Shelley tells us:
Kent,
Home here again on a snow day.
Repeat of a repeat theme. My February concert is next Friday, which is so far
looking good. It will be Chuck Negron in the Wolf Den. Cracker Barrel wanted
to give me free tickets tonight to see Brad Paisley's winter tour on Long
Island, but with the forecast of today's weather I declined. Too bad. They
gave me tickets to his summer tour and it was unbelievably good. He drew from
country past to make his country present concert note worthy.
Shelley
Dang, Shelley, even WE don't go to as many shows as you do!!! But thanks for sharing your experiences with our readers. (I hereby dub you our OWN version of "Show-Biz Shelley"!!!) And be sure to send us your Chuck Negron review, too!
(Here's a picture of me and Chuck taken after last year's Happy Together concert in Aurora):
(Here's a picture of me and Chuck taken after last year's Happy Together concert in Aurora):
MICKEY THOMAS
One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you
small. But honestly, don't you just want somebody to love?
I am
pre-starship, going back to when the airplane was as high as you needed to go.
Given that the space age developed in the late 50's and exploded in the 60's, it
now surprises me that Jefferson Spaceship was not their first incarnation onto
the music scene. However, Grace Slick's voice needed no outside power source or
thrusters and the music I remember signals the start and immersion of the 60's
psychedelic rock. So, when given reserved seating for a 'free concert, but you
need to stand in line and wait to get in'; I jumped at the chance.
This
entity was Starship starring Mickey Thomas. In 1965, Mickey Thomas and two
friends went to a Beatles concert in one of our southern states. After that
event, he decided he was forming a band and turning music into his life. Well,
that is a refrain that is often sung. In 1979, he was asked to join Jefferson
Starship during a time when Grace Slick had left the group. She returned, but
Mickey also stayed on. Later a split occurred giving birth to Jefferson
Starship AND Starship starring Mickey Thomas. The current members of Mickey's
group are John Roth (guitar, background vocals), Jeff Adams (bass, background
vocals), Darrel Verdusco (drums), Stephanie Calvert (vocals), Phil Bennett
(keyboards, background vocals) and Mickey on vocals with occasional guitar.
Now, on with the show.
The first
half of the show was Starship material, which was not all familiar to me.
Stephanie is a local CT girl (I did not know that) and has a truly powerful
voice. Don't compare her to Slick, because there is only one. BUT her
renditions on all songs gives a true tribute to the originals. Keyboardist
Bennett is a show all by himself, contorting his body while his fingers seem
frozen to the keys. He is given solo stage time with almost enough time for a
backstage nap. Thinking about the intensity of Starship music, the rest of the
group needs this time to breath again. For any fans, they have recently
recorded a new song, "It's Nothing Like Love". I was loving the musical intro
which was longer than most, but it changed over to hard rock that on a first
listen didn't seem to fit. I have purposely not listened to it again as I
wanted my first impression to be the one in print. I do intend to revisit this
song on the Starship Control page to see what I think of it on a second and
third listen. Mickey's face was very familiar to me once he appeared on stage,
which means his looks have not changed much. Still wearing dark glasses
while performing, as he always has, he brings in the vocal sound required for
the psychedelic sound..
Ok ...
when they traveled back to the Jefferson Airplane time zone, they hooked me Good
and Proper! "White Rabbit", "Don't You Want Somebody To Love", "Crown of
Creation". I had a Bohemian (not quite Hippie) boyfriend ending out my high
school years and these were favorites of he and his friends hands down. It
brought a smile to my face stemming from fond memories. Now at the end they
leave the stage and almost miss their own encore. (memo to performers: Do not
milk the time before your encore. We are applauding. We have shown our
appreciation, but will get tired of waiting for you to return to the stage. Get
back quickly. We will love you more.) It was definitely worth waiting for
though. "WE BUILT THIS CITY ... ON ROCK AND ROLL". Hey we got to sing
along too, and it was truly a fun time that I will want to repeat.
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
Mickey Thomas did a show here in Schaumburg a few years ago (teamed with
Bobby Kimball of Toto fame. In fact, as tipped here yesterday in Forgotten Hits, Bobby has been added to the bill for Eddie Money's show at The Arcada Theatre, coming up on March 29th.) Good, high energy show. His voice is still in
great shape (and one of the more unique in rock and roll history ... people sometimes forget that he also handled the lead vocals on the Elvin Bishop hit "Fooled
Around And Fell In Love".) kk
PETER NOONE AND HERMAN'S HERMITS
PETER NOONE AND HERMAN'S HERMITS
MOHEGAN SUN WOLF DEN AGAIN!! I love this venue EVEN
though it requires standing in line for admission to the shows. There is not a
bad seat in the house, and miraculously, the sound of slots and casino
announcements does not interfere with the inner comfort of The Den. The wolf's
howl from the entry gates at one time was a discomfort once the show started,
but with some guest suggestions (mine included), that has been corrected. So
February 1st, there I was in line holding four places to see Herman's Hermits
starring Peter Noone. We did have reserved seats (somewhere between 2 - 8 ...
nobody seemed to know) so as a precaution, here I stand as the most able-bodied
of my group of friends. (The performers are not the only ones increasing in
age). We ended up with six reserved seats, and a text from my son saying his
in-laws had decided to attend this concert. I checked out their position and
realized that they, and about 75 others, were never going to fit into the
venue. Last minute shuffling: I give my son's in-laws my place in line, we get
into our reserved seats and life is again good. WHAT OR WHO CAN BE CAUSING THIS
CHAOS?? As I said: Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone. The maximum of
allowable reserved seats in this 350 seat venue and a line that would
have filled the venue when empty meant that The Den was full and the surrounding
half-wall was 3-4 deep with left-over spectators.
I don't
even need to give a review. That pretty much says it. But for those of you who
have yet to experience this show, I will. (and I promised Kent).
These are seasoned musicians and performers. The show
is semi-planned, semi-choreographed, allows spontaneity, always a hoot!
Starting off with Vance Brescia and the Banned leading us in the Manchester
Soccer Fight song, (as Davy Jones remarked when he watched The Beatles from
stage-side on Ed Sullivan: "We still have a better soccer team.") we stand up,
clap ... always over the head ... and watch as these musicians take their places
and wait for the big announcement. Rich Spina's voice from the keyboards ends
with, "One of the top bands of the British Invasion, we are Herman's Hermits;
starring Herman himself, PETER NOONE!" The Den explodes in applause and Peter
walks out ready to perform 'Something Good'. The entire show is filled with
hits from Herman's Hermits and other British Invasion groups. Peter's
characterizations of Mick Jagger, Tom Jones, and Johnny Cash puts the revelers
in stitches, and I can't help but think, "You mean there are still some people
who have never seen this?" The answer is YES! The answer also is that is still
cracks us up every time. I look over at the table containing my son's in-laws
and their guests. They can hardly stay on their chairs, they are laughing so
much. Good. But when the music starts ... every time the music starts ... it
is magic. Sheer, beautiful, fun, melodic magic. Peter's voice is as strong, or
stronger, as the years go by. His musicians: Vance Brescia, Rich Spina, Billy
Sullivan and Dave Ferrara get into the loving jabs and the joy of each song as
we relive the decade to beat all decades. Hmmmm Rich, I saw you slowly remove
your glasses when Peter made referral to boys not listening to their
priests when young and now can be spotted by their eyewear. That's ok, just get
contacts. We'll never know.
I always love it, miss this show during the long gaps
of time we have now, and look forward to a time to re-view it again. Thanks
Lads.
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano
Peter has been enjoying the 50th Anniversary of The British Invasion (although I can't believe it feels at all like 50 years for this guy, who was barely in his teens ... yet right in the thick of it back in 1964 / 1965.) He's even been saluting some of the great British Invasion hits on his Sirius / XM Radio Program, which airs on Saturdays on the satellite 60s network. (kk)
New York City held a HUGE 50th Anniversary Celebration in honor of The Beatles' first visit there ... here comes a first-hand report of a concert that he had the honor of performing in from Mitch Schecter of The Rip Chords:
Peter has been enjoying the 50th Anniversary of The British Invasion (although I can't believe it feels at all like 50 years for this guy, who was barely in his teens ... yet right in the thick of it back in 1964 / 1965.) He's even been saluting some of the great British Invasion hits on his Sirius / XM Radio Program, which airs on Saturdays on the satellite 60s network. (kk)
*****
New York City held a HUGE 50th Anniversary Celebration in honor of The Beatles' first visit there ... here comes a first-hand report of a concert that he had the honor of performing in from Mitch Schecter of The Rip Chords:
Hey Kent ...
Wanted to tell you about the amazing show we took part in last Saturday
night, February 8th, at Town Hall in NYC. It was an all-star celebration of The Beatles'
50th Anniversary in the USA, promoted by Charles Rosenay ... and lots of greats
turned out ... Al Jardine, Tommy James, Gene Cornish, Ron Dante, Gary
DeCarlo (Steam), John Ford (Strawbs), Ian Lloyd (Stories), Actors Charles
Grodin, Danny Aiello, and many more.
Me, Richie and my wife Amy (who sings the
high parts on the Live Rip Chords shows) were invited to sing backup harmonies
with Al Jardine, Ron Dante, and Gary DeCarlo. What a great night it was. Each
star sang one Beatles song and one of their own hits to the sold out house. The
Town Hall in NYC is steeped in history. It was such an honor to be on that
stage.
I've attached a photo from our set with Al Jardine ... and another of Ron Dante and I sharing the stage.
Talk soon ...
Mitch Schecter / The Rip Chords
