Breakfast with the Beatles

Sunday morning Dawn and I went to one of our favorite events, Andre Gardner's remote broadcast of his show Breakfast with the Beatles on the Spirit of Philadelphia. We both look forward to seeing our friend Andre and the remotes are always such a good time. I will say now however, I am a bit disappointed that there was no special guest, as I look forward to getting another Beatles related autograph on the Beatles themed guitar. In the past Andre has always had someone that is somehow related to the Best Band that ever Lived, like May Pang, Pauline Sutcliffe, Denny Laine, and others. But be that as it may the consolation was a limited edition CD filled with interviews Andre has had in the past with guests like Patty Boyd and Olivia Harrison among others. And this time even the food was fantastic. In past cruises, the food left something to desire, but this time it was really good. We brought with us a limited Ringo poster(see Picture) Andre had given us that we had framed and he said he would like to see it. He was giving out more of them on this cruise and wanted to show what it looked like framed. It is always a good time to be with the friends we have made by attending these remotes with Andre and we cant wait till the next one. The only down side of this day was that I received an email from Andre's myspace page the following day that some idiot with no respect for Andre's generosity, actually had placed their free CD up for auction on Ebay. Really no class was used in this cheap action. To think that they had been given a gift and then turned around to try to profit off of it is shameful. We always thought there was a better "class" of people in the crowd the remotes always draws but I guess there is always at least one in every crowd. Hope this is not a sign of the things to come, and that it does not prevent Andre from gracing all the true fans of his work from rewarding us all with more great things in the future. Also see a picture of my long lost brother? that actually sat next to us for the whole cruise.

Robert Cray and Keb-Mo show

Tonight was the Blues show that we had been waiting to see. We have seen both Robert and Keb in the past as opening acts for Buddy Guy and Bonnie Raitt, but never saw them as headliners. We were not disappointed. Both had an hour and a half set that just cooked. Both artists are Grammy winners and neither one let the audience down. There was a duet early in the Robert Cray set that just blew me away. Wish I knew the name of the song. Then later in his set Bob did a song called Twenty which is an anti-war song reminiscent of the protest songs of the 60's. Brought back all the Vietnam memories, but in a good way( as far as protests go ). It struck me half way thru his set, and I told Dawn, Bob at times sounds to me exactly like Marvin Gaye. What a talent. Then Keb came on and sorry to say I missed the first half as I had to take Dawn home, she was not feeling good. I came back and heard great band members join together and make fabulous music for the next hour. All in all, a great night, just wish I could have gotten Bob's autograph, but I did get Keb on the Buddy Guy guitar. This was a great show and I hope they work together again in the near future so we can see them again.

CLARKE - MILLER - WOOTEN

Tonight was the S-M-V Thunder tour of Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten. What a fantastic trio!!! Their musical lineage alone is worth the price of admission. Combined they have worked with the best in the Music Arena like, Sinatra, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, George Duke, Dave Mathews, Prince, Luther Vandross, Grover Washington, and so many more. They all played together in 2006 at the Bass Player Live concert. and saw that there was enough room for them to work together and not as rivals. Their first album together features them along with George Duke and Chick Corea and all three bassists contribute new work to the album. The album is getting rave reviews and some say it is the Jazz record of the year. We can only hope that come Grammy time, these 3 outstanding musicians get what is rightfully theirs.

This past Friday RipChords and Wink Keziah

Dawn and I went to one of our new favorite places, PUCK in Doylestown and saw our friends the Rip Chords. We were unaware of there being an opening act and were completely surprised to see Wink Keziah and Delux Motel open. They are so dichoticly different from the Rip Chords in musical style that the combination of Honkey Tonk/Southern Rock and Surf Music actually worked really well. We were seated up front in Puck which holds about 100 people, and had clear view of both bands. Wink and his crew, were gracious and friendly to the crowd with a lot of interaction. The band is very talented made up of Ken Keicher on bass, Arda Bagcioglu on lead, and Jason Donaldson on drums, this 4 piece band can tear up a bar with good feelings and great music. Then after their set, they cleared out for The Rip Chords. This is the ++ time we have seen them and they just get better with each appearance. Mitch and Richie were constantly hawkin their new CD and it was comical. They welcomed back Freddy Brog on Guitar and it was good to see him back. They sounded fantastic and their harmonies were right on. Bob and Tony round out the band on bass and drums. The big surprise of the night was when our friend Amy (keyboards and vocals) took the lead on White Rabbit. She just nailed it and blew us away. And after the show we hung with the band for a bit, more on that later - an interview with Richie, we both told Amy that she has nothing to be shy about with her voice. It was great to see our friends again and we look forward to seeing them again soon.


There will be more shows this week not previously announced, but keep coming back to check for new posts.

Coming up

Well I have been a little lax lately (too much work) and so I am just letting everyone know that comin up will be reviews of Peter Tork and his band, Stanley Clark/Marcus MIller/Victor Wooten, Keb Mo and Robert Cray. I am still hoping to get in to see the Absolute Zeros as I have promised them to see them and write a review. It is just that my full time job schedule is so bizarre and its on 3rd shift so I cant get out that much during the week. I will however, be posting some new reviews in the upcoming weeks so keep coming back to see. Also check out BiCoastal Affair on MySpace. Sorry its a cheap plug, I know, but its my sons new band and they are pretty good. Go have a listen and let me know what you think.

Ill Be Back

Been a While

Well, it has been 2 weeks since I blogged, and I am sorry for that, just busy. This week, Friday Dawn and I will be going back to PUCK in Doylestown to see our friends, THE Rip Chords. I will be interviewing them after the show and posting some more info about them along with a review of the show next week. Then Next week we see Keb Mo and Robert Cray. A great blues night. That will be followed with a Breakfast with the Beatles cruise for 2 hours of great Beatles music and trivia. I will also be tring to get over to see Stanley Clarke/Victor Wooten/Marcus Miller for more autographs. So, have no fear,there will be more blogs to come in the next week, its just been slow and I have been busy.

Comedy Show

Well, this week, Dawn took me to Atlantic City for my birthday. We stayed at the Brogata for two days. She even got tickets to the comedy shown the night of our arrival. That is what this post is about. It was one of the best comedy shows I have ever seen. The talent in the 3 performers was amazing. The first act was Chipps Cooney. His "msgic" act was the best spoof I have ever seen. He did not do one single magic trick, but that did not matter. He had the audience in the palm of his "slight of hand." The second act was Rob Magnotti. This young performer was by in large the best impersonator I have seen since the days of Rich Little and Frank Gorshin. Robs impersonatiions were dead one down to the mannerisms of the likes of John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman, Kramer, and Jerry Sienfeld. Then the headliner came on and that was Richie Minervini. Richie was on "The King of Queens", and his act was outrageous. His comments on the movies in the elevator, Jersey Tolls, the women leaving for the rest room, and the couple pawing each other in the front row were great. This was the best show I have seen and would gladly see it again if given the chance. I will be looking for the three of them to be coming by the Phila area, and if they do I will be first in line for the tickets, although I would hope that this blog would help me to get free tickets. I strongly recommend all who read this to be on the look out for these three to come to your area..