Finally got my chance to become an official member of the Syndicate.
Several opportunities have surpassed me but this one was a BINGO.
Performing for the kinetic troubadours running in the New York City Marathon was a pleasure and an honor and they passed us by to hear a second or two of the Classic tracks that D.L.S. performs as they approached their finish line.
Burger King supplied D.L.S. with a power supply which was much appreciated.
As I was performing on an acoustic Drum kit I need not had to worry but was honed in on a BK Whopper by mornings end.
It rained slightly in a drizzle but nothing to ruin the proceedings.
And the Whopper was achieved, hence a Whopper Junior with Cheese while watching the equipment as we awaited our cart transportation (car service).
Personally I was flying by the seat of my pants during performance, no rehearsal with the boys on my part but I appreciate this for the sense of danger and stress this brings about, also I was familiar with most of the material. No noticeable mistakes were made by myself (my opinion) due to Brian's excellent stage/street cues for breaks and endings and the Most Excellent band that D.L.S. is.
From an insiders point of view, tonights V.I.P. awards go to Tom & Joe Yegg for pulling double duty performing with both DLS and The Good Yeggs.
The Dillon Lane Syndicate performed with their usual dedication to Rock & Soul that I have come to expect. I also enjoyed being a spectator and watching the other two thirds of The Yeggs perform, those are my boys.
Thanks for inviting us down to co-headline DLS
Tom & Joe Rocking out with DLS.
Note the DLS "Bling" on the Bass Drum that Brian provided.
The Whiskey Sour - For some months now the "Whiskey Sour" has been mentioned in hushed tones and Loud Brackets from our Mr. Dillon and every single time a shot glass went off over my head that read "I never tried a Whiskey Sour Ever", well we were offered a Drink ticket apiece during The Good Yeggs second set and Brian had mentioned onstage, on the night on the classiness of his Drink "served with an Egg White", I ordered mine without such eggish frippery and enjoyed it thoroughly.
The Dillon Lane Syndicate Core Band flanked by Syndicate members Tom & Joe Yegg.
The Good Yeggs (photo by Slane).
The Drummers - Phil P. & myself (rocking the mad scientist look)
Salzy Exterior.
With all of the cuisine Park Slope has to offer and being exhausted and starving after work I stopped in and had
OF ALL THINGS !!!
a Subway Tuna Salad Sandwich "Sub of the Day" ($3.50) !!!
Well time allotted or not I couldn't have Indian Food without Cristina and as my boss exited the work site in haste he forgot to pay me so my choices were greatly narrowed.
For our triumphant after Gig meal we stopped off at Daisy's Diner.
A Cheeseburger Deluxe was in my sights but then I spotted something called a "Devils Muff(a)letta on the menu (Cajun Grilled Chicken Louisiana style with Ham, Chili & melted Swiss Cheese on hard roll) and threw caution to the wind, I should have stuck to the Cheeseburger Deluxe.
It has been a year since Brian's retirement and his retirement party Escape From Transit l so what better course of action than to celebrate the one year anniversary of his retireabration with an anniversary of the event itself under the banner Escape From Transit ll.
As a mildly seasoned musician (chili powder, cumin and bay leaves notwithstanding) it was ironic and quite humorous to leave my apartment with two used pairs of drumsticks in a rite-aid shopping bag as opposed to a carload of drum gear and a garden gnome in tow but I am certainly grateful about my light luggage.
(Thanks go out to Phil for providing the Tama drum kit & Eugene for the Zildjian cymbals).
This afternoon's spot held great promise as Joe pulled his back out so much and was in such discomfort that he considered performing this gig in a sitting position (of which he did not) and this was my first time back behind the drums since I recently had an organ removed of which I am thankfully in full recovery and we had not played together in some months with no rehearsal for today's spot as well but I personally like it like that and we sallied forth as Yeggs United.
Looked like this afternoon might be a performance by The Wounded Yeggs but we delivered.
The removed organ (three octaves as you can see).
Brian's friends & family put on quite the bash for him at the GJOA (pronounced Joya) sporting club in beautiful Sunset Park (the neighborhood in which I was raised in) with the promise of Free Food & Free Beer which almost always ends prematurely and lands flat especially with a lot like us but the promise was fulfilled entirely as there was no shortage of food items or drink stuffs at anytime.
The Dillon Lane Syndicate - Brian (vocals, guitar), Sylvester (vocals), Phil (drums), Thomas (bass), Joe (guitar).
Guesting tonight as syndicate members was our very own Thomas "the fish" Roberto on Bass and Joe Vasquez on Guitar.
These guys are up and coming and gigging quite a bit. Well,... with Sylvester as front man I am frankly not surprised at all.
The Good Yeggs - We went on at 5 p.m. and played our normal set, nothing outstandingly different here except we swapped out a few numbers and were asked for two encores. Since we do an absolute minimum of on stage patter great vistas of time open up for us to fill our allotted quota. The crowd did enjoy the Johnny Cash numbers so we added "Folsom Prison Blues" following "Ring Of Fire".
Brian graciously purchased us all a whiskey on the rocks which was proffered by our third number.
In this photo we see Joe telling me to "Get on with it and stop taking pictures for the Blog !!!" as we were ready to proceed with our set.
photo courtesy of DLS/Facebook.
Nohrmal - ?... Bill (Everything)
It is always something different with this guy. Dare I call him a performance artist or just plain THE performance.
As I was preparing to leave the stage after The Good Yeggs set Bill offered me the opportunity to sit in with him in a "if you want to stay and play the drums then go ahead but don't play anything for the first three verses" kind of style.
Aside from this being a "flying by the seat of your pants" performance for myself I feel this is great for any musician, mind you Bill is vocals and electric guitar unfettered by guitar effects or much in the dynamics department which a challenge does make and I love a challenge. We performed "Creep" by Radiohead, David Bowie's "Five Years" (accompanied by Brian Dillon on backing vox) & Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as well as a few other tunes.
As a much added plus I got to duet with a drummer from our clique of whom I admire, Phil was on Cajon so kit and sticking dynamics on my part of the unobtrusive kind was just the ticket.
Low pressure, jamming fun gig and we had a nice time.
photo courtesy DLS/Facebook.
Black Death - Brian (vocals, guitar), Vlad (vocals, guitar), Sal (guitar, vocals), Phil (drums).
Like always Black Death performed a 45 minute set of family fun and kids songs for people of all ages. Free balloons and cotton candy were NOT on offer.
(L to R) - Beef Empanada, Sweet Italian Sausage, Vegetable Samosa.
I have been "jonesing" for some Indian food and there it was, A Samosa.
As always, once again a night of frolic and cavortment with our closely knit musical family of friends and fellow bands at the Three Jolly Pigeons. I began touting this as a Sub-Basement Blues Band reunion a day before the gig as The Good Yeggs would be performing quite a few S.B.B.B. oldies (classics) on the night but most important was that Franklin would be sitting in with us completing the quartet in the photo above.
Pictured above (L to R top row) is Bruce Springsteen, Keith Emerson, Carlos Santana and
(front row) - Tim Curry.
I personally had a "crappy" gig what with the untested Bass Drum pedal I was going to give Joe being a "piece of crap" and not utilizing my DW 5000 pedal AND what with the Cymbal stand untightening and giving the single Crash Cymbal an improper angle AND what with the me feeling completely under the weather and performing better at rehearsal just hours prior AND what with me having to remove my glasses from my face during the second number in fear for them falling as they kept slipping off AND what with me bringing an unadjustable eyeglass sports strap that glued my glasses to my face so tightly I was in fear of cracking them rendering it useless.
And then a fight broke out.
As my glasses were off I could barely catch a glimpse of what was going on but heard a ruckus and saw what looked to me a wave of people traveling from my right across the front of the band. Joe rushed over to the front table where his wife Jennie was seated along with friends and Thomas' wife but he was Protecting Tom's 77 year old mother in case these hooligan ruffian's might fall atop her, thankfully the melee was quashed by the bouncer and patron's before it escalated to a major level.
Photo taken by Charlie on his cellphone, dark but good framing.
3JP is a dark place with no stage lighting.
Joe with his Danelectro and quality physique.
Thomas having a good time and goofing around Beatlesque style whilst sporting a snazzy new "Stormtrooper" t-shirt..
After the fight he delivered the line of the night to the crowd over the P.A. (public announcement) system.
"Now you can say I went to see the fight and a band broke out"
Some crappy Drummer having a bad night.
Our V.I.P. of the night making this The Sub - Basement Blues Band.
Mister Franklin.
Who Let These Bums In Here.
D.L.S (Dillon, Lane Syndicate) Rocking it out. I truly love this band. During their set Brian promoted next weekends celebration concert for Joe Filosa's birthday expounding that Joe's wife makes the best "Yeggplant Parmigiana".
That Brian sure has a way with words.
Phil (Drums), Sal (Guitar), Brian (Guitar, Emcee & Vocals), Robert (Guitar), Sylvester (Vocals)
and on this occasion our very own Joe Cacciola on Bass.
I tried but could not get a photo with everyone in it.
(L to R) - Phil, Sal, Joe & Brian.
I'm digging that Asia shirt Sal.
Band Of Others performing Surf Rock and Party standards. Great bunch of fellows too as they helped us load up our gear into Tommy's car which is not the most common practice.
As a side note their Drummer Dan and I are both major fans of the Drummer Hal Blaine amongst others.
The DLS ad campaign.
A photo from March 18, 2010
Taken after a recording session of which we recorded the track "Coney Island Summer" (posted below) for inclusion on a Box Of Crayons "New York" themed CD compilation.
Thanks to D.L.S. and MC Too Tall who was tending bar this evening for inviting us down.
Our night began in classic fashion as Thomas' car got "tapped" from behind while pulling up to drop off two amplifiers but the offender insisted on filing a police report as opposed to simply exchanging insurance numbers, so much for us being the opening act and we were postponed for well over an hour.
D.L.S. went on first in lieu of the legal activities proliferating outside.
Sylvester (Vocals), Brian (Guitar), Sal (Guitar), Rob (Guitar), Andy (Bass), Phil (Drums).
I was listening from outside but whenever a band performs "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (and many do) I always listen to the Guitar solo for the nuances and Rob nailed it.
From London, England. Steve White with Phil on Cajon and Brian Dillon on Guitar.
Joe taken from my viewpoint as we had no photographer.
Sylvester (D.L.S.) was kind enough to post some photos on "Facebook" as it happened. And happened it did, premiered tonight was the Levi Presley hit "Dont Be Cruel".
The New York Mets beat the Dodgers 3-2 during our set and much Ballyhoo ensued but Joe obliged with kind and knowing sarcasm thanking the crowd for all the applause. We were asked for an encore which was the B.B. King/Lucille Bogan standard "Sweet Little Angel".
Tommy Roberto ready to Rock after the automobile mishegash was cleared up.
"BOY !!!"
Looking more and more like Angus Scrimm, the "Tall Man" from the film Phantasm.
The Pocket Monster. Bop Monroe (Guitar and Vox), Brian (Bass), Eugene (Drums).
Eugene has a unique style of double traditional sticking of which I asked him about after their set, he also provided the Drums which was a tiny, short kit with a thin TAYE Bass Drum and it was a slight challenge to perform on but it was fine.
Eugene and I flanked by a photo bombing Bop Monroe.
Its Only Rock & Roll But I Like It.
Sidelines serves HUGE Pint glasses of Blue Moon or Budweiser but I can swear these are 20 ounces if not more.
Post Gig one a.m. Dinner at the Bridgeview Diner.
Joe and Thomas had Eggs Over Easy and Eggs Over Well.
I had the traditional Cheeseburger Deluxe.
We all had Gravy on the side.
My bandmates stole my large Onion Ring, The Bastards.
