Well it seems like the British Invasion will soon come to an end & it will be onto “Summer Sounds”. Not only was it opening night 2007 for D’Jais, it was another Frank & Kip birthday celebration. (Heinz & Sementa – what do they have in common?). This one was not like their birthday bonanzas of days gone by. It was lacking in party spirit.
We were all looking forward to a night out of Holme @ D’Jais. It was me, Kathy, Camille, Susan, Donna & Marian. For once we got there early enough to hit the food buffet provided. Most, if not all of us, had the stuffed shells. They were very good & just what we needed. We stood at my favorite bar. Justin was bartending @ the Donna Conner bar. He explained to me it was his regular Friday night workstation & when Holme started playing on Monday nights we’d find him back @ the DJ booth bar. It was a nice change to have Holme play a weekend night. It would have been even better if they could have started playing @ a 10:00 start time like other bands. Just once wouldn’t we like not to have to rush home to get ready & out the door? I did not attend any more Holme playdates after Valentine’s Day for just that very reason. I had a previous engagement & could not attend their Saturday night debut @ The Columns on May 5th but I did hear Holme broke their own attendance record that night.
Holme’s new play list included a few new Motown songs. Kathy thought it had to do with Bobby Banderia’s Motown Revue @ The Count Bassie Theatre just a few weeks before. I thought it was a step backward for the band. I keep hoping they will do songs from the 90’s to present. There are quite a few bands that can be accessed for Holme compatible material like the Goo-Goo Dolls, Rob Thomas, Cher, Sheryl Crow. Is it laziness or a time warp thing?
Marian had just adopted a male puppy (which she named Lucky) a couple of weeks before so we held a small, surprise doggy shower for her during 1st break. I got her a dog bone corsage to wear, we filled a gift bag & had her hand out “It’s A Boy” lollipops afterwards. Besides toys, Lucky received a beautiful black collar with his name spelled out in rhinestone letters, a ceramic food dish & an ID tag. The lollipops were delicious. Blue colored but bubblegum flavored. Sementa even had one. It prompted him totell us how he was the first one to invent that type of flavor thing – where the color & flavor ofsomething do not match. He told us how when he & Harry were in grammer school he had told Harry about his idea to make soda that looked oneflavor but tasted like another. He told us Harry could confirm this. It was classic Frank Sementa.
D’Jais was cold. At times it was freezing. There was a problem with the air-conditioning system. Frank does not like it cold & I knew he would be up on the bars adjusting the air. They blocked the air vent over Peter Schulle’s keyboard by taping a piece of cardboard over the vent. They used red duct tape & I think a pizza box. A couple of times during the night the cardboard came down & they taped it up again. I found it pretty funny. Later I stole a piece of the duct tape from Peter & used it to tape my necklace to the back of my neck to prevent the clasp from moving to the front. Someone sent balloons to the stage for the birthday boys. The a/c fan blew them around & into the heads of Kip & Harry. Kip set some of them free but there was one that kept bopping into Harry.
Camille, Susan & I left before the band ended. Marian, Kathy & Donna had left with us but when I called Kathy from the car it was obvious by the background noise that she rejoined the party in D’Jais. She informed me Donna & Marian had too.
P.S. Frank did not make the necessary ladies room repairs we spoke about last Fall.
Joel’s new band, The High Voltage Brothers, debuted at Connolly Station on May 14th. It was me, Susan & her daughter Carly, late shows Donna & Marian, Sharon (naturally) & Sharon’s friend, Jean. I was impressed there was a pretty sizeable crowd @ the start of the night. Most patrons were in our age group. It was Mets vs Yankees night @ Shea Stadium. The Mets were beating the pants off the Yankees so the night began well. Joel’s daughter, Alexis, fronted the band. She was her excellent self. Joel did a mix of songs. Songs he did when he was with Holme & newer songs like Blister in the Sun. The 2nd set he did Lola. And it was good. It was not the performance you remember. Joel had been hesitant to do it because he didnot have a back-up guitarist to play while he “performed”. Just hearing Joel do Lola gave me a warm, fuzzy, Holme @ Cryan’s / Jimmy Byrnes feeling. About midway through the night the bar became extremely crowed with just out of college aged kids. Joel & Alexis adjusted the song list the best they could to accommodate them. The band did “Love Train” & the kids really got into it. I was amazed they knew the words! At the end of the night a few of the kids put their glass of beer down on the floor & danced fervently & crazily around it. They had Susan & I laughing hysterically – to the point we were crying. It was a fun night. Catch the High Voltage Brothers if you can & be sure to visit their myspacewebpage.
Lastly, Puggy has notified me he will once again be performing his “Dinner with Diamond – A Tribute” show. This time @ M O Café & Grill in Vorhees, NJ on Monday, July 16th. Tickets are $75 which includes a 5 course meal. Dinner is @ 6:30. The show begins @ 8:00. It’s BYOB. For complete information / reservations call: 856-566-4225 or 856-616-2421.
1 comment:
Hello? Hello? Where the he$$ are you? How about an update? Knock! Knock! Knock!
Post a Comment