One night recently the Bass player had a dream after a particularly stressful day of work. This particular dream, like many dreams was somewhat disjointed in parts. The essence of the dream was that the Lava Lords as a band on a whim had purchased 4 lottery tickets and WON THE $220 MILLION DOLLAR POWERBALL!!! Of course there was much discussion on how we would share this fortune, quit our jobs, finance our family futures and have plenty of time to practice!! We would be in a position to BUY any gig we wanted to play. What would our dream gigs be? Should we shoot for Madison Square Garden, Excel Energy Center or some coveted outdoor gigs? Unfortunately, even though we were now millionaires and could buy any gear or gig we wanted, we still had the same talent level that we had before and of course were still a cover band, playing songs written by other bands. But, we were going on tour anyway and now FINALLY even as the old goats that we are we would be able to LIVE THE DREAM of being ROCK STARS on tour on the road.
We all quit our jobs of course, IMMEDIATELY. Lonzo spent his last day at work hysterically formatting the hard drives of every support call he got. Pete karate chopped his way through his last day at work. (of course he spared his buddies Dave and Scott). Kinger rented a limosine to chauffeur him around the metro making his last sales calls ever and had his best week of sales ever, selling stuff that doesn’t even exist. Andy routed a huge amount of brand new inventory to the Salvation Army headquarters.
The band decided to buy two brand new TOUR busses with all the luxury items of course, hired drivers and were going on tour. Of course we had to hire some roadies / managers and other positions from our pool of family members and friends. Naturally all these people got 6 figure salaries for a 3 month road trip. When we were planning our road trip itinerary for our tour we discussed many options including trying to schedule every Legion Hall in Minnesota back to back to back. Another thought was just to show up unannounced at any bar we wanted, buy out the band supposed to play that night and take over the gig. In the dream Kinger had the best idea of all!!!! We would go on tour and ONLY PLAY BARS with the name “Lava Lounge”. We all agreed this was a fantastic idea. So we hit the road. The first stop the “Lava Lounge” in Minneapolis on our way out of town was not actually a bar or night club but a clothing store. We had to load up on “rock star” outfits!!! Of course after the tour we had to make the obligatory appearances with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, David Letterman on The Late Show, Oprah Winfrey, Conan O’Brien, Dr Phil (Dr Phil ????????????)
Lava Lords 2007 Summer Tour
Saturday July 7, 2007 - Lava Lounge - 3037 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408
www.lavalounge.com
Saturday July 14, 2007 - Lava Lounge - 461 W Gilman St, Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Saturday July 21, 2007 - Lava Lounge - 859 N Damen Ave, Chicago, Illinois
Saturday July 28 - Lava Lounge - 1307 Auburn Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44113
Saturday August 4, 2007 -Lava Lounge - 507 College St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Saturday August 11, 2007 - Lava Lounge -204 East Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
www.myspace.com/lavaloungepittsburgh
Saturday August 18, 2007 - Lava Lounge - 57 13th St, Atlanta, Georgia 30309
www.cosmolava.com/details
Saturday August 25, 2007 - Lava Lounge - 1235 North Orange, Orlando, Florida 32804
www.lavaorlando.com
Saturday September 1, 2007 - Lava Lounge - Azle, Texas
www.lavalounge.org
Saturday September 8, 2007 - Club Octane – The Lava Lounge - 321 N Alvarado St, Monterey, CA 93940
http://www.cluboctane.com/lavalounge/
Saturday September 15, 2007 - Lava Lounge - 1533 N La Brea Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90028
www.lavahollywood.com
www.myspace.com/lavalounge
Saturday September 22, 2007 - Lava Lounge - 2226 2nd Ave, Seattle, Washington 98121 http://www.mamas.com/lavalounge.htm
26 September 2006
21 September 2006
Where have we been ?
Many people have asked where the band has been these last 6 weeks. Apparently there are some people out there who actually READ this blog. We have been going pretty strong with gigs and practices the last five years culminating in our two Fairmont July 2006 gigs. As a band we pretty much agreed to take the month of August and most of September OFF from gigs to concentrate on other aspects of life in the big city. Let’s face reality…we are not all 25 years old, single with nothing to do except practice every night like we could in the past. We took August to concentrate on other things such as starting / finishing remodel projects in our homes and taking family vacations. Pete has been concentrating on getting that next higher degree of Black Belt in Karate. Lonzo has been coaching 2nd / 3rd grade tackle football. Andy and Kinger both have garage / basement / bathroom remodel projects ongoing to attend to. Andy has been diligently recording original tunes with his other band Open Element. Kids are back in school and of course we all have careers we need to give some time to as well. Don’t worry about us folding and throwing in our cards because the passion for playing music is still burning strong in all of us. We are the Lava Lords and you can be sure that over the last 6 weeks the magma has been forming, steam is starting to spew out of the volcano within us and the HOT LAVA is ready to EXPLODE any day now. There is a lot of pent up musical energy in us we need to express. We thought we had three gigs for this FALL etched in stone and just when we were about to announce them the rug got pulled out from underneath us. We guess this is just the business side of music rearing its ugly head. We had arrangements with a booking agent to get us some gigs and he turned out to be nothing but a slime ball so we fired his sorry ass and took this responsibility back “in house”. We are back out beating the streets, knocking on doors and promoting the band ourselves. We think we have some pretty sweet gigs pending that we can’t wait to announce but cannot until they are etched in stone. Please keep checking back for updates. U GUYS ROCK !!!
04 August 2006
Hot Lava Rocks Ice Cold Morgue
In the past the mantra has always been “a live gig is worth 3 practices” but really….a live gig is worth so much more. There are so many things going on during a gig that you just cannot re-create in practice. And so it was during our most recent gig at the Fairmont VFW hall.
We got there with plenty of time to spare….probably around 4:30 or so. One great thing about playing this VFW hall is that there is NO ONE THERE during the load in / set up. Other than the main bartender setting up some stuff around 7:30 we had the whole place to ourselves. This is a luxury we have never had before. We didn’t have to disturb bar patrons during the load in, we didn’t have to move stuff out of the way to make room for our stuff. Once we got our equipment physically set up, we spent about an hour tweaking the sound, twisting knobs here and there, taking turns listening to the mix from various points in the hall and just fine tuning the mix. By all accounts it was the best “sound” we have ever had with regards to vocal clarity, no feedback, the levels of the various instruments and the mix for both the mains and the monitors. We also spent extra time setting up the lighting that we brought with us and tweaking the lights in the hall that would impact the stage lighting. We were ready to go at 8:00 PM. The start time had not been etched in stone and after some discussion with Roger (the Morgue liason) and the head bartender we waited until about 8:20 as there were only 5 people there. After we got 4-5 songs into the set list people started pouring in thankfully. If you live in Fairmont you can probably find a band to check out somewhere in the county every weekend but it is not like Fairmont is a music Mecca. This particular Saturday however was a bit different. The band Sinister was playing outdoors at the Granada street dance and the band Uncle Fester was playing on a flat bed trailer right across the street from the VFW at the Fairmont Street Dance. BUT……we had one thing NEITHER of these bands had for this evening of music………
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AIR CONDITIONING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This particular evening even at 9:00 pm it was still 95 degrees with 70 % humidity.
WICKED HEAT SPELL!
We had our fill of the heat just hauling our gear from the vehicles into the hall. Amazing how much sweat comes out of your body in such a short time. There would have been NO WAY playing in the heat would have been any fun at all. Hopefully those two bands gutted it out and survived. We had many people make the trek across the street to see us and get some AC when they finally had enough of heat.
The first set was pretty much 15 songs….we got acquainted with “I’m OLD, I’m DRUNK and I’m IN YOUR FACE” gal. God bless her…she kept coming up to the stage requesting something they would know…Didn’t we know they were old farts and they don’t know any of this new shit??? (hmmm let’s see we just did back to back Beatles tunes, back to back CREAM tunes, a Monkee’s tune and a Yardbirds tune all from the 60’s) Finally, we were like “Oh yeah we’ll do that one later”. (we were going to throw in her request for “House of the Rising Sun”…but hadn’t played that in a while. In hind site we probably should have worked that one up.)
Then there also was Pete’s dad. Russ is a trooper. Russ has come and seen us on various occasions. Russ had an AWESOME Halloween costume when we played the Fairmont Legion gig last fall. Russ is a huge fan of the band and it is just totally obvious from the joy on his face that he is so happy Pete is living the dream. Heck, Russ is almost 80 years old and he has danced recently to FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS!!! How many 80 year olds can stake that claim? One thing about Russ, he likes to just get up on stage and feel the vibe and his timing is impeccable. We were mid song and there was Russ right up onstage, heckling Pete and enjoying the vibe. On his way off stage he paused near the bass player.
Russ = “you having fun?”
Lonzo = “most fun I’ve had all week” (back to microphone…..harmonizing)
…I’m in my cabin dreaming. Or are you really scheming”
Russ = “sounds way different up here”
Lonzo = (still harmonizing at the mic) “to take my ship away from me” then while playing the “important bass line” turning to Russ “sounds great doesn’t it”
What a riot. Russ exits stage left.
We were happy to have BOTH Randy and Andy’s mom and dad there for two full sets!! (of course we were too loud up close where they were originally sitting but they found their sweet spot a bit farther back where they could still carry on a conversation) Even rearranged the second set to play a request for them they were going to dance to.
Somewhere early second set someone decided to fiddle with the lights in the hall at the fuse box and suddenly we had bright fluorescent lighting in our face. The rest of the hall was still properly lit with subdued lighting. Bright Fluorescent Lighting….just on us of course. Pretty much took the wind out of that song……and then no one could figure out how to turn them off. We had to run back there and fix that in between songs.
Speaking of “stage crashers”….during the third set Dawn her friend Michelle and bro Todd decided to crash the stage and dance their way around and through us. Thankfully nothing got tripped over or unplugged. They all managed to keep their clothes on too!!
It was another AWESOME gig overall. The hall is so big that even with 200 people it seems pretty empty. Once again we got more offers to perform potential future gigs.
Everything pretty much went according to plan until the very, very, very, end when all our stuff was packed up and we were sitting around in the empty hall at 2:00 a.m. the bar manager pretty much kicked us out. We were not asked to leave. He did in fact kick us out but the exact quote is memory blurred. Hey we were just trying to relax for a moment. Didn’t matter at that point.
Thanks to Roger and all "the Morgue" members for having us down to crash your bash!
(OK - so you are wondering what the heck is "the Morgue") Back in the 60's in Fairmont there was a farm house outside town where people would go to hang out and party. Remember of course this was the sixties...you know Peace, free Love, hippies,Woodstock !!) They had some sort of name for it but somewhere someone made the comment "it doesn't look like a frat house to me it looks more like a Morgue" !! Maybe it was due to all the passed out partiers laying around on couches???? So eventually "the Morgue" became a reference to the exclusive clique who frequented said space.
We got there with plenty of time to spare….probably around 4:30 or so. One great thing about playing this VFW hall is that there is NO ONE THERE during the load in / set up. Other than the main bartender setting up some stuff around 7:30 we had the whole place to ourselves. This is a luxury we have never had before. We didn’t have to disturb bar patrons during the load in, we didn’t have to move stuff out of the way to make room for our stuff. Once we got our equipment physically set up, we spent about an hour tweaking the sound, twisting knobs here and there, taking turns listening to the mix from various points in the hall and just fine tuning the mix. By all accounts it was the best “sound” we have ever had with regards to vocal clarity, no feedback, the levels of the various instruments and the mix for both the mains and the monitors. We also spent extra time setting up the lighting that we brought with us and tweaking the lights in the hall that would impact the stage lighting. We were ready to go at 8:00 PM. The start time had not been etched in stone and after some discussion with Roger (the Morgue liason) and the head bartender we waited until about 8:20 as there were only 5 people there. After we got 4-5 songs into the set list people started pouring in thankfully. If you live in Fairmont you can probably find a band to check out somewhere in the county every weekend but it is not like Fairmont is a music Mecca. This particular Saturday however was a bit different. The band Sinister was playing outdoors at the Granada street dance and the band Uncle Fester was playing on a flat bed trailer right across the street from the VFW at the Fairmont Street Dance. BUT……we had one thing NEITHER of these bands had for this evening of music………
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AIR CONDITIONING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This particular evening even at 9:00 pm it was still 95 degrees with 70 % humidity.
WICKED HEAT SPELL!
We had our fill of the heat just hauling our gear from the vehicles into the hall. Amazing how much sweat comes out of your body in such a short time. There would have been NO WAY playing in the heat would have been any fun at all. Hopefully those two bands gutted it out and survived. We had many people make the trek across the street to see us and get some AC when they finally had enough of heat.
The first set was pretty much 15 songs….we got acquainted with “I’m OLD, I’m DRUNK and I’m IN YOUR FACE” gal. God bless her…she kept coming up to the stage requesting something they would know…Didn’t we know they were old farts and they don’t know any of this new shit??? (hmmm let’s see we just did back to back Beatles tunes, back to back CREAM tunes, a Monkee’s tune and a Yardbirds tune all from the 60’s) Finally, we were like “Oh yeah we’ll do that one later”. (we were going to throw in her request for “House of the Rising Sun”…but hadn’t played that in a while. In hind site we probably should have worked that one up.)
Then there also was Pete’s dad. Russ is a trooper. Russ has come and seen us on various occasions. Russ had an AWESOME Halloween costume when we played the Fairmont Legion gig last fall. Russ is a huge fan of the band and it is just totally obvious from the joy on his face that he is so happy Pete is living the dream. Heck, Russ is almost 80 years old and he has danced recently to FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS!!! How many 80 year olds can stake that claim? One thing about Russ, he likes to just get up on stage and feel the vibe and his timing is impeccable. We were mid song and there was Russ right up onstage, heckling Pete and enjoying the vibe. On his way off stage he paused near the bass player.
Russ = “you having fun?”
Lonzo = “most fun I’ve had all week” (back to microphone…..harmonizing)
…I’m in my cabin dreaming. Or are you really scheming”
Russ = “sounds way different up here”
Lonzo = (still harmonizing at the mic) “to take my ship away from me” then while playing the “important bass line” turning to Russ “sounds great doesn’t it”
What a riot. Russ exits stage left.
We were happy to have BOTH Randy and Andy’s mom and dad there for two full sets!! (of course we were too loud up close where they were originally sitting but they found their sweet spot a bit farther back where they could still carry on a conversation) Even rearranged the second set to play a request for them they were going to dance to.
Somewhere early second set someone decided to fiddle with the lights in the hall at the fuse box and suddenly we had bright fluorescent lighting in our face. The rest of the hall was still properly lit with subdued lighting. Bright Fluorescent Lighting….just on us of course. Pretty much took the wind out of that song……and then no one could figure out how to turn them off. We had to run back there and fix that in between songs.
Speaking of “stage crashers”….during the third set Dawn her friend Michelle and bro Todd decided to crash the stage and dance their way around and through us. Thankfully nothing got tripped over or unplugged. They all managed to keep their clothes on too!!
It was another AWESOME gig overall. The hall is so big that even with 200 people it seems pretty empty. Once again we got more offers to perform potential future gigs.
Everything pretty much went according to plan until the very, very, very, end when all our stuff was packed up and we were sitting around in the empty hall at 2:00 a.m. the bar manager pretty much kicked us out. We were not asked to leave. He did in fact kick us out but the exact quote is memory blurred. Hey we were just trying to relax for a moment. Didn’t matter at that point.
Thanks to Roger and all "the Morgue" members for having us down to crash your bash!
(OK - so you are wondering what the heck is "the Morgue") Back in the 60's in Fairmont there was a farm house outside town where people would go to hang out and party. Remember of course this was the sixties...you know Peace, free Love, hippies,Woodstock !!) They had some sort of name for it but somewhere someone made the comment "it doesn't look like a frat house to me it looks more like a Morgue" !! Maybe it was due to all the passed out partiers laying around on couches???? So eventually "the Morgue" became a reference to the exclusive clique who frequented said space.
14 July 2006
Beach Bash Trifecta - Chapter ONE
We had many options for titles for this blog including:
“How to vaporize your drummer 101” or “Sand, Surf and ROCK”
The day started early for everyone as we met at Kinger’s for the loading of equipment at 8:30 a.m. Originally we were going to rent a U HAUL trailer but Kinger and LuAnn decided to take LuAnn’s new PT Cruiser for its maiden voyage which freed up our space issues. As planned everything was loaded up and fit nicely and we were on the road @ 9:00 with one eye on the sky as the skies were threatening RAIN. The drive itself was uneventful and there were some stretches where we could tell it had rained but we never did see any actual rain falling from the sky. If you have been reading this blog you already know we have some experience playing outdoors as we did an 18 wheeler flat bed trailer outdoors gig at the Walters ranch in East Chain last summer. We were PREPARED for RAIN ! We had tarps for the drum kit, tarps for the amps, tarps for the PA and monitors, large tarps to cover those tarps and extra backup tarps in case. Tarps, tarps, tarps. We also had BUG SPRAY, but of course we would have someone else apply it to our bodies to avoid getting the stuff on our hands. In fact the bug spray would not be put on flesh below the elbow as sweat would make it run down to the hands. We had SUN TAN LOTION. We had coolers packed with ice, water, soda and of course a few brewskies. The beverages of choice for the gig would be water first, then soda, then brewskies as we knew we would need a healthy respect for the expected heat and humidity with temperatures nearing 90.
We arrived at the Bash around 12:30 after a quick stop at Taco Johns in St Peter and Lonzo and the CUZ making a quick side trip to the Miles Away Farm to set up the tent for sleeping accommodations later. The set up was smooth with the help of Pete’s buddy Scott and his 14 year old son Spencer who made the trip from the Cities to help out and have some fun. Spencer is also a guitar player but was “THE DESIGNATED ROADIE” for this gig. As Spence evolves in his musical career we as old goats, hope to repay his kindness someday!!
The gig itself once again was awesome. The skies ended up turning blue. There were people and boats everywhere. It never did rain. Not a drop. We had a bit of a shock just before starting our first set, literally, when we plugged in the last two items, portable fans. If Lonzo or Pete lips touched their microphones, it would be ZAP, shocking. Andy’s mic did not exhibit this behavior so we were delayed for a few minutes while we tried to find another circuit to plug the fans into. Once we put the fans (ungrounded plugs) on their own circuit the issue was solved. We opened the first set with 14 songs and the 2nd set was 13 songs. The crowd, boaters, and beach bashers seemed to be having a really good time. It was pretty cool for the bass player to be able to turn around mid song and see his own kid doing flips off the diving board into the “cement pond” behind us. Somewhere halfway through the third set Kinger starting get cramps in his arms from the heat. It was like a golf ball size knot in his arm was up near the bicep and then down towards the elbow as the muscles expanded and contracted. If you have ever experienced cramping from heat exhaustion you know this is pretty weird and painful. By this time of course the sun had gotten low enough in the west so the tent we were under was not offering as much shade. We decided to alter course and threw in a slow song “Knocking on Heavens Door” to see if Kinger was going to be able to finish the set. We put 4 songs on the back burner but then gutted it out through “Stranglehold” to close out the gig. Between our three sets we ended up playing about 36 songs. At most gigs we try to squeeze in 42-45 songs. As stated in previous blog entries we have so many songs now we want to play them all!!! We were all pretty much gassed after that and retreated to the comfort of the club house for more water, a brewskie, some food and AC. Thankfully Todd, Scott and Spencer took over most of the tear down / load out chores while we partied like ROCK STARS. (yeah right) Kinger ended up having to get iced down and pretty much had heat exhaustion and called it an early night. Thankfully he was OK later that night and didn’t need any special trips to the Red Cross tent for fluids. Thanks to everyone who came to support us and have a good time. Thanks to the Yacht Club for having us and special thanks to Richie Johnson and Randy Quiring for getting us the gig. RQ for MAYOR !!!
BUT WAIT….THERE IS MORE!!
Beach Bash Trifecta - Chapter TWO
After we got cooled down and all our gear secured we stuck around to check out the 2nd band “30 Below” who were set up on the Yacht Club deck. Of course we only caught pieces of their first set since we were still packing and trying to reload the energy level. 30 Below is a pretty entertaining band mixing it up with some blues, some originals, some classics, and some oldies. They invited up us to jam with them several times, but we were too gassed and already had our 15 minutes of fame so our ego’s were in check. (ha) The lead singer Bud crooned Neil Diamond one song and then Johnny Cash the next and sounded exactly like each. Cool ! Some pretty good harmonies with “Ditt” the drummer who is also originally from Fairmont. It was pretty obvious that 30 Below was having fun and were definitely enjoying themselves.
By the third set it was dark and they had a GREAT crowd dancing and carrying on.
Bummer for them as one side of their main speakers kept cutting out, assumed due to some hardware overheating. There were able to direct some fans blowing on the hardware and that seemed to help. One added bonus to their light show was the hundreds of fireflies or lightening bugs flying around blinking their fluorescent glows. That was pretty cool. Ended up kicking back in our lawn chairs, drinking some cold ones, listening to some good music, watching the full moon come up right behind the band, the fireflies, and the calm lake. What a great event. We hope they invite us back for next year!
BUT WAIT....THERE IS MORE !!
Beach Bash Trifecta - Chapter THREE
So here is how we got to the Trifecta title of the blogs.
After closing out our 3-7 ROCK the beach slot, and then partying with 30 Below for the 7-10:30 slot Andy, Lonzo and Lonzo’s bro Todd trekked up to Aardvarks in Truman for their grand reopening to see the band Sinister. Sinister was set up outside on a flat bed trailer in the parking lot. The Lava Lords have had to go head to head with competing gigs at least once before in Fairmont with Sinister and got our butts kicked so we wanted to be able to check out the competition. This is Tommy Bolster’s band covering mostly 80’s Heavy Metal. We got there in time for the last set and both encores. This band ROCKS and has spent some serious cash on their sound production and light show. Sinister has a HUGE following in southern MN as they should. We were able to talk to Tommy briefly before they started the third set and he was surprised and happy to see us. They had a good crowd of several hundred people. Check out the pics !!
So in closing, it was truly an amazing ROCKING weekend. Three bands !!! Trifecta !!
We packed in as much as we could in a 24 hour period. What a riot!!
BUT WAIT – THERE IS MORE!!!
Once we got back to the Miles Away Farm, Todd sparked up a camp fire. There we were, three happy campers hovering around a camp fire at 1:30 in the morning…..peace, quiet, solitude, crickets chirping, the fire crackling, full moon. Totally calm. What a contrast and fitting closing to an exciting day. We are so LUCKY and appreciative of what we have. Can’t wait to go at it again.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz
02 July 2006
Alice Cooper Rocks the Taste
I informed my 11 year old daughter that I was going to the Taste of Minnesota with the guys from the Lava Lords for another “band outing” to see Alice Cooper. “What kind of music does she play dad?”
hmmmm… my daughter is a budding musician herself singing and playing the piano and in fact has been exposed to other classic rock bands Head East and Blue Oyster Cult at previous Taste of MN shows. How to explain Alice Cooper? Rather than go into the details of the evolution of shock rock, boa constrictors and Alice actually being a he not a she I remarked “more classic rock my dear” and left it at that….for now.
(she’s probably at home right now snooping through my massive vinyl collection looking for clues)
The 21st Century version of Alice Cooper and his band rocked St Paul on Friday June 30th, 2006 opening their 2006 North American tour at the Taste of Minnesota. Alice of course was the same old Alice from the 70’s fighting with his internal demons played out musically on stage in a vaudevillian rock opera, including of course the albino boa constrictor, fake blood, Alice getting his head chopped off in a guillotine and singing “Ballad of Dwight Fry" while constrained in a straight jacket.
(I’ve got to get out of here, I’ve got to get out of here”)
The 21st Century version of his band Keri Kelly / Damon Johnson on guitars, Chuck Garric on bass and Eric Singer on drums were very tight and in many stretches SIZZLED and kept to the essence of the songs but with a more edgy metal / thrash feel.
The band ROCKED through many of Alice’s older classics including “Billion Dollar Babies”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “Be My Lover”, “Poison”, “Is It My Body”, “Under My Wheels”, “I’m Eighteen” and “Schools Out” and the guitarists both switched to acoustic guitars for “Only Woman Bleed”. The songs, the costume changes, the demons and stage props along with general showmanship of the band was very entertaining in a sort of campy Alice Cooper way.
We had made our way through the crowd and ended up standing just to the right and in front of the sound booth surrounded by around 10,000 or so Alice Cooper fans many sporting the “Alice Cooper eyes”. The concert itself started at EXACTLY 7:00 PM as advertised – not 6:59 or 7:01 or 7:45 which was as it should be and they ended at 8:30.
It was like the band could not wait to get the show and the 2006 North American Tour in motion. If you did not get a chance to see them at the Taste they will also be performing at the Moon Dance Jam in Walker, Minnesota July 13
Price of Admission = FREE FREE FREE except for the $2.00 wrist band you were supposed to have to get beer sold to you which I did not know or seem to need until my last trip for a beer when I was refused since I had no wrist band !!!!
(got around that by going to the same beer booth but the other side where they did not notice my lack of wrist band)
(and what’s up with having to buy 8 tickets for $5 but only needing 7 for a beer – lame)
(not Alice’s fault)
BUT WAIT – NEWS FLASH – THE NIGHT WAS NOT OVER
After the Alice Cooper concert we spent some time “Milling About Smartly” and then headed down town St Paul to the Hat Trick Lounge to check out
“The Intangibles” led by singer / songwriter Bob Nordquist. If you have been reading this blog you already understand that going out on the town to support our fellow musician friends is one of our “2006 Band Goals”. The Intangibles also include Dale “eBuzz” Enquist and Brian “High Bun” Russ who are friends and former Fairmont natives. The Intangibles barely fit on stage with 7 members this night, and played to a very appreciative crowd. Lonzo was especially happy to hear some of his own personal Bob Nordquist favorites “You’ve Never Been So Alive”, “Waiting for the Dam to Break”, “Why Am I Still Alive” and “A Good Day”. PLUS some new cool stuff off the new CD especially "Would You Like to Buy Some Candy". We partied till the wee hours with the Intangibles and caught most of their show. A good time was had by all. It sure is nice going out on the town, supporting friends, checking out Alice Cooper and NOT having to drive home. Thanks to “the Cuz” for being the “sober cab”.
30 June 2006
Fortunate Son?
We have been practicing regularly getting ready for our first ever appearance at:
Neisen’s Brothers Sports Bar
Saturday June 10th, 2006
9:00 - 1:30
4851 W 123rd St , Savage, MN
(Near Highway 13 and Lynn Ave)
Looking back at our recent gig schedule reveals a bit of Lava Lords trivia. Our last 8, yes EIGHT gigs in a row have all been American Legion halls. Seems rather odd since prior to the string of 8 in a row we had only played one other Legion gig. We haven’t played out anywhere but a Legion hall since July 2005 !!
This weekend’s gig is pretty exciting for us for many reasons.
1) it’s NOT a Legion Hall
2) Other than Andy none of us have even been to the bar before so we have no idea what to expect as far as the stage, the load in and what kind of clientele frequent the bar, what is the sound / acoustics are like?
3) Since our regular “lava lamp technician / sound man wannabee / roadie” Mitch is on sabbatical we have recruited Andy’s friend (and Open Element band mate) Dave to come out and act as soundman for the night. This really rocks!!!!
4) Many people have been asking / wondering the last couple years if we are EVER going to play a south metro gig. Finally we are giving them a chance to come out and support the Lava Lords closer to their home base. We are hoping for a pretty decent turn out.
So what about the Fortunate Son? title for this blog entry?
On Friday Lonzo and his buddy from work HBPiii (Skip) took lunch as they are "wont to do" at the local Great China restaurant. Of course after lunch you get to see a glimpse of your future according to the “Fortune Cookie”.
Lonzo = “An interesting musical opportunity is in your near future”.
SWEET !!
Come out and ROCK with the Lava Lords at Neisen’s this weekend to be part of it.
Neisen’s Brothers Sports Bar
Saturday June 10th, 2006
9:00 - 1:30
4851 W 123rd St , Savage, MN
(Near Highway 13 and Lynn Ave)
Looking back at our recent gig schedule reveals a bit of Lava Lords trivia. Our last 8, yes EIGHT gigs in a row have all been American Legion halls. Seems rather odd since prior to the string of 8 in a row we had only played one other Legion gig. We haven’t played out anywhere but a Legion hall since July 2005 !!
This weekend’s gig is pretty exciting for us for many reasons.
1) it’s NOT a Legion Hall
2) Other than Andy none of us have even been to the bar before so we have no idea what to expect as far as the stage, the load in and what kind of clientele frequent the bar, what is the sound / acoustics are like?
3) Since our regular “lava lamp technician / sound man wannabee / roadie” Mitch is on sabbatical we have recruited Andy’s friend (and Open Element band mate) Dave to come out and act as soundman for the night. This really rocks!!!!
4) Many people have been asking / wondering the last couple years if we are EVER going to play a south metro gig. Finally we are giving them a chance to come out and support the Lava Lords closer to their home base. We are hoping for a pretty decent turn out.
So what about the Fortunate Son? title for this blog entry?
On Friday Lonzo and his buddy from work HBPiii (Skip) took lunch as they are "wont to do" at the local Great China restaurant. Of course after lunch you get to see a glimpse of your future according to the “Fortune Cookie”.
Lonzo = “An interesting musical opportunity is in your near future”.
SWEET !!
Come out and ROCK with the Lava Lords at Neisen’s this weekend to be part of it.
29 June 2006
Fortune Cookie = No Lie
As predicted by "Fortune Cookie" it did turn out to be a very interesting gig at Neisen’s Brothers Sports Bar. Neisen’s is a large bar with plenty of seating, a high ceiling and adequate stage. So far in our short history this is probably the best single indoor venue we have ever played actually. The bartenders and bouncers were all very accommodating. (oops we found out the hard way that the door next to the stage is the door to the liquor bottle stash so I guess we won’t park our lights and equipment in front of that again). Neisen’s also has a very large main hall in the back much like a legion hall. On the night of our gig there was another band playing the back hall. I believe the name of the band was “La Maquina”. The posters, graphics on the trailer parked out front were all in Spanish of course. La Maquina (or maybe they were a La Maquina cover band ????) played some very energetic mix of latino hip hop, rap, reggaeton, ROCK….anyway they really had it going on back there and 250 people at $30 each to get in. The one bartender thought they were originating from some other country. Must be on a US tour ? They had some serious sound and light show going on. It was pretty entertaining to see many from that crowd come check us out during breaks in their action and leave shaking their heads as we were doing Jimi Hendrix or Black Sabbath’s Fairy’s Wear Boots. Pretty funny.
Our new Lava Lords banner looked great. Really cool and a nice job by the CUZ on getting this finished. Everyone who commented thought the “bell bottom” font was a perfect fit for our vibe. Way cool. We really have to say thanks to Dave Hart for acting as sound manager, roadie, critic, and inspiration during this gig. Although Dave probably won’t admit it, it is a lot of pressure to set up / run sound on a board you have never laid hands on before for a band that….let’s face it, we are not PRO’s. Overall the sound was probably the best ever. Thanks Dave!! U ROCK!!!! It is so nice for us to not have to worry about “how it sounds out there”. If you have ever played “out” you know that sound can be a tricky deal and can really crush you if it gets out of control.
It was nice seeing Pete’s ex college roomie Hutch again. Hutch’s son Grant was having a blast and helped keep everyone entertained. Kudo’s to the “Best Buy” crew who came out to support Andy and also to Pete’s wife Dawn and Lonzo’s bro Todd for taking pictures, video, helping with load out and baby sitting gear. U ALL ROCK !!!
Overall it was an awesome gig once again. No one fell off stage. No one broke any strings. We did not have any hardware failures. None of the songs ended up as train wrecks. (although we had the usual couple faux pas) It was a good crowd. We gave it our best shot. Kinger managed to “gut it out”. Kinger had been ill the whole day but survived until the very end when he was just too spent to close out the night with the usual Free Bird. Way to hang in there Kinger!
We also got to use our new mic cord snake. (used, but new to us) This one is overkill for what we need, but the price was right. It is a 24 channel, 100 footer and it’s got a mind of its own. Think of trying to wrap up an extension cord multiplied by 100. No, think of trying to wrap up a 100 foot garden hose with a Hydra head on it. (you know the 9 headed Hydra from Greek mythology) It was the last thing we stuffed in the van at the end of the night and no it was not wrapped up cleanly. (somehow, the stuff just doesn’t seem to pack as well after the gig) When we finally got back to Kinger’s at 3:15 a.m. and he popped open the rear van door that thing sprung out onto Kinger like an escaped convict. He grappled with it on the ground like Hercules for about 30 seconds before he could evict himself from it’s wrath, meanwhile Lonzo laughing hysterically. We have only had that thing one gig and it already paid for itself as a stress reliever. What a riot!!!
We really are hoping to gig again at Neisen’s this fall. We will keep you posted.
Our new Lava Lords banner looked great. Really cool and a nice job by the CUZ on getting this finished. Everyone who commented thought the “bell bottom” font was a perfect fit for our vibe. Way cool. We really have to say thanks to Dave Hart for acting as sound manager, roadie, critic, and inspiration during this gig. Although Dave probably won’t admit it, it is a lot of pressure to set up / run sound on a board you have never laid hands on before for a band that….let’s face it, we are not PRO’s. Overall the sound was probably the best ever. Thanks Dave!! U ROCK!!!! It is so nice for us to not have to worry about “how it sounds out there”. If you have ever played “out” you know that sound can be a tricky deal and can really crush you if it gets out of control.
It was nice seeing Pete’s ex college roomie Hutch again. Hutch’s son Grant was having a blast and helped keep everyone entertained. Kudo’s to the “Best Buy” crew who came out to support Andy and also to Pete’s wife Dawn and Lonzo’s bro Todd for taking pictures, video, helping with load out and baby sitting gear. U ALL ROCK !!!
Overall it was an awesome gig once again. No one fell off stage. No one broke any strings. We did not have any hardware failures. None of the songs ended up as train wrecks. (although we had the usual couple faux pas) It was a good crowd. We gave it our best shot. Kinger managed to “gut it out”. Kinger had been ill the whole day but survived until the very end when he was just too spent to close out the night with the usual Free Bird. Way to hang in there Kinger!
We also got to use our new mic cord snake. (used, but new to us) This one is overkill for what we need, but the price was right. It is a 24 channel, 100 footer and it’s got a mind of its own. Think of trying to wrap up an extension cord multiplied by 100. No, think of trying to wrap up a 100 foot garden hose with a Hydra head on it. (you know the 9 headed Hydra from Greek mythology) It was the last thing we stuffed in the van at the end of the night and no it was not wrapped up cleanly. (somehow, the stuff just doesn’t seem to pack as well after the gig) When we finally got back to Kinger’s at 3:15 a.m. and he popped open the rear van door that thing sprung out onto Kinger like an escaped convict. He grappled with it on the ground like Hercules for about 30 seconds before he could evict himself from it’s wrath, meanwhile Lonzo laughing hysterically. We have only had that thing one gig and it already paid for itself as a stress reliever. What a riot!!!
We really are hoping to gig again at Neisen’s this fall. We will keep you posted.
28 June 2006
22 June 2006
Saturday July 8, 2006 Beach Bash
The 2006 Beach Bash gig is upon us. The Chain of Lakes Yacht Club in Fairmont, MN is located on the south end of Hall Lake. This is the 7th year for this event. Originally we thought we would try to learn a few Beach Boys tunes but it looks like we are going with what we already know. This year's event has the Lava Lords rocking out 3-7 PM right down on the beach !! (The $15 cover includes not only 8 hours of live music but also catered supper)
The band 30 Below http://30belowband.com will be playing the 7-11 PM slot out on the deck ! Come on down and let's PARTY !! You can read the Fairmont Sentinel story.... http://www.fairmontsentinel.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=2140
Andy is back from a week long stay in Lutsen where he took a break from Corporate America and also his musical work load (practice / recording with two bands 3 nights a week) "the CUZ" will be refreshed and ready to ROCK... Lonzo, Pete and Kinger returned to a power trio at practice last WED and dusted off a few tunes we used to do "pre CUZ". Being a Power Trio is rather interesting for a change of pace. Noticed a band called "That 70's Band" played last week up in Northern Anoka county at Hidden Haven. This was a name we considered prior to selecting the Lava Lords. The picture is from the 2004 Beach Bash. Hope to see you at the 2006 version.
20 May 2006
2006 GIG Schedule
We have been waiting for a few deals to be finalized before posting our 2006 schedule but we can't wait forever.....Here is what we got "on the books" !!!
The two NEW!! items were added March 13, 2006
Saturday February 25, 2006
Zimmerman American Legion
Zimmerman, Minnesota
8-12 PM
Friday & Saturday May 5 & 6, 2006
Zimmerman American Legion
Zimmerman, Minnesota
8-12 PM both nights
NEW !! Saturday June 10, 2006
Neisen's Brothers Sports Bar
4851 W 123rd St
Savage, Minnesota
9 pm - 1 am
952.846.4513
Saturday July 8, 2006
Fairmont Yacht Club - on Hall Lake
Fairmont, Minnesota
6th Annual Outdoor Beach Bash
3 to 7 PM
NEW !! Saturday July 29, 2006
Fairmont VFW Hall
Fairmont, Minnesota
"the Morgue" Reunion Bash
8:30 - 12:30
We are proud to be opening the Beach bash for our first time ever as the afternoon band. The last we heard the evening band will be the "30 Below Band". Click here ---> http://30belowband.com
Along with the hog roasting, many favorite foods & beverages, volleyball, sun and fun, the Lava Lords will be set up right down pretty close to the beach entertaining the boaters anchored just off shore!! Guess we might have to work on some Beach Boys tunes! See you there !!
The two NEW!! items were added March 13, 2006
Saturday February 25, 2006
Zimmerman American Legion
Zimmerman, Minnesota
8-12 PM
Friday & Saturday May 5 & 6, 2006
Zimmerman American Legion
Zimmerman, Minnesota
8-12 PM both nights
NEW !! Saturday June 10, 2006
Neisen's Brothers Sports Bar
4851 W 123rd St
Savage, Minnesota
9 pm - 1 am
952.846.4513
Saturday July 8, 2006
Fairmont Yacht Club - on Hall Lake
Fairmont, Minnesota
6th Annual Outdoor Beach Bash
3 to 7 PM
NEW !! Saturday July 29, 2006
Fairmont VFW Hall
Fairmont, Minnesota
"the Morgue" Reunion Bash
8:30 - 12:30
We are proud to be opening the Beach bash for our first time ever as the afternoon band. The last we heard the evening band will be the "30 Below Band". Click here ---> http://30belowband.com
Along with the hog roasting, many favorite foods & beverages, volleyball, sun and fun, the Lava Lords will be set up right down pretty close to the beach entertaining the boaters anchored just off shore!! Guess we might have to work on some Beach Boys tunes! See you there !!
15 May 2006
Rooster Tales
Wow. Seems like we just spent a weekend working. We had back to back nights jamming at the American Legion in Zimmerman. The weekend served its purpose in many ways as we not only made some cash and had some fun, we also once again became aware of more “lessons to be learned” in “Rock Gigging LIVE 101”. Playing back to back nights has mostly many benefits. Poses some added challenges as well. Usually going to a gig involves tearing down the practice space, loading into two or more vehicles, driving to the gig, unloading at the gig site, setting it all back up, checking everything out, sound check, playing the gig, Milling About Smartly, tearing it all back down, loading it all back up (for some odd reason it doesn’t seem to fit as well) (We’re sure it has NOTHING to do with the lateness of the hour or or favorite beverage consumption or old age!) driving back to the practice space, unloading again. With back to back nights when you’re done with the first night you can kick back and do way more Milling About Smartly, pack up the guitars and mic’s and away you go. (of course you still get home late due to the Perkin’s breakfast stop.) The 2nd night you can show up an hour early, ease into it, fine tune from the night before and jam. It’s the same amount of roadie grunt work, with twice the pay with twice the playing time.
Our first night was pretty good we thought. Not a huge crowd of course but we were thankful for the friends that did make the trip. (see pics) We hadn’t played live for awhile, had tons of energy, some new songs and a great set list. Everything pretty much went as planned except later in the night one “happy camper” decided she was just in awe of Pete and just had to get up on stage and feel the vibe. So now we’re a hobby band that needs SECURITY? j/k…… Ended up no big deal after Dawn coaxed her back offstage.
We were a bit out of synch the 2nd night. You would think it would be easier. We’re only doing 5 songs different from the night before. We just got through playing most of the material the night before. We started out OK, but not quite as much energy. Andy broke a string within the first couple songs, but swapped to the Flying V just in time for his solo which ended up being kind of cool. By the end of the night Andy and Lonzo each had at least one more string break. A couple of the lyrics in the same songs we had just done the night before got “forgot”. (Lonzo = normal)(Pete = unusual). The cover of the wall air conditioner on the wall behind the stage just fell off by itself and knocked over one of Pete’s guitars. Didn’t seem like the AC was working anyway and Kinger got WAY overheated in the 2nd set and was feeling his age.
(maybe we should do a slow song once in awhile huh Kinger!)
But WE WERE STILL HAVING FUN !!!!!!!!!!!!
During our second break when we were Milling About Smartly we were talking with one of the patrons and they wondered if Rooster could get up and sing one. He had seen a copy of our set list and was wondering if he could sing “Born to be Wild”. It was late, we were tired, it was a small crowd, everyone sitting back at the bar would be happy so we said “what the heck”. Come on up. It will be the 4th song this last set. Rooster came up. Rooster sang it and had some fun. He did OK. “It was a little pitchy but he brought it home in the end DAWG”. woof woof. The locals loved it. It got the most applause all night from the “way backs”. (Lava Lords translation = locals sitting way back at the bar on bar stools and that’s as close as they get all night when what we want is them in our face yelling U GUYS ROCK !!!) At the end of the night as we often do we decided to close it out with FreeBird. If you have any energy left after 2 nights of jamming this is THE SONG to finish you off!! We weren’t far into it when onstage appeared Rooster. (OK we let you come onstage once and now you own it?) We still aren’t sure what happened to Rooster between Born to be Wild and FreeBird in that set but if you take the two song titles, apply it to Rooster, mix in a few too many shots (assumed) you might get a clue what happened next. Somehow Rooster…..while fumbling with a mic and cord….well he never really did fall off stage but did a slow motion teapot over the monitor with his hands on the floor and his ass mooning the band. Ended up there frozen in time not able to push himself back up but too proud to just let it go and fall off the fricking stage!! (like the time in college you drank too much tequila and for every step you are going forward, you’re also going a half step sideways) The band jammed on!! It was right out of a surreal scene from Outer Limits or Mad TV!! “You just can’t make this stuff up”. We had a good laugh but what could we do? Stop Playing? Kick his ASS?? (Andy could have easily moved his foot OFF the Stomp Box effects pedal to Rooster’s ass and all it would have took was a nudge to send him sprawling out on the dance floor.) Hey, but we’re here to win over fans and after all it was pretty entertaining so we just let it go!! Guess we need to amend the rules of engagement. That’s easy. If we don’t know you or you haven’t jammed with us before don’t be offended when we say NO WAY when you want to get up and sing one!!!!!!!!! (unless you look good in Spandex of course…)
What do bands do? If somebody decides they are coming onstage……hmm….maybe that would be a good question for a random thought at Musicscene.org???? Maybe we have only ourselves to blame. WE ROCK!! IT”S ROCK N ROLL!!!
10 hours of driving, hauling and setting up gear = $500
8 hours of jamming = $300
1 appearance by Rooster = Priceless
Our first night was pretty good we thought. Not a huge crowd of course but we were thankful for the friends that did make the trip. (see pics) We hadn’t played live for awhile, had tons of energy, some new songs and a great set list. Everything pretty much went as planned except later in the night one “happy camper” decided she was just in awe of Pete and just had to get up on stage and feel the vibe. So now we’re a hobby band that needs SECURITY? j/k…… Ended up no big deal after Dawn coaxed her back offstage.
We were a bit out of synch the 2nd night. You would think it would be easier. We’re only doing 5 songs different from the night before. We just got through playing most of the material the night before. We started out OK, but not quite as much energy. Andy broke a string within the first couple songs, but swapped to the Flying V just in time for his solo which ended up being kind of cool. By the end of the night Andy and Lonzo each had at least one more string break. A couple of the lyrics in the same songs we had just done the night before got “forgot”. (Lonzo = normal)(Pete = unusual). The cover of the wall air conditioner on the wall behind the stage just fell off by itself and knocked over one of Pete’s guitars. Didn’t seem like the AC was working anyway and Kinger got WAY overheated in the 2nd set and was feeling his age.
(maybe we should do a slow song once in awhile huh Kinger!)
But WE WERE STILL HAVING FUN !!!!!!!!!!!!
During our second break when we were Milling About Smartly we were talking with one of the patrons and they wondered if Rooster could get up and sing one. He had seen a copy of our set list and was wondering if he could sing “Born to be Wild”. It was late, we were tired, it was a small crowd, everyone sitting back at the bar would be happy so we said “what the heck”. Come on up. It will be the 4th song this last set. Rooster came up. Rooster sang it and had some fun. He did OK. “It was a little pitchy but he brought it home in the end DAWG”. woof woof. The locals loved it. It got the most applause all night from the “way backs”. (Lava Lords translation = locals sitting way back at the bar on bar stools and that’s as close as they get all night when what we want is them in our face yelling U GUYS ROCK !!!) At the end of the night as we often do we decided to close it out with FreeBird. If you have any energy left after 2 nights of jamming this is THE SONG to finish you off!! We weren’t far into it when onstage appeared Rooster. (OK we let you come onstage once and now you own it?) We still aren’t sure what happened to Rooster between Born to be Wild and FreeBird in that set but if you take the two song titles, apply it to Rooster, mix in a few too many shots (assumed) you might get a clue what happened next. Somehow Rooster…..while fumbling with a mic and cord….well he never really did fall off stage but did a slow motion teapot over the monitor with his hands on the floor and his ass mooning the band. Ended up there frozen in time not able to push himself back up but too proud to just let it go and fall off the fricking stage!! (like the time in college you drank too much tequila and for every step you are going forward, you’re also going a half step sideways) The band jammed on!! It was right out of a surreal scene from Outer Limits or Mad TV!! “You just can’t make this stuff up”. We had a good laugh but what could we do? Stop Playing? Kick his ASS?? (Andy could have easily moved his foot OFF the Stomp Box effects pedal to Rooster’s ass and all it would have took was a nudge to send him sprawling out on the dance floor.) Hey, but we’re here to win over fans and after all it was pretty entertaining so we just let it go!! Guess we need to amend the rules of engagement. That’s easy. If we don’t know you or you haven’t jammed with us before don’t be offended when we say NO WAY when you want to get up and sing one!!!!!!!!! (unless you look good in Spandex of course…)
What do bands do? If somebody decides they are coming onstage……hmm….maybe that would be a good question for a random thought at Musicscene.org???? Maybe we have only ourselves to blame. WE ROCK!! IT”S ROCK N ROLL!!!
10 hours of driving, hauling and setting up gear = $500
8 hours of jamming = $300
1 appearance by Rooster = Priceless
11 May 2006
09 May 2006
Queen + Paul Rodgers
A “review” by the Lava Lords bass player. This opinion is the view of the bass player and should not be construed as the opinion of the entire band. Then again they may share the same opinion. You will have to ask them.Stating the obvious….
Millions of people go out to concerts every year worldwide to support a wide variety of musical entities. How many of them actual sit down at a keyboard and attempt to offer a review? Everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to state their opinion, even me!! I’m not so sure this is even a review….probably should be categorized as more of a rant !
The earth is flat. The earth is round.
There is a God. There is no God.
One generation loves RAP music. Other generations do not. The generation I am part of doesn’t think too much of the recent trend in “gangsta rap” which oftentimes seems to condone rape, cop killing and crime…in my view. My parents generation probably didn’t think too highly of shock rock bands like Alice Cooper (snakes and face makeup?), Black Sabbath (biting the head’s off bats in concert?) (of course that never really happened) David Bowie (was he a she ??????) and hippy bands of the sixties promoting free love and drugs?? Of course it didn’t stop me from listening to them. So there is always the element of “relativity”.
Whose right? How can humans even have such disparate views? Thankfully in the U.S we can express our opinions freely. Everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to state their opinion. On the American Idol TV show, Paula, Randy and Simon get paid big bucks to offer their opinion. Simon “You SUCK”. Same singer / same song. Randy “yo….dude …..welcome to the dog pound”. America…..someone gets voted off.
As far as the voting for American Idol…
Maybe all the country music lovers in America vote for singers who do country songs.
Maybe all the women in America vote for the hot looking male singers.
Maybe all the men in America vote for the hot looking female singers.
Maybe all the nerds in America vote for the nerd singers.
Maybe all the tall people, short people, fat people, thin people, white people, black people, sophisticated people, hick people, young people, old people vote for someone that they empathize with or whom they think shares something like them? Maybe people aren’t really this shallow??? Maybe some or most people actually vote for the best singer…..in their opinion. In some parts of the world certain cultures might think the whole show and most of what’s on American TV is totally pathetic, along with other things in Western culture. (a non music rant for another time or blog)
Hmmmm….So what does this have to do with Paul Rodgers + Queen?
What does this have to do with the Lava Lords? I guess I am just trying to set the table for my opinion. For me the concert goes deeper than just a one night stand at the Excel Energy Center. Maybe that is how it is with all those inspired to offer their opinion… Maybe all opinions, even if it is supposed to be one performance on one given night, are cumulative to many experiences, possibly even those of a lifetime relating to a given subject.
In addition to our once a week practice and once a month gigs, the Lava Lords like to get together, go out on the town and check out the scene. In this case we basically traded our recent Zimmerman Legion gig money to get four tickets to Queen + Paul Rodgers at the Excel Energy Center on Sunday March 26, 2006. Not all four of us were as passionate for seeing this show as others, but we all agreed we would make it a good time regardless. Last year we had gone as a band to see Deep Purple. I had high hopes but ended up disappointed with them. (is Deep Purple really Deep Purple without Richie Blackmore and Jon Lord? Better save that for another rant). Thankfully, one of the opening acts Joe Satriani and his band TOTALLY ROCKED that concert and made it worthwhile!!
Me personally……You would have to go back to 1970 when the band Free (Paul Rodgers) toured the U.S. to support the album “Fire and Water” and All Right Now was a big hit. Of course in 1970 I did not know who Paul Rodgers was but being a 13 / 14 year old youngster coming in to the music scene that song had a huge impact on me. In the small southern MN town I grew up in (Fairmont as you probably already know if you have been reading this blog) we had a Youth Center where we could go to hear local / regional rock bands perform. At that time it seemed they all covered All Right Now by Free. I can remember this song as being one of the first Rock songs that had an early influence on me. This song guaranteed a full dance floor back then. Even now when the Lava Lords play it we always get dancers. Maybe it is the "cow bell". Over the years of my youth and young adulthood I came to know and love many bands…of course Bad Company and Queen were high on the list.
Jon Bream from the Star Tribune offered his review of the concert the very next day and he stated the obvious. Queen is not Queen without Freddie Mercury. Jon Bream was not too impressed. He gets paid for his opinion. We all know Queen is not the same band without Freddie Mercury. Freddie Mercury was one of the key reasons that Queen became what it had been as a rock band. So after Freddie Mercury’s death the band should just give up being Queen? Maybe all ROCK bands from the 60’s and 70’s should JUST GIVE UP!!! IT’S OVER !!!! (not my opinion) For me the concert was an opportunity to be able to hear Brian May, Paul Rodgers and Roger Taylor perform songs LIVE from three bands of an era I loved and grew up in.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I knew I would going into it. It was a preconceived notion. I loved the set list. I really enjoyed hearing them perform Dragon Attack and All Right Now as those two songs the Lava Lords cover. I missed Freddie Mercury’s antics. I enjoyed the music and reminisced about the old days. I laughed days later when I discovered my boss and I sat in the same section, the same row within 8 seats of each other and didn’t even know it!! Of course Jon Bream did not seem to know it but one of the “other 3” musicians on stage was bass player Danny Miranda, most recently from Blue Oyster Cult. BOC is another band I still love and have seen Danny perform live with. BOC doesn’t have the same lineup they had in the seventies either but I still like them as they are today. Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of bands from the 21st century too, but I ain’t giving up on the seventies just yet.
The Queen concert was not a sellout. The crowd was not raucous. The concert probably did not make the top 20 best concerts I have attended in my lifetime as there have been many. But it was probably my only shot at seeing Brian May, Paul Rodgers and Roger Taylor LIVE in my lifetime. (at least until they start playing the casino circuit….yikes they will really get ripped then). When all is said and done…………
I got my hundred bucks worth!
In an ironic twist of fate and in closing this rant….for the American Idol show Tuesday April 11th, 2006 the contestants will be performing…..songs from QUEEN !!!
Don’t the producers of the show know Freddie Mercury is dead??????
Here is the Queen + Paul Rodgers set list March 26, 2006 at the Excel Energy Center.
It's A Beautiful Day
Reaching Out
Tie Your Mother Down
Fat Bottomed Girls
Can't Get Enough
Take Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Love Of My Life
Hammer To Fall
Feel Like Makin' Love
Let There Be Drums
I'm In Love With My Car
Guitar Solo
Last Horizon
Bad Company
Another One Bites The Dust
These Are The Days Of Our Lives
Radio Ga Ga
Dragon Attack
Under Pressure
The Show Must Go On
Bohemian Rhapsody
We Will Rock You
All Right Now
We Are The Champions
God Save The Queen
24 April 2006
Plugging Away...
We are looking forward to getting back on stage at the American Legion in Zimmerman on May 5 & 6. We’ve been plugging away at practice and for the last couple weeks have been a “power trio” as Pete & Dawn took a much deserved 10 day trip to Mexico in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. So far this year we have only had the one gig on Feb 25th so we are behind in our goal of one gig a month. Generally our practices revolve around running through the most recent additions to the set list a couple times and working on those songs. Eventually we get around to running through old material to keep it solid in the memory banks and then move on to just open jamming. Recently we have decided that a couple new tunes we have been working on… Foghat’s “I Just Want to Make Love To You” and Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” are probably ready for prime time and we will add them to the set list.
We have been looking for a KISS song and have been tinkering with “Detroit Rock City”. Once we get past the Zim city gig we might start working that song to see if we can do it. Sometimes we get requests for a KISS song or we ask friends what song they think we should do because ….well KISS is one of those 70’s bands that we just HAVE TO COVER eventually. We usually we get one of two responses. “Rock n Roll All Night” is the one song brought up most frequently and then “tongue in cheek” we usually get “Beth”. Ha…. everyone knows Beth ain’t going to make it, come on!! Maybe those are the only two KISS songs your average heckler in a bar crowd knows? Unfortunately “Rock N Roll All Night” is one of the songs we could easily perform but it is on the:
“Top Ten Songs the Lava Lords Refuse to Cover” list.
So what does a song have to be like to end up on this list you ask? There are lots of answers to this question and many variables.
1) classic rock radio stations beat the song to death over the airwaves ! Actually you could still say this about some of the songs we cover. It’s not the song’s fault or the bands fault for writing it…..In most cases they are GREAT songs, but some songs are just way over exposed over a long period of time or have become a sound track for a commercial
2) Some members of the Lava Lords have played a certain song in previous bands in the past and are totally bored with it or has some stigma attached to it from covering it in the previous band
3) Seems like EVERY classic rock cover band these days covers it.
4) One or more Lava Lord playa’s just HATE IT….PERIOD !!!!
“Top Ten Songs the Lava Lords Refuse to Cover”
(in no particular order)
Rock n Roll All Night – KISS
Some Kind of Wonderful – Grand Funk (also Locomotion & We’re an American Band)
Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynrd Skynrd
Like a Rock – Bob Seger
Against the Wind – Bob Seger
Takin Care of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive
Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet
Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
(ok we compromised and play HALF of it in a Led Zep medley)
We have been looking for a KISS song and have been tinkering with “Detroit Rock City”. Once we get past the Zim city gig we might start working that song to see if we can do it. Sometimes we get requests for a KISS song or we ask friends what song they think we should do because ….well KISS is one of those 70’s bands that we just HAVE TO COVER eventually. We usually we get one of two responses. “Rock n Roll All Night” is the one song brought up most frequently and then “tongue in cheek” we usually get “Beth”. Ha…. everyone knows Beth ain’t going to make it, come on!! Maybe those are the only two KISS songs your average heckler in a bar crowd knows? Unfortunately “Rock N Roll All Night” is one of the songs we could easily perform but it is on the:
“Top Ten Songs the Lava Lords Refuse to Cover” list.
So what does a song have to be like to end up on this list you ask? There are lots of answers to this question and many variables.
1) classic rock radio stations beat the song to death over the airwaves ! Actually you could still say this about some of the songs we cover. It’s not the song’s fault or the bands fault for writing it…..In most cases they are GREAT songs, but some songs are just way over exposed over a long period of time or have become a sound track for a commercial
2) Some members of the Lava Lords have played a certain song in previous bands in the past and are totally bored with it or has some stigma attached to it from covering it in the previous band
3) Seems like EVERY classic rock cover band these days covers it.
4) One or more Lava Lord playa’s just HATE IT….PERIOD !!!!
“Top Ten Songs the Lava Lords Refuse to Cover”
(in no particular order)
Rock n Roll All Night – KISS
Some Kind of Wonderful – Grand Funk (also Locomotion & We’re an American Band)
Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynrd Skynrd
Like a Rock – Bob Seger
Against the Wind – Bob Seger
Takin Care of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive
Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet
Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
(ok we compromised and play HALF of it in a Led Zep medley)
07 March 2006
2006 Band Goals
Seems like the first part of the year has flown by. We are posting our goals for the 2006 year on the web since...well....this is a blog after all. At this time we are well on our way to accomplishing many of these goals already, assuming things we think we got set up actually occur. The Cuz is working on a south metro gig as we speak that we hope to post next week. Ray from the Shortstop is working with Kinger on another Shortstop appearance. Lonzo has been talking about "Lonzopalooza" for two years now...is that EVER going to happen?? He says so. Pete has a gig brewing in the Maplewood area that we hope to post soon. We still consider ourselves a "hobby" band even though we have been together over 5 years now. The reality of it is that we just don't have aspirations of grandeur, but we guarantee you this: If we were in our twenties or thirties (well The Cuz still is) we would be practicing 3 nights a week and gigging every weekend !!! We do enjoy the "15 minutes of fame" we get each and every time we perform a gig. Being REAL, until one of us wins the lottery we still have to keep our "real jobs" in the cube farms !! We still love spending time with our wives and kids, and we all have our hobbies outside of ROCK n ROLL!! Like everything it comes down to "Time & Money" !!!!
Feel free to "flame us" or comment by clicking on the "comments" link. If you are first time visitor to this blog - check out the archives starting with March 2005 and you can read all about the evolution of the Lava Lords. (you got a lot of reading to do)
Lava Lords 2006 Goals
1. practice once a week
2. perform approximately once a month
3. if asked …perform at the annual Walters family bash in East Chain
4. perform one Fairmont gig (one might be enough)
5. perform at LONZOPALOOZA – it’s going to happen !!
6. perform at least in 3-4 new venues metro / out state
7. finish /perform 1-2 NEW original songs (F-85, The Goose ??)
8. upgrade stage presence (lights, action, wardrobe, stage banner, props)
9. upgrade some gear – 100’ mic snake, misc pieces, replace mixer ?
10. perform at least one Shortstop gig
11. learn another 15-20 songs - so many GREAT ones to pick from
12. get 5-6 songs or snippets RECORDED for demo / promo
13. finish Promo Pack – upgrade posters, pictures etc
14. keep the Lava Lord blog site current
15. go out and support our friends who are in bands !!!
16. Keep having FUN !!!!
Feel free to "flame us" or comment by clicking on the "comments" link. If you are first time visitor to this blog - check out the archives starting with March 2005 and you can read all about the evolution of the Lava Lords. (you got a lot of reading to do)
Lava Lords 2006 Goals
1. practice once a week
2. perform approximately once a month
3. if asked …perform at the annual Walters family bash in East Chain
4. perform one Fairmont gig (one might be enough)
5. perform at LONZOPALOOZA – it’s going to happen !!
6. perform at least in 3-4 new venues metro / out state
7. finish /perform 1-2 NEW original songs (F-85, The Goose ??)
8. upgrade stage presence (lights, action, wardrobe, stage banner, props)
9. upgrade some gear – 100’ mic snake, misc pieces, replace mixer ?
10. perform at least one Shortstop gig
11. learn another 15-20 songs - so many GREAT ones to pick from
12. get 5-6 songs or snippets RECORDED for demo / promo
13. finish Promo Pack – upgrade posters, pictures etc
14. keep the Lava Lord blog site current
15. go out and support our friends who are in bands !!!
16. Keep having FUN !!!!
28 February 2006
Zim City Legion
We travelled to Zim City for what would be our 3rd gig there. It was kind of a good change of pace for us. Looking back at our schedule we had the previous 5 gigs ALL at the Fairmont Legion. In fact we haven't played a metro Twin Cities gig since July 2005 !!!! We are working on fixing this and a lot of people are inquiring about that topic. Since we have played the Zimmerman Legion before we knew what to expect....EZ load in, EZ load out, not too far to travel, probably a low key small local crowd, basically no pressure, "paid practice" kind of a gig. We had hopes some of our own "fans" would make the journey to supplement the crowd but our expectations were low in that regard. We have learned the valuable lesson that if you have expectations of a large gathering and NO ONE SHOWS it can be mentally deflating. We knew we were going to ROCK even if it was just us, empty tables and ashtrays !!! Sometimes you just want to ROCK the friggin' world away and we were all in that kind of a mood. Didn't matter, it was going to happen. Just like a Volcano, we had some pent up energy that just had to BLOW !
The first two months of this year we had been working on several new tunes, wanted to test out the new "groove wheel" and "fog machine". Of course we are not a huge special effects oriented band, but for sure we wanted to have that spacy, psychodelic, lighting effect for at least the one song Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs" which Andy totally ROCKS ON !! We started the third set with that one and it was WAY COOL !! (for a hobby band anyway) Of course the next song was "Smoke on the Water" - more fog for that one and we were pretty much done using that toy. As it turned out the 12-15 Lava Lord followers that did show up were treated to a ROCKING EVENING!! We threw down the gauntlets and ROCKED. Our 2nd set alone went an hour and 20 minutes. We were pretty happy about the whole thing and eveyone we talked to seemed to be having fun. Here's how it went down:
1
Red House – Jim Hendrix
Cat Scratch Fever - Ted Nugent
All Along the Watchtower – Bob Dylan (Hendrix version)
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
White Room – Cream
I’m Eighteen – Alice Cooper
Be My Lover – Alice Cooper
Mary Had a Little Lamb – Stevie Ray Vaughan
Come Together – Beatles
Day Tripper – Beatles
For Your Love – YardBirds
Steppin Stone – Monkees
Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran (Rush version)
I’m Your Captain – Grand Funk
Pete’s Fuzz – Coon Dawgs
2
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers – ZZ Top
Evil Woman – Crow / Black Sabbath
Behind the Wall of Sleep – Smithereens
Spooky – Classics Four
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Foxy Lady – Jimi Hendrix
Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Ocean – Stairway to Heaven Medley – Led Zeppelin
Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
All Right Now - Free
Jumpin Jack Flash - Rolling Stones
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
Fairies Wear Boots – Black Sabbath
Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
3
Bridge of Sighs – Robin Trower
Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
Career of Evil – Blue Oyster Cult
Stairway to the Stars – Blue Oyster Cult
Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix
Johnny B Good – Chuck Berry
Road House Blues – Doors
Dragon Attack – Queen
Can’t You See – Marshall Tucker
FreeBird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
"encore" Red House - Jimi Hendrix ....again....by request
We don't really need to do an encore song or even call it an encore song but when your friends are still throwing back the cold ones, standing around with their lighters lit high above their heads, even if it is in jest....kind of hard to say no.....
We still had another 5-6 songs but ran out of time. Got to keep the closing crew happy too!!
Thanks to everyone who stayed to the bitter end....it was a lot of fun !!!
The first two months of this year we had been working on several new tunes, wanted to test out the new "groove wheel" and "fog machine". Of course we are not a huge special effects oriented band, but for sure we wanted to have that spacy, psychodelic, lighting effect for at least the one song Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs" which Andy totally ROCKS ON !! We started the third set with that one and it was WAY COOL !! (for a hobby band anyway) Of course the next song was "Smoke on the Water" - more fog for that one and we were pretty much done using that toy. As it turned out the 12-15 Lava Lord followers that did show up were treated to a ROCKING EVENING!! We threw down the gauntlets and ROCKED. Our 2nd set alone went an hour and 20 minutes. We were pretty happy about the whole thing and eveyone we talked to seemed to be having fun. Here's how it went down:
1
Red House – Jim Hendrix
Cat Scratch Fever - Ted Nugent
All Along the Watchtower – Bob Dylan (Hendrix version)
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
White Room – Cream
I’m Eighteen – Alice Cooper
Be My Lover – Alice Cooper
Mary Had a Little Lamb – Stevie Ray Vaughan
Come Together – Beatles
Day Tripper – Beatles
For Your Love – YardBirds
Steppin Stone – Monkees
Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran (Rush version)
I’m Your Captain – Grand Funk
Pete’s Fuzz – Coon Dawgs
2
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers – ZZ Top
Evil Woman – Crow / Black Sabbath
Behind the Wall of Sleep – Smithereens
Spooky – Classics Four
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Foxy Lady – Jimi Hendrix
Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Ocean – Stairway to Heaven Medley – Led Zeppelin
Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
All Right Now - Free
Jumpin Jack Flash - Rolling Stones
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
Fairies Wear Boots – Black Sabbath
Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
3
Bridge of Sighs – Robin Trower
Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
Career of Evil – Blue Oyster Cult
Stairway to the Stars – Blue Oyster Cult
Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix
Johnny B Good – Chuck Berry
Road House Blues – Doors
Dragon Attack – Queen
Can’t You See – Marshall Tucker
FreeBird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
"encore" Red House - Jimi Hendrix ....again....by request
We don't really need to do an encore song or even call it an encore song but when your friends are still throwing back the cold ones, standing around with their lighters lit high above their heads, even if it is in jest....kind of hard to say no.....
We still had another 5-6 songs but ran out of time. Got to keep the closing crew happy too!!
Thanks to everyone who stayed to the bitter end....it was a lot of fun !!!
01 February 2006
What's UP in '06
What are the Lava Lords up to so far in '06 ???
The "gig glow" of our last performance has slowly worn off.
We have had some pretty good practice sessions so far this year. Working on
a few new tunes. Going back and fine tuning some of the old ones. There was a point in the evolution of the band where we had to learn a lot of songs in short period of time. We had done this to add some quantity of songs so we would have enough material to make it through an entire night with out playing any song more than once. Now we are going back and revisiting some of the tunes and polishing them off a bit. A perfect example is the Ted Nugent tune Stranglehold. We basically had learned that song in one practice and had been playing it pretty much the same way ever since. We are really liking the way we have "relearned" it. We got a few more of the hooks in it and it is a bit longer. Our goal for covering other bands tunes however is NOT to play every solo exactly note for note. We will put our own spin on them, plus any time you are hobby band performing LIVE rock n roll every song has a chance to get a mind of its own on any given night. So we are in this mind set during practice to fine tune some of the old songs, keep learning new stuff and keep having FUN !! Recently our most favorite new tune is ZZ Top's "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers". We have SO MUCH material now it just ROCKS !!!
There are so many songs we want to play, most of our recent set lists have had 42-45 songs !! Think about that for a moment !! We are pretty satisfied with this accomplishment. Takes a lot of energy to pull this off and we are usually pretty spent after a gig. Seems like we start our gigs early, play late and hardly take breaks !!
We have had a few band "outings" this year too. There were a couple weeks where we ended up practicing on Friday or Saturday nights and then went out to check out a local venue. We ended up at Monte's on University Ave in Spring Lake Park to check out the "Mooners". Lonzo's buddy Jerry Kern (ex "Bing" and "Preferred Stock") is in the Mooners. So we got to support the Mooners and also make contact with Eric who books the bands there. Monte's is one of the venues we think we would do well at. Along the "Mooners" theme for the night we offer THANKS to the hot nameless babe who was so proud of her tattoo's she had to "reveal" .....well....we were just sitting there minding our own business but it was pretty hard to look away !!!!! "Being in a Rock Band is an intense experience" !!! yippeeeee
One night after practice we went to check out Scoops another Coon Rapids venue we think we could do well at near the ShortStop. It seems Scoops has ditched the nice stage they used to have to make a game room. We kind of agreed we did not like the new layout. The bands get set up in a corner playing at an odd angle facing another wall and the path to bathrooms cuts right through the dance floor. Kind of a demolition derby trying to get to the bathroom with the dance floor full as it was that night...But hey we are a hobby band so how could we be complaining ????
We still may try to get a gig there.
Ray at the Shortstop, the venue that gave us our first gig and many other gigs, is going mostly Karaoke and smaller acoustic duo types along with Texas hold 'em poker so it is likely we aren't going to play there anytime soon. We are hoping Ray will invite us to play at the new bar he just bought (used to be DiMaggio's). We can't thank Ray enough for having us play the ShortStop over the past several years. The times we have been over there after practice for a beer and a burger....even on WED nights the place is PACKED for Karaoke. The Lava Lords don't have an "official" opinion on Karaoke at this time.......wait.....check that......yes we DO have an opinion!!!
It all has to do with the "theory of relativity" just like everything else. A LOT of people LOVE KARAOKE. We think KARAOKE SUCKS as we prefer live playing, not just live singing. There are probably bands out there that perform ONLY ORIGINAL TUNES that think WE SUCK since we only do cover tunes. It's all "relative" to what makes you tick ....
The "gig glow" of our last performance has slowly worn off.
We have had some pretty good practice sessions so far this year. Working on
a few new tunes. Going back and fine tuning some of the old ones. There was a point in the evolution of the band where we had to learn a lot of songs in short period of time. We had done this to add some quantity of songs so we would have enough material to make it through an entire night with out playing any song more than once. Now we are going back and revisiting some of the tunes and polishing them off a bit. A perfect example is the Ted Nugent tune Stranglehold. We basically had learned that song in one practice and had been playing it pretty much the same way ever since. We are really liking the way we have "relearned" it. We got a few more of the hooks in it and it is a bit longer. Our goal for covering other bands tunes however is NOT to play every solo exactly note for note. We will put our own spin on them, plus any time you are hobby band performing LIVE rock n roll every song has a chance to get a mind of its own on any given night. So we are in this mind set during practice to fine tune some of the old songs, keep learning new stuff and keep having FUN !! Recently our most favorite new tune is ZZ Top's "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers". We have SO MUCH material now it just ROCKS !!!
There are so many songs we want to play, most of our recent set lists have had 42-45 songs !! Think about that for a moment !! We are pretty satisfied with this accomplishment. Takes a lot of energy to pull this off and we are usually pretty spent after a gig. Seems like we start our gigs early, play late and hardly take breaks !!
We have had a few band "outings" this year too. There were a couple weeks where we ended up practicing on Friday or Saturday nights and then went out to check out a local venue. We ended up at Monte's on University Ave in Spring Lake Park to check out the "Mooners". Lonzo's buddy Jerry Kern (ex "Bing" and "Preferred Stock") is in the Mooners. So we got to support the Mooners and also make contact with Eric who books the bands there. Monte's is one of the venues we think we would do well at. Along the "Mooners" theme for the night we offer THANKS to the hot nameless babe who was so proud of her tattoo's she had to "reveal" .....well....we were just sitting there minding our own business but it was pretty hard to look away !!!!! "Being in a Rock Band is an intense experience" !!! yippeeeee
One night after practice we went to check out Scoops another Coon Rapids venue we think we could do well at near the ShortStop. It seems Scoops has ditched the nice stage they used to have to make a game room. We kind of agreed we did not like the new layout. The bands get set up in a corner playing at an odd angle facing another wall and the path to bathrooms cuts right through the dance floor. Kind of a demolition derby trying to get to the bathroom with the dance floor full as it was that night...But hey we are a hobby band so how could we be complaining ????
We still may try to get a gig there.
Ray at the Shortstop, the venue that gave us our first gig and many other gigs, is going mostly Karaoke and smaller acoustic duo types along with Texas hold 'em poker so it is likely we aren't going to play there anytime soon. We are hoping Ray will invite us to play at the new bar he just bought (used to be DiMaggio's). We can't thank Ray enough for having us play the ShortStop over the past several years. The times we have been over there after practice for a beer and a burger....even on WED nights the place is PACKED for Karaoke. The Lava Lords don't have an "official" opinion on Karaoke at this time.......wait.....check that......yes we DO have an opinion!!!
It all has to do with the "theory of relativity" just like everything else. A LOT of people LOVE KARAOKE. We think KARAOKE SUCKS as we prefer live playing, not just live singing. There are probably bands out there that perform ONLY ORIGINAL TUNES that think WE SUCK since we only do cover tunes. It's all "relative" to what makes you tick ....
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