LECRAE- PlayStation Theater

Written By- Jesse Baskin- Contributing Writer
Photos By- Jesse Baskin

The marquee outside

As the house lights dimmed inside the PlayStation Theater, smack dab in the middle of Times Square, the excited crowd roared with excitement when a huge blast of confetti was set off as Lecrae took the stage. A Christian Hip-Hop rapper from Texas, Lecrae has won almost every prestigious award in the industry: a Grammy, a BET, a Soul Train, just to name a few. 

He is currently touring his latest album, his Eighth, 'All Things Work Together'. Accompanied by his background dancers, or should I say... foreground dancers, Lecrae and his squad had the audience singing along to every lyric as each and every song blended seamlessly together with no time to catch your breath.

Lacrae mesmerizing

Roughly four songs in, Lacrae took time to preach to the crowd about forward thinking, and keeping a positive mind-state even when life's situations are stacked against you. After receiving praise from the audience he jumped right back into his set with even more energy and vigor.

TESTIFY!

He introduced all his bandmates: the drummer, keyboardist and background singers. Giving a special shout-out to his DJ, DJ Promote, for holding it down with the mixing of all the fan friendly hits he continued to rock the crowd with more jams and more spiritual speeches as the performance came to an epic grand finale.

The finale.

"One more song!, One more song! One more song!" chanted the concert goers. With the stage empty and the house lights illuminated it seemed as if all hope was lost for one last banger. Energy was reignited with an explosion of pyrotechnics, along came a TWO-SONG ENCORE from Lacrae and his hype man. The audience was elated! After the encore they all left with huge grins while new and old fans alike all rushed the merch table to pick up something before they exited into the New York night.

The entire show was really great. The new album, 'All Things Work Together' is absolutely phenomenal. You can check out Lecrae, give the new tunes a listen and pick up your own copy through his website here: Lecrae's website

QUINN XCII- Bowery Ballroom

Written by Backstage Bruce

Photos by Jesse Baskin

    INCREDIBLE! Just incredible, QUINN XCII, (XCII is 92 in Roman Numerals, the year he was born) is from Detroit and is welcome back to New York anytime he wants!

    Shallou kicked off the show at the sold-out Bowery Ballroom.

The Bowery Ballroom

    The Bowery Ballroom is one of the greatest places to see a show in New York City. If you are visiting, check out their website Bowery Ballroom and check it out. They have something going on every night of the week. There are three levels. On the top, third level is couches, tables, the V.I.P. areas and a nice-sized bar. There is a big, beautiful, picturesque window that looks right down onto Delancy Street.  

    The main level is where the stage is. The main bar is there in the back. Then there is the downstairs lounge where the after-parties take place.  
    The staff is very hospitable and welcoming, from the security guards outside checking I.D.'s and issuing wristbands to the ticket takers at the door. The bartenders on all three levels always greet you with a huge smile as they whip you up whatever cocktail you desire. It's a terrific place to see a show. 

Shallou

    The opening act- Shallou. Electronic Music, a perfect start to the evening, got the crowd moving and grooving. Technically, Shallou, is a him. And that him is Joe Boston. He is a musician and producer. On stage there were two of them, they each had a keyboard. Shallou also played the guitar in addition to the keys. The other member played the keys and provided percussion while playing a drum machine.

    They took the stage and just started playing, no greeting, nothing said. They let their music be their intro. They played songs from the debut EP 'All Becomes Okay'. The first single from the EP 'Begin' reached number #1 on Sirius XM Chill, a nice start. The follow up single 'Doubt (Summertime Edit)' received over 12-million streams on Spotify.

Joe Boston

    Asked in an interview how he came up with the name for his debut EP, Boston stated "The title comes from living in a fearful world. Watching the news with everything going on in the world, I developed all of these weird fears. 'All Becomes Okay' was kind of a mantra I wanted to repeat to myself and tell other people. It's not a passive thing, but an active hope."

    They were really good and fun. They kept the crowd entertained during their 40-minute set. The audience was engaged and engrossed, they weren't buried in their phones, which is no easy task. After they left the stage I turned to my concert buddy, Jesse Baskin, and said "I think the guy playing the drum machine should have given a few sticks to those three guys in the front row. 

    My friend asked "Why?" And I said "Are you kidding? Look at the energy they have. They were there to see the headliner, Quinn 92, but they showed a lot of love to Shallou. They were dancing and taking photos having the time of their lives. If he would have given them sticks they would be taking pictures of the sticks and posting them all over their social media accounts. It would have just been a good way to get their name out there even further, and those three deserve sticks."

    Shallou was great, check out his/their website and give the songs a listen, you'll be glad you did: Shallou's Website

The actual poster of the show

    It was now time for the headliner, the person everyone came to see. Over six hundred people packed in on a Monday night.

    One word, Wow! He wowed the crowd. I feel so lucky to have been there. I can see this guy selling out Madison Square Garden or Radio City Music Hall in the very near future, maybe even his next tour. Now if you have never heard of him, that's okay, you're hearing about him now and he just released his very first album, 'The Story Of Us', September 15th, only three-weeks ago, so you are right there. You're there since the first album and that's what counts.

QUINN XCII

    He takes the stage. He has two musicians with him, a drummer and a keyboard player. Both were intensely electrifying. The keyboard player had three keyboards surrounding him: one to the left, one to the right and one in front. He played them all. Plus he danced the entire night. You could just feel his energy from wherever you were at. The drummer kept the beat going perfectly all night while Quinn XCII was showcasing his talents either rapping really fast or slowing it down a bit with a sultry song or a reggae influenced jam.

    A cozy, living room effect made up the set design. The backdrop was a couch and a picture frame over it, it looked like a living room. The show starts, the music is pumping and the strobe lights are strobing. There are two different colored strobes, one red, one blue. They were official police-car sized. 

    After the band played the intro number, they/he launched into a lot of sweet tunes including 'Worst', 'Full Circle', and 'Another Day In Paradise'. The audience sang right along! It was captivating. He made great eye contact with the people and talked to them a bit asking a few questions here and there. He had tremendous stage presence, really owning it from one side to the other. He gave a shout out to the peeps in the balconies.

    They played a few more great songs, '60 Seconds', 'Make Time', 'Fake Denim' and again the crowd knew every word. They danced so hard, they bounced. The Bowery Ballroom actually shook when they bounced. I'm not kidding either, go to the third floor and you can feel it bounce! It's almost a little scary. His/their entire performance was phenomenal. 

    He ended the show with the first hit off the new album, 'Straightjacket'. That song has millions of streams and was named 'Song Of The Month' on Spotify. Next time he comes through make it a point to go see him, you'll have as much of a great time as everyone did that night. In the meantime check out his website where you can get your own copy of 'The Story Of Us': Quinn XCII's Website

Brian, Matt & Dominic. They got drumsticks and the setlist. And the setlist!  

    The house lights went on and I looked down onto the crowd and I saw the three guys, who I said deserve sticks, were holding sticks! Quinn XCII's drummer gave them each one, he picked up on their positive vibes. 

    I pointed them out to my buddy and he asked me "How? How could you possibly call that hours ago?" I said "That one was easy, everybody had terrific energy all night, but these three really brought it!" And the artists love that. That's who they want in their front rows, true fans singing, dancing along, taking photos, just enjoying themselves. 

    We started to exit the place and we ran into these three at the merch table, so I knew I had to get a quote for the blog, or a question and a picture. I asked them "How and when did you first hear of QUINN XCII?" 

    Both Brian and Dominic told me "Matt turned us on to him." So I asked Matt the same question and he said "I've been a fan for years, I mean years! I first discovered him on Soundcloud and once I heard one song, I just started listening to every song of his over and over again."

    So take Matt's advice and check out Quinn XCII, you will love him too. 

Deep Purple, Alice Cooper & The Edgar Winter Band- Jones Beach Theater

Jones Beach Theater

    Written by Backstage Bruce

    First up- The Edgar Winter Band kicked it off, they only performed five songs, but it was one of the most incredible five-song sets ever! The show begins while the sun was still up. Looking at the stage, you see Zach's Bay in the background. A few boats are anchored in the bay so they can listen to the show from their boat, they can't see the concert, but they can hear it just fine. There's a nice breeze rolling in, fresh-salt air, look one way, the Atlantic Ocean, look the other way, the skyline of NYC. This is living. 

    They opened with their biggest hit, 'Free Ride' you know it. It was written and sung by their then 17-year-old bass player, Dan Hartman (I Can Dream About You) R.I.P. What a great way to kick the show into gear, right out of the gate. Their cover of 'Jumping Jack Flash' was up next, a very nice rendition. The third song was 'Tobacco Road', during this song Edgar did a lot of bebop and scatting, truly phenomenal. 

    He would start in scatting 'Do, be bop, bop, be, do, etc...It went on for at least a minute and the fantastic guitarist, Doug Rappaport, was able to mimic every sound Edgar had just made but with his guitar, verbatim! Edgar would do it again and again and Doug was able to hit each and every lick. The final time Edgar bebopped, it lasted five minutes straight! You would think that the audience might get restless by now, but no, not at all, they were engrossed. When Edgar finished, the audience were intrigued to see if Doug could duplicate Edgar, and he did, note for note, outstanding!

Edgar, Doug, koko & Jason 

    Next Edgar moved on to the bassist, koko Powell (that's how he spells it, lower case) and did the same thing. Edgar did the bebopping and scatting with koko and koko was able to repeat Edgar's bebopping note for note as well. It was truly incredible. Next it was the drummer, Jason Carpenter's turn. 

    By now the audience was enthralled. They wanted to see if the drummer could hang note for note, as the other two musicians were able to, and Jason did! The song went on for almost twenty minutes and it was extremely entertaining to experience. I would like to see that live again. 

    Next Edgar did a nice tribute to his late brother saying "My Greatest Musical Hero" about the very talented Johnny Winter. It was touching.

    Before they started playing the fourth song, Edgar intro'd "This next one was written by our good friend Rick Derringer." The crowd cheered with anticipation, hoping, just hoping they were going to play 'Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo' which they did. The first note got the crowd on their feet again dancing. Rick Derringer used to be in the band too. Originally it was the four of them: Edgar & Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer and Dan Hartman. All of that talent in one band, each of them are rock stars in their own right. 

    They ended their set with another monster hit 'Frankenstein'. Edgar Winter is a very talented, multi-instrumentalist and during this number he showcased that fact. He played the sax, and a synthesizer (one that he wore around his neck, he claimed that he was the first person to ever wear a synthesizer.) Then he picked up a guitar and played along, after a few minutes he sat down at the second drum set and started pounding the skins. Their entire set was so entertaining, what a refreshing way to start off the evening.

    Next up, Alice Cooper and his band.

Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere bubbles. 

    Can you imagine going to see Alice Cooper and not hearing 'Welcome to My Nightmare'? Well that happened. Nor did we get to hear 'I Never Cry', 'You and Me' or 'We're All Clones'. Other than the setlist disappointment, the show itself was quite theatrical. 

    The set changed up a few times throughout the night. A screen was in place in the front of the stage concealing everything behind it. On the front of the screen was a close-up of Alice's face. The eyes were bloodshot, the bloodshot lines were actually spider webs as the pupils of his eyes were black widow spiders, very creepy, very scary, very Alice.

    A creepily eerie pre-recorded intro starts playing, the screen drops, fireworks start launching into the sky. The band is there and the crowd goes crazy. Alice is standing in the middle of all the musicians wearing a long black cape which he promptly takes off and throws to the side. He's now wearing black leather jacket and pants, they launch into 'Brutal Planet'. 

    Next number up, he takes off the leather jacket and puts on a black vest then they play 'No More Mr. Nice Guy'. The people loved it. Time for another costume change and another tune. He started playing with this sword and by the time 'Billion Dollar Babies' started, it looked like there were a billion dollars on the sword, shisk-ka-bob style. He shook the sword at the audience and all the bills started falling off, floating through the air as they grabbed for them frantically, like they were real.

    'Paranoiac Personality' was up next, the backdrop changed and so did Alice. He went through more costume changes than Cher. A girl came out on stage, dressed as a waitress, chasing Alice all over the stage trying to take his order. 'I Got A Woman Of Mass Destruction' was next which segued into a guitar solo by Nita Strauss, a very beautiful woman who played a mean guitar, she was mass destruction on the axe. She was wearing a Conor McGregor T-Shirt to show her support for him. The concert was the same night of the big fight between him and Floyd Mayweather.

    Fire erupted from the stage as the band played on. The songs kept coming 'Poison', 'Halo of Flies'. The drummer, Glen Sobel, did an incredible solo in there. During 'Feed My Frankenstein' a huge gurney was on the stage and Alice was strapped down, there were two actresses dressed up as nurses holding him down and putting the electric dome on his head then they pulled the switch. Alice transformed into a 15-foot Frankenstein creature. (That's two bands in a row with a Frankenstein song.)

    'Cold Ethyl' was next, a song about him having sex with a corpse. The entire time he was beating up/ mutilating a woman. That was unsettling, very easy to see why there have been so many protests outside his shows over the years. 

    He and the band were great, they played most of the hits. The show was without a doubt, one of the most visual performances ever!

Deep Purple ticket stub from a show I attended in Germany, 1985.  

    Deep Purple takes the stage after the final intermission. They opened with 'Highway Star'. Their energy level was up there. They looked terrific and sounded fantastic. The stage was very sleek in design, less is more feel. Scaled down, simplistic describes it best. (Compared to what we just witnessed.) The band was great, they rocked for a solid 90-minutes including the classics that everybody wanted to hear, 'Space Truckin' and 'Smoke On The Water'. Go see them when they are in your area. They are legends. They did not have a Frankenstein song. 

Deep Purple today 

BLUE OYSTER CULT, THE GOOD RATS- Tanner Park, Copiague, Long Island

Written by Backstage Bruce

Marquee at Tanner Park

     I am a fan of Blue Oyster Cult. B.O.C. was my very first concert ever, 1977, Reno, Nevada. They did this incredible laser light show to accompany the music (very Star Wars) Black Oak Arkansas opened. Fast forward three-years later and I attended my very first 'Bill Graham's Day On The Green' in Oakland, Ca. and they were the co-headliners with Sammy Hagar. So my very first indoor concert was B.O.C. and my very first outdoor concert was B.O.C. I was definitely going to make it to this one.

     This show was 'The Homecoming'. Blue Oyster Cult is from Long Island and tonight they performed on Long Island. One of Long Island's beautiful parks, Tanner Park In Copiague, sits right on the water of The Great South Bay. The park is huge and has every amenity you could wish for including a beach with a lifeguard and a restaurant with a bar. You could really make a day of it.

     Concerts are held at Tanner Park, for free, all summer long mostly tribute bands. Once or twice a year they will host a show with a big name with what's left of the original members and tonight was that night. I arrived early in the day to check out the entire park. There was a wooden pier to take a nice, relaxing walk out on. 

    As I was strolling along the beach I overheard a group of people talking "Did you hear who the opening band is going to be?" "No, who?" "Really!!! Where did you hear that?" "Are you sure about that?" Their energy was electric. There was a buzz in the air. This audience was going to be special. It was made up of their biggest, most loyal fans. These were the people that went to see B.O.C. time and time again in all those now long-ago defunct Long Island bars,...the good ol' days.

     I made my way over to the grassy/ stage area at 1:30 p.m. and a few fans were already there. They set up their little campsite so they could be right up front. More people started arriving early so they could stake out their territory. B.O.C. took the stage at 4:30 p.m. to do a soundcheck, it was incredible, extended, 7-songs. Sometimes bands skip their soundcheck completely so for those of us lucky enough to be there it was a real treat.

The Good Rats

     B.O.C. invited their friends from way back, The Good Rats, another excellent band from Long Island, to join them that night. It was going to be a surprise as it wasn't announced. I was surprised. I loved them. They opened with 'School Days' which ignited the crowd. Next they went right into 'Fireball Express', followed up by 'Injun Joe'. 

    Before they played their fourth song they said "Let's make some noise!!!" And launched into 'Does It Make You Feel Good?' Thousands of people started dancing, right there on the green. It was wonderful. The band was brilliant. 'Taking It To Detroit' was next. They were very enjoyable to watch and listen to. If they come to your town, definitely go check them out.

     The host of the evening was the fantastic DJ, Ralph Tortora, from the awesome radio station 103.1 MAX FM. What an incredible job he did. He first took to the stage in the beginning of the festivities to welcome everyone to Tanner Park and introduce The Good Rats. He had stupendous interaction with the crowd. Intermission time, he appears on stage again. Now he has got to step it up and keep these thousands of people entertained for at least a half hour as the first band's set is broken down and the headliner's set is assembled.

What a great guy! 

     He shined! He played trivia games with the people and as prizes he gave out free tickets to Yestival (Yes, Todd Rundgren and Carl Palmer's ELP) the following week at Coney Island. He went out into the audience to give everyone a chance. He selected people at random from the front, back, center, stage left, and right.

    Everyone got an opportunity to win. To make it easier, he let the contestant choose which band that they would like a trivia question about. And then, even if they got the question wrong, he would still give them the tickets! How cool was that? Could you imagine going to a free concert and winning tickets to another concert? "Oh, what a lucky man he was."

     While he asked the questions, he also got their names and where they were from and one couple was from Florida! They drove all the way there just to see The Good Rats! They high schooled on Long Island and have been The Good Rats fans since then. So even though The Good Rats were officially unannounced, it had to be listed on some website because hundreds of people knew in advance. 

    My favorite trivia question of the evening was the one about Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin was originally signed to the record label Atlantic. They started their own label Swan Song. What was the first album they released on their own label? My guess was 'Presence', WRONG!!! The answer was 'Physical Graffiti'.

     Sun sets. Almost a full moon, full enough to have a nice orange glow surrounding it. The brightness from the moon, reflecting off the bay, and the soft, cool breeze rolling in made for an absolute perfect evening. 

    Blue Oyster Cult takes the stage, which just made the night even more perfect. THESE DUDES ROCKED!!! The two-original members Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom are in their seventies or will be before the year is up and they did not look or act it. They have not lost a lick in the past five decades that they have been rocking. 

    The band started in 1967, The Summer of Love, and they are one of the few bands, from then, still going strong. Eric radiated rock star, he was dressed in all black: shoes, pants, leather jacket, glasses, and hat. He looked like he was in his forties at most. His fingers moved faster on the guitar than most of the people out there half his age. Buck looked great too. He was holding his own as well whether he was jamming on the guitar or while he was singing, absolutely spot on.

Custom made pants, for Buck Dharma,
given to him that day, after soundcheck,
grey denim, black zig-zag stripes.

Custom made pants, for Eric Bloom,
given to him that day, after soundcheck,
white denim with BOC logo in blue.

    

    

    B.O.C. has gone through some transitions over the years, as has almost all bands. The newer members have been with them for decades and they are every bit a part of the band as well. They are all outstanding, talented musicians in their own right. The entire show was amazing. The setlist was on fire with a great mix. 

    They opened with 'The Red & The Black' which got the crowd going. Speaking of the crowd, it was not just a bunch of boomers trying to hold onto the past, there was some of that, myself included, but there were people present from every age group. Kids and teenagers with their parents, twenty and thirty-somethings, adults to middle-agers, seniors, everybody was represented. 

     They played 'Burning For You' third and it seemed like every-single person knew the song. It was superb. Jules Radino on drums set the pace and kept the beat going very nicely all night long. They performed a handful of remarkable songs in a row, including their monster ballad 'Then Came The Last Days Of May'. After 'Tattoo Vampire' Buck launched into a commanding guitar solo. 

    'Godzilla'  was next, surprisingly, thought this would be one of the encores. During 'Godzilla' Richie Costellano, who impressively carried out dual duties, keyboard and rhythm guitar, just owned it. He's a natural on the guitar. Their biggest hit, (Don't Fear) The Reaper was next. The crowd went crazy, it was a throw back to more innocent times.

     When (Don't Fear) The Reaper was finished the band left the stage. They did return for a three-song encore, but you know what happened. Once they played their biggest hits the audience started leaving, myself included. People want to beat the traffic. (They never do. They wind up sitting in their car.) I love B.O.C. but I had already been there for 10 hours. I had a 2-mile walk back to the Copiague train station, then a 75-minute ride back to the city. I was done. 

    As I walked through Tanner Park, I could hear the encore very clearly. The first number up was 'Joan Crawford'. I loved it when they yelled out "Christina!" 'Hot Rails to Hell' was the second tune, Richie Costellano supplied the vocals, superb job. Reminiscence of the train I was about to get on. The last song of the evening was 'Cities On Flame With Rock and Roll', which was very appropriate as every city they have ever rocked out in, they lit on fire and left in flames with their own brand of Rock & Roll.

THE SONS & HEIRS, DEAD LETTER OFFICE- Gramercy Theater

Cover Me Impressed,
By Rich Rickaby

The Sons & Heirs (Smith/Morrissey Tribute Band)
Dead Letter Office (R.E.M. Tribute Band)
Gramercy Theater
07/15/17

Is that R.E.M. on stage at The Gramercy? 

I've heard that tribute bands are big in L.A. I've heard a slew of cover bands just by walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans but Tributes are different. They're there for us to revel in and remind us how we would act when playing albums and singing/yelling and dancing/performing in our Rock and Roll bedrooms, home alone everywhere to the music they emulate.

I was surprised I didn't hear of this event sooner. The Gramercy has become a bit of a Tribute Band House. Wild Child-Doors, Zeppelin II-Led Zeppelin and I think there's been a Pink Floyd band there as well. The Machine? Brit Floyd?. All have been satisfying and at this point, it might be better than seeing the real thing. Not all rockers keep their chops and even if they still had their chops, I've heard stories about the random success of Doors' concerts, so it's a comfort to know that the show you pay for and made an evening for will happen rather than worrying about which Jim is going to show up.

Dead Letter Office, named for R.E.M.'s album of B-Sides was a 5-man line up so they could draw from a range of R.E.M. eras. That's what it says in their bio at least. I was surprised at some of their selection as I'm a big fan of R.E.M. but I don't know the last time I heard them play 'Radio Free Europe.' They seemed to stay with the catalog up to Document. I'm sure they have plenty in their repertoire but being the opening act will limit your time. Still, they did not play, "Man in the Moon, Losing My Relgion, Pop Song '89, Radio Song, Stand, End of the World, Everybody Hurts, Drive." Don't get me wrong, the set was great, I was somewhat surprised it wasn't a Greatest Hits rundown. This was for fans!

Chris Sanchirico, their Michael Stipe, has the voice, moves and knitted cap of the original. Well done, well sung and lots of fun.

David Sommerville, their Peter Buck, handled all the guitar parts with shimmering clarity.

Chuck Eaton, their Mike Mills, handled the bass with aplomb. Mike was one of the actual trained musicians when R.E.M. started and his bass lines are not to be ignored.

Scott Ryan, their Bill Berry, played the drums that gave away some of the intros or counted out the intro attack.

David Shahin, their Scott McCaughey, brought in whatever was needed for any song: Keys, Guitars, Bass.

All members backed on vocals as well.

If you like R.E.M. see Dead Letter Office.

Setlist from their incredible show:

Begin the Begin
Finest Worksong
Second Guessing
These Days
Fall on Me
Disturbance at the Heron House
Driver 8
Harborcoat
Feeling Gravitys Pull
Life and How to Live It
Gardening at Night
Orange Crush
The One I Love
Radio Free Europe

It's a celebration of the music. 

The Sons & Heirs takes the stage next. If you like The Smiths/ Morrissey, I recommend you see The Sons & Heirs.

Sons & Heirs- They sound as good as they look. 

Ronnissey, their Morrissey, has the moves and the sound down and gleefully, and by gleefully I mean in a Morrissonian way, spars with the audience. Encouragement sounds like a back handed compliment but, like with Morrissey, it's cheeky and if you're offended then you stumbled into the wrong show.

Johnny Marr has some pretty big shoes to fill, I mean, as several shirts displayed, he's "Johnny Fucking Marr," so it's impressive that anyone can keep up with that smokey fingered wonder, but keep up Ravi Marr did, though there were some times when you knew Ravi had to laser in because you gotta be on your toes no matter how well you fill the shoes. Great job Ravi.

Fredo Rourke, these names are from their FB Page, I'm not making them up but as you may suspect, he was their bass player and sometimes you knew the song before the lyrics because the bass line was taking you there.

Flax Joyce drummed away an energetic set.

And yes, longtime Morrissey drummer, Spencer was there.

Special performance by Spencer Corbrin with The Sons & Heirs 

Ronnissey was constantly throwing long stemmed flowers out into the audience. They were eventually being thrown back and there was even one girl who made it up onto the stage to give Ronnissey a peck on the cheek before returning to the crowd. I couldn't tell if that was sincere fun and games or a plant for part of the show. If you've ever seen the real thing then you know that one person is not enough. Morrissey would be swarmed with literal hanger-ons.

The overall show started at 9 so at 12:01 Ronnissey announced, "Well, it's Sunday now." So we went wild, knowing that "Every Day Is Like Sunday" would be next.

Below are songs I remember they played, in no particular order.

Again, if you like The Smiths and Morrissey, skip, don't walk to see them.

Owning it in New York City. 

But if you see any tribute band playing that may interest you, check them out and support the live music scene.

Songs:
Panic
Hand In Glove
How Soon Is Now?
Rusholme Ruffians
Every Day Is Like Sunday
Shoplifters of the World Unite
Is It Really So Strange
Ask
Asleep
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
The Last of the International Playboy

POORCOLIN- Lovecraft

By Rich Rickaby- Contributing Writer, NYC Music Scene
PoorColin
LOVECRAFT
7/13/17
50 Ave. B

*Quick editor note, the name of the venue is LOVECRAFT, as in, you will love the crafts that they offer, total steampunk! You will dig it, thumbs up!
The name of the band is...PoorColin, and just like the crafts, you will love them too!

PoorColin wows the crowd at Lovecraft!

How Rock and Roll New York Music Scene is this?
You have friends at work and Jodi's one of them and her boyfriend Liam's band is playing this Thursday soooooo.....

I mean, that's it, pure and simple people. Of course we love the tales of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Ramones, Patti Smith, Living Colour, Beastie Boys, Murphy's Law, Sonic Youth, Spin Doctors, Helmet, TV On The Radio and more but here's a band playing it out for the fun of the rock.

Will Poorcolin become one of these NYC bands of note in the  future? and everyone will be jealous when I tell them how I saw them back in the day? I don't know, they did cover songs, mostly from the '80's and they played to their audience, friends and friends of the band coming up next. Maybe they have originals waiting to bust out, we'll see. But for now...

The cover's $10, tell them which band you are there to see*, pay another $10 for a ticket to prove your 1 Drink Minimum (Hey, fair enough people, you try running the show, let alone performing and also, so you know) and take a seat at the side bench or tables or bar because this is NYC and nobody dances unless they don't live in Manhattan. But some did dance and we all had fun and that's what Rock and Roll is for.

As it goes, (Thanks Kurt) I don't see that they have a web site, I don't think they've played out in over a year>Rockers in the hole>but hopefully, they'll play out sooner than later, if not just to bring friends together. So, with no reference for names until I see Jodi, the line up:

Guy on Bassie was in corner so I couldn't see him but he had some moments of accents, nice.

Drummer Guy was drummer guy but there were moments when you could tell he was in it hard, living it.

Same thing with Singer Vocaletta (I mean no offense if I'm using some language the wrong way here) who was at ease singing and cajolling the rest of us.

To make it theirs, ours, yessss, New York still has some quirk to it, I sh*t you not, they had Blue Shirted Strapped Knuckles Cordie on the Accordion. When's the last time you heard a lead accordion in a basement bar?

Lead accordion in a basement bar. 

On Guy-tar was Liam. I know him through direct association with Jodi, and he shined in some solos when he was living it and cursed himself for some flubs earlier. I know because we spoke and I know because I've been there, we've all been there; everything was perfect but this one thing, and that nags you everafter. I played it perfect a thousand times in my room.... Hey if you're gonna Rock and Roll, you're gonna get hurt but it's on your terms because you entered the ring.

So shout out to Porcolin. Let us know your next date and website address and rock on.

Songs I remember:

Because the Night
Heard this while entering with Rock and Roll Buddy Susan. We love Patti/ Patti's version.

99 Red/Luft Balloons
They joked about not playing this song ever when chided by an audience member but lo and behold, it showed up.

Men At Work song...I can't get to sleep...(ashamed I can't title it now, below is my awareness of the lyrics but I'm not looking it up).

I can't get to sleep
I think of the humiliation
Of diving in too deep
And bllllllimagination

Day after day, we are realllllll
Night after night we are soooooo bvfrstlllll
Overkill and fade away

I'm walking in my sleep...

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
A great rocking selection, Rock and Roll Tiph asked me Who's This? I told her but if you don't know, though she knew them, just not this song, look it up because they're the band that just keeps giving.

I Think We're Alone Now
Yes, they played that and it's so funny to see who was singing along regardless of loving or hating it back then.

Godzilla
Yes! Bonus points, they closed with Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult. I mean, come on...

The whole gang's there. 

Shout out to The Earthlings! the band after, with a similar bent but with an eye on the 60/70s.

Look at all the crafts offered at LOVECRAFT, very inviting...

*If you're just dropping into a band bar for the music, ask the gate which band has the least support and tell them your gate is for them. Lugging instruments and more to a gig deserves a cab home in and of itself.

ARGONAUT & WASP- American Beauty

Argonaut & Wasp
American Beauty, NYC
7/8/17
Written by and Photos by Rich Rickaby

Theo & Trey

I never heard of Argonaut & Wasp, I never looked them up on SoundCloud, I just said "OK", when concert buddy Bruce asked, "Do you want to go?"

Bruce does all kinds of things Rock & Roll. I don't know if he heard of this band or knew of another band that knew them but he was in touch with them somehow before we showed up, hence, he brought a pair of custom made pants he designed for a Rock and Roll fitting and we were on the guest list.

American Beauty has been around for a while. I'm told I've been there before but under a different name, one of those places, same location, many names. It's a bar up front, bands in the back with pizza and pool upstairs.

Bruce spotted Theo, the Keyboardist and Singer, one of two, for ArgoW and we immediately started talking. Bruce showed him the pants he brought. All were impressed upon the reveal of black denim with silver, glitter striped pants. These are multi-angled stripes, not one way runners. I shared pix of other pants Bruce had designed. Theo immediately split to the dressing room to try them on.

Trey & Alec

With a beer purchase, we get a ticket to redeem for a personal pizza, upstairs. I don't know if they give you a ticket so you know there's an upstairs or if it's their way of feeding inexperienced drinkers before they have the wrong experience.

Eat before drinking, people!

Wonderments aside, the pizza was cooked to order and quite tasty. A game of pool passed the time until we went back downstairs to the gig space, complete with chandelier, and everything changed. Alec, the Bass player was now wearing the pants because they fit. I took some pix and Bruce became more energized, knowing his pants would be taking the stage with the band.

Argonaut and Wasp took the stage and they were great! Bruce had described them "Clubby, but with guitar." I'd say this is accurate enough and go on the note that there was a touch of New Order, The Cure and Talking Heads in their music.

Chris Corsico, The Drummer, kept things moving steady.
Trey Schibili, Guitarist and Singer was solid forward. He sang well, clearly and coaxed the way with his guitar. He didn't fill all the spaces strumming, he has bits and kicks that created part of the overall sound with Keyboardist Theo Klein. Theo has a bit of a David Byrne approach to singing and playing. Bass playing Alec Donkin held down the rhythm with Chris when he didn't break out with some bad ass bass licks of his own.

The energy was of a working band working together and enjoying the set. They were competent and had the audience dancing, or at least moving, no small feat for a NY audience.

Their new song, 'Paradise,' is the only one I remember by name since they said, "This is Paradise, our new song." You can check them out on Soundcloud here.

I enjoyed their performance so much, I did check out their SoundCloud after the show.

I suggest you too listen to their SoundCloud line up once and you will be an instant fan. They do a great cover of The Stones 'Beast Of Burden' funkified. It will be almost impossible to pick one song to be your favorite with all the choices: 'Paradise', 'Loser Like You', 'The Sneeze', 'Planetary', 'Ever Enough', 'Paisley', 'Higher Ground' etc...

I moved to the front to get some pictures and I kept moving by place-dancing but Bruce was full on joy, dancing, but then again he does that at most shows, that is, if the band is good. And these guys were not just good but fantastic, very electrifying.

If you like electronic music you will love ArgoW.

They'll be touring all summer long, check out their website for a schedule of their upcoming shows.
Argonaut & Wasp Website

JOEY MOLLAND'S BADFINGER- City Winery

Written by Backstage Bruce

Joey jamming

      Good times were had by all tonight at the sold-out show at The City Winery. Badfinger was there. It is the summer of 2017, the 50th anniversary of the 'Summer Of Love'. And who, from then, is still out there doing their thing? Maybe a dozen bands? The Stones, Steve Miller, The Who, Blue Oyster Cult, Fleetwood Mac, Moody Blues, Peter Frampton, Chicago, Dead & Co., The Zombies and Badfinger.

     Handpicked for stardom, this was the very first band that The Beatles signed to their new label, Apple in 1968. Paul McCartney wrote their first hit, 'Come And Get It'."If you want it, here it is, come and get it, but you better hurry cause it's going fast". 

Badfinger, back in the day

   

    There were only a few single tickets left when I went to the box office in the afternoon, day of the show. I purchased a 'Bar Stool' seat, for only $25.00 flat, excellent price for a show in NYC, last minute. I was expecting to sit on a bar stool in the very back, right in front of the window looking onto the street, as far away from the stage as possible. That's fine, as long as I was in I was happy. I prefer last rows sometimes, gives you elbow room and space to dance. 

    The host, Zach, walked me to the bar stools by the window and we passed them by, took a right and started heading right toward the stage. There were more bar stool seats lining a wall. Pleasant surprise, I was escorted all the way up to the very first bar stool, halfway in the middle of the place. I got to sit closer than hundreds of people who sat at tables. 

The album cover for 'Straight Up' 

     And since I was on a bar stool I was overlooking the handful of tables of people sitting in front of me. My view was never obstructed throughout the entire performance! I really felt like some V.I.P. Two hours ago I didn't even know if I was getting in and now I'm sitting here, nice. 

     If you're not familiar with Badfinger's history, there are two great documentaries out there: BBC and VH1 Behind The Music. It is absolutely Shakespearian tragic. Dreams come true, they get signed, have hits, suffer major financial loss dealing with super shady businessmen, Stan Polley (boo, hiss), suicide, remaining members fighting over name, at one point two-dueling bands both using the name Badfinger, more legal trouble, another suicide, it just didn't stop. "These were kids, that were bamboozled." Stan Poses- Former VP. Badfinger Ent.

     Fast forward 2017, the only founding member remaining is Joey Molland and he is still going strong. Asked why he keeps touring, he stated "If I don't do it, then who else is going to do these songs? I get to tell the correct story of exactly who wrote what."

     Words to live by, it's showtime...

     The support act was the band The Cryers, they were great, real fun. They were releasing an upcoming album coming out soon, give their website a peek here: The Cryers Website During intermission, very interesting videos of vineyards and grapes being harvested and other wine making techniques were being shown on the screens, very unique.

Looking good for 70

     Badfinger takes the stage. Tonight they are slated to play the album 'Straight Up' in its entirety, Eighteen songs, plus. "Many reviewers now regard it as the band's best album." David Fricke, from Rolling Stone, "Badfinger's power-pop apex". The album was produced by the great Todd Rundgren.

     In 2013, the smash hit series, Breaking Bad concluded. In the series finale, Badfinger's song 'Baby Blue', from the album, 'Straight Up' was featured prominently, which caused a resurgence in the charts.

     They looked fantastic and sounded better. The show was incredible. It was like going back in time. One song flowed effortlessly into the next. In between Joey would tell a little story here and there to keep the record straight as to who wrote what, it was interesting, a rock history lesson.

Joey telling a story

     The band still has a lot of great energy, you could feel it. Joey and his rhythm guitarist took center stage and together they did this amazing eight-minute jam where they just wailed on their axes, absolutely superb.

      Badfinger straight up played 'Straight Up' and the audience loved every note. It was an experience back in time. "The thousand dollar songs" as Joey jokingly referred to his hits were up next: 'Without You', 'No Matter What', to name a few. 

     The show finishes, band leaves to thunderous applause. They return for their encore, Joey says "I never knew 50-years ago when Paul wrote this song for me that I would be singing it for the rest of my life!" Everyone laughed. We knew what was coming next, 'Come And Get It.' 

Joey Molland, Badfinger, Come & Get It, 6/10/17

     It was an awesome night, terrific show, fantastic place.

* Thanks to all resource references: VH1, BBC, Wiki, Band's websites
** Thanks to Getty Images for the great pics.

DEAD & COMPANY- Citi Field

Before the show- I see Dead people

Dead & Company
Citi Field - NY, NY Queens
June 24, 2017
By Rich Rickaby

At this point, I consider the Grateful Dead a Fraternity. There are Charter Members, Alumnae and Pledges. I'm not clear if the presence of John Mayer or the absence of Phil Lesh makes this a Dead & Co. show rather than a Furthur* show. I've seen the Grateful Dead 3 times. I've seen Furthur 7-10 times. I've never see Dead & Co. so this way my first Dead & Co. concert? 

Band names aside, the line up for the evening was Bob Weir (guitar, vocals), Mickey Hart (drums) and Bill Kreutzmann (drums), along with John Mayer (guitar, vocals), Oteisl Burbridge (bass/drum) and Jeff Chimenti (keyboards).**

Violet Viola Blues

Our seats were row 9 in 526, about 10 rows from the top of the stadium. It was great to see the arena open to the sky, not closed off with a dome. Concert buddy John went with me and said it was the best he's seen them, though he was referring to Furthur.

I don't know if there are any good seats, since General Admission filled most of the outfield. Seats were where they generally are in a ball park, not great viewing for action in centerfield. There were posters and Tees that referenced this event being held at Mets' stadium. Go Mets! They had large screens left and right of the stage, apparently there's a large screen behind the band but when you're off to the side, one doesn't see such things.

A big part of any Dead show, the smell of grass aside, is the people. Happily, Deadheads were out in peaceful force. Good to see, was the range from kids to seniors. One group of 20 year olds could have been there for John Mayer (maybe?) but they knew the words and had the zeal of any Dead fan twice their senior. Nice to know the audience is a bit of a fraternity as well with the new rushes coming up the ranks. 

Hey, great music is great music.

The lights of the world

They opened with a little noodling until they kicked in with "Dancing In The Streets." The sound rolled out over the summer night in wonderful waves. The weather was great and the whole vibe was as groovy as expected or more. 

New to me, was John Mayer. One guy sitting next to me said, "I've never heard of this guy. I mean, I've heard of him but then I hear they have to do, like, back exits to avoid his fans and here, I never heard of the guy." Concert friend Susan wondered how a guy like that fit in with a group like them. 

Tiers of the crowd

So let me say here, I only know John, "Your Body Is A Wonderland," Mayer. I've heard of some 'personality' things or maybe how he's behaved in the past or so...don't know. What I do know, is that there's a big difference as to what guitar talents can be shared when you write a 3:49 pop song compared to playing an extended lead on a song or thread. It's amazing to me how far some guitarists can expand a lead from its source, enter new timing realms and then bring it on home without ever feeling lost or displaced.

John was on it from lead, licks to strums and he carried a good majority of the vocals. This was a help because he brought some power where Phil and Bob have been waning lately, and understandably so. Mickey and Bill held down dual drum detail wonderfully, as is their won't to do. The only other act I've seen with two drummers is Adam Ant (Maybe Yes on their Union tour in '91 but that was a one-off). I'll be seeing him again later this year and let you know. 

Keyboardist Jeff Chimenti was right on. I'm not sure if he's who I saw with Furthur, if he is, he's only pulled it more together. This was a wonderfully tight show, like the blues, you know there are some "rules" but that playground is so huge so why not see what fun you can strum and drum up? I wish they showed more of Bob on the live feed. He filled his shoes and sang his songs and together, Bob and John were like a mountain and a river, a mighty force making music naturally. 

Frankly, I have to say, I don't always "hear" bass. To me, that means it's doing its job, in the basest of ways. When I notice it, it's either because it's real good or bad. What I noticed on the downloads of the concert later on, was how melodic the bass was, a lead guitar on the bottom end. Beyond bass, Oteil sang "Comes A Time" as smoothly as he plays the bass. 

Drums, Space & Lights

Drums & Space should expand to Drums, Space & Lights. The magenta light bathing the crowd during Viola Blues was a transporting visual. The people, the masses, how we gather to hear music, and not just any music, it takes something to build a following like this large. Nobody does this like the humans. 
I know Viola Blues isn't part of Drums & Space but the lights through were smooth, floating and kaleidoscopic. The screens I could see, at times, had borders of Dead graphics for live shots of the band and sometimes they became motion graphic eye candy. You're trippin' even when you're not tripping at a Dead show. 

After 3 hours, or more, it was time to close out the show with "Johnny B. Goode." Hey, that song's been around longer than just about all of us, perhaps we're all part of a much larger Rock and Roll fraternity.

Get home safe

*We know Furthur, the band, is spelled with 2 U's. Forgive us if auto-correct makes this an infuriating task. 
**Resource thanks to Wiki and Dead & Co. website.