Kent,
You may remember I mentioned upon my return home to Florida from
Chicago and the Cornerstones Of Rock show, that I had a great weekend of concerts
planned here in the Clearwater area and you replied to send in some
reports.
Well, here we are and let me say the all the shows lived up to
their advance hype.
First up on Friday was
Bowzer's Holiday Party with special guests Peter Noone of Herman's
Hermits, along with Joey Dee, Jay Siegel & The Tokens and Henry
Gross.
Bowzer (AKA Jon Bauman of Sha-Na-Na fame) mentioned that this was
the ninth (almost) annual event here at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Bowzer treats
his show with great reverence and he truly enjoys being the MC of the
proceedings. The man is 76 and he is moving much slower than before. He
stated that he just had a back operation and was scheduled for a heart
procedure in a few weeks but he hopes he can keep doing these events
for some time to come ... but he's not sure how much longer his body will allow
it. God-willing, let's hope it's for many more years!
The Florida-based band Rocky & The Rollers were the back-up band
for all the entertainment except for Peter Noone and they are truly
excellent at what they do. I have seen them several times in the past ,
mainly doing shows at the Villages in Central Florida, and they can play
practically any type of music.
Bowzer brought out Joe Dee (of Joey Dee
& The Starlighters fame) and he sang four or five songs, ending up, of
course, with the "Peppermint Twist." For an 83-year-old man, he was a
huge bundle of energy and he was kicking and dancing all over the stage.
Next up was a former member of Sha-Na-Na, Mr. Henry Gross. He sang
"Blue Moon" along with Bowzer and the three back-up singers called The
Stingrays and then, of course, we were treated to his huge 70's hit
"Shannon." And yes, he did the falsetto beautifully!
Next up was Jay Siegel and his current Tokens. Jay is 84-years-old and
he has also kept himself in beautful shape. And WOW what a voice!
They
sang six songs, ending with 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and yes, if you shut
your eyes, you would think you were hearing the record playing. Jay hit
the high notes perfectly! And in addition to his singing, he is quite the
entertainer, keeping the audience laughing to his quips.
After a 15
minute intermission, Bowzer started off with a couple of songs with The
Stingrays and then he brought out Johnny Contardo (a former member of
Sha-Na-Na), who then sang two songs.
Then we were treated to just a magnificent version of
the Brooklyn Bridge classic " The Worst That Could Happen" as sung by
Steve Santos, who is the lead singer of Rocky & The Rollers. Bowzer
had the song dedicated to the great Johnny Maestro.
A quick five minutes to realign the stage and then Peter Noone along
with his Hermits (Rich Spina, Vance Brescia, Billy Sullivan and drummer
Dave Ferrara) hit the stage running opening with, of course, "I'm Into
Something Good." They ran through about 45 minutes worth of Herman's
Hermits' hits, including several Christmas classics. The way he starts off singing
"Rudolph" and then segues into into "Mrs. Brown" has to be heard to be
believed.
I got my Peter Noone moment about halfway into the show when
he jumped off the stage (well went down the stairs) and into the
audience to sing "Listen People." He traversed a couple of rows and then
yes, he came right down my row and stood right next to me while
continuing to sing. Quite a thrill to have this fabulous entertainer
stand right next to you while singing to over 2,000 people!! I even got a
handshake, which my girl friend Alice was about two seconds too slow to
get a picture of. The man is just an incredible entertainer!
To end the
show, Bowzer came back out with the entire cast and they all sang the
classic "Good Night, Sweetheart." A very enjoyable three hour show!
The next night, it was off to the Capitol Theater in downtown
Clearwater to see The Outlaws Christmas Show with The Artimus Pyle band
opening.
The Outlaws have been doing this show at the Capitol in
December for many years now and Henry Paul (Outlaws founder and de-facto
leader) said from the stage that he plans to do it for at least 20 more,
even though he is 73-years-old. I hope he's right.
I am not going to
say much about the Outlaws show as I saw it last year and sent in a
review to Forgotten Hits then. The show was pretty similar, although this
time they included a three-song acoustic portion in the middle. In my
opinion, they have the best four-part harmony singing of any Southern
Rock band, which stands them out from the others ... not to
mention the great three-part guitar army attack. Great show as always
from Tampa's own!
I just want to mention that it was a thrill to see the
Artimus Pyle band open this year. If you are a fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd ,
then this group is as close as you will get to the real thing. In fact,
technically ... since there is no members left in Skynyrd from the classic
era of the band ... that means that Artimus Pyle is even closer to the
real thing! Of all the original members of Skynyrd, he is the only one
still alive! Very hard to believe!
His band ran through great
versions of seven Skynyrd songs, ending with (what else) "Sweet Home Alabama" and
then "Free Bird" I think that was an audience request, LOL!
"Free Bird"
lasted for over 10 minutes and was easily as good as any Lynyrd Skynyrd
version ever played. And if that was not enough, Alice and I got to meet Mr. Pyle
after the show as he was signing autographs, posing for pictures with
his band and hawking some merch. Artimus could not have been nicer to
Alice and I. I mentioned to him that I thought he just about had that
Lynyrd Skynyrd thing down pretty good and he replied with a very
straight face, "Rich, it's a work in progress." As funny as that was, the
fact that he remembered my name after signing an autograph a minute
before just blew my mind. Another great night of rock ... and we are not
done yet.
On Sunday night it was back to Ruth
Eckerd Hall and Three Dog Night with Firefall opening. I was pretty
apprehensive about this show beforehand. I was a huge Three Dog Night
fan back in their heyday in the early 70's and probably saw them in
concert back then around five or six times. Loved the shows, loved their
singles and loved their albums, which are still proudly in my
collection.
Everybody that is familiar with the band (well let's say
most) knows some of the history and now they are referred by many as
"One Dog Night," as Danny Hutton is the only original member left. Time
has not treated the group well and if I hadn't won my tickets in an
auction, I probably would not have gone.
Around 2014 or so, I actually got
to meet former lead singer Chuck Negron here in Clearwater after he did
an outdoor concert with his band. We were heading back to our car when
who just happened to pull up next to us at a stop sign ... Chuck in a van
with his driver. He had us (yes, believe it or not) climb into the van
and pose for a couple of pics and signed an autograph. I asked him point
blank why was he not still performing with Three Dog Night anymore. He
hemmed and hawed for a couple of seconds and then replied "Man, all I
can tell you is that it is all a bunch of bullshit, plain and simple."
The man could not have been nicer or more gracious, except when talking
about his former band. And even then he said he misses Cory Wells. This
was about a year before Cory died.
Anyway, back
to the show. In a word, I was greatly entertained! David Morgan did a
nice job in the Cory Wells role and told some fascinating stories. The
band's unsung weapon is lead guitarist and vocalist Paul Kingery. He did
a great job on a couple of Negron songs such as "One." Danny Hutton's
voice is not what it used to be, but he was still able to shout out
"Liar" and "Black And White." And, interestingly enough, Hutton's son
(Tim) plays bass in the band and provides an occasional back-up vocal.
They performed just about all their hits except for "One Man Band"
(which would have been appropriate, LOL!) and the one I really missed,
"The Show Must Go On." That would have made a great show-closer, but it
was not meant to be. They did perform one newish song titled "Prayer Of
The Children," which they sang a ccapella, and it was quite impressive. And
then it was time for (what else!) "Joy To The World" to bring the show to a
close with a giant bullfrog dancing out onto the stage. Again, I was
entertained by their (I guess let's say) professionalism and I think
that they actually did the best job they could with one original member.
There were around 1,500 people in attendance and my impression was that
everybody enjoyed it.
I almost forgot ... Firefall opened the show. I have seen this band several times and every
time I do I notice that band members seem to come and go but there is
one constant and that is founding member Jock Barkley. Whoever is in
the band does not seem to matter ... they put on a great, entertaining
(there's that word again!) show.
They played ten songs consisting of
nine hits from the past and one newer song (which really wasn't new at all.) Firefall put out a covers CD a few months back, consisting of what Jock
said was their favorite songs from the 70s and they played from it the
Doobie Brothers' classic "Long Train Runnin'." (Doesn't it seem like that when a
lot of our favorite bands from the past decide to make new music, somehow
it seems like it turns out be a covers album!)
Now there are exceptions ,
like the Stones, of course, but look it up and see if I'm wrong. Firefall
sounded great; I'm guessing Jock Barkley has the band trained well. And
to put the icing on the cake, we also got to meet the band after the show
for some quick conversation and pics and autographs.
Well, if that wasn't all, there is still one more show to talk about.
Four days later, The Steve Miller Band rolled into town. They performed
at our newest venue in Clearwater, an outdoor amphitheater called The
Sound At Coachman Park. An outdoor show in December you say? Well, it is
Florida and the temp at showtime was around 70 degrees. You can't beat
that! Around 4,000 fans had no problem with it.
The Samantha Fish Band
opened and I like to think that my general knowledge of musical history
is pretty good (well, not so much hip-hop and the music of the kids
nowadays), but before tonight, I had never heard of her or her group. The
band plays sort of a bluesy, country-ish sort of rock and since I was not
familiar with any of the songs except for a couple of covers, I guess my
entertainment needle was not real high. Coupled with the fact that our
seats were not real close to the stage, let's just say I got through
it.
Then Steve Miller came out and he did not
disappoint. He kicked it off with "Swingtown" and the hits never stopped
coming. This was a greatest hits show and the audience
was loving every second. I do not need to name them, but if it was a
classic Steve Miller song, then it was probably played.
His band was in
fine form and they hit every note perfectly. Steve Miller is
80-years-old (where does the time go?) but he has lost nothing from his
fine singing voice. He told a lot of great stories between the songs and
he sounded like he was having a great time also. In the middle of the
show, he brought out the legendary blues guitarist Les Dudek to join with
the band for a couple of songs. The Otis Rush song "All Your Love" and
"Stranger's Blues" were the two choices, and it looked like Miller and
Dudek could not be happier jamming together. My understanding was that
this did not happen for any other show on the tour, so Clearwater got a
real treat.
Another juicy tidbit was Miller playing a solo acoustic
version of "Jet Airliner." He mentioned that he likes doing that
occasionally because that way you get to really hear the words. And if
anybody was disappointed in that version, he played the full band version
of the song also. Two for the price of one.
I
think I mentioned that our seats were not close to the front, but that
did not stop my girlfriend / photographer Alice from getting some great
shots. She sweet-talked a security attendant into letting her run up
close to the stage for a song or two and she managed to get some
excellent photos. A couple of them look like she was standing right
next to the man himself!
All great things must come to an end. After
playing "Take The Money And Run," "The Joker" and ending with an
extended version of "Rock 'n Me," Steve and the band bid adieu and left the
stage and the building. Another excellent two-hour show came to an end
and so did our concert week.
I guess all I have left to look forward to
is Christmas and New Year's ... and then my next show which is Styx and .38
Special at the Sound on January 5th.
I think I one time estimated that I
have attended over 1500 concerts since I was 14 (that show was Blood,
Sweat & Tears in 1969) and I still look forward going to as many
shows as possible. And the great thing is I have a girlfriend who
enjoys it as much as me.
Until my next review ...
Rich Turner
Largo, Florida
Man, you've been busy!!! (lol)
GREAT reviews, Rich ... keep 'em comin'!!!
And thank Alice for me for all the great photos ...
I just LOVE sharing this stuff with the readers! (kk)
