RIFFER- The Parkside Lounge

Friday, May 10th, 2019

9pm

By Rich Rickaby
Photos by Mei Casscles

John, Brian, Rich & Diane- RIFFER

    Riffer doesn't gig much and I should know 'cos I'm in the band. We play my West 15th Street apartment just about every Saturday. Most of the time, 3 of 4 us make it. When we decide to gig, extra effort is made for all to show.

    We were originally scheduled for a Wednesday night, but things shifted and we were blessed with a Friday night gig in NYC. We were thrilled by this prospect.

    We have a collection of original songs we've developed over our 10+ years, so we put our notes together and came up with a set list. We then focused on those songs for the next 5-6 weeks.

    Are you in a band? Have you ever been in a band? Do you play an instrument? It's a wild thing to see a group of people continually come together to chisel away at a craft. One may play an instrument or sing, but here, you get to take all of those hours you spent in solitary communion, learning and growing with your keys, guitars, drums and voice, and apply them with a group, a band. The synergy is tangible. One additional something can add a thousand nuances.

    We've also considered performance strategies. To play the most songs in our 45 minutes, we'd include band intros in our songs, 3 in NYC_bluz when we call out the solos and 1, the drum solo, after Rockabye. If a string broke, we'd do "One Thin Dime" because one guitar can carry that tune more readily than some of the others. Or, we'd play it as the last song if time allowed.

    So, we're hot with our songs, we've sent out the invites and follow-ups and it's gig day.

One strategy was to tune our instruments before the show

    Another strategy was to rehearse around the corner before the gig, at RMRS. We packed our gear into a cab because lugging this stuff to the train would knock us out before the set even started. For my gear check, I call it out, "I'm going to a gig. I need my guitar, cord to box, cord from box to amp, (they have the Amps) power cord for box, multi-outlet extension cord, picks, strings in case of breakage, guitar stand and case, set lists and outfit. And that’s just me. If any of us forgot something, we’d know before we got to the gig and the rehearsal space sells most of these things because, hey, we’ve all been there before.

The Invite

    When there’s a line up of bands for a night, things can get hurried. The second band will be lugging equipment in while the first band is still playing and then they’ve got to get off while the second band is trying to set up and get some semblance of a sound check in place before playing while the third band starts lugging their equipment in. Luckily for us, there was a screening before we took the stage, so people were milling about, paying us no mind while we set up. There was no band after us either, so we had a comfortable cushion on our in and out points.

    We had a good turn out for our audience. We put our invitations on the tables, as they included the set list. There were friends, family and co-workers (not that they can’t be friends or family-like) eagerly anticipating our show.

Watching for the Lead Cue

    Once set up, “Hello, thank you all for coming out. We’re Riffer and we’re going to play some of our songs for you. Ready? Friday With You.”

    “One, two, three, four…” and we were off and running.

Johnny Riffer plays keys, sings and writes.

Brian Riffer is our drummer and sings backing vocals.

Rizzi Riffer plays lead guitar.

Richie Riffer plays rhythm guitar, sings and writes.

    As songwriters, John and I have different approaches but we also approach different styles, so we can’t necessarily say that, “This is our sound.” We think this works well for the audience because it’s not like you’re going to hear what sounds like variations of the same song throughout the gig. This can especially happen when one is not familiar with any of the songs going into the show.

    “Friday with You” is a catchy pop song, originally conceived as a Cars-like number. It’s evolved since then.

    “NYC_bluz” is a straight up blues song in C where John gets to lament about some of his experiences from hauling himself into the city for rehearsals. This is where we introduce the guitar, keys and guitar players when it’s their time to solo.

Rocking the virtual double-neck

    “Good and Down” grew out of a jamming time John and I had on guitars. There’s a punk aesthetic here but not growling speed angst.

    “Red Curtain,” inspired by David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” is a lounge number where the guitars break from the Rhythm & Lead paradigm to fill in spaces the keys and drums allow for. It was the first time we played this one live.

    “Get Your Pants On,” another live first, is a shit-kicking rocker with Rizzi’s lead opening and breaking up the song. I maintain the driving rhythm guitar while John brings the synth accents of madness. Brian is a bit of a controlled monster on drums, setting the pace throughout the set.

    “Rockabye,” is, as the name implies, a rock song that rocks. I get to play a lead lick in this one but somehow, Rizzi always fills things out with great accents that just don’t cross my mind. We set it up so that, “Brian Riffer, on drums,” Gets his intro and solo to close out the song. This one was dedicated to Valerie as it was her first time seeing us and her brother inspired the song. He wasn’t there, under 21.

Brian Riffer keeping the beat

    “Niagara in a Barrel,” has gone from pedal-to-the-metal rocker to jazzy explorations. We played it somewhere in between for this gig but it always winds up swirling to some degree of madness by the end.

    “Sexy Zombie Doctor,” our reggae song and also another live first, has a fun Beetljuice air to it. I say that because I think of the purgatory waiting room scene when I hear it, I can’t say that was John’s intent or inspiration. I think it actually grew out of a conversation that somehow led to the phrase, Sexy Zombie Doctor.

    “Galaxy House,” is our ballad and a shared song. We dedicated this to Jodi and Liam, soon-to-be newlyweds. Over a dreamy G, C sequence, John sings about stars in eyes and romantic understandings. When the baton is passed, I sing about a loner guy looking to get up the nerve to approach a girl and by the end, they’re sort of one and the same. Rizzi noodles the high notes throughout this one while Brian accents the goings on.

    “Color in Crayon” is a solid rocker with a bit of subversiveness. On one hand, it’s about directing your feelings, “put your rose tints on,” and “color in your day, color in less gray.” But on the other hand, “Everything will be fine, stay inside the lines.” A cautionary tale about being an individual.

    “One Thin Dime,” is a ditty that smells of popcorn and peanuts and all things circus oriented. Plenty of visuals, “See the lion, see the clown,” tightrope walking elephants, a singing fat lady and carnival barker all introduce and wind down the show.

    You can see our "One Thin Dime" video here.

When the circus comes to town

    Our strategy paid off as we had enough time to include all of our songs without any rushing or strings breaking. Too, being well rehearsed, we made it through the set in respectable smoothness.

    Did the audience know a guitar lick was dropped, synth hand claps didn’t make it that night, a solo could have started sooner or that the drums weren’t the ending intended during the solo? No. That’s for us to know and note. As they say, “One performance is worth ten rehearsals.”

    We do know that people had fun on both sides of the mic that night, even the bartender liked us, and hanging out for beers afterwords is a good sign of success.

Feedback the next day:

Rey: You guys rocked! We had a great time. Komaki loved it!

Calley: It was a blast. I’ve never seen you look so happy.

David: So much fun! Can’t wait until next time.

Susan: Had fun, glad to come out!

Diana: Was super fun! Ryan really liked you guys.

Bruce: You guys sounded the best I have ever seen!

Mei: You guys rocked!! Great energy and cool vibe…and sounded tight!!

And hey, we’ve been invited back to play in August. We’ll see if we see you there.

Rock on.  Check out all the good things at Riffer's Website: RIFFER