Jim Price
Moderator
Joined: 07 Dec 2002
Posts: 4817
Location: Altoona, PA
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 Posted: Friday Apr 25, 2003 |
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WEEKEND RECAP 4/25/03:
Obviously, the recap is a little late this week. I had that PA Musician article deadline thing to deal with this week. So better late than never, here’s my recap…
This weekend, I went out of town for a belated “mini” Spring Break, spending much of the weekend in coastal Virginia and North Carolina’s Outer Banks. But I did not leave without first catching some live band action onstage locally.
THURSDAY 4/17 – Before my journey, a trip up the hill to Ebensburg’s Castle Pub to catch Pittsburgh’s Shonuff. As I arrived, the band was on break, and a deejay was cranking out dance tunage to a jam-packed house, cramming the dance floor to capacity. If I hadn’t seen the mics and drum kit onstage, I would have thought the band had cancelled! Anyway, while I struggled through the crowd to the bar to procure my first foamy adult beverage, Shonuff reconvened with their final set of the night. Shonuff mixed funky, dance-geared grooves with a hard-hitting edge; mixing original songs like “Outcast” and “Booty Song” with a tasty version of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” a tease of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and more. This was high-energy stuff that soon had the Castle dance floor busy once again. Shonuff was instrumentally strong; I liked guitarist Mike Sellman’s tasty licks and finesse, drummer Jason Grew’s clockwork beats and especially the mean lean bass sound emanating from Cliff Foster. Frontman Gene Walker was in control, working the stage area and constantly encouraging dance floor action. Shonuff generated such monstrous grooves that they blew a house fuse on their last song, bringing the show to a premature close. Shonuff delivers an exciting, high-energy show, and it’s likely that they will be back at the Castle Pub soon, based on this night.
Gene Walker of Shonuff.
Mike Sellman of Shonuff.
Jason Grew of Shonuff.
Again, Gene Walker of Shonuff.
Again, Mike Sellman of Shonuff.
Shonuff, grooving it thick and heavy at the Castle Pub.
One more time, Gene Walker of Shonuff.
FRIDAY 4/18 – Vacation time! The usual suspects – “Big Jim” Bandito, Sparky D’Engineer and yours truly – had a two-pronged mission in mind for this journey: To catch comedian James Gregory (one of our favorites) in Norfolk on Friday night; and to see Southern Culture On The Skids in the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Saturday night. And catch sights, sounds, and scenery in between.
Despite gray, rainy weather and major Friday/holiday weekend rush hour gridlock near Fredericksburg, VA (we sat in traffic for close to a full hour trying to exit onto I-95 South), we still arrived at our hotel accommodations in Norfolk with over an hour to spare before James Gregory’s nightcap show at the Comedy Zone. The Comedy Zone is actually part of an eatery/entertainment complex called the Waterside Festival Marketplace, featuring several nightclubs, a Hooters, an Outback Steakhouse, other restaurants and more; all overlooking Norfolk harbor. The friendly Comedy Zone staff seated us – get this – at the second table back from the center of the stage! And we experienced “Southern hospitality” firsthand, as people seated at the tables on both sides of us instantly introduced themselves, shook our hands and struck up friendly conversation before the show began! A good-sized crowd had filed in by the time the evening’s emcee took the stage. I didn’t catch this guy’s name, but he had two things quickly going against him; first, he made a halfwitted remark about our involvement in Iraq that didn’t sit well with the crowd; and a drunken patron started competing with the emcee for the audience’s attention, prompting the emcee to quickly bark out a warning to the offender to shut his hole. The emcee quickly introduced the opening comedian from Georgia, Vinnie Coppola. Vinnie too was plagued by the drunk, and several times lost his cool and admonished the offender, soon asking the Comedy Zone staff to reprimand or remove the guy. (They eventually did the latter.) Once the heckler situation was resolved, Vinnie got into the heart of his routine; his funniest material, at least for me, were his comments about Greyhound buses and his tirade against Olive Garden restaurants. Vinnie then made way for the man we came to see, James Gregory. I always liked his comedy routines on the “Bob & Tom” show (down South he appears frequently on Dixie’s version of “Bob & Tom,” “JohnBoy & Billy”), enough so that I bought his first album, “It Could Be A Law, I Don’t Know.” James didn’t disappoint this night, he quickly had me laughing hard at a lot of his observational Southern-edged humor. He mused about such topics as Ex-Lax (“…guaranteed to work while you sleep…I don’t want that! I want to be wide awake!”), Preparation H, La Quinta Hotels, road construction, the lottery, air travel (“Every time you get on a plane, no matter where you're flying, they'll tell you about a flotation seat; you want to make me happy, show me a seat that's going to bounce out of a cornfield. "), vegetarians (he bashed on them hard!), smokers, animal rights, soccer moms and obesity (his routine about his old fat aunt at Sunday dinner was classic!). Unlike the CD, though, with his live presentation we also witnessed James’ facial expressions while he progressed through his material, making his routine all the more funnier. James was a definite hit with the Comedy Zone audience (it was his first time there), and we got to meet him afterward at his merchandise table (I bought another CD, he also has several live videos available). Afterward, we perused the rest of the Waterside Festival Marketplace, where the nightlife was in full swing. It was mostly deejays, with the exception of Crocodile Rocks and their “dueling pianos” (we heard the piano player, with a bunch of drunken college-aged folks trying to sing along). Not interested in the deejay options, we called it a night and retired to our hotel.
Appearing tonight…
Vinnie Coppola at the Comedy Zone.
James Gregory at the Comedy Zone.
Once again, comedian James Gregory.
SATURDAY 4/19 – Day Two of our sojourn started out with a quick meal at Joe’s Crab Shack and a look at Norfolk harbor in daylight, before leaving Norfolk and heading to Virginia Beach to look around. Unfortunately, it was not beach weather this day; gray, windy, and temperatures in the upper 40’s/low 50’s. But there were still plenty of visitors along the beachfront boardwalk area, checking out the surf and gift shops. I got a laugh out of the “no swearing” signs (see pics below); we could use a few of them around here! We spent about an hour exploring the Virginia Beach waterfront, before leaving and heading to our Saturday night destination, North Carolina’s Outer Banks. We stopped and checked out the Border Station, a gas/convenience store/tourist trap situated directly on the Virginia/North Carolina border along Route 168. You can buy Virginia lottery tickets at a counter on the Virginia side of the line, then step over the line in the same store and purchase North Carolina lottery tickets on the Carolina side! We then proceeded to our hotel near Nag’s Head, rested up from our journey for a couple of hours before embarking on this night’s entertainment mission, Southern Culture On The Skids.
The Waterfront Festival Marketplace in Norfolk.
The Virginia Beach Fishing Pier.
Some monkeys near a wharf…Might this have inspired the “Spunky Dwarf’s” name?
If you visit Virginia Beach, remember, no swearing allowed…
Violation of the no-swearing ordinance will result in having your mouth washed out with Clorox!
Looks like some extra-terrestrial was having a bad day…
SATURDAY NIGHT 4/19 – Southern Culture On The Skids was performing Friday and Saturday night at the Port O’Call Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills. The cover charge for the show was $12; but if you ate dinner at the restaurant beforehand, you only paid $6. To ensure getting a seat, we got there early and took in the meal, finding it hard to believe that in such a nice restaurant, that fried chicken parts would be flying through the air later in the evening. (Actually, the main restaurant was in a separate room from the bar area where the band would be playing.) In any case, we ate and found seats in the upstairs balcony area, where we awaited Southern Culture On The Skids’ show. (We ran into SCOTS keyboard man Chris “Cousin Crispy” Bess in the restaurant earlier; he was happy to see the PA contingent in the house early.) As showtime neared, we positioned ourselves in front of the stage area, and at 11 PM the band took the stage and started the party! As expected, Southern Culture On The Skids performed their trademark brand of Southern-fried surf/country/rockabilly/boogie, mixing lots of established SCOTS favorites like “Too Much Pork for Just One Fork,” “Firefly,” “Liquored Up and Lacquered Down,” “Daddy Was a Preacher but Mama Was a Go Go Girl,” “King of the Mountain,” “Banana Puddin’” and more. Highlights included bassist Mary Huff – with farm animals, fencing and a tractor in her beehive hairdo this night – singing lead on “Nitty Gritty” and “Hittin’ on Nothing,” and Rick Miller’s fiery guitar distortion displays on the set closer “Jack the Ripper.” The nightcap set was even more raucous, kicking off with Mary calling her mother via cell phone from the stage, and getting the crowd to wish her a happy Easter! The music resumed with a new SCOTS song, “Mojo Box,” the title track of their new album due later this year. The group performed more favorites like “I Learned to Dance in Mississippi,” the Mary-fronted “House of Bamboo,” “Soul City,” and “Viva Del Santo!” (complete with masked wrestler). Then a number of ladies were welcomed onstage, and Cousin Crispy broke out the bucket of the Colonel’s chicken, and the feast was on for “Eight Piece Box.” Actually, only a few chicken pieces made it out into the crowd this night, several of the ladies were hungry and chowed down on the chicken themselves, or shared it with boyfriends at stagefront, grrr! The party then continued with the group’s mega-hit “Camel Walk,” and when the crowd quickly demanded an encore, SCOTS returned to do “Great Atomic Power” and another song to finish the night. After the show, we got to meet all four members of the band. Drummer Dave Hartman told us that he met two other groups of people from PA in the house this night, so we weren’t the only Pennsylvanians representing. I purchased a CD from Chris Bess’ side project, Noises Dad Makes,” entitled “All You Can Eat,” which Chris graciously autographed. We spoke with frontman Rick Miller, who gave us the exciting news that SCOTS will be touring with the Reverend Horton Heat this summer and fall (a Crowbar date is probably very likely). And last but not least, we caught up with Mary Huff, who helped “Big Jim” celebrate his birthday with a wild embrace and a free SCOTS T-shirt! It was yet another happy and raucous Southern Culture On The Skids party, and well worth the roadtrip to check it out!
Appearing tonight…
Rick Miller of Southern Culture On The Skids.
Again, Rick Miller of Southern Culture On The Skids. Believe it or not, this man possesses a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina!
Dave Hartman of Southern Culture On The Skids.
Showing squeezebox skills, Chris “Cousin Crispy” Bess of Southern Culture On The Skids.
Mary Huff of Southern Culture On The Skids.
Some ladies join the onstage excitement with Southern Culture On The Skids.
Rick and Mary of Southern Culture On The Skids.
Again, Dave Hartman of Southern Culture On The Skids. This man stands while he plays the drums, and doesn’t use a stool!
Again, Rick Miller of Southern Culture On The Skids.
With tractors and farm animals in her hair, Mary Huff of Southern Culture On The Skids.
Viva Del Santo! The spirit of the world-famous masked grappler stands on the left.
The “Eight Piece Box” chicken feast has begun…
The party continues onstage with Rick Miller and Southern Culture On The Skids.
Mary Huff wishes “Big Jim” Bandito a Happy Birthday!
SUNDAY 4/20 – After checking out of our hotel late Sunday morning, we caught breakfast at New York Pizza & Deli. Since we were in the neighborhood, we traveled inland to Hamilton, NC, to pay a visit to our friend, Ted Etheridge, and his Music Box Recording Studio. We caught some action at the studio this day, as local country/rockabilly band Mikele Buck & the Lost Cowboy Band were laying down tracks for their next album. The group seemed to be concentrating on getting the bass and drum tracks down, but sounded very sharp all around on the two tunes we observed them recording: “Close Enough to Paradise” and “Honky Tonkin’ with Me.” Ted seems to add new toys and state-of-the-art equipment each time we visit, we were again impressed by the studio and its relaxed atmosphere. If you’re contemplating a vacation in the Outer Banks and want to do some recording while you’re there, consider Music Box Studio in Hamilton. And tell Ted I sent you!
Under mood lighting, Mikele Buck and the Lost Cowboy Band record a song at Music Box Recording Studio.
The console at Music Box Recording Studio.
Ted Etheridge (right) mans the board while Mikele Buck and the Lost Cowboys record another track at Music Box Recording Studio.
Ted Etheridge reviews the just-recorded track at Music Box Recording Studio.
Ted’s miked drum kit at Music Box Recording Studio.
Microphones and guitars at Music Box Recording Studio.
Lots of wireless remotes, and Ted knows how to use them all at Music Box Recording Studio.
Part of the “Wall of Fame” in the lobby of Music Box Recording Studio.
Since “Big Jim” was staying a couple of extra days (he wanted to catch the Stone Sour/Powerman 5000 show in Norfolk on Tuesday), we headed back to his hotel room in Norfolk. We ate supper at a Lonestar Steakhouse, and then Sparky and I embarked on the trip back home. Anticipating heavy Easter holiday traffic on I-95, we held off leaving Norfolk until 8:30; a wise decision, as traffic was thinning out and it only took us 6 hours to get back to Altoona. (We missed the Poptart Monkeys at Pellegrine’s, oh well…) It was a well-needed weekend of R&R&R&R (Rest & Relaxation & Rock & Roll), and a good time was had by all. |
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