Are You Dave?

Just about a year ago we played a fantastic show in the gazebo at Church Square Park, sponsored by our friends at O’Nieals. I guess it went well because they asked us back to do it again this year!

This year, I’m pleased to say, we own most of our own P.A. gear so there was no last-minute scrambling to throw something together (although Dana did have to drive up to the heights to borrow a couple of items from our friend Stefanie again). In fact, we had pretty much everything set up and ready to go long before the park handyman arrived to turn on the power for us!

Gene The Plumber swung by to make sure we had everything we needed; he coordinates the Weds shows in Curch Square. I told him he’d been immortalized in song by Geri Fallo at the Gordys show last week; he got a kick out of that. More importantly, he loaned us a couple of carpets to cover all the cabling that ran from the stage to the sound board. What a guy. Dave Entwistle gave us a crackerjack sound-check, and we were off!

I love outdoor gigs and I’m pleased that we have a couple more on our calendar; playing in the gazebo is fun because we’re way up high and can see all the people bobbing all over Church Square Park. And we had ‘em dancing this year! It was a gorgeous evening, again with a slight chance of rain that never appeared, and we had a really good crowd out enjoying the music. More and more people are learning our songs and singing along at shows, which to me is a hugely gratifying thing.

This is the first anniversary of our last show with Kimberly, so I wanted to take a moment and throw her a shout-out: Hi Kimberly! You rock!

It was a great night, all around. As per usual there were some minor boo-boos (I put the capo in the wrong place again for “To The Moon”; Brandon shocked us all by launching into “Girls Rock” when the rest of us were geared up to play “Fairytale Blues,” which was the next tune on the setlist) but overall it was a euphoric and lovely event. I hope to have some photos to post soon. There’s nothing like a sunset concert, and nothing like a Hoboken crowd!

Afterwards, we hauled all of our gear home and most of us adjourned to O’Nieals for a free dinner! Bonus!

~ Dave

For those of you keeping track, this was my 4th concert and 4th band in a 3-week span. I’m even getting paid for two or three of them! I love being a professional musician. 

Anyway…

Erin Lee Kelly and Marci Applebaum made their triumphant return to Hoboken tonight as part of the family concert series at the Shipyard. Last year they got rained out (and their visit to the Art & Music Festival was pretty damp as well) so everyone was thrilled when the rain decided to give ‘em a break.

I honestly don’t remember when, exactly, Erin Lee invited me to sit in with them again. It just sort of happened organically—it’s been on my calendar since April. But as the date got closer, Erin Lee and Marci were on tour and I was too busy preparing for recording and other gigs. I started to feel bad that I was neglecting the two of three songs they’d invited me to play. But the beauty of their material is: It’s deceptively simple. Wonderful melodies, rich harmonies, clever lyrics… and underneath it all, a comfy musical pocket for me to sit in with my banjo and mandolin. 

Tom Sweeney and Chris The Sound Guy showed up at 5:00 and got set up, while I sat on the stage steps with the band and ran through our three numbers. The two songs I’d done with them last fall came back in a flash, and the third was an easy addition. We ran a sound-check, and with only three voices and three instruments to check we were done before 6:00! So we puttered around, I grabbed dinner, and we watched the lawn slowly fill up with Hoboken’s wee music lovers. 

By the time Erin Lee and Marci started at 7:00 there was a sizeable and enthusiastic crowd, throwing around fee beach balls courtesy of NY Waterway Ferry.

Erin Lee and Marci have really honed their act; they keep up a steady stream of banter with the crowd and with each other, between and even during their songs. The Fuzzy Lemons would do well to borrow a page from their book, and indeed we’ve been working on that whole between-song thing at rehearsals. They cracked me up several times (when I wasn’t too busy helping with crowd control. Oh the beach balls!)

It was a treat to jump on stage and play banjo and mandolin with them; my confidence (if not actual skill) with both instruments has skyrocketed since the last time I tried. I even took solos with both instruments! 

As always, it was over too quickly. I had to pack up my stuff and jump in a cab to head for Fuzzy Lemons rehearsal! I look forward to the next time I can hang, and jam, with these two awesome performers. 

Tomorrow night, The Fuzzy Lemons at Church Square Park!

~Dave 

[Concert number three, band number three...]

Once again, the Gordys dodged bad weather and slogged through last-minute rehearsals to pull another delightful sunset show out of our collective hats. This year’s line-up:

• Howard Olah-Reiken: electric and acoustic guitar, vocals
• Adam Laden: acoustic guitar, mandolin, clarinet, saxophone and vocals
• Pamela Strell: vocals and percussion
• Rob Harari: keyboards, percussion and vocals
• Dave Lambert: electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, vocals
• Barbara Arnett: Accordion
• Justin Michael: Bass
• Joe Harari: Drums and vocals

We were pleased to welcome Rob’s teenage son Joe to the fold, and even more excited when he took lead vocals on a song, “Pizza Day” by the Aquabats.

It was another magical night, once we waded through our first few warm-up numbers. Every year, once the sun goes down and we get the audience revved up with the Klezmer set, it really lives up to the title of a “Summer Enchanted Evening.”

Hats off as always to Randy Taber and Tom Sweeney, and to Geri Fallo and Wendy Setzer for their hilarious performance. Every year they outdo themselves. Watch this space for photos, I hope…

Wow, what a show! What a crowd! What a band! Everything I love about playing music came together last night. Which is not to say we played a flawless show–far from it. There were minor technical issues and I KNOW I made some tragic gaffes on the guitar. But the band’s energy was amped up so high that we barreled right through all of it and kept the crowd dancing the entire hour.

I have to say that it was an amazing sight to see an ocean of people on the lawn; in fact there wasn’t a bare patch of grass exposed anywhere. The place was wall-to-wall kids, and yet (with the exception of one “lost child!” alert, quickly resolved) I didn’t see any wailing, shoving, or anything, just shiny little faces bopping in the evening light.

There’s always a mob right up at the front of the stage, kids clambering over equipment and one another to be closer to the band, but even that mad crush didn’t turn ugly. In fact it was cute as can be, and no one touched our mic stands, which meant none of the Lemons got knocked in the teeth by microphones. Bonus.

It was a bit of a landmark night for the town of Hoboken, in the wake of the recent political shake-up (our mayor got arrested and then resigned recently). Geri Fallo seemed even bubblier than usual as she announced the new acting mayor’s name in public for the first time, eliciting a huge cheer from the gathered throng. I think the enormous energy of the crowd had us all feeling pumped before we even started the show. In addition, we just finished an intense week in the studio and these days we’re feeling pretty darn good about ourselves musically.

Right as we launched into our first song, “Let’s Be Nice to Monsters,” the PA let out a gawd-awful crackle. It interrupted Kipley just as he was about to start his little into monologue. I looked over at him and he had a huge grin, like he was slightly concerned about the technical issue but it wasn’t going to stop him for a second, and he powered on, never losing the grin. (He later told us that he’s never played one of these shows WITHOUT a technical issue, so he just expects it.) I took my cue from that and played my heart out, and I think everyone else did too.

Which brings me to Randy Taber, who has been doing sound lately for Geri (we first met him at Kiddiepalooza in June). First of all, he and Sweeney arrived at, like, 5:15 (as opposed to their usual 6:00) which gave us GOBS of time to set up and run soundchecks before the show. Then, when we had the issue with the cable crackling, he jumped up on stage and corrected the problem lickety-split. He’s been a tour manager for Pink Floyd cover band The Machine, he teaches sound engineering at William Patterson University, he’s run sound for the Wetlands and B.B. King’s in NYC, and we’re lucky to have him.

Randy’s the reason we felt so good about our performance: Like Dave Entwistle, he makes darn sure we’re getting a great monitor mix and that we’re able to hear ourselves and each other. That’s the key to a great show (the downside is, when I make a goof on the guitar, I can hear it clear as a bell). If we’re struggling on stage, the audience knows it. That was not the case tonight. We were in sonic heaven and as a result–we ROCKED!

Photos and write up here!

Photo by Joe Epstein

~ Dave