[Jim Price]

WEEK/WEEKEND RECAP 2/25/08

MT. CITY GRASS @ THE HITCHING POST, ALTOONA 2/20/08

After finishing up some work-related duties this night, I was up for some ‘grassin,’ so I headed to the Hitching Post to catch up on the latest with Mt. City Grass.

A slightly altered Mt. City Grass roster was in action this night, with the absence of John Stevens’ dobro presence, but a mandolin instead fleshing out the line-up, courtesy of Jeff Ziegler. I arrived during the group’s final set and watched as Jeff, singer/guitarist Denny Cerully, upright bass player Kate Cerully, guitarist Ed Decker and banjo player/singer Dean Berkhimer played traditional bluegrass standards and favorites. Denny introduced Dean to sing “Mountain Dew” as I arrived, and the group continued with renditions of “Rocky Top,” “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” “Salty Dog,” an audience request for the traditional “Little White Church,” Sid Campbell’s “This Morning at Nine,” “New York Town,” the night-ending rendition of “Fox on the Run” and more.

As always, Mt. City Grass all sounded in good form, with Jeff’s mandolin adding a slightly different dynamic to their presentation. The tunes were all provided with service and a smile, and the Hitching Post audience – kept slightly low this night due to cold temperatures and slightly icy roads – was unanimous in their approval.

THE O.C.B. @ 4D’S LOUNGE, ALTOONA 2/22/08

Another bout with wintry precipitation earlier this day relegated my evening live music plans to within the Altoona realm; and undecided which option I would choose, I drove past the 4D’s Lounge to check the marquee and see who was playing. Although Hello Vixen was advertised in the Altoona Mirror’s “Go” magazine, the marquee said “The O.C.B.” New band in town, I was there!

Based out of Mifflin and Centre Counties, The O.C.B. (Original Cover Band) features several names I’ve witnessed in action before. Lead singer Lexanne Berich and guitarist/singer Chad Caprio previously played together in Centre County party favorites Foxxy, bassist John Cimino has graced area stages in Hitchcock and Loudmouth, and George Powell has drummed for many projects on State College stages. Fleshing out the roster is another guitarist, Mike Mitchell.

I arrived just prior to the start of The O.C.B.’s second set. The O.C.B. soon resumed their musical activity with Fallout Boy’s ever-popular “Sugar We’re Going Down,” which started their mixture of a wide range of favorites. The group continued with Tom Cochrane’s “Life Is a Highway” and the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself,” before John sang lead on Weezer’s “Beverly Hills.” Lexanne continued singing lead on Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” and Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me,” before drummer George demonstrated his low-ranged Man-In-Black growl on “Folsom Prison Blues.” Chad sang the lead on Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl,” and the group continued the party with spins on Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy,” Sublime’s “Santeria” and No Doubt’s “Spiderwebs.” Chad then fronted the group again on a funky read of the Beatles’ “Come Together,” before The O.C.B. finished out the set with Poison’s “Talk Dirty to Me” and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

Although the road conditions were pretty miserable as I arrived at the 4D’s, a small audience was present and enjoying The O.C.B.’s performance, with a few folks even populating the Dees’ dance floor. I was enjoying what I witnessed so far. Lexanne continues to emerge into one of this region’s brightest singing talents; she was displaying some excellent voice, poise, stage presence and a lot of enthusiasm so far. Her sidemen were executing tightly as a whole and keeping the music and energy level constant.

With a few more folks arriving, The O.C.B. soon started into their third set, and performed favorites from Def Leppard, Buckcherry, Metallica, Guns N’Roses, Bryan Adams, Green Day, Violent Femmes, Nirvana, Billy Idol, and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ever-popular “Sweet Home Alabama” to close the show. They instigated a nice dance floor party during this set, and again kept the music and energy level constant, never giving the dancers reason to want to sit back down.

Despite the weather and bad roads, The O.C.B. passed their first Altoona test with flying colors, and won some fans with their performance this night. With an opening slot for Velveeta in this same room in nearly two weeks, chances appear good that this band could become a force on Altoona area stages in short order. A fun band!

Making their Altoona debut at the 4D’s, The O.C.B.

Lexanne Berich of The O.C.B.

The O.C.B., bringing the party to the 4D’s.

Lexanne Berich and John Cimino of The O.C.B.

Chad Caprio of The O.C.B.

Again, John Cimino of The O.C.B.

George Powell of The O.C.B.

Mike Mitchell of The O.C.B.

The party continues with The O.C.B.

More O.C.B.

John and Mike of The O.C.B.

Mike and Chad of The O.C.B.

Once again, Lexanne of The O.C.B.

The O.C.B. triggers dance floor action during their first Altoona visit.

One more time, Lexanne and John of The O.C.B.

THE COUNTRY OUTLAWS @ GLENN’S PLACE, CLAYSBURG 2/23/08

I had several interesting live music options to ponder this night; taking advantage of improved road conditions, I decided to head southward to Claysburg to spend the evening enjoying some old-school rebel country, courtesy of the first visit to Glenn’s Place by Huntingdon’s Country Outlaws.

The group was just wrapping up their first set as I arrived, and was finishing with a country-flavored spin on Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” sung as a duet by Angela Dodson and Charlie Hilderbrand.

Glenn’s was pretty packed as I arrived, and it took me a little while to find a vacant spot along one of the rear tables to view the band from. At least based on this huge crowd after one set, live country music was a popular item in Claysburg!

Soon The Country Outlaws returned for their second chapter of the evening. At this point, I noticed that the group had expanded by one member since the last time I saw them last summer. The group added a fiddle player, Melissa “Dread,” who would serve to flesh out their sound even more. True to their Country Outlaws monicker, the group opened the set with Hank Williams III’s “Crazed Country Rebel,” triggering a selection of traditional and rebel country favorites. The Outlaws followed with Dwight Yoakum’s “Guitars, Cadillacs & Hillbilly Music,” and mixed it up with other numbers such as Rodney Carrington’s “T—ties & Beer,” Joe Nichols’ “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” David Allen Coe’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” Waylon Jennings’ “Good Ol’ Boys” and more. Charlie did most of the singing during this set until towards the end, when Angela returned to the stage to display her smooth voice on a few songs, including a duet with Charlie on Johnny and June Carter Cash’s “Jackson” and Miranda Lambert’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”

Glenn’s Place remained packed, and the dance floor stayed busy through much of the set. Obviously the Country Outlaws’ first show at this venue was turning into a very successful one!

After the intermission, the Country Outlaws resumed the music, starting off their nightcap set with Johnny Cash’s “Cocaine Blues.” Charlie Daniels’ “Leave That Long-Haired Country Boy Alone” was next, followed by Waylon Jennings’ “Luckenback, Texas” and an Elvis Presley ballad. The Country Outlaws picked up the tempo with a rendition of Hank Williams III’s “Little Bit of Smoke,” followed by another Waylon hit, “White Lightning.” The group leaned into the southern rock side of the spectrum for the Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” before Charlie again demonstrated his impressive Johnny Cash groan on “Daddy Sang Bass.” The Outlaws returned to the Hank catalog for “I Saw the Light,” followed by two more Hank III numbers, “Dick in Dixie” and “Going Straight to Hell.” In between these latter two numbers, Charlie went on a brief tirade against the area’s amphibious country radio station, and how they won’t play traditional country numbers or give the Outlaws the time of day, despite their being one of this area’s rising country forces. After the last Hank III, Angela then returned to the stage, this time singing Lynn Anderson’s “Stand By Your Man,” Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight” and June Carter Cash’s “Jukebox Blues.” Angela and Charlie then dueted on Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” followed by two more Angela-sung numbers (whose titles I didn’t catch), and another duet performance, this time on Johnny’s “I Walk the Line” into “Cry Cry Cry.” After a slower country ballad, the Country Outlaws threw a curve ball at the Glenn’s audience to end the third set, gearshifting into a driving version of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven!” When the Claysburg audience demanded an encore, the Country Outlaws returned to do two more non-country numbers, this time showing off their surf chops on “Wipe Out” and another surf rock number. Wild!

This band just keeps getting bigger and better! The Country Outlaws do what they do very well, playing their traditional and rebel brand of country with confidence and swagger. Charlie still displays a deep and rich voice; and now fully acclimated into the group, Angela provides a clear and rangeful contrast, and blends very well with Charlie on their duets. New addition Melissa Dread adds another dimension to the group and gives further depth and flavor to their sound.

The Glenn’s audience clearly appreciated the Country Outlaws’ first visit there, and return performances in Claysburg are likely, based on the success of this night.

The Country Outlaws, making their first appearance at Glenn’s Place.

Charlie and Dave of the Country Outlaws.

Charlie Hilderbrand of The Country Outlaws.

Again, The Country Outlaws.

With Angela Dodson joining them onstage, The Country Outlaws.

Angela Dodson of The Country Outlaws.

The newest member of The Country Outlaws, fiddle player Melissa “Dread.”

Once again, The Country Outlaws.

Danny of The Country Outlaws.

Angela Dodson and Charlie Hilderbrand of The Country Outlaws.

One more time, The Country Outlaws.

SLACKER THEORY @ PELLEGRINE’S, ALTOONA 2/24/08

After wrapping up “Backyard Rocker” duties at the radio station, I headed to Pellegrine’s to see what was up with local modern rockers Slacker Theory.

Pelly’s had a good-sized crowd in the house as I arrived early in Slacker Theory’s second set. I soon found out that this would be bassist Paul Greiner’s last official night with the group, as he was joining up with This Calling, the new band featuring two other 4 Days Dirty alumni, guitarist/singer Joe Neary and drummer Justin Fair.

Paul, singer/guitarist Steve Danfelt, guitarist Dalton McDonald and drummer Rob Bonsell were doing their hard-edged take on Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran” when I arrived, and followed that up with a rocking version of “So Far Away.” The group continued with hard modern rock covers and an occasional original song along the way, including Maroon 5’s “Harder to Breathe” and Nickelback’s “Animal;” to close the set.

Slacker Theory’s nightcap set kicked off with Metallica’s “Sad But True,” and again featured hard modern rock favorites, including Breaking Benjamin’s “Polyamorous” and “So Cold,” Tool’s “Sober,” and at least one original number, “Shake.” Steve and Dalton closed out the night with a special dedication to a deceased friend, doing an acoustic original number called “Here’s to You.”

Slacker Theory gave a spirited performance, and kept a crowd of fans present on Pelly’s dance floor through much of the time I was there. This night showed that this group is catching on with the Pelly’s crowd, and should become a steady force on this Sunday night stage in the weeks and months ahead.

With some ladies dancing alongside them onstage, Slacker Theory.

Steve Danfelt of Slacker Theory.

Steve Danfelt and Paul Greiner of Slacker Theory.

Slacker Theory keeps Pellegrine’s dance floor busy.

Playing his final official show with Slacker Theory this night, Paul Greiner.

Several fans rock out in front of Slacker Steve.

Dalton McDonald of Slacker Theory.

Rob Bonsell of Slacker Theory.

Again, Slacker Steve.

Again, Dalton McDonald of Slacker Theory.

JP’s HAIKU

O.C.B. 4D’s
Guys and gal bring the party
Fun band – check them out!
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http://pamusician.net

[Jim Price]

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http://pamusician.net