It’s been a while since I wrote so I figured now is as good a time as any. This was an important gig for us being the first time at this venue and doing well would mean return visits; I must say it was a first for me in several other ways.

One: We started around 8:00 for the happy hour crowd (who were all basically outside the whole time anyway) then had an hour and 45 minute “layover” until we played the 2nd and 3rd sets. The crowd being outside the first set was probably a good thing which brings me to my next point.

Two: The first set was weird mostly because of the sound – apparently Lita Ford played there the night before and the sound board wasn’t normalized – not sure what that means exactly but it proved to be a trying first set as we could barely hear anything and I was told that the drums were not in the main PA speakers until like the 2nd or 3rd song. Pat, the soundman had his hands full straightening it out and did a fine job – thanks Pat

By the 2nd set everything was straightened out and things sounded really good. We went over well; I was a little concerned about this because I expected a much larger happy hour crowd but by 11:30 the place was pretty full. Eric decided to have some fun during one of his leads and stepped off the stage out onto one of the bars which is in front of the stage – funny stuff!

Three: A freakin’ drum riser! I never played on riser before and I must admit it was pretty damn cool – I videotaped the kit on top of it just to have some proof.

Four: A Winnebago. The dressing room was a Winnebago parked in back of the club. I had never been in a Winnebago before – I would see them from time to time on the road or when I watched Shazam as a kid – definitely just dated myself. After I sat down in it I realized I probably shouldn’t touch too many things – I can only imagine the shenanigans that went on in that thing!

Five: Thanks for the complement man. After the gig as I was loading out via the kitchen, I was greeted by a worker who thanked me for “reminding him how much the 80’s sucked.” OK fair enough, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. However as I kept loading out with each trip I got to hear how bad the 80’s sucked; not the thing I really want to hear after playing drums for 2 hours but whatever I am too old and I like to think wise, to get into a yelling match or worse at a club – especially over something silly. He mentioned this to no one else in the band because I asked them - so apparently I was targeted for some reason. The only reasons I can think of are:

1. I am a little on the short side (but with a good build I remind you :)) and he felt like a fight
2. I offended him with my playing
3. I offended him with my 80’s attire
4. He has no respect for his elders – I had to have like 15 years on this fella
5. My stellar personality and unbridled handsomeness threw him into a fit of jealousy that could only be controlled by these somewhat indirect taunts :)


I am going with number 5 ;)

This night had a little bit of everything which is how I got this title - and from a personal standpoint this was one of the most exciting shows I have ever played with any band. We followed Mary McBride who is a wonderful singer - her band is top notch as well.

Right before soundcheck my Godmother surprised me by showing up with my Uncle. What was special about it was that she (along with my parents) was most responsible for getting me into music in the first place. She used to work at Columbia records and for Christmas and my birthday from like age 8 - 11, would give me all these different rock albums (some signed by the artists) - it really gave me the music bug. My parents were extremely supportive by putting up with the hundereds of hours of racket/noise I created up in my bedroom - looking back I really can't believe they put up with it.

Anyway this was an extremely hot day - somewhere around 97 I think. Even though the AC was on at the venue it was still quite hot - but hey I am certainly not complaining. Lenny our fearless leader for once got to move around a bit more due to increased stage area. Poor Lenny is usually blocked between Rich and I in a sort of drum/keyboard lockdown! A while back I put together a bunch of soundbytes to use as an intro before we begin playing. This was the first time actually using it and it went pretty well thankfully. After the intro the lights went on and all I saw was a sea of people yelling - pretty cool.

It wasn't too long ago that we played a gig where the only person yelling was the owner telling us we are playing too loud - he also shorted us money - you know who you are you son-of-a $%^&*. (See I kept it clean) :) However we have thankfully removed ourselves from those types of gigs.

I also decided to bring a video camera to try and record some behind the scenes type stuff and also what a show looks like from my perspective. In part I did this in hopes to create some sort of documentary - if you will "rockumentary", and also to show my extremely supportive and understanding wife what she wasn't around to see.

After the first set I went out a side door to get some air and was greeted by 2 girls trying to get in - bypassing the front door and cover charge. One had a stamp on her hand to get into the place (from the night before!) and insisted that her friend must come too because it is her best friend and she cannot go anywhere without her - pretty ballsy I thought. The bouncers didn't see it that way and showed them to the end of the line!

After the second set I got to see an altercation between a bouncer and a moron. The moron lost. What I like about the talkhouse is its zero tolerance for violence and other displays of idiocy. If you get in a fight there you are leaving in a policecar.

The trip home is unfortunately slow going at first - when you first leave the area there must be a 10 mile stretch where you cannot go more than 35 or 40 miles per hour which can become almost painful when all you want to do is get home.

Special thanks to Peter the owner and Michael and Kevin the sound guys.

This was a really cool gig with a dressing room stocked with drinks and candy bars! We got an opening slot for Evolution, a fantastic Journey Tribute Band. We checked out some of their set and if you closed your eyes you thought you are at a Journey Concert. The only downside was one of our singers Cherie had a horrible sore throat to the point where she could barely talk.

In light of this we had to change the whole set around, about 7 minutes before we went on to take this situation into consideration. I must admit I was a bit nervous as I am one of those stick to the plan kind of guys but we had no choice really. It was also a bit cramped as we had our gear in front of Evolution's.

We opened with Let's Go Crazy and off it went - the crowd was great and thankfully we were well received. I kept telling myself "wait until they get a load of us when we are firing on all 6 cylinders"! Scott did a great job of taking the lead in light of Cherie's situation; Cherie did a great job of pulling together what she could muster that night. I tend to judge ability not just on how great someone is on a good night but how well they can pull it together on a bad one - I can honestly say Cherie did fine.

Regarding the title of this entry - for reasons unknown to me I missed my cowbell three times before I actually was able to count off "Working For The Weekend"; perhaps it was just nerves or I was overcompensating to not hit a second hi-hat I just added to my rig. The lighting rig here is quite nice and it felt like I was at the Planetarium a few times!

We are really looking forward to playing here again - special thanks to Marcus, Sean, and Sheryl for making this happen!

We did a gig with a scaled down version of everything bascially due to our band size (6) and the size of the stage area - which was rather small. The crowd was good and the load-in load-out was pretty easy. We did have some obstacles to overcome as we didn't quite bring all the correct PA gear but that worked out too.

The subject of this entry references 2 items: 1. several overly zealous audience members who decided to come to our singers, stand next to them and start talking to them - while he/she was singing

2. A certain person who came up to us between sets and ask if he could sing in the best drunken english he could muster; which was thoroughly sprinkled with explicitives when we told him, "No you can't get up and sing". All the time he had his hand on my shoulder and someone else's as if I was friends with this guy (or as if I wanted to be). Dude give me my space. I was also told he was cursing up a storm at one of our singers because of a song selection.

I have several thoughts on this none of which I can write verbatim as I intend for the most part to keep this diary clean. I will simply say, some people just shouldn't drink. In other cases, some people just shouldn't leave their house.

One more thought - if you ask us to play a song and we politely say that we don't know it - please accept it and refrain from asking us 20 more times anyway. Believe me - if we know it we will play it - we have no reason to lie.

Special thanks to all who came (excluding the 2-3 that decided to break our balls) and also the Paddy Doherty bouncers for diffusing any potential "issues" caused by some "overly zealous" folks.

I really enjoy playing here - the whole band does. Special thanks (as always) to the folks over at Long Island Sky Diving for coming out to see us and support us. The heading of this entry is very accurate especially, for me. Before I get to me however, the second song into the gig our fearless leader's bass rig hiccupped or something rendering his bass silent for a while. OK cool we got past that - now onto my issues.

Let's see - I first realized the positioning of my kit was all wrong so the first set was quite weird for me playing-wise. Before the second set I straightened everything out.

Recently, I started to hang my cymbals upside down in true 80's fashion; it just looks really cool. There I was with cool looking cymbals until I had a cymbal in my lap; apparently the weight of the cymbal pulled the whole rod assembly off the stand - WTF?! Well, I got past that one and finished off the second set all the while reciting a mantra of "I will never hang my cymbals again".

At the end of the second set it was brought to my attention that the front bass drum head on my kit was ripped and flapping all over. OK - what the hell is going on? Where are the gremlins hiding and keep them away from the damn water.....please.

Other than this technical silliness this was a great gig. Thanks everyone.

Well - I didn't really think that people read this thing but I guess at least one person does since Rich was wondering why there are no new entrees in the diary :).
This was probably one of the most enjoyable gigs I have ever done. Nice sized dressing room and full PA - sort of felt like a Rockstar! We were also told by the sound crew that we were christening a new stage that was completed a few days before - great job fellas!

We actually were asked if we were interested in playing here by someone at the Talkhouse due to a referral from a wonderful lady named Roxanne who saw us at Painter's a while back - thanks Roxanne! By the way Roxanne made us promise not to play a certain Police song that matches her name.

When I first got here I was a little concerned about playing strictly to bartenders as it was a rainy night in February - actually the weathermen kept talking of snow that never really materialized. Perfect time to go out and see a band.

By the 4th or 5 tune things really picked up; one of those deals were there was a medium sized crowd but the energy made it feel like a completely packed house.

After the first set we were asked back and we have several more dates at the Talkhouse; they will be posted on the gigs page shortly. Besides a great place I met some really cool people - one fellow kept me occupied in great conversation while I carried out the semi-mundane task of setting up my kit - Chip Dayton. Chip had some really cool stories of all the shows he has gone to including Hendrix and The Who - thanks Chip! Chip also did a bunch of photography for Kiss, Twisted Sister, Heart and a bunch of other bands under the name Chip Rock and had some really interesting stories.

The whole band is really looking forward to playing here again. Besides The Talkhouse itself, this is just a great area to visit especially in the Summer months - friendly people and beautiful land.