Jim Price
Moderator
Joined: 07 Dec 2002
Posts: 4817
Location: Altoona, PA
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 Posted: Friday Jun 13, 2008 |
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WEEK/WEEKEND RECAP 3/6/06
RON & ADAM @ THE BELMAR HOTEL, ALTOONA 2/28/06 (SUPER FAT TUESDAY PARTY)
Ron Dalansky and Adam D reconvened their weekly Tuesday night appearances at the Belmar Hotel, starting things back up this night, Super Fat Tuesday.
I arrived early in their performance, and witnessed the party unfold as the pair alternated singing duties over the course of a nonstop variety of favorites from the 70’s to present. Their song selection was interesting, ranging from Adam- fronted renditions of Fuel’s “Hemorrhage,” Bon Jovi’s “Blaze of Glory” and Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen” to Ron fronted versions of Five Man Electrical Band’s “Signs,” Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” John Mellencamp favorites like “Hurts So Good” and “Pink Houses,” and more. The pair also did duet versions of several favorites, notably Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” Shinedown’s “45,” Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and more. Adam also broke out some of his “lounge against the machine” takes on classics; this night including lounge-flavored spins on Bush’s “Comedown,” Green Day’s “Basketcase,” Labelle’s “Lady Marmalade” and the B-52’s “Love Shack.” There were other comic moments as well, such as Adam’s vibrator ringtone going off right in the middle of his rendition of Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling,” the pair suddenly breaking into Roy Orbison’s “Oh Pretty Woman” each time an attractive young lady walked past, a comic adaptation of “Sweet Home Alabama” and more.
It was all good nonstop fun; with both musicians switching off on lead vocal duties, one could take a break while the other sang, so there was no stoppage in the music for the entire night. The pair had fun, never taking themselves too seriously. This fun rubbed off on the Belmar audience, who cheered and yelled out requests along the way. Adam summed up the experience by stating, “It’s always nice to be among friends, even if they’re somebody else’s.”
Ron Dalansky of Ron & Adam.
Adam D of Ron & Adam.
Ron & Adam.
An audience member takes his turn behind Adam’s keys.
THE SYRINS @ ZACH’S, ALTOONA 3/2/06
After hearing a number of rave reviews about them, I finally had my first opportunity to see young Altoona-based classic rockers The Syrins, performing this Thursday night at Zach's in Altoona. Four members strong, The Syrins feature Chris Conrad on drums and vocals, Tom Fronauer (whose Dad, Tom Sr., also plays locally in the band The Silencers) and Ryan Furry on guitars and vocals, and Mike Furry on bass guitar and vocals. All four band members are in their late teens or early 20's.
But unlike the norm for folks in this age group, The Syrins didn't play punk, hardcore, emo, screamo, rap, hip-hop or other sounds associated with the current MTV generation; these guys did CLASSIC ROCK, and did it very well! Through the latter half of their show I witnessed, The Syrins did classics from Dire Straits, Grand Funk Railroad, ZZ Top, Kinks, Beatles, Steve Miller Band, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company and more.
Although all four band members were not yet born when most of their set list was first on the charts, their instrumental and vocal execution of these classic rock gems was dead on the money! Two songs especially floored me...Their version of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Draggin' the Line," where the group demonstrated perfect three-part vocal harmony and even had the low-end vocal part down pat; and their take on The Kinks' "All Day And All of the Night," where the group accurately captured the rawness and fury of the Kinks original. Needless to say, I was quite impressed with my first look at The Syrins, and I highly recommend fans of classic rock check these guys out!
The Syrins, performing at Zach's in Altoona.
Tom Fronauer of The Syrins.
Ryan Furry of The Syrins.
Mike Furry of The Syrins.
PLAZMA @ CITY LIMITS, ALTOONA 3/2/06
With The Syrins’ show wrapping up by midnight, I had time to catch some more live music in town, and thus proceeded to City Limits to catch the remainder of Plazma’s weekly jamming adventure.
It was a relatively quiet night at City Limits, with just a few folks in attendance to witness the musical meanderings of Dustin Burley on guitar and vocals, Brian Pavlic on bass and Kyle Kovach on drums. Again, the trio infused a wide selections of songs into grooves and jamming interludes. I didn’t recognize much of the material I heard; out of the seven songs I witnessed, the only one I knew was Spin Doctors’ “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues.” But it was still enjoyable, as the trio kept it loose and fun.
Plazma, embarking on another musical adventure at City Limits.
Kyle Kovach of Plazma.
Brian Pavlic of Plazma.
THE DESPERADOES @ THE WHITE LADY TAVERN, BUCKHORN 3/3/06
I remember a night a few years ago, when I went to see the Desperadoes play in Johnstown. It was a Sunday night, sometime in the mid-90’s (pre-“Backyard Rocker”). It was either in late March or early April. The Desperadoes were doing a weekly Sunday night show at Ejay’s Tavern in Moxham, and I decided to go check it out. The weather forecast this night called for “a chance of flurries,” so I figured it sounded safe enough to give it a go. I encountered no snow on the way to the show. I arrived early in the second set, and watched the Desperadoes do what they do, fielding requests from the audience and playing them. They went on break, and I chatted with the band and a few friends. Then the group got back on stage for the third set. The first words out of frontman/guitarist Mark Middleton’s mouth were, “Well, it’s snowing…just like Accu-Weather said it would!”
I shuddered and said to myself, “WHAT!!??,” and wheeled around in my chair to look out the window. Sure enough, Mark was right, it was snowing. I looked out, and the snow wasn’t yet laying on the streets. But by the time I reached Route 219, a good 2 inches of snow was covering the highway, and I was on pins and needles crawling on the drive home, afraid of skidding off Routes 219 and 22. From that point on, I have been very cautious about driving over the mountain into Cambria County this time of year.
This night, the forecast was for “a chance of flurries.” The Desperadoes were playing up the mountain, at the White Lady Tavern in Buckhorn. The opportunities to catch up with the Desperadoes and check out a room I hadn’t been in before were enough to make me take the chance and drive up the Buckhorn. Sure enough, it snowed.
This was my first time venturing into the White Lady Tavern since the new owners took over the former UR Dalite Inn. I was in this room only once before, a long time ago, when UR Dalite first opened back in the 90’s. They only ran live music very sparingly, so there were not many opportunities for me to catch music there again. But the White Lady started running bands on Friday nights and some Saturdays, and appeared poised to be a new hotspot for live band entertainment.
This night, though, the combination of cold temperatures, wind, and the general malaise associated with Friday nights in our region nowadays resulted in only a minimal turnout for the Desperadoes’ performance. Too bad, because this veteran trio was delivering the goods!
Singer/guitarist Mark Middleton, bassist Mike “Soupy” Suppes and drummer Harold Knapenburger were in the midst of Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf” when I arrived. As they always do, the Desperadoes fielded requests from the audience, and made up their set by honoring those requests as they went along. Although the last figure I heard was that this band knew some 800 songs, I suspect that library is even bigger, because even when the group received a request for a song they didn’t know, they pieced it together on the spot and nailed it! This was evidenced after “Sweet Leaf,” when somebody yelled up a request for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Workin’ for MCA.” The three musicians huddled briefly to agree on the chords and arrangement, and then proceeded to smoke the house on a song they never played before! Led Zeppelin was a popular request item during this set, so the Desperadoes finished out the set with a double-shot of Zeppelin, doing “All My Love” and The Ocean.”
After the intermission, the Desperadoes returned for the nightcap set, opening with Weexer’s “Hashpipe.” Three couples then populated the White Lady’s dance floor as the group went into Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” When somebody yelled out a request for Grand Funk Railroad’s “Are You Ready,” the Desperadoes – admitting they did not know the song – again converged briefly onstage to plot atrategy, then not only attempted the song, but smoked it! Then was my favorite display of the night, when one audience member yelled out the name Robin Trower...The Desperadoes teased the ending of Trower's "Too Rolling Stoned," before Mark rang out several distortion chords on his guitar, signifying the beginning of "Bridge Of Sighs!" Mark nailed down Trower's guitar sound so accurately, that if you closed your eyes, you could swear it was Trower in the house and blazing away! The group continued to honor requests, doing Humble Pie’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” Rainbow’s “NMan on a Silver Mountain, songs from Neil Young and Johnny Winter, Black Oak Arkansas’ “Hot Rod,” and to finish the night, Uriah Heep’s “Stealin.’”
While the winter weather sucked and the audience was small, this was an excellent time! The Desperadoes played every song they tackled with fire and vigor. They showed me this night that they still kick maximum butt! More people should have been in the house to witness this show!
The Desperadoes, performing at the White Lady Tavern.
Mark Middleton of The Desperadoes.
Mike Suppes of The Desperadoes.
Harold Knapenberger of The Desperadoes.
Again, The Desperadoes.
HELLO VIXEN @ THE WHITE LADY TAVERN, BUCKHORN 3/4/06
Two nights in a row my live music destination was The White Lady Tavern up at the top of the Buckhorn, this time to get my first look at a band I had been hearing some early buzz about, Hello Vixen. This group only came together three months ago, when drummer Steve Holtz parted ways with Third Standard and hooked up with former members of Paco’s Virus. The group quickly gelled, and was taken under the wing of regional party rock giants the Giants Of Science, who allowed Hello Vixen to open a few shows for them. The openers quickly have built a following, and this night at the White Lady Tavern would be the group’s first full gig.
Road conditions were much improved this night, and I arrived midway through Hello Vixen’s first set. Unlike the night before, the White Lady was doing booming business, with a large crowd of happy folks taking in the party. Steve, singer Mark Simanski, lead guitarist Bill Maguire, rhythm guitarist Brian Simanski and bassist Justin Brown started into Lustra’s “Scotty Doesn’t Know,” and finished out their first set with Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny,” the Me First & the Gimme Gimmes’ punk rocking take on “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane,” and Modern English’s “Melt with You.”
Their second set quickly picked the energy back up, as Hello, Vixen did songs from the Offspring, Presidents of the United States of America, Weezer, Green Day, Laid, Sublime, Proclaimers, Blink 182 and more. I was very impressed with this band’s bounce-off-the-walls energy; especially Mark, who constantly bounced about the stage and even ventured out through the dance floor crowd, while his bandmates kept the tempo and pace fast and tight.
Hello, Vixen kicked off their nightcap set with an original song, “You Can’t Sing a Song You’ve Never Heard;” before continuing with favorites from the Ramones, Romantics, Harvey Danger, Green Day, Puddle of Mudd, Fallout Boy and more. The group worked in an urban twist, playing a medley fusing together Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” and House Of Pain’s “Jump Around.” And the group got the crowd rowdy with their shout-along rendition of Bouncing Souls’ “Ole.” The crowd remained rowdy enough through the end of the night that they demanded an encore, which Hello, Vixen responded to with Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy.”
Based on what I witnessed this night, I predict that Hello, Vixen’s rise to regional party force prominence is imminent! These guys delivered a fun, action-packed, adrenalin-rush party that left fans excited and exhausted by night’s end!
Firing up the party, Hello, Vixen.
Mark Simanski of Hello, Vixen.
A packed dance floor crowd looks on as Hello, Vixen rocks the White Lady Tavern.
Brian Simanski of Hello, Vixen.
Steve Holtz of Hello, Vixen.
Again, Hello, Vixen and a happy crowd.
Again, Steve Holtz of Hello, Vixen.
Again, Mark Simanski of Hello, Vixen.
Mark Simanski, Justin Brown and Bill Maguire of Hello, Vixen.
Bill Maguire of Hello, Vixen.
The Hello, Vixen party continues.
Once again, Steve Holtz of Hello, Vixen.
The crowd cheers “Ole!” as Hello, Vixen plays Bouncing Souls’ “Ole.”
Again, Brian Simanski of Hello, Vixen.
A lady joins Mark Simanski and Hello, Vixen onstage.
The party continues with Hello, Vixen.
One more time, Hello, Vixen and their fans.
FELIX & THE HURRICANES @ THE HITCHING POST, ALTOONA 3/5/06
After they helped me celebrate the 8th anniversary of Q94’s “Backyard Rocker” on air, I followed Felix & the Hurricanes to the Hitching Post to continue the party!
Shortly after arriving, I witnessed a rarity…As the Hurricanes started into a rendition of “Texas Flood,” Felix and Jeff were playing in different keys! This is apparently what happens when the Post runs out of Wild Turkey! The group continued to entertain the large and festive crowd through this set with tunes from the Allman Brothers, Ted Nugent, John Michael Montgomery and more, as well as the ‘Canes original “Walking a Straight Line.”
The Hurricanes’ nightcap set started up late, and thus was a short set. The group kicked off with Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” and continued with Los Lonely Boys’ “Heaven,” before guest Loren Johnson stepped up to the stage to demonstrate her powerful pipes on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.” The group then finished up the night with the pairing of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “House Is a Rockin’” into Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “ballad of Curtis Loew.”
What I caught of the Hurricanes’ party successfully continued the upbeat vibes started on the “Backyard Rocker” Anniversary Special. Thanks to the ‘Canes for again helping me celebrate the show, and for providing a fun after-party!
Bob Watters and Jeff Clapper of the Hurricanes.
Hurricane Felix.
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