19. Although some technical problems threatened to ground "The Party Plane" early and singer Brian's voice was under the weather, this turned into a pretty good rocking party. Brian enlisted the help of various audience members to spot him with the vocals, including Kevin Bandito of Banditos during the first half of the night. Flight 19 kept the dance floor busy and rocking all evening (even during the first set, a rarity at Pelly's!). Highlights included familiar Flight 19 cover faves like Deadeye Dick’s “New Age Girl” and the John McKelvey-fronted version of “I Wanna Be Sedated;” Good Charlotte’s “Little Things,” and towards night’s end, AC/DC’s “Big Balls,” during which the band unleashed a batch of big balls onto the dance floor. Good party despite the technical and vox problems, hopefully setting the stage for more frequent Party Plane flights on Pelly’s stage.
The Flight 19 “Party Plane” takes flight at Pellegrine’s.
Before the evil fog envelops them all, Flight 19 at Pellegrine’s.
Scott Imler of Flight 19.
Darin Hand of Flight 19.
John McKelvey of Flight 19.
With a little (vocal) help from his friends, Brian Thomas and Flight 19.
Guv’nor Jesse, playing with one of Flight 19’s Big Balls. |
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