[Jim Price]

WEEK/WEEKEND RECAP 8/30/04

ISSUES @ HERITAGE PLAZA, ALTOONA 8/25/04

It was a surreal sight…A band playing all original music in an outdoor venue in downtown Altoona on a Wednesday night, and a crowd of over 100 people sticking around and watching their performance. I pinched myself, I was indeed awake.

The band was Issues, and the setting was the free weekly Wednesday night Summer Concert Series at Altoona’s Heritage Plaza, presented by the Blair County Community Action Agency.

Issues, as you might recall, is the band project uniting former Cut The Mustard bassist Bob “Zorbo” Slovikosky and drummer Skip Fisher with Flight 19/Front guitarist/singer John McKelvey. Clarisse Ellis sings lead.

Able to get some of my usual Wednesday night day job workload out of the way earlier in the week, I arrived at Heritage Plaza midway through Issues’ first set, and found a mixed-ages crowd taking in the performance. The group played some milder-flavored modern-edged rock originals (according to John, they were saving their harder-rocking tunes for the nightcap set); including “Xotica,” “Frontlines of Love,” “On and On” and “Smooth Rollin.’” The songs were basic, guitar-driven modern rock rooted in the styles of 80’s era U2, The Cars, The Pretenders and others; distinguished by John’s ever-changing guitar textures, and Clarisse’s clear and rangeful vocal delivery.

During the intermission, the audience witnessed performances from two up-and-coming young musicians, Nikki Knepp and Don Hughes. Nikki sang, while Don played keys. The two began as a duet, performing the song “My Mortal;” here Nikki took the primary spotlight, displaying power, range, and passion in her delivery. After a dance group called Angel Wings performed their routine to some recorded music, Nikki and Don returned to perform solo. Nikki again showcased her voice on a song called “Tourniquet,” and Don performed his ‘trademark” piano medley of heavy metal songs from Dream Theater, Metallica, Guns’N’Roses and more. Don has performed this and similar medleys the past several years at Dennie Huber’s annual “Crazy Fest” Amateur Talent Show.

At this point, Issues returned to the stage area for their nightcap set; and as John McKelvey said, this set was a bit harder-edged and moodier in flavor. Among the songs performed during this set were the Clarisse-penned “Fly,” “Run From the Shadows,” “Neverland;” and edgy updates of two originals from the band members’ previous bands, The Front’s “Still the Rain” and Cut The Mustard’s “Cross That Line.”

Again, the performances were clean, sharp and focused. John’s guitarwork was edgier and more aggressive in this set, and Clarisse’s power, range and distinct vocal style was a key ingredient of Issues’ unique cutting-edge style and flavor.

Although there were a number of older folks in the audience, surprisingly almost everybody stuck around for most of the show. Although it was an isolated incident in the usually cover-song dominated Altoona music scene, it was still refreshing to see this audience hear Issues out, and applaud and appreciate the group’s original compositions. And once again, hat’s off to organizer Allan Robison and the Blair County Community Action Agency for providing the Summer Concert Series at Heritage Plaza; serving to bring some musical excitement to otherwise quiet and desolate downtown Altoona on a Wednesday evening.

Issues entertains at Altoona’s Heritage Plaza.

Providing the halftime entertainment, Nikki Knepp and Don Hughes.

ACID REFLUX @ RED CROSS BLOODMOBILE, JAFFA SHRINE, ALTOONA 8/26/04

Just as in the previous year, the Red Cross’ annual “Grateful Life Tour” culminated in one final “tour stop” bloodmobile, again at Altoona’s Jaffa Mosque. And once again, live music was included to keep the blood donors entertained. This day, Acid Reflux would provide the sounds.

More specifically, Dwane Edmiston of Acid Reflux. Bassist Matt Burns recently parted ways with Acid Reflux, and percussionist Lynn Endress wasn’t available to perform this day, so Dwane performed solo acoustic. As I was doing a live broadcast during this bloodmobile, I was able to witness the first hour of Dwane’s performance.

Unlike last year, this particular bloodmobile didn’t see a whole lot of attendance. Since blood donors can only donate blood once every 60 days, and because the earlier kickoff event, the Blair Media Blood Blitz, and other “tour” bloodmobiles were promoted more heavily; perhaps most interested blood donors had already donated during this “Grateful Life” tour and weren’t eligible to donate this day (including yours truly).

Still, Dwane entertained the few donors who did attend, plus the Red Cross volunteers, with tunes from the Eagles, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, America, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more. Dwane delivered it all with crisp guitarwork and solid voice, and his lighthearted, fun style. At one point, referencing the bar atmosphere he usually performs in, Dwane quipped to the onlookers, “Don’t forget to tip your blood-tenders!”

Due to day job duties, I had to depart after Dwane’s first set. But hat’s off to Dwane for donating his talents to entertain the few blood donors in attendance, and to keep the Red Cross staff entertained on what turned out to be a slow day.

Dwane Edmiston, giving blood donors a little bit of Acid Reflux.

THE BADLEES @ TUSSEY WING CHALLENGE, TUSSEY MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT near BOALSBURG 8/26/04

With the Lakemont Park Wing-Off’s having concluded the previous Thursday, I was off to Happy Valley to partake in the final chapter of that region’s wing-eating event, the Tussey Wing Challenge at Tussey Mountain Ski Resort. And for their final event this year, the folks at Tussey brought in one of this state’s biggest names, The Badlees, to send the Wing Challenge out with a bang.

I missed the opening band, Katsu, but heard from eyewitness accounts that they did a good job. A large crowd was on hand to get their last fill of wings for this outdoor Wing Challenge season. I procured my first dozen “buffalo original” wings from the Damon’s tent, and found an open picnic table space to observe The Badlees from. As with my previous Wing Challenge experience, I had to properly secure my wings on the downhill-slanting table so they wouldn’t slide off.

I again noted the benefits of the Tussey Wing Challenge over the last Lakemont Park Wing-Off; cheaper, bigger wings; shorter, faster-moving lines; no rancid chicken grease stench; and for entertainment, how can you go wrong with The Badlees? This would be my first chance to witness The Badlees following the departure of singer.guitarist Jeff Feltenberger to form Sweet Pea Felty earlier this year.

The group soon commenced their first set, kicking off with “Long Goodnight” off their Amazing Grace CD. The group followed with “Don’t Let Me Hide” off Up There Down Here, and the 1995 hit “Angeline Is Coming Home.” The Badlees remained with their 1995 River Songs album for “Bendin’ the Rules,” and then performed “Four Leaf Clover” from their last studio album, Renew. The group performed the popular “Gwendolyn,” did the title song from Renew, and finished up their set with their version of Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” from the CD Lit Riffs, the companion to the MTV book of the same name.

During the course of this set, I was joined by cohort Sparky D’Engineer, and we proceeded to sample various types of wings from the 5 different wing vendors – illustrating another benefit of the Tussey Wing Challenge; each dollar wing ticket entitles you to four wings, enabling you to sample more varieties without purchasing a huge quantity of wings you might not like. One of the more interesting wing flavors we sampled was Damon’s ‘raspberry habanero;’ on paper, this didn’t sound like a flavor combo likely to work; but it actually wasn’t bad – raspberry with a bite.

The wing sampling helped us pass the time during what turned out to be a lengthy intermission between Badlees sets, nearly 50 minutes. Eventually, though, The Badlees did resurface, resuming the music with “Hindsightseeing” from Renew. The group then drew applause from the Wing Challenge crowd by breaking out their other big hit, “Fear of Falling.” From their Diamonds In the Coal release, the group then did “Spending My Inheritance,” as a contingent of staffers from the Main Street Pub in Alexandria made their way to the stagefront area to dance, still clad in their wing sauce-coated cooking aprons. After this song, Badlees frontman Pete Palladino was offered some wings by the contingent, but politely deferred them to drummer Ron Simasek. Pete and the Badlees took advantage of the opportunity, though, and improvised a musical ode to wings and wing-eating. This was hilarious, with Pete creating the lyrics on the spot as the rest of the band played behind him. At one point, Pete even began singing in Latin! The band then got back to business, with multi-instrumentalist Bret Alexander fronting The Badlees on a version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.” Pete then introduced a new Badlees original, called “Annadyne;” this song was a slow-building, oceanic Badlees rocker in the vein of “Bendin’ the Rules” that evolved into an all-out crescendo by song’s end. At this point, The Badlees welcomed a special guest onstage; popular Happy Valley singer/guitarist J.R. Mangan, who sang “Happy Birthday” to a young lady named Kelly, celebrating her 16th. The Badlees then threw an interesting curve, breaking out a version of Johnny Horton’s “Battle of New Orleans.” The group then ended their Wing Challenge performance with “Little Big Man.”

As expected, The Badlees’ performance was strong. The group was instrumentally on the money; and Bret, Ron and bassist Paul Smith were crisp and tight on their performances. Frontman Pete was in good form, singing his words with power, style and passion; and demonstrating some quality harmonica wailing along the way. Jeff Feltenberger’s overall contributions on voice and instruments will be missed for sure; but the remaining Badlees proved that life goes on after Jeff, and their performance – outside of the long intermission – was still impressive.

I was again impressed by the Tussey Wing Challenge; and although this was the final one of 2004, I will make a point of taking in a few of these in 2005; especially if my hometown Wing-Off’s aren’t up to snuff.

The Badlees, entertaining younger and older fans alike at the Tussey Wing Challenge.

Again, The Badlees.

Bret Alexander of The Badlees.

Pete Palladino of The Badlees.

Ron Simasek of The Badlees.

Wearing wing sauce-coated aprons, the Main Street Café wing chefs groove to The Badlees.

Once again, The Badlees.

Paul Smith of The Badlees.

Again, Pete Palladino of The Badlees.

Again, Paul Smith of The Badlees.

One more time, The Badlees.

THE NIGHTCRAWLERS @ THE PHYRST, STATE COLLEGE 8/26/04

I was actually doing a Happy Valley doubleheader this night; and my game plan had me heading to downtown State College after the Tussey Wing Challenge to check in with The Nightcrawlers, performing their weekly Thursday show at the Phyrst.

The Nightcrawlers were just into their first set as I arrived, performing Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire.” The group already had some dancers in action in front of the stage area, and the Phyrst already had a decent mid-sized audience in the house. Singer/guitarist Noah Figlin, bassist Mike Leitzel, keyboardist/flute player Aeb Byrne and drummer Steve Arnold then kicked off a rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” with Noah and Mike soon engaging each other in some fiery instrumental passages. Next was The Nightcrawlers’ unique take on the Police’s “Roxanne;” after Noah would sing the verses, the group’s choruses were instrumental, with Aeb filling with some flavorful flute accompaniment – fresh and interesting! The group continued with a swing/boogie-flavored read of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising,” before ending their first set with a freewheeling original instrumental; this composition started out low-key, but evolved into a full-fledged funk/reggae/rock jam, featuring a bass solo from Mike and a flute solo from Aeb.

More people arrived at the Phyrst during the intermission, and a good-sized crowd had compacted their way into the venue by the time The Nightcrawlers were ready to start their second set. Like the first set, the second featured The Nightcrawlers blending several styles of music as they mixed original compositions with select cover material. Another instrumental original kicked off the set, followed by a version of Tom Petty’s “American Girl,” and Aeb belting out the lead voice on Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” which drew a number of fans onto the small stagefront dance floor area. The Nightcrawlers continued with a tasty treatment of Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing,” before Noah invited special guest Mark Ross onstage. Mark, former Queen Bee/Dusk Till Dawn and current Tyne & the Fastlyne guitarist, told the audience he had known Noah since Noah was five years old and played Little League shortstop; Mark then sang and played masterful guitar on Jimi Hendrix’s “Redhouse.” This was followed by The Nightcrawlers’ uptempo read of Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” and another original composition, “Desert Sun.” The group then again changed up direction by breaking out Southern Culture On The Skids’ “Camel Walk,” before ending the set with a new original composition (the title I didn’t catch).

The Phyrst continued to field a good-sized crowd, and The Nightcrawlers were keeping that crowd festive and happy with their upbeat performance and excellent musicianship. Each component of this group’s sound was contributing their own unique flavors to the mix, and the spotlight shifted between band members during the course of each song, with each getting their moments to shine.

The Nightcrawlers’ fun resumed in the third and final set, with a blues/reggae-flavored piece kicking off the set, followed by a completely unexpected rendition of Paul Simon’s “Graceland;” I had never heard a band cover this before! These two songs quickly drew a large number of fans onto the stagefront dance area; it looked almost like a mob scene! The Nightcrawlers then did another original, “Latin Groove,” which gradually shifted from an initial Latin/salsa vibe into a Traffic-styled sound, flavored by more tasty flute solo work from Aeb. The group welcomed another guest onstage, John Taylor, who sang lead on “Hey Joe.” The set continued with a rendition of another Police number, “Walking On The Moon,” with Noah doing his best Sting howl and Aeb again dazzling on flute. The group then ended the set with “Who Do You Love.” The Phyrst audience quickly hollered for more, and The Nightcrawlers responded with two songs; an uptempo, honky-tonkish number, and Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”

This was my first extended look at The Nightcrawlers’ roster at full-strength, and I was blown away! Musicianship and this group’s constant blending and shifting of styles were the highlights of this show. The Nightcrawlers provided frequent instrumental fireworks, from solo displays from Noah’s guitar and Aeb’s keys and flute, to improvised jamming, playing off one another, and smooth transitions from one flavor to another. The Nightcrawlers never stayed in one place musically for too long, which kept things interesting throughout the show. I also enjoyed the group’s fresh and eclectic song selection, from their adventurous original song arsenal to songs not frequently attempted by other groups. The vibe remained upbeat throughout the night, and you could tell these four musicians were having genuine fun with each other as they made music onstage.

This show offered clear evidence why The Nightcrawlers are rising fast in the State College music scene. I look forward to hearing the group’s debut CD, due out soon; and I hope to see these guys and gal spread their positive musical vibes to other neighborhoods across the region. If you like a band that offers musicianship and variety, and a different change of pace from the regular power pop/punk/nu-metal deluge, The Nightcrawlers are an avenue well worth exploring!

Noah Figlin of The Nightcrawlers.

Putting in a guest appearance on guitar and voice, Mark Ross.

The Nightcrawlers, entertaining at the Phyrst.

Once again, Noah Figlin of The Nightcrawlers.

Aeb Byrne of The Nightcrawlers.

Mike Leitzel of The Nightcrawlers.

Piping away on flute, Aeb Byrne of The Nightcrawlers.

Steve Arnold of The Nightcrawlers.

One more time, Noah Figlin of The Nightcrawlers.

THE GOOD RATS @ ST. CLAIR PARK, GREENSBURG 8/27/04

A well-known axiom of the music business is that for every band or artist who “makes it” to superstardom and mass popularity, many more do not. And the music industry landscape is littered with the bodies of bands and artists who came close to capturing the grail, but for whatever reason could not turn the corner and convert their career into superstardom or household name status.

Such a band, from the 70’s and early 80’s, was The Good Rats. First surfacing out of New York City in the late 60's, The Good Rats would eventually play some of the biggest stages in the rock music world – Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Hammersmith Odeon in England, and others; opening for names such as Kiss, Bruce Springsteen, Rush, Aerosmith, Meatloaf, Grateful Dead, Journey, Heart and more. Several of their albums even received rave reviews in Rolling Stone. But despite all of this, fate did not smile upon The Good Rats, and the group was never able to turn the corner to mainstream music popularity and success. As a result, the Rats proclaim themselves “the world’s most famous unknown band.” Singer Peppi Marchello has kept the Good Rats going to the present day, along the way turning the band into a family operation (not that it wasn’t before, Peppi’s brother, Mickey, played guitar in the group’s earlier heyday). His sons, Gene and Stefan, play guitar and drums respectively, while Dennis Perry plays bass.

Although the Good Rats aren’t in the lexicons of most of the world’s music listeners, I had heard of them. In fact, their name should be familiar to anybody who used to be a regular listener of WFBG-AM’s “All Night Album Rock” program in the late 70’s and early 80’s; as Steve Kelsey used to regularly play the Good Rats’ power anthem “Taking It To Detroit” as one of the more popular songs on the show. The song quickly became one of my favorites, and I used to request other Rats songs like “Local Zero” and “Mr. Mechanic” on the show’s “Instant Request” music trivia contest.

In doing preparation and research for my weekly Sunday night “Closet Chronicles” program on Q94 (featuring two hours of “lost” classics, album deep cuts, rarities, and music from more obscure names of the classic rock era – yeah, shameless plug!), I looked up the Good Rats’ website, www.goodrats.com, and discovered that the group periodically performed shows in Pennsylvania. Upon checking their schedule, my eyes bulged out when I discovered that the group was playing a FREE concert performance at St. Clair Park in Greensburg this night (two weeks removed from my discovery). With nothing else on the table for this night, I quickly decided – I was doing the roadtrip to see the current incarnation of The Good Rats!

This show was actually the finale of the city of Greensburg’s “Concerts In the Park” summer concert series at St. Clair Park’s Robertshaw Amphitheater – similar to the Summer Concert Series that the Blair County Community Action Agency stages at downtown Altoona’s Heritage Plaza, except the names are slightly bigger (besides the Rats, several bands from the Pittsburgh area performed during this past summer’s series). Admission was free, and attendees to the show were allowed to bring folding chairs and blankets to the concert. The Robertshaw Amphitheater has a nice-sized stage and concrete, circular bleacher seating. A small food concession was also open, which sold hot dogs, popcorn and refreshments.

As it was a free, community concert-like setting, a lot of senior citizens were in attendance. Knowing the hard-edged, Zeppelinesque rock the Good Rats did, I was wondering how many of these folks would be sticking around for the duration!

Promptly at 7 PM, a spokesman for “Concerts In the Park,” wearing a rat’s head, introduced the band, and the show began. The group opened with a pair of songs from their 1974 album Tasty, “Injun Joe” and “Back to My Music.” From their 1978 album Birth Comes To Us All, the Rats then did “School Days.” Armed with a baseball bat he air-jammed with, Peppi Marchello then introduced the jazzy title track to Tasty, admitting it wasn’t one of his favorite songs, but was always popular with fans. As he sang the tune, Peppi demonstrated some of his ‘best Jackie Gleason moves’ on the stage. Peppi then introduced one of the moments I was waiting for, my favorite Good Rats number, “Taking It To Detroit,” played back-to-back with “Does It Make You Feel Good” from the group’s 1976 album, Rat City In Blue. The Rats then performed the ballad “Man On a Fish” from Birth Comes To Us All, followed by another ballad, “Dear Self.” Peppi then introduced “Advertisement in the Voice” from Rat City in Blue, and Gene Marchello then fronted the group on a newer Rats original, “Park and Ride.”

At this point, rather than the band going on break, Peppi – who had open-heart surgery last November and turns 60 in December – stepped off the stage for a break and let the rest of the band perform several select cover songs. Gene, Stefan and Dennis performed solid versions of U2’s “Beautiful Day,” 3 Doors Down’s “Kryptonite,” Weezer’s “Hashpipe,” and Journey’s “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin,” during which Gene unleashed some scorching guitar solo work.

At about this point, noticing that only a few people were seated in the front row of the bleachers in front of the stage, I moved down to the front row, and sat directly in front of the band. As I would soon discover, the other occupants of the front row – like myself – were ‘in-the-know’ Good Rats fans who knew the group’s tunes and were calling out requests.

Peppi then returned to the stage and – now brandishing an inflatable guitar to air jam with – introduced two new songs; “Ashes to Ashes,” and the boisterous "World Party Anthem," both featured on the latest album by the Good Rats’ alter ego, Dum, called Play Dum. The group broke out another audience favorite from their 1978 album From Rats to Riches, “Coo Coo Coo Blues;” before Peppi inspired some audience participation. Before launching into the lighthearted number “Yellow Flower” from Rat City in Blue, the elder Rat coaxed various female members of the audience to join him in front of the stage. Although it took a few minutes, Peppi assembled a line of ladies as the band repeated the opening riffs of the song. Once the recruits were assembled, the Rats performed the song, with Peppi leading the ladies on a Rockettes-styled chorus line dance.

Peppi again stepped off the stage for another break at this point, and let his band take the spotlight for a few more cover numbers. Bassman Dennis fronted the Rats on the Police’s “Message in a Bottle;” and the group did versions of Incubus’ “Megalomaniac” and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication.” Peppi then returned to the stage, and the group proceeded with more Good Rats classics, doing “Fireball Express” from the Tasty album. At this point, Peppi solicited requests from the audience, and several of us in the front row began calling out our Good Rats favorites. Peppi heard my call for “Local Zero” and another fan’s request for “Mr. Mechanic;” both from the From Rats to Riches album, and the group honored both requests by playing them back-to-back. The Good Rats then played the ballad title track from Birth Comes To Us All. After this, a representative from “Concerts in the Park” (I think the same guy who wore the rat’s head earlier) stepped onto the stage and issued a proclamation recognizing several volunteers who helped out with this year’s concert series. The Good Rats then finished out the evening with three numbers: “The Hobo” and “Joey Ferrari” from the group’s self-titled 1968 debut album; and the serious ballad “Songwriter” from Tasty.

This was a fun show. The current edition of the Good Rats/Dum are solid players, whose execution was tight and powerful. The group could rock it out when they needed to, yet tastefully kept things mellow during the ballads and more lighthearted moments of the show. Peppi still has a good singing voice, and was an entertaining frontman who kept the show moving. It was gratifying to see the Rats performing old favorites like “Taking It To Detroit” and “Local Zero,” and it was also cool to discover that there were other fans who didn’t mind traveling in to see “The World’s Most Famous Unknown Band.” (I spoke to one fan who drove in from Pittsburgh to catch this show.)

Although a number of the older folks in attendance had already cleared out of the Robertshaw Amphitheater during the course of the show (not surprising), a number of fans still remained at show’s end, and came up to the stage to meet the band. I had brought along my vinyl copy of the From Rats to Riches album, and armed with a Sharpie, asked Peppi to autograph it. He looked a little surprised to see somebody bring a vinyl album up, but he graciously autographed it. I told Peppi that the Rats received airplay on Altoona radio back in the day, and mentioned that I was still breaking out their tunes now on “Closet Chronicles.” I then headed to the Rats’ merchandise table, where they cut me a deal on purchasing the new Play Dum CD and a Rats T-shirt. Now I can proudly say I’m the only person in Altoona wearing a Good Rats T-shirt!

The Good Rats will continue to be one of my obscure band “guilty pleasures;” I was glad I made the roadtrip to see this current incarnation of the group in action. And alongside Rush and Bob Dylan, I’m glad to say I finally got to see The Good Rats for the first time this year! According to a few “Concerts In the Park” representatives, a return visit from The Good Rats might be a possibility in future years; if so, I’ll be there, and I’ll bring my vinyl copy of Tasty with me this time!

I smell…err…SEE a rat, as this rodent introduces The Good Rats.

Taking the stage at Robertshaw Amphitheater, the Good Rats.

Once again, The Good Rats.

Peppi Marchello of the Good Rats gets a chorus line going.

The chorus line continues.

Again, the Good Rats.

Dennis Perry of the Good Rats.

Gene Marchello of the Good Rats.

With inflatable axe in hand, Peppi Marchello of the Good Rats.

Once again, the Good Rats.

Again, Peppi Marchello of the Good Rats.

Doubling as keyboard player and merchandise table staffer for the Good Rats this night, Dan Smiraglia.

Again, Gene Marchello of the Good Rats.

Jamming on the baseball bat and singing, original rodent Peppi Marchello of the Good Rats.

Again, Gene Marchello of the Good Rats.

Again, Dennis Perry of the Good Rats.

Stefan Marchello of the Good Rats.

One more time with feeling, the Good Rats.

NO ANGELS @ ALDO’S, ALTOONA 8/27/04

After leaving St. Clair Park, I purchased a local Greensburg newspaper from a vending machine and looked to see if there was any other live music activity happening at one of this town’s nightspots. Although I passed a Greensburg live music venue, Scooby’s, on the way into town, there was no entertainment scheduled there, nor anywhere else in Greensburg’s night scene this night. I entertained the notion of driving to Pittsburgh and exploring the Strip District, but being by myself, I decided against it. I instead made the return trip to the ‘Toona, and headed straight to Aldo’s to catch my first look at new local acoustic duo No Angels.

It was another quiet Friday night at Aldo’s, with only a sparse audience in attendance as I arrived during No Angels’ second set. Singers/guitarists Todd Lane and Ross Hoover were playing an interesting selection of classics from Emerson Lake & Palmer, Seals & Crofts, Peter Frampton, CCR, and versions of Bad Company’s “Crazy Circles” and Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” to finish the set.

Ross, formerly of the bands Network and Mainstreet from several years ago and a present member of the Classic Cats, sang most of the lead vocals, while Todd handled most of the guitar intricacies and solos. As a duo, the pair complemented each other well and maintained a smooth flow through their set. Although the audience was tiny, it was appreciative of their efforts.

The pair’s final set continued in much the same vein, mixing acoustic rock and folk-rock classics from Gregg Allman, Bob Dylan, Bad Company, Pink Floyd, Cat Stevens, Grateful Dead and more. Again Ross sang most lead vocals, with Todd voicing renditions of Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers Guns and Money” and Buddy Holly/the Rolling Stones’ “Not Fade Away.” The pair finished the night with one newer song, Creed’s “Higher.”

A humorous highlight occurred during this final set out at Aldo’s main bar. Quiet, sleepy Friday night at Aldo’s that this was, owner Aldo himself nodded off while sitting at his usual roost near the arcade games. Rich the bartender noticed this, and midway through No Angels’ last set, took a portable siren alarm and set it off next to Aldo, making Aldo do almost a vertical leap from his slumber! This brought a round of laughs from throughout the bar and band room.

No Angels did a good job onstage this night, even if there were few people at Aldo’s to witness it. Add this name to the growing list of talented Altoona area acoustic acts making the rounds, and watch for No Angels at your favorite acoustic hangout.

Ross Hoover of No Angels.

Todd Lane and Ross Hoover, definitely No Angels.

VELCRO FLY @ CITY LIMITS, ALTOONA 8/28/04

The marquee outside City Limits may have said “Velcro Fly – ZZ Top tribute;” but inside City Limits, there was a touch of “Ozone” in the air…

As singer/guitarist Bob Mulhbauer explained onstage, this show actually started out to be just a small friendly get-together jam between Bob, Banditos bassist/singer Bill Nusom and drummer Henry Randazzo – who, you may recall, were the core line-up of popular Buffalo-based ZZ Top tribute band The Ozone Rangers during the late 80’s and a good part of the 90’s. But the idea snowballed into a Saturday night show at City Limits. But, apparently wanting to keep this show as a simple get-together jam instead of a full-blown Ozone show, the group and club advertised the show as “Velcro Fly.”

City Limits was relatively empty as the show got under way; but a few “in the know” old-school Ozone Rangers fans were there and ready to celebrate, as well as a contingent from the Hitching Post. During the first set, the three musicians – after not playing together for a few years – jammed out on a variety of classic and blues rock covers. But it didn’t take long for that old spark to ignite, and by mid-set, the jams and onstage fun picked up in intensity, and you could tell these musicians were enjoying themselves. Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally,” Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music,” and the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” all got a hearty workout; and the group reprised their popular merger of Grand Funk Railroad’s “Some Kind of Wonderful” with a Uriah Heep “Stealin’” midsection. The fun continued on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Gimme Three Steps;” before the group got bold and broke out an original song from the Ozone days (I still do not know the title of this tune!), before giving the slow dancers in the house some quality floor time with Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” to end the first set.

The trio’s second set was the ZZ Top tribute phase of the show. The trio jammed out on an entire set of ZZ, starting with “Waiting for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago,” and proceeding with “Beer Drinkers and Hellraisers.” Bob broke out a pair of shades for “Cheap Sunglasses,” and the group picked up the tempo with “Got Me Under Pressure” and “Pearl Necklace.” ‘Velcro Fly’ again slowed the tempo for the slow dancers with “Rough Boy.” (I even got pulled onto the dance floor for a slow dance, a rarity!) The action escalated with the 80’s ZZ Top triple-shot “Gimme All Your Lovin,’” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Sleeping Bag,” with Bob and Bill reprising their choreographed ZZ Top sidestep moves onstage. The ZZ Top fun continued with “Just Got Paid,” “Tube Snake Boogie,” “Tush,” “I Thank You,” “Legs” and “La Grange” to end the set. As the set proceeded, the musicians seemed to be having more and more fun, and resurrecting aspects of the Ozone Rangers’ heyday, such as Bob playing beer bottle and Jack Daniels bottleneck slide guitar on several numbers.

This ZZ Top set ended relatively late, and with only a small audience present, I figured the show was over and retreated to City Limits’ main bar area to shoot the breeze with proprietor Claudio. But ‘Velcro Fly’ wasn’t finished, and at 1:30 commenced their final set, reprising their trademark Ozone Rangers kitchen sink ‘medley from hell.’ As they used to do as the Ozone Rangers, Bob, Bill and Henry strung together a nonstop medley of everything, including the kitchen sink – segueing and fusing together snippets from (and I will list them all, since I was the only person crazy enough to write them all down to begin with…) CCR’s “Fortunate Son,” T.Rex’s “Get It On,” AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” Bob Seger’s “Her Strut,” Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Night,” Robert Palmer’s “Bad Case of Loving You,” Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath,” Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2,” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” Grateful Dead’s “Truckin,’” the Surfari’s “Wipe Out,” Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully,” James Brown’s “I Feel Good,” Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” Alice In Chains’ “Man in the Box,” Elvis Presley’s “Little Sister,” Stevie Wonder’s “Signed Sealed Delivered (I’m Yours),” War’s “Low Rider,” and – (deep breath here) – Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild.” NINETEEN SONGS IN ALL! Timewise, this medley pushed closing time enough that Claudio was starting to show some concern. But the small dance floor crowd stuck around for the duration of this wild medley, celebrating Ozone memories to the end!

It may have lacked the bells, whistles, strobes and other gloss that embellished Ozone Rangers shows of the past, but this night featured the most important element – these three musicians kicking back and having a good time. They hadn’t played together for a few years, and there were a few rust spots in the early going. But as the night progressed, the happy vibes onstage permeated the room, and this turned into a good-time, Ozone Rangers revival!

Bob Muhlbauer of Ozone…err…Velcro Fly.

Velcro Fly celebrates ZZ Top rock and roll at City Limits.

Bill Nusom of Velcro Fly.

Henry Randazzo of Velcro Fly.

Playing Jack Daniels slide, Bob Muhlbauer of Velcro Fly.

Once again, Velcro Fly.

Bill Nusom and Bob Muhlbauer of Velcro Fly.

Doing some ZZ two-steppin,’ Bill Nusom and Bob Muhlbauer of Velcro Fly.

Once again, Bill Nusom and Bob Muhlbauer of Velcro Fly.

GREATER PITTSBURGH RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL near NEW STANTON 8/29/04

Although not music related, this day I made my annual pilgrimage to the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival near New Stanton. I assembled an entourage for this trek, including Sparky D’Engineer, and – making his first-ever visit to the Renaissance Festival – the Right Honorable Guv’nor Jesse. Jesse, making his first trek into medieval times – this was going to be interesting!

Arriving at mid-afternoon, we made our entry onto the festival grounds, and took in the sights of various folks – actors and attendees – decked out in their best medieval garb. We came upon a juggler (I believe “El Bonko the Outrageous”), doing what Jesse termed “stupid human tricks.” We watched him for a few minutes, and proceeded to the archery area, where we demonstrated our best abilities to propel arrows into the ground to impale unsuspecting earthworms. We visited the concession stand, where I again feasted on my favorite menu item at this event, the huge-as-hell smoked turkey drumsticks – these things are so damned large, I’d almost suspect they are using ostriches instead!

Shortly after this was when we were first accosted by the rose lady. A young maiden was huckstering roses, and doing her darnedest to sell them to us. Since none of us had significant others to present roses to, the maiden was essentially wasting her breath on us, but continued her passionate pleas for us to buy her roses. She was actually quite skillful in her art of persuasion, but we still weren’t budging on the offer. Eventually, Jesse told her that if she hooked up with us later on, we would purchase from her. This prompted her to let us go for the time being, and bought us some time to devise our own strategy.

We then took in the Sheriff &Feck Mud Show, a hilarious highlight from past Renaissance Festivals. It was a simple but funny concept – three actors cracking medieval jokes and riddles about each other, with audience participation, and each gag resulting in one of the three taking a mud bath. I was even picked out of the audience to help with the sentencing of one of the actors to his fate, sending him to a muddy fate via “Death by Led Zeppelin.” (You had to be there to appreciate how this came about, but it was hilarious!) We watched the duration of the show, and were impressed enough by the mud show that we tipped the actors at the end of it.

We proceeded to do our lap around the Renaissance Festival grounds, arriving at the “King’s Field of Honor” to check out the full contact jousting. As we awaited the joust to begin, the rose lady returned, and we rewarded her for her huckstering efforts – cheap asses that we were, we collectively purchased one whole rose from her! She looked a little peeved, but considering we had no one to buy roses for, she at least got a sale out of us!

We watched the joust, and proceeded to another highlight of the Festival to watch the glassblowing demonstration. Jesse then purchased a huge medieval blade weapon (the vendor selling it had to carry it to our vehicle, as the carrying of weapons by attendees wasn’t permitted on the festival grounds). By this time, it was the end of the day, so we watched the closing ceremonies, and departed the grounds.

Again, the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival was a good time, and worth the road trip to check out. The festival survived its first encounter with Guv’nor Jesse, and it’s likely we will be back to terrorize this event again next year.

El Bonko the juggler at the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival.

Playing with fire, El Bonko.

Guv’nor Jesse is not impressed…

Guv’nor Jesse observes as yours truly demonstrates the ability to defoliate turkey drumsticks as efficiently as I do buffalo wings on Monday nights…

Guv’nor Jesse demonstrates his archery skills.

Yours truly, taking aim…

The new 3 Musketeers…Sparky, Guv’nor Jesse and yours truly.

I’m not impressed with Guv’nor Jesse’s archery abilities…

The victor cracks the whip at the end of the “Human Chess” match.

Taking a dirt bath, an actress accepts her fate during the Mud Show.

Yours truly, tipping one of the mud-coated actors following the Mud Show.

Guv’nor Jesse shows off our purchase from the Rose Lady.

Another highlight of the Renaissance Festival, the glass blower in action.

GREEN EGGS @ PELLEGRINE’S, ALTOONA 8/29/04

Upon arriving back in the ‘Toona from my Pittsburgh sojourn, I headed to Pellegrine’s to catch the latter half of Green Eggs’ performance.

Although a decent-sized crowd had amassed at Pelly’s, nobody was dancing to Green Eggs late in the second set. But seasoned, hard-calloused vets that this band’s members are, they kept trying different sounds to see what spark would ignite this Pelly’s crowd into party mode. Eventually, it was rap and hip-hop that drew the first dance floor participants of the night, and soon a sea of ladies was in front of the stage and grooving as the second set drew to a close.

During the intermission, I learned that longtime Green Eggs sound engineer Jeff Rittenhouse was “retiring” from the Green Eggs organization, to devote his attentions to running the in-house sound systems at the Hardware Bars in Harrisburg and York, and Shakey’s in Hershey. “Rit” cited age and road fatigue as factors in the decision, explaining that he often spent 14 or more hours a week driving with Green Eggs. He will still get to run sound for the group, as they regularly perform at all three venues where he will be working. But as “Rit” simply put it, “It’s time!”

Soon Green Eggs returned to the stage, and proceeded with what worked before; resuming with some urban-flavored sounds that drew some ladies back onto the dance floor. As the group continued with Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun,” the dancefloor action intensified, and a good-sized crowd had gathered on the floor. The group mixed more rap-geared and modern rock sounds, from House Of Pain, Vanilla Ice, Beastie Boys, Cameo’s “Word Up,” John Mellencamp, Puddle Of Mudd, some more urban sounds, and Danzig’s “Mother” to end the set. The Pelly’s dancefloor crowd, now wide awake and attentive, wanted one more song, so Green Eggs finished the night with Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.”

Although it took longer than usual to break the ice with the Altoona audience this night, Green Eggs succeeded in finally waking up the crowd and turning the night into a party. Closing in on their first decade on Northeastern stages, Green Eggs has seen enough nights like this; and confidently figured out which buttons to push to get this crowd going. Experience pays off once again.

Green Eggs, partying down at Pellegrine’s.

Brad Nicarry of Green Eggs.

Once again, Green Eggs.

Steve Nelson of Green Eggs.

Once again, Steve Nelson of Green Eggs, with partying fans.

Gary Bailey and “retiring” Green Eggs sound engineer Jeff Rittenhouse.
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