[Jim Price]

WEEK/WEEKEND RECAP 11/21/05

BLIND JONNY DEATH/.00 BUCK @ THE HITCHING POST, ALTOONA 11/16/05

I was able to arrange to get my usual heavy Wednesday workload out of the way early this week, enabling me to escape early this night to catch the Americana doubleheader at the Hitching Post, featuring Blind Jonny Death and the debut of .00 Buck. My original purpose in getting this night freed up was so I could interview Blind Jonny Death for their forthcoming cover story in the December issue of Pennsylvania Musician; when .00 Buck was added to the bill, it worked out even better!

A good-sized crowd was already assembled and seated at the Hitching Post as .00 Buck started. Singer, guitarist, lap steel, mandolin and harmonica player John Stevens, upright bass player Tim Kelly and guitarist/singer Brian Cupples opened the night with Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road,” and proceeded to perform early and old-school country – in other words, the REAL stuff – from Hank Williams Jr. and Sr., Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, George Jones, Dwight Yoakum and more. This wasn’t tear-in-your-beer country; this was the rebellious stuff; like Buck Owens’ “Tiger By the Tail,” George Jones’ “Race Is On” and “White Lightning,” Junior Brown’s “Highway Patrol,” Hank Sr.’s “Kaw-Liga” and “Jambalaya,” Hank Jr.’s “Family Tradition,” Dwight Yoakum’s “Guitars, Cadillacs,” Roger Miller’s “King of the Road” and more. Their first night debuting in this new endeavor, you could sense some initial nervousness and apprehension by these three musicians; but the nerves dissipated as the audience cheered more and more after each song, and one frisky group seated near the back of the room even started pounding the tabletop to keep the beat. .00 Buck’s first test run was a successful one, and boded well for the group’s ‘official’ entry into the area music scene a few weeks later.

Just bucking around on a Wednesday night, John Stevens of .00 Buck.

.00 Buck, giving their test run performance at the Hitching Post.

The Hitching Post remained crowded during the intermission, as fans stuck around to enjoy the forthcoming “hellbound hayride” courtesy of Blind Jonny Death.

With John Stevens remaining onstage to perform on lap steel, Blind Jonny Death soon began the first of their two sets, starting with “Tell It To Me” from Old Crow Medicine Show. The “hellbound hayride” continued with Wayne Hancock’s “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs,” before some Elvis Presley and “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame,” and Hank Williams Sr.’s “Hey Good Lookin.’” Blind Jonny Death then did “See See Rider” with singer/guitarist Marc “L.C. Slim” Prave wailing some harmonica. Next was an original song from the group’s Git Down On The Farm CD, “That Girl Is Hot,” before the group ended the set with the bluegrass classic “Freeborn Man.”

Marc, upright bass man Ed “Red” McDonald and “The Reverend” Tom Hipps on snare drum picked up the ball from .00 Buck and ran with it, soon inspiring more hootin,’ hollerin’ and tabletop tapping from the assembled crowd. The night was becoming a friendly, honky-tonkin’ hootenanny.

Soon the musical festivities resumed, with Blind Jonny Death commencing their final set with the Johnny Cash triple-shot of “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Ring Of Fire” and “Cry Cry Cry.” From their CD, the group continued with “Long Way From Home,” before pulling out some more Elvis and doing “Devil In Disguise.” The Americana party continued with Traveling Wilburys’ “End Of The Line,” Peter de Rose’s “Wagon Wheels” and Hank Sr.’s “Honky Tonk Blues.” Big Bill Broonzy’s “Long Tall Mama” led to the set’s final tune, Blind Jonny Death’s rootsy reworking of Social Distortion’s “Ball and Chain.” The Hitching Post crowd was quick and unanimous in demanding one more, and Blind Jonny Death responded with one more, the rockabilly number “Rockin’ With My Baby.”

While not as rambunctious and fiery as I’ve seen them on other nights, Blind Jonny Death still delivered a solid and fun performance that kept the audience happy and involved. The cheers for the group were steady throughout the night. As their performances go, this show was a good cross-sectional primer of what Blind Jonny Death is all about; we heard a little bit of all the various musical flavors that feed into the Blind Jonny Death whole.

Bottom line, Blind Jonny Death and .00 Buck made this evening a down-homey, laid-back and fun midweek break. A good time.

Blind Jonny Death, plowin’ more ground at the Hitching Post.

Marc “L.C. Slim” Prave of Blind Jonny Death.

Ed “Red” McDonald of Blind Jonny Death.

”The Reverend” T. Orris Hipps of Blind Jonny Death.

Not falling asleep this night, John Stevens accompanies Blind Jonny Death on lap steel.

FELIX & THE HURRICANES @ PETER C’S, ALTOONA 11/17/05

After putting in another late Thursday evening at the workplace, I stopped off at Peter C’s to catch the weekly episode of Thursday Hurricaning. As word had surfaced that Peter C’s days were numbered and that an ownership change was imminent, not many Hurricanes Thursday nights at this venue remained.

A rowdy mid-sized crowd of ‘Caniacs and Peter C’s regulars was assembled as the Hurricanes stormed through their set of original tunes and classics. Among the songs performed while I was there were bassist Jeff Clapper’s passionate read of the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody,” the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post” and “Soulshine,” Iron Butterfly’s “Innagaddadavida,” Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Ballad Of Curtis Loew,” Al Green’s “Take Me to the River;” plus original songs such as “On The Bottom Again,” “Walking A Straight Line,” “Keep On Rockin’” and more.

I wish this review could be more specific as to what all went down at Peter C’s this night; however, this was the night that my camera case was stolen from my car as I ate breakfast at King’s Family Restaurant across the street after the show. My notepad (with my original notes from the show), my Sony Mavica camera (containing a disc with 2-3 shots of the Hurricanes), two battery chargers and a Scream all-access pass were stolen. Obviously, it’s all water under the bridge now, as the old camera is apparently long gone, and a new one (purchased by the Rockpage community, again thanks!) has replaced it. This was that fateful night.

But camera theft notwithstanding, it was another Hurricaning good time.

THAT 80’S BAND @ YESTERDAY’S PARTY, EBENSBURG 11/18/05

After a friend had seen them and had suggested they were worth checking out, I decided to do a roadtrip to Yesterday’s Party in Ebensburg to take my first look at That 80’s Band.

I arrived at Y-P just before That 80’s Band began their second set. From Pittsburgh, That 80’s Band is a trio featuring John Hasinger on lead vocals, keys and bass; Jeff Pogas on guitar and vocals, and Derrick Edwards on drums.

As the group’s name might indicate, That 80’s Band performs…80’s music. The group opened their second set with Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” and proceeded with a solid set touching on 80’s sounds far and wide. The band performed nonstop 80’s tunes from Bryan Adams, Rick Springfield, John Mellencamp, David Bowie, Dead Or Alive, Tone Luc, Salt’n’Pepa, Devo, Violent Femmes, The Clash, Soft Cell, John Cafferty and more. Highlights during this set included the group’s fusion of Tone Luc’s “Wild Thing” and Salt’n’Pepa’s “Push It” (both early rap classics from the 80’s); and the blending of John Cafferty’s “On The Dark Side,” John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” and the Romantics’ “What I Like About You” to end the set.

The group maintained a tight, brisk pace through it all, and I was impressed with singer John’s clear voice and ability to gearshift between different vocal stylings, depending on the band/artist he was covering. Although not a packed house, at least a few revelers took to Y-P’s dance floor during this set.

That 80’s Band’s nightcap set started off with Prince’s “Let’s Get Crazy,” and proceeded through more 80’s favorites from Bon Jovi, Billy Idol, Inxs, Escape Club, B-52’s, Run D.M.C., Georgia Satellites and more. A few 70’s classics somehow worked their way into this set, including Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me,” the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and the night-finishing rendition of The Knack’s “My Sharona.” The dance floor party picked up as the set progressed, and during Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself, guitarist Jeff (who sang lead on the song) even ventured onto the dance floor to mix it up with the dancers.

Once again, That 80’s Band performed their material with a tight pace and a clean, polished sound. Singer John again demonstrated his knack for adjusting his voice to the song situation, and Jeff demonstrated some clean, crisp guitarwork along the way. With the use of their keyboard and programming to flesh out their sound, That 80’s Band sometimes came off sounding a little too sterile and lacked spontaneity in spots. But overall, they achieved their objective; to get the Yesterday’s Party audience dancing and celebrating 80’s musical memories. For your retro consideration, That 80’s Band is an option worth checking out.

That 80’s Band, providing an era of yesterday’s party music at Yesterday’s Party.

John Hasinger of That 80’s Band.

Jeff Pogas of That 80’s Band.

HOMER’S ARMY/GENERATION GAP @ BURGI’S ROUNDHOUSE, ALTOONA 11/19/05

This night, the planetary alignment determined that I would head to Burgi’s Roundhouse, to catch the doubleheader of Generation Gap and Homer’s Army. There were several subplots at work here; Generation Gap was playing their first-ever bar performance, and drummer Ed Murvine was introducing his newly-purchased DW drum kit; while this would also be my first chance to see Homer’s Army since guitarist Jimmy Reed replaced Keith Homerski.

I was quite pleased – and somewhat astonished – to discover a fully-packed house at Burgi’s upon my arrival; in fact, this was the biggest crowd I had seen in this place since it opened! Fortunately, members of the Generation Gap entourage invited me to sit at their table, situated directly in the line of fire from the stage. Very cool…

Generation Gap soon took the stage. Singer Brian Elliott, guitarist Jarrett Bickel, keyboard player Don Hughes, bassist Harry Walter and Ed on his shiny new drum kit mixed rock’n’roll favorites from the 70’s to present. The group smoothly moved between eras, with their selection of midtempo rock’n’roll providing cohesion along the way. Generation Gap performed tunes such as Five Man Electrical Band’s “Signs,” Fuel’s “Bad Day,” Van Halen’s “Jump” (launched by Don’s Rocky theme keyboard intro), Toto’s “Hold The Line,” Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” The Clarks’ “Better Off Without You,” Green Day’s “American Idiot,” Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Man In The Box” and more. Two guests joined Generation Gap onstage during this set; Hexhed drummer Rob Bonsell, eager to test out Ed’s new kit, initiated the new drums during Alice In Chains’ “Man In The Box;” while Homer’s Gap frontman/bassist Mike “Griff” Griffiths sang lead during the last version of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man,” which closed the set. Generation Gap’s performance was strong and smooth; and this band is gelling nicely as their journey on area stages gets underway.

Generation Gap makes their nighttime debut at Burgi’s Roundhouse.

Once again, Generation Gap.

Breaking in his new DW’s, Ed Murvine of Generation Gap.

With Griff from Homer’s Army helping out on vocals, Generation Gap.

During Generation Gap’s set, I observed a guy with a camera, taking numerous photos of the band. He was from a photo company I hadn’t heard from, Tumbleweed Photography. I joked that as long as the guy wasn’t taking his photos with a freshly-stolen Sony Mavica camera, all was okay.

The large Burgi’s crowd remained in place as Homer’s Army kicked off their set. New guitarist Jimmy Smith, singer/bassist Mike “Griff” Griffiths, guitarist/keyboardist/flutist/singer Tim Homerski and drummer/singer John Homerski mixed together a variety of classic-rocking favorites, with their instrumental fireworks taking the spotlight as the show went along. Homer’s Army kicked off with the Edgar Winter Group’s “Free Ride,” and drew dancers onto Burgi’s spacious dance floor with .38 Special’s “Hold On Loosely.” Jimmy’s guitar work took the spotlight as the group continued in the southern vein with the Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man.” The spotlight then switched to Tim, who sang and displayed sharp flute skills on Jethro Tull’s “Cross Eyed Mary.” After renditions of Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” and the Doobie Brothers’ “Long Train Runnin,’” Homer’s Army closed out their first set in stunning fashion with their spirited, precision read of Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son.”

As the crowd included a number of holdovers from dinner hour, attrition began taking its toll and the audience began to thin out some during the intermission between Homer’s Army’s sets. But for the music fans who remained, the fireworks were only going to get hotter during the nightcap set.

Homer’s Army kicked the music back into gear with Grand Funk Railroad’s “Footstompin’ Music,” before letting Jimmy’s southern edge shine on the Lynyrd Skynyrd double-shot of “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Call Me The Breeze.” After versions of Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty” and Black Sabbath’s “Fairies Wear Boots,” some more southern rock as Jimmy sang lead on the Allman Brothers’ “Sweet Melissa.” Homer’s Army then stepped up the tempo with Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” and Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy;” and followed with Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” and CCR’s “Fortunate Son.” This brought the group to their stunning set finale, as Tim again broke out the flute for another Jethro Tull classic, “Locomotive Breath,” to close out the set.

Amazed as what they had just witnessed, the remaining Burgi’s audience quickly yelled out demands for one more song. Homer’s Army obliged, commencing the evening’s finale, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” which escalated into a blazing homestretch as Tim, Griff and Jimmy went for broke jamming at the front of the stage, with a number of stagefront fans howling and cheering along. An incredible finish!

As they have demonstrated before, Homer’s Army’s forte continues to be instrumental excellence. Tim’s multiple instrumental talents, Griff’s and John’s strong and sturdy rhythms, and Jimmy’s heated guitar work all converged into a continually impressive display. Jimmy’s arrival and addition gives Homer’s Army a slightly more southern leaning, and his stringbending skills especially shined on the southern numbers.

The energy level and atmosphere at Burgi’s rode at a high throughout the night, as the enthusiasm of Generation Gap’s nightspot stage debut elevated the excitement, and Homer’s Army’s top-notch musicianship kept the excitement at that high level. The result was a memorable show that served notice that both of these bands are worthy of patronage and huge crowds on area stages.

Homer’s Army takes the stage at Burgi’s Roundhouse.

Again, Homer’s Army.

Mike “Griff” Griffiths and Jimmy Smith of Homer’s Army.

Griff of Homer’s Army.

Once again, Griff and Jimmy Smith of Honer’s Army.

John Homerski of Homer’s Army.

Tim Homerski of Homer’s Army.

Yet again, Griff and Jimmy Smith of Homer’s Army.

Demonstrating his flute skills, Tim Homerski of Homer’s Army.

Once again, Homer’s Army.

Tim Homerski, Griff and Jimmy Smith of Homer’s Army.

Jammin’ some Jethro Tull, Tim Homerski, Griff and Jimmy Smith of Homer’s Army.

Once again, Homer’s Army rocking solid at Burgi’s.

Jimmy Smith of Homer’s Army.

Homer’s Army, kicking ass and taking names at Burgi’s.

Once again, Jimmy Smith of Homer’s Army.

Jammin’ on “Free Bird,” Homer’s Army takes it to the limit.

One more time, Jimmy Smith of Homer’s Army.

Again, John Homerski of Homer’s Army.

IN @ CITY LIMITS, ALTOONA 11/19/05

With Homer’s Army ending their night at around 1:15 AM, I still had some time to drop by City Limits nearby to catch the waning minutes of In’s latest party.

The crowd was a little bit on the light side this night, but In still managed to have a large portion of that crowd on the dance floor and having a good time. In was in the midst of a rap/hip-hop medley as I entered, and they finished out their party with Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta,” Drowning Pool’s “Bodies,” Tool’s “Stinkfist” and Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In The Name.”

Entertainment after the show was provided by some members of the local exotic dancing community, playfully strong-arming and (wo)manhandling City Limits main man Claudio. Some guys have all the luck…

In, partying down City Limits.

Greg Locke of In.

BACKSTREET LAW @ PELLEGRINE’S, ALTOONA 11/20/05

Another late Sunday evening of “Backyard Rocker” duties resulted in my late arrival at Pellegrine’s to catch the waning moments of Backstreet Law’s weekend-ending party.

Pelly’s was busier this week than it had been on previous Sundays, but the crowd still wasn’t as large as Backstreet Law was accustomed to seeing. Whether it was still part of Pelly’s ongoing Sunday night slump, or perhaps fans saving their money and energies for the Thanksgiving Eve celebrations just days away, business was still slower than usual.

But that didn’t deter Backstreet Law from rocking the hell out of the folks who did show up. Backstreet Law – introducing new drummer Mike Cavalier to the Altoona crowd this night – still had a busy dance floor in front of them as I arrived during their third set, with fans jumping up and down, grooving and shouting along. The group kept the crowd charged with Cypress Hill’s “Insane In The Brain,” their own original tune “Fallen,” Pantera’s “Walk,” Tool’s “Sober,” Rage’s “Killing In The Name,” and for s**ts and giggles, their three-second original “Apes**t.” There was enough rowdy crowd on Pellegrine’s dance floor to demand for an encore, which Backstreet Law delivered in the form of their popular earlier original “Hockey Helmet.”

At least from what I saw, new man-behind-the-kit Mike appeared to be fitting in well with Backstreet Law, and his beats were steady and on the mark, their full thunder brought forth by Jeff Morral behind the huge sound console.

From what I got to experience of it, another rowdy rocking Backstreet Law good time…

Jeremy Edge and Matt “Goody” Goudreau of Backstreet Law.

Matt “Goody” Goudreau of Backstreet Law.

Backstreet Law’s new drummer, Mike Cavalier.

A full ‘flock’ of flipped birds takes flight on Pellegrine’s dance floor as Backstreet Law performs “Killing In The Name.”.

Once again, Backstreet Law and their rowdy fans.

Jamie Morral of Backstreet Law.
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