Are You Dave?

As part of a fund-raiser for her daughter’s school, Dana booked the Lemons at Ben & Jerry’s in Hoboken. It’s always a sweet gig, no pun intended (well, maybe a little). We did it as an unplugged trio, Dana, Chris and myself rocking out on the patio at sunset. Playing with a smaller band for a smaller audience actually creates a lot of freedom for improvisation and experimentation. For example, halfway through “Jump in a Puddle” I decided to make it into a freeze dance! Yet another example of how comfortable we’ve all become as a band, how easily we can communicate with one another and take the music to new places.

Look for us at Ben and Jerry’s again when the weather warms up!
~ Dave

Trick or Treat, part deaux! We performed our Halloween set at the Elks for the annual Garden Street Music bash, and it was a great time, as always! Each year, we share the stage with GSM’s students, and watching the teen and pre-teen rockers is a real treat. (Especially since many of them used to be in my Music Together class!)

One particular highlight stands out: A dance class had been working on “The Time Warp,” and was going to dance to a playback, but we had it on our set list so they got up and danced along to us instead!

In lieu of payment for this show, we’ve got credit for studio time with Dan. Sometime in the winter or spring we’ll be going back into the studio to record a new album! I can’t wait!

~ Dave

Trick or Treat! After a few weeks off, we did our 2nd annual Halloween show at the Knit today. I snatched up matching “Sgt. Pepper” jackets for myself, Justin and Chris at a Halloween store, and I must say we cut dashing figures. (Ask Dana about the text she mistakenly sent her pastor when she was shopping for a matching costume.) Lots of kids at the show had dressed up as well, and we had a ghoulishly good time.

I my last gig diary entry I mentioned that we’ve become a very flexible band. We’re able to pull out Halloween tunes such as “Monster Mash” and the Scooby Doo theme with little difficulty. Come summer, we’ll rip out “California Sun” and similar surf-themed songs. We’re a non-stop Kindie rock machine!

~ Dave

‘Tis the season for end-of-summer and back-to-school shows, but the weather doesn’t always cooperate. The All Saints’ gig in Hoboken, scheduled for the 7th, was rained out, and so was this show’s original date on Sept. 24th. But we worked out a new date and were blessed with GORGEOUS weather for our last outdoor show of the fall.

The library is nestled in a beautiful Westchester valley, and the leaves were just starting to turn, but the sun was still plenty warm enough for an outdoor show. It was simply delightful, and music lovers soon covered the expansive green with picnic blankets and enjoyed the show.

A huge thank-you to the Auxiliary Board of the Rye Free Reading Room for making it happen. From the moment we pulled up we were met by helpful volunteers, which came in handy when Vanessa’s keyboard would’t work and we had to send someone to Radio Shack for a new power supply! Vanny didn’t blink, she just grabbed her tambourine and rocked out for the entire set. This band has really become a fluid and adaptable rock’n'roll unit, and I love being a Lemon!

~ Dave

Woohoo! MusicFest is one of our biggest shows of the year! We’ve been here twice before; in 2009 it was really hot, and and 2010 it rained. This year was our “Goldilocks” year, everything was just right. The weather was delightful, the crowds were agreeable, and the band was at its rockin’ best.

These festivals are fun for me, not just because we get to play on a huge stage to huge crowds, but because we get to meet (and observe) other performers who are in our line of work. This year we missed sharing the stage with our friend Baze (he played on Saturday), but we met magician Dave Levitan and the awesome cats from Starfish, our neighbors from nearby Maplewood, NJ (Starfish drummer “Grateful Dave” also plays drums for our pal Big Jeff).

As always, HUGE props to the This Is It! people and to DJ Mickey G for making it a smooth, fun, ultra-cool day.

~ Dave

We were invited to participate in the Riverhead Library’s end-of-summer party for the kids who’d enrolled in their summer-reading program. They must have run a great program this summer, because there was a HUGE crowd of kids and families waiting to rock out with us! And rock out they did, dancing up and down the aisles for the entire show. They jumped, wiggled, and shook, and when we did “Don’t'cha Wanna Ride?” the kids spontaneously formed a loooooong train and choo-chooed around the entire auditorium. The local Patch.com site posted a story with photos here.

Riverhead is quite a trip for us, but we enjoyed it because Chris rented an enormous passenger van. All of the Lemons (plus Mark the sound guy!) and all of our gear fit in the van! Nothing makes a road trip more fun than a busload of friends to share it with. We even made an obligatory stop at Wendy’s. (On the way home that night, Vanessa turned my song “Sing Your Thing” into a gross-out anthem called “Pass Your Gas.” The Wendy’s was to blame, I suspect. She’s still giggling about the whole thing.)

We have a three-week break until our next gig, and that one’s in Hoboken. See you then!
~ Dave

Our crazy week continues! This was a Kids Kingdom Show, and it was good to see Deanna Hunt and DJ Mickey G., our This Is It! compadres. It was a lovely day, not too hot, and the kids were having fun. (Vanessa in particular made friends with a young man named Jose, who wasn’t shy about getting up and dancing with the girls!)

We shared the stage with Buckaroo Bindlestiff, a wild-west offshoot of the amazing Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. They spotted the Corn Mo sticker on my guitar case and we reminisced for a bit over mutual acquaintances (without going into detail, I’ll admit that in my pre-Lemons days I hung out once or twice with some of NYC’s most talented underground cabaret acts). If you haven’t seen the Bindlestiff performers in one of their many guises, you’re missing out.

And now for a complete change of pace: The Gordys!

I LOVE doing these shows. The rehearsals leading up to them can be murder (and I apologize to the whole band for losing my cool more than once), but the shows themselves are always magical. Barbara recalls: “We had the best weather ever, Pier C park wasn’t a construction site, and the sound guys were awesome.”

This year’s line-up included Rob Harari, Joe Harari, Pamela Strell, Howard Olah-Reiken, Donna Coney Island, Barbara Arnett, and Justin Michael, with guest star Dave Plotka making a special appearance. The Gordys: The Next Generation also joined us, as Genevieve Harari sang a Plain White T’s song with Coby Strell on piano, and some of the other kids singing backups.

This year’s biggest challenge: “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” We pulled it off!

Local mom Susan Chait designed this year’s t-shirt and it looks fabulous.

The full set list:
Girlfriend - We opened with Matthew Sweet’s 3-chord rocker, and I dedicated it to Geri Fallo.
Is She Really Going Out With Him? - Howard rocked this one.
Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Still can’t believe we nailed it.
No One Is To Blame - A gorgeous ballad from the 80s, sung by Pamela.
Shipping Off To Boston - Barbara led this scorching instrumental form the Dropkick Murphys.
Something So Strong - I led this folk-rock classic from Crowded House.
Nowhere Man - Howie led us in this song’s thick, rich harmonies.
The Only Living Boy in New York - Barbara didn’t know when she picked this song that it’s one of my favorites from Simon and Garfunkel.
Down on the Corner - A classic jam tune, hard to believe we’ve never done it before!
Walk Like an Egyptian - More 80s grrrl power!
Ziggy Stardust - I didn’t nail all the lyrics but we had a lot of fun blasting this one out.
Here Comes Your Man - I busted out my electric 12-string for this alt-pop gem.
Wanderlust King - Joe led us on this wild journey a la Golgol Bordello.
Rat Race - Anti-establishment ska (is there any other kind?) with Rob on lead vocals.
Isn’t She Lovely - Rob again, singing a stripped-down Stevie Wonder classic.
I Wish - More Stevie Wonder, a workout for bass hero Justin.
1, 2, 3, 4 - Genna led this gorgeous little Plain White T’s ditty.
Shadows In The Rain - Justin’s other selection, a rocked-up Sting classic featuring Pamela.
Just Won’t Burn - Pamela ripped this Susan Tedeschi blues number to shreds.
Plus, we did a quick version of our ever-popular Klezmer set, let by Barbara and her rockin’ accordion.

After the show we had drinks and food at Hudson Tavern, where we proclaimed Donna an official member of the Gordys. I’m already hearing tunes that I want to try next summer….

Whew, three gigs in three towns in three days! This is the real rock’n'roll lifestyle, piling into the van first thing in the morning and hauling a bunch of gear all over the place. But it sure is fun, provided one does it with the right people. I like traveling with my fellow Lemons, which is good, because Justin and I got an unplanned tour of eastern PA when we got lost looking for a place to eat. The helpful folks at MusikFest’s information desk guided us safely to the Banana Island stage, where we were met by cheerful staff who got us parked and guided us to a place to unload.

The whole day went well, in my opinion. We played two big sets, got a bunch of kids dancing up on stage and (I hope) earned a return trip next year. Afterwards, we wandered Bethlehem and wound up enjoying an ENORMOUS Italian meal at a lovely cafe. Then it was time to drive home in the dark. A LONG day, but it’s a lot of fun to take our show on the road.

Almost a year to the day ago, we played a sunset show in this gorgeous park overlooking the water. It was delightful to be back! Of course, the weather did its usual threatening-to-rain bit, which had the show’s organizer concerned about the audience showing up, but the sun came out and so did the music lovers!

As a bonus, we got to meet even more of Vanessa’s extended family, including her stepdad, who saved my life by sending over a plate full of roast beef and shrimp before the show (I was quite ready to eat someone’s arm off).

The band’s favorite memory of this day was actually about the burger joint we hit afterwards, a genuine peanut-shells-on-the-floor dive. Delicious!

~ Dave