O' Flanagans - 11/5/11 - New York City

I was the first to arrive at the "O" and awaiting my bandmates arrival duly ordered a "Pint of Ale" which went down nicely as I relaxed and sat on the edge of the very low and dimly lit bandstand, feeling most at home there,..... a smell of cheap tangerine perfume permeated the air and the shrieking, clanging sound of the peanut vendor's monkey on the sidewalk showed no regard for those who slept or those at conflict within their souls.

The band played a tight performance and the crowd was up and dancing by the first set, the partier's grew in diversity and intensity and its always nice to spark up A party early then keep the level energetic. Unique to this show was Dave inadvertently knocking a few framed iconic images off the wall during his musical performance to great effect and getting his (headstock mounted) bass tuner caught in Bruce Springsteen's headband. I also suffered from my rack tom becoming (and I mean) completely dislodged from the tom mount during the dramatic introduction to Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" which opened set 3 after which I had to do without for the song, Kudos to Mike (also a drummer, need I remind me) for rescuing the mounting right before song number two, Bon Jovi's "Runaway". We are invited back for a December Seventeenth performance (just a month away).

White Wedding was interviewed before our performance by NYU (New York University) for a future article about the band (see photo above) which was a fun experience for all of us.



Robert Smith.



This man drinks Semiquavers for Breakfast, eats Arpeggio's for Lunch and feasts on the Mixolydian scale for dinner. He is also a very nice fellow (and tasteful rock solid bass player) with a penchant for soup & cashews.



This man injects wild quail with chestnuts for breakfast, inhales obsolete pocket computers for lunch and feasts on Yak and Honey Dew for suppertime, He is the one constant in White Wedding (even when we were called The Airwaves) and it is this mans vision propelling us on our path beyond these things and closer to those other things. He is Mike without which the other things would not be happening in precisely the same way that they have been happening for the past number of years.



Who is That Ditzy Strumpet !!!???
OH WAIT, That's Debbie Harry !
NO WAIT That's Nancy !!!



Who needs Rachmaninoff when we have ROCKmaninoff !!!



I'm So Ronery
So ronery
So ronery and sadry arone

There's no one
Just me onry
Sitting on my rittle throne



This is Not a posed shot, another reason why Rob might be the finest and funnest frontman/lead singer I have worked with to date.



The Ultimate Nachos of O' Flanagans were indeed just that. Cheesey Cheese, Chunky Chili, Spicy Salsa, Spunky Scallions, Beany Beans and as a nice touch Fresh, Firm (mild) Veggie Jalapeno slices. If these were from a jar then it was a jar designed by the celestial core of mechanics during a philosophical pinata party and that aint too common folks.

Thanks to Jamie for taking the Fantastic photos.

FLICKR

- Spike

Vintage Video - Water Witch Club 9/10/10

- Spike

The Nutty Irishman 10/29/11 Farmingdale,New York

Nancy requested some adult entertainment in the green room tonight and due to weather conditions the agency could not comply but The Nutty supplied us with some printed visual reference of which It's rumoured Nancy was up to page 93 at last count.

On a snowy and Slushy October Night did we, the White Wedding Band arrive at the premises of Nutty IrishMan & Men to perform All Hallows Eve duty amongst the Gaily dressed, and I must say we Gaily dressed as well. Tis the Season'

TRANSLATION: We (WHITE WEDDING) performed at the Nutty Irishman (Of Farmingdale) on the worst night weatherwise within wememburrance (SlushyRainyZombieApocalypse) and yet the people did come, partook of festivities, supped on sauce and gaily dressed too for the Halloween weekend festivities. Spotted in the audience were Rock' Em Sock Em Robots, Keystone Cops & the transgendered Pink Ladies (costumed by men) & T- Birds (costumed by women) too amongst many other Ghouls and Succubus'

Nice acoustic room to play, Progressively Active Crowd, Good Ensemble Band Performance (G.E.B.P.), Sprawling Green Room (beers in fridge), Stage Curtain (partial)

There was a video screen curtain that came down in front of us after our performance and as we packed up curtain stageside I realized I was now entering my "Webster Hall" video screen period.



This is the Declaration that I enjoyed quite a bit on the way down to the Green Room which was a few turns and little steps (nice the room is) dervish wise.



A most impressive green room refrigerator, well the contents.
On reflection I'm sorry I did not check the freezer.

Upon further reflection (a few hours later) I am GLAD that I did NOT check the freezer.



After the show we lived it up in true Rockstar fashion and visited the local Wendy's drive-thru, I purchased a Double Cheeseburger and Small Fries (now prepared with Sea Salt) and especially enjoyed it very much after not having Wendy's for quite some time. (80s culture tie not included)



- Spike

Heritage Bar - 10/22/11 Yonkers, New York

Maybe its the Delicious Guinness Stout talking but its always a pleasure to perform at the Heritage Pub in Yonkers. For the first time I forgot my camera at home but fortunately Richard was in attendance and took some shots, I did get the color pic at the bottom with my LG cellphone to post on Facebook and right here on this Blog in case there was a shortage of photos. The band played a good gig and Tiffany was in attendance to check out our show pacing and performance.



Dave looking Quite the Biker.



Paul looking Quite the Guitarist.



I finally wore my "Hello Cleveland" shirt for Rob's soundcheck. It's the 80's It's Spinal Tap.



J.C. on the Roland and Korg.



Recognize quite a few people in this shot, hmmmmmm,.........



A Dance Band ? Certainly.



Its always a good idea to have a fresh Stout before the next set begins.

FLICKR

- Spike

La Pomme - 10/15/11 Manhattan, New York

La Pomme features a very nice room and our clients who threw an 80s anniversary party had a stage built for us while Sean and Ginger provided the sound and lighting. I did not get to to see the crowd during our performance but marveled at some of the 80s fashion sense afterwards as is often the case at these parties. We played a good two sets and due to time constraints were packed up by 11 p.m., Unique to this performance was "Limelight" by Rush which was a special request (see below)





possibly my coolest space yet, I had my own little makeshift drum riser.







After passing White Castle on the way to rehearsal every week it was nice to finally have some pre-rendezvous at the Callbox. Two Jalapeno Double Cheeseburgers, One Double Cheeseburger and a sack of Fries ($7.68). Two Cheeseburgers are plenty the third came home with me.



I forgot the band were dining together and wasted my appetite on the murder burgers. pictured above are BLT Poppers ($6) from the very cool Hog Pit NYC bar located right next to La Pomme, this bar offered a Quart Bottle of Colt 45 for $10.00



Limelight is one of the most difficult songs we have had to learn to date and gave us a run for our money as far as ensemble playing, Dave is reading the sheet music during the 3/4 guitar solo section.

- Spike

Vintage Bar - 10/14/11 - White Plains, New York

Beerstaches Rule.



The Vintage Bar was a nice room to play and we had the crowd dancing sporadically throughout the evening. Tonight we implemented our pro-twitter stance which gets a free t-shirt to the first person to tweet us on a Wednesday and comes down to the show. This evening is also when I popped my bass drum head halfway through the first set (of two sets) but left the replacement back in Brooklyn, some painters tape kept the head intact for the second set fortunately.



Our brave singers had to deal with a spiral staircase which led to the changing room.



the changing room in question was located above the stage.



our poster in the front window.



EXHIBIT A - I'm going to write to Mr. Ludwig as I keep losing lugs from the bottom of my rack tom.



the ad for the show from Vintage Bars website.



- Spike

Allison & Eric's Wedding - 10/8/11 Jumping Brook Golf Course - Neptune, New Jersey

Coming just one week after our last wedding performance it becomes easier to grow accustomed to working in a hall/dining setting with breaks in the set dictated by the festivities as well as the actual festivities, food, drinks, dancing and high spirits apparent at a wedding reception. We all had a Blast doing our jobs and continue to grow through experience.

Songs unique to this performance were two by The Misfits, "Where Eagles Dare" and "Astro Zombies" this is also the show where the bride and groom entered the proceedings to the "Emperor's Theme" from Star Wars which we all found very cool and amusing a few months back when we got the details.



Unique shots of Rob in his "Danzig/Misfits" personae since this may be the only time it ever happens.



This and the last photo get published just because I took them while the band was playing ("Dont Stop Believing") and I had a second to step out in front amongst the crowd before my Drum Cue went off. We had passed our curfew so there was no time for Rob to get out of his makeup.

I would like to thank my friend Ham for appreciating The Drumming especially this evening (I am told that his friends were also All About The Drumming) and my personal feeling can only be described as elated when you realize you are elevating someone to have so much fun. I could only feel blushful when being told my playing was "On A Whole Other Level!!!", All modesty aside folks, I can carry a tune to its end and successfully play in an ensemble but the "Other Level" is Well,... for those "Other Level Dudes".

Ham and his buddies really made my night though, Thanks Very Much guys.





Stuffed Chicken (with Gravy), Garden Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes.



FLICKR

- Spike

Sabrina & Sam's Wedding 10/1/11 - Rumson, New Jersey

Nancy couldn't make it to this show but fortunately at the very last minute we got Mike's friend Cora to fill in at this important wedding performance and she did a great job singing and dancing with very high energy. Rob did his usual outstanding emcee delivery introducing the wedding party under an audio bed of "Walking On Sunshine" and the band played a tight evening of music in very cramped circumstances, I could not get much action from my bass drum pedal (much less get out from behind the kit) since I was crammed against the wall but this is just another one of those challenges a gigging musician sometimes has to deal with.

Unique to this performance was renditions of Van Morrison's "Sweet Thing", Men At Work's "Who Can It Be Now" and Loudon Wainwright lll's "Daughter". Unique for White Wedding is that a member of the party requested a song that we NEVER played before and we winged it in a live setting which was not a Pub either (no offense to the pub's), at first I had no idea what song it was mainly because I don't really know the song but everyone else does. We performed Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" as part of the Metal Block and it sounded just fine too.



Tonight's M.V.P. in my book, Cora for doing an Amazing job and fitting right in.



Like most working bands we continue to build strength to strength, Next thing you know we will be performing songs we never played to live audiences!!! oh wait ,.....



Once again Sean and Ginger provided sound and lighting for us and you can find them at Boardwalk Entertainment



The Kobe Burger - 10 ounces Kobe Beef, Humboldt Fog Cheese, Garlic Butter, Arugula, Red Onion, Tomato & Mayo on King's Hawaiian Bun, Salt Creek Garlic Fries Too



Cora runs through her songs at the Callbox right before heading to the reception. Notice Dave in the background giving us the "slow down" hand signal, we were speeding on purpose so we could get on the road already.

- Spike

Heritage Bar - 9/24/11 Yonkers, New York

The Irish are a very festive people and the Heritage is the most Irish of pubs with the most Irish of clientele, pair this up with Ireland getting into the World Cup quarter finals while your band is performing there and prepare to see some serious celebrations. For the first time the crowd was up and dancing from our opening number and the night was going well only to be enhanced by a crowd of sports fans with their own "world cup(s)" that they were waving around, at first I didnt know what was going on (did this team just win a trophy ?) until I remembered J.C. earlier during the performance giving a shout out to Ireland's victorious football team.



While putting finishing touches on my drum set up I kept hearing Nancy's infectious laughter from behind me, turns out she saw the absurdity in blowing up a ghostbuster accessory with a hand pump in the back of an irish pub,.... like that was weird or something.



Always a bit of a challenge setting up the kit "catty cornered" at the Heritage. Yet another cymbal set up kept things challenging tonight.



We picked up Paul on the way to the show and I complimented him on his 80s tie and dress shirt, turns out he had an office party that afternoon and was still dressed for that. After a few more similar compliments from bandmembers Paul decided not to change at all and I had to get a photo.



Steve saw a bit more from his table then I did from behind my drum kit, details* soon. I have since heard that the "World Cups" that were waved around were filled with Beer!!!*



This gets posted because I took this photo while drumming, we are performing "Eye of the Tiger" at the request of the "Football Hooligans"



Pre-gig I had time to try some of the "crunchy" food at El Loco Burrito on Graham avenue and the "Spicy Beef Nachos" ($7.00) did not disappoint, Very Delicious. Some leftovers barely made it home with me in the gig bag, they were so Bamboozled you don't even wanna see a photo, T.G.F.T. (Thank God For Tupperware).



Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun.

- Spike