Fontana's Bar 1/29/11 New York City

Another Great 80s Themed Party and the crowd were with us right from the start. As a rule I try never to start playing the drums while someone is talking/standing right in front of me since it's probably a lot ruder than just talking over somebody (in the least certainly much louder) but the way Fontana's had it setup is that the party would begin upstairs and the "Live Band" would be performing downstairs at ten. As the Interested and Interesting crowd entered I could hear lots of excited conversation of the "Expectant" type of which I had to interrupt to begin our set But!!! We did have a job to do and for Bueller's sake The Show Must Go On which it did and We All Had A Blast !!!

Fortunately and thankfully we have exceeded the crowd's expectations Time After Time (incidentally our opening number tonight) so I can only walk away proud of our accomplishments and tonight was no exception with air guitarists (wielding the balloon kind) gleefully buzzing the stage (on and off) rocking out to their favorite tunes, This was a Great crowd and energy fed off of energy.







The photographer (in this photo) with the flash going off quite likely has a photo of me taking the pic from the stage with my flash going off just the same which makes it all freakytrippykool.



We asked if he would jam with us tonight but Michael said he wasnt there to be a star.

- Animal

White Wedding In 3-D

Taste Of The Brooklyn Bowl

1/3/11 (Pre-Gig 7ish) - Simply The BEST, If an individual needs a belief system then let me Believe in This.

Sloppy Joe, Coleslaw, Pickled Peppers on a Bun With French Fries, Served with a knife and fork which you will need.



1/3/11 (Post-Gig 12ish) - Brooklyn Bowl Burger - Beef Burger topped with Bacon and Cheddar Cheese, Side Of Mashed Potatoes Of The Most Buttery Kind, Sour Pickle Chips & THE Bermuda Onion/Lettuce/Tomato Triumvarat.



1/10/11 (Pre-Gig 7ish) - Cajun Catfish (Blackened) with Mashed Potatoes & Collards (with Bacon) - Being a Cat lover I thought that I would really enjoy Catfish and while I finished every last scrap from the plate (our minder Lindsay told me "I see you didnt like it, I better tell the chef") I found CatFISH to be a little too Fishy for my tastes. HOW DARE MY FISH BE SO FISHY, It was Delicious and so were the Creamy Potatoes and Flavorful Collard Greens which is concealed under the fish in the photo.



1/10/11 (Post-Gig 12ish) - BLT with Olive Oil Mayo on Toasted Country White (Greens on the side) - The first dish I had at
The Bowl that I found just plain Good but nothing to write home about, Mind you no complaints at all and the Bacon was done to perfection.



1/17/11 (Post Gig 12ish) - Chicken Muffaletta with Olive Salad and Roasted Garlic on Ciabatta Bread. This was most tasty but I could not taste any Roasted Garlic, Did I mention that the French Fries are close to perfection.



1/17/11 (Post-Gig 12ish) - Jamie had the Really Sloppy Joe under my recommendation which she liked but felt there was too much Coleslaw and from the looks of it there was certainly more than on mine from a few weeks back but nonetheless I did have to steal a bite of my favorite Brooklyn Bowel Culinary creation yet. She also had the Homeade Macaroni & Cheese Baked with Bread Crumbs which is Amazingly Cheesetastic and anything but crummy.



1/24/11 (Pre-Gig 6ish) - "The FATTY" French Bread Pizza topped with Pepperoni, Ham, Pulled Pork, Sausage, Onion, Mushroom & Eggplant is clearly more than enough food for one person and would perfectly compliment a pitcher of Ice Cold Brooklyn Bowl Pale Ale but as I had this for dinner gig-prior there wasnt going to be any excessive drinking going on. The Ground Sausage was a nice touch and the Ham was in teeny little cubes that would make any swiss craftsmen proud. Deeply Satisfying.



1/24/11 (Post Gig 1ish) - Fried Calamari with Lemon & Cayenne Mayo and Chillies, Thats how "Chillies" is spelled on the Menu so I will go with it and its the Chillies that get special mention here. Breaded and Fried Jalapeno slices (wheels) were out of this world and of course of the mild quality so as not to take anyone off guard. The Calamari itself was served in strips as opposed to "wheels" and the tails were served as tails (not tales). Fried to perfection with Delicious Dipping sauce.



And Every night we enjoyed some Delicious Brooklyn Bowl Pale Ale which is brewed on site, Light in color but Dark in Flavor.





- Animal

Brooklyn Bowl 1/31/11 Cancelled

I had the time of my life just the same.

In a letter to our booking agent.

Hi Chris,


I'm really really sorry but Umphrey's McGee are playing at the Bowl on
01/31 (it isn't announced yet) and they are bringing in a semi, the
production is intense. We were really hoping to have the 80s Bowl as
scheduled but after talking with the production team it just isn't
possible so we are going to have to bump the last 80s Bowl. We will
still pay the band and I give you my word I will find a spot for them
(ideally a better night) to make up the gig as well.

Can you please let the band know?

Thanks again, it was a great residency and we look forward to having them back.

Best,
Will

- Animal

Brooklyn Bowl 1/24/11 Brooklyn, New York

I made a conscious effort tonight to "Rock Out" onstage a bit more as far as body language and thankfully didnt hurt myself or anyone around me. The band played great and we are becoming a well oiled machine firing on all cylinders. Our friend Sean from security helped Spiccoli with the backing vocals on Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name" and the crowd was enjoying themselves as you can see briefly in the "Welcome to the Jungle" video posted below.

Probably our best show yet at the Bowl and we pulled out a lot of the songs that we havent performed in some time without incident. I have become so familiar with the green room that I noticed the installation of a smoke detector that wasnt there a week prior and for variety changed up the beverage choices of which tonight's was a Margarita, several glasses of wine (surprisingly of the boxed kind) and of course some Delicious Brooklyn Bowl Pale Ale.









Our friend & fan Steve who has been to so many of our shows over the years.













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- Animal

Rodeo Bar 1/22/11 New York City

One of the funnest and gratifying shows I have ever experienced due to a very receptive 80s crowd who really dressed the part. It looked like an infinite sea of dancers from my admittedly myopic vantage point. Spicoli had me cracking up a record number of times this evening and the entire band played a tight set with crowd pleaser after crowd pleaser pleasing the crowd.

There were a couple of White Wedding first's tonight, for one we did a Crazy Thing and played a song that we have NEVER Played Together EVER live onstage at a decent paying "private party" show (The Promise by When In Rome which was requested a few days gig-prior) that went over Big, and for another first (due to time constraints) the club turned off the microphones right after we finished our announced last number (Dont Stop Believing) but before our encore (what would have been Fight For Your Right) leaving the crowd Really Wanting more and going off to speak to the manager and sound engineer to no avail.

This was also the gig where I tried on a more exotically fashionable 80s pair of shades (non-prescription) which handicapped my view of the drumkit and fellow band members considerably and due to the glasses closer proximity to my face turned my eyelids into sweat factories and even worse than dropping a stick no drummer drumming or even anyone at all wants sweat in his/her eyes, This was a science experiment in convection proving that you can indeed be Blinded By Science.





Meanwhile Back in the States ....



Famished after the gig I seeked out a Gyro Cart for some Gyro Over Rice (Lamb & Rice as it is now called) with White Sauce and Hot Sauce which I had a few forkfuls of on the glamorous & aromatic 34th street D platform taking the remainder home. Either I havent had Gyro and Rice for some time (and I havent), I Was Starving (I was) or this particular cart knew how to make it really well (probably a combination of all three) but this was some Extremely Tasty Gyro & Rice.



- Animal

Brooklyn Bowl 1/17/11 Brooklyn, New York

Most of this performance was an Audience Request show (which JUSTKINDAHAPPENED and to no bandmember's dismay) but to our delight after looking at the "secret ballot" Request Board from the attendees we gleaned that the band does perform about ninety five percent of the material asked with remaining tunes/artists in the 80s spandex pipeline. The crowd was up and dancing once again and the shows are going Great at this coolest of coolest of venues.

Never have I met a kinder and more down to earth staff as at Williamsburg Brooklyn's Brooklyn Bowl. They Really make you feel at home and comfortable just by being cool people in a "Be Yourself" Employee Protocol Type Thingy (Well I hope that I'm guessing right) Theres an in-residence KINKS fan as well who spins the records of which I have Absolutely NO Qualms or piercing arrow's about (he/she even played Queen - Staying Power the other week, HOW FREAKIN' ODD)

Two More shows here this month, Life's A Joy.



Airborne.



Doc Brown



Amadeus



Diamond Dave



Animal - Vic Firth Timpani Mallets (foreground)



Thanks Very Much to Jamie, Richard and Steve for recording these moments for their photographic art and the posterity of these times.



Bowler Anna Jumped onstage and then off of it in Total Stagedive Glory, She IS Awesome and landed on her two feet as well so no need to worry action fans.







- Animal

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Bally Bunion -1/15/11 Brooklyn, NYC

Due to the recent frequency of our shows the high pressure gigs are becoming low pressure gigs and the low pressure gigs are becoming no pressure gigs so it was quite a bit of fun to return to the Bally Bunion for some Bay Ridge Brooklyn entertainment as only Bay Ridge Brooklyn can provide, Namely I had a nice time watching the crowd dance as we played away three sets into the night being entertained as we entertained, Always A Good Thing.







The DW snare drum sounded absolutely cracking tonight, Speaking of cracking so did my "not so old" Sabian AAX 14" X-Plosion Crash Cymbal !!! well a little crack on the leading edge but the fat lady has already sang her last 80s aria. When I first purchased my Sabian AAX set I exclaimed "Cymbals For Life!!!" I now duly eat my words less than a thousand hours later, What Gives??? ,...... these were only played maybe 400-500 hours!!!



My Sabian cymbal (foreground) when it was brand new just two years and four months ago (B.B. King's 10/17/08)



Cracked Sabian AAX 14" X-Plosion Crash (It happened onstage during Love Shack) (Bally Bunion 1/15/11)



The Bally Bunion Burger which always comes with Cheese and Bacon is Juicy and Delicious.



With our fans Lorie and Marlene.



White Wedding/Bally Bunion mainstay Clay won the trivia contest this time around and after all of the kinetic energy that he has entertained us with I am glad that he did.



- Animal

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