Lonely Bones Final Show @ FMMF - by Colin Gawel

Standing behind the counter at Colin's Coffee at 10:50 am on Friday August 18th, it just struck me that the Lonely Bones show tomorrow at Fashion Meets Music Festival is probably going to be our last. I guess we could do something else but I can't imagine why. There is no drama behind the decision. The Bones were created when Watershed went on indefinite hiatus so Joe Oestreich could begin his successful writing career. It's been a good run.

Having played within the Watershed structure since before puberty, I needed to challenge myself and see if I could sink or swim as a solo act. I feel like the Lonely Bones accomplished more than I ever could have hoped for. With the release of Superior - The Best of Colin Gawel in 2016, a compilation of all notable music from this Lonely Bones era, it feels like that chapter is closed and it's time to turn the page.

Thanks to Rick, Dan and Herb for joining me on this journey. And following along into Why Isn't Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? And Ricki C. of course. 

Besides the recorded work we left behind (HUGE thanks to talented Mike Landolt) the band was fortunate enough to play many cool gigs. Some memories off the top of my head, in between serving customers coffee...... 

- Our first gig as The Lonely Bones was playing the Bruce Springsteen weekend at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in June, 2009. They were looking for a semi-credible band to perform and not some cheesy "Bruce in the USA" cover/tribute act. Watershed's name came up and when I got the call I thought is was a prank. Eventually we settled on the Lonely Bones playing instead of Watershed. There is a bootleg of this show kicking around. Ask Ricki C. where to find one if you are interested. Dave Masica was still drumming in the Bones at this point. 

- Early on I vowed to never play a late rock and roll show again. And we didn't. The Lonely Bones NEVER played a local show that started later than 9pm and usually much earlier. Big thanks to Todd at the Rumba Cafe and Paul at Woodland's for buying into this vision for the band. We had many great shows at both clubs.

- We got to perform numerous times at Comfest and the Independent's Day festival, both of which we were honored to a part of. And the first Goodale Park music series now that I think of it.

-Though we didn't travel much, David Bash invited the band to perform at his International Pop Overthrow Festival twice in Chicago and once in Cleveland. Once again, we were flattered to be a part of such a cool event. 

- When the song "Superior" was in heavy rotation on CD1025, then PD Andyman Davis invited us to play a sold out CD101 Day show at the LC in Columbus. It was a thrill to be on that big stage with the new band. Sadly, Andy passed  away soon after, but I'll always cherish the time we spent together that night. 

- Brian Phillips and Wal Ozello deserve major kudos for being the brains behind the videos "Superior" and "Dad Can't Help You Now" (in that order).  Those videos will survive long after we are all gone.

Also big thanks to Will Kenworthy who served as manager, webmaster and social media director for the Lonely Bones.  Without his help I'd still probably be on Myspace. He also co-founded pencilstorm.com along with myself. 

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by so many talented people. 

Also of note was having a front row seat watching Bones bassist Dan Cochran conceive and create the Four String Brewing Company right in front of my eyes. Rick Kinsinger actually helped him design and build his first brewer thingy or whatever those things are called. To walk into a store and see a six-pack of Hilltop Lager staring me in the face makes glad all over. 

What's next? We have been working hard to get the League Bowlers Some Balls Deluxe released this September and Watershed should have something new out in 2018. In the meantime I suspect at my advancing age it's time to downsize. Being in five bands is about three too many. Not sure exactly where this is headed but rough thoughts include:

- Rick K. is done dragging keyboards out to shows

- It will involve Bowling shirts

- We will still keep playing Superior

In closing, there is a bunch of footage floating around youtube but the clip below is my favorite. It's just The Lonely Bones playing on the radio, but boy, we really nailed it. This is how I will remember this band. Nothing fancy, just friends playing some rock n roll. Thanks to all who came out to the gigs and dug the music. - Colin Gawel 

Live from the CD102.5 Big Room, Colin Gawel with "Superior" on April 10, 2010. -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Please watch: "Brian Fallon "Nobody Wins" LIVE in the CD102.5 Big Room" → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvDjAwDt92A -~-~~-~~~-~~-~-

 

 

Saturday Night Video: Elvis, Ann-Margret, and Elvis - by Colin G.

A blast from the past to mark the 40th anniversary of the passing of Elvis Presley. This originally ran Feb 2014 - Colin G.

I recently returned from an extended rock n roll sabbatical in Memphis, TN. Obviously, Elvis has been in the forefront of my mind ever since. If you haven't read "Last Train to Memphis" and "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley" by Peter Guralnick, you need to do that immediately. It's way more than sex, drugs and rock n roll. The Elvis Presley story is the original American Shakespearian tragedy that will break your heart and leave you crying over his grave at Graceland. Please enjoy these clips sponsored by my insomnia and the remaining cans of beer in my fridge. - Colin G.

Below: Elvis giving his all right to the end. Heartwarming and heartbreaking. Thrilling.

Uploaded by Michael Hembree on 2014-08-29.

Below: Elvis singing "If I Can Dream" from the 68 comeback special. The Graceland tour ends with this song as you stand over the graves of Elvis, his Mom, Dad, Grandmother and twin brother. But the song alone should make you weep out of respect by it's sheer beauty and power. It's like listening to the Grand Canyon.

Elvis' classic live performance

I Need Your Help With This Kickstarter Project - by Colin Gawel

Please take one minute to check out the pre-order for the original Watershed side-band, The League Bowlers. I love playing in this band and I'm really proud of this record. However, time is short. One of our members has serious health issues. We need your help to get this CD finished ASAP. But this is no charity case. Any fan of Watershed is going to love this record. And it will be yours this September. 

I would really appreciate you checking out our Kickstarter campaign to learn more about the project. I hope you can help us. Thank you. - Colin 

Click here for League Bowlers Kickstarter Campaign and CD pre-order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concert Review: Night Ranger 7/14/2017 - by Jeremy Porter

Concert Review

Night Ranger - Detroit Riverfront

July 14, 2017   by Jeremy Porter

 

Photos by Jeremy Porter

Photos by Jeremy Porter

I first saw Night Ranger some 30 years ago, in August of 1987, at the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba, Michigan. Concerts were few and far between in the U.P., so we didn’t miss them when they came, even if they weren’t our A-list bands. I was 2 months out of high school, and still reeling from missing Cheap Trick on the same stage a year earlier as a punishment for wrapping my parent’s Monza around an elm tree in downtown Marquette with an open Old Milwaukee in my hand. Great White opened, who I initially liked with their heavy metal debut EP, but quickly tired of as they started butchering the blues as only white dudes with poofed out peroxide hair can do. Brad Gillis, Night Ranger’s guitarist who replaced Randy Rhoads in Ozzy’s band and played on the live “Speak of the Devil” album, handed me his guitar pick after the solo in (You Can Still) Rock In America. They were great. It was a cool night, and sort of a symbolic end to my high school years.  

I loved (and still love) Don’t Tell Me You Love Me and (You Can Still) Rock In America, but, I didn’t hold their biggest hit Sister Christian in the same regard, preferring power ballads by slightly heavier bands like Scorpions, Ozzy and Cinderella. By the time I first saw Night Ranger I was listening to The Clash and Black Flag and driving to Milwaukee to see The Replacements, REM, and Hüsker Dü, but I never abandoned them. They were over-polished, but they had a certain power-pop element with ahead-of-the-beat energy and easy hooks that provided some salvage to the MTV onslaught of Tears for Fears, A-Ha, and other, less engaging drivel. Jack Blades was a cool rock star. I liked the way his bass hung low and sat on his leg, like a short, blonde Nikki Sixx with cleaner hair. And the harmonies, melody and lyrics of When You Close Your Eyes had me the same way some of the better indie songs of the time did, though I knew it wouldn’t make it into those conversations. I liked the line about “a hard night of drinking” which seemed like something other bands wouldn’t touch so blatantly in their radio hits. I wasn’t a fan of the Miami Vice look that they adopted, and I couldn’t put them on at a party with my friends, but It seemed to me like Night Ranger weren’t trying as hard as the other bands to be cool, and that made them even cooler.

[Now that I’ve spent 2 paragraphs justifying my appreciation for Night Ranger…..]  

So it’s 2017 and here I am again, at a Night Ranger concert. No one would go with me - my friends, band-mates and co-workers chuckled, as if I wasn’t even serious about it. My wife probably would have enjoyed it, but she was out of town. I spent the 48 hours before the concert talking myself in and out of going, but 6pm Friday night came and I was in my car with the Detroit skyline and it’s centerpiece - the Renaissance Center - looming in the distance. What the hell was I getting myself into? And really, this is what it’s come to? I am going to Night Ranger concerts by myself now?  Time to re-evaluate?  I stopped into the Checker Bar for a shot of courage and walked into the crowd.

The setting was a thin patch of concrete and stone between the Ren-Cen and the Detroit River in the center of the city. Somehow I managed to quietly and stealthily weasel my way into the “friends of the band” section (I am not a friend of the band and had no business in there) which offered a great vantage point. The 2 openers were local cover bands delivering largely predictable and generic-at-best classic rock staples. The first band’s version of Say What You Will by Fastway had me entertained for a minute, but the Bryan Adams, Billy Idol and multiple Led Zeppelin covers had me still questioning my decision to come. I almost left about every 3rd song, to be honest, but I stuck it out.  

Brad Gillis Rocking in America / Detroit.

Brad Gillis Rocking in America / Detroit.

At 9pm sharp Night Ranger came out with the 1-2 punch of Touch of Madness into Four in the Morning. “I get hiiiiggghhh when I want to” Blades crooned to the revved up Detroit crowd. This was their 35th anniversary tour and he didn’t let us forget it, incorporating the fact into virtually all between-song banter. They did a couple Damn Yankees songs, his band with Tommy Shaw from Styx and the Motor City Madman, thinking that the crowd would be more into hearing Ted Nugent’s name hollered out than they actually were. They also covered Alice Cooper (guitarist Keri Kelli did a stint with Alice) and Ozzy (noting Brad Gillis’ tenure in his band) and the energy level stayed pretty high throughout. Things really picked up towards the end. When You Close Your Eyes isn’t a full-blown rocker, but as I said, I’ve always had a spot for that tune. Don’t Tell Me You Love Me is arguably their finest moment - it pretty much kicks ass and stands up with most stuff from that genre, though I could have done without the transition into Hotel California and Highway Star in the breakdown, and (You Can Still) Rock In America holds it’s own as an anthem despite the easy and obvious patriotic plug. Sister Christian was in there too, giving drummer and second vocalist Kelly Keagy another opportunity to come out from behind the drums (set up stage left, at a right angle rather than center back) and croon to the ladies. Eric Levy even adopted the beard-n-beret look that original keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald had back in the day, rounding out the complete experience.        

The band was tight and energetic, looking fit and running around like dudes half their age, while still hitting the changes right on beat. The harmonies, often 5-ways, were impressive as hell.  The sound was surprisingly good, though I think at one point one of the mains blew, causing some cackling in parts. There was certainly a nostalgia-act aspect to the show, but it was ultimately better than that - the band was on fire, having a blast, and at least putting on like they believed every minute of it. The songs hold up surprisingly well, and even the deep cuts had some teeth. They could have skipped the covers and the Damn Yankees songs, but at the same time most that stuff is a part of this band’s past, so it wasn’t as frivolous as it might appear on the surface. I knew everything they played except the new one, and stayed easily engaged until the end.  

I can sure think of a few worse ways to spend a Friday night in Detroit with the wife out of town. I doubt I’ll head back down to the Riverfront to see .38 Special or Everclear, but I’d go see Night Ranger again. After all, there’s some comfort in knowing that (You Can Still) Rock in America.            

Touch of Madness, Four in the Morning, Sing Me Away, Somehow Someway, Coming of Age (Damn Yankees cover), Sentimental Street, The Secret of My Success, School's Out (Alice Cooper cover), Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne cover), Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight, High Enough (Damn Yankees cover), Goodbye, When You Close Your Eyes, Don't Tell Me You Love Me / Hotel California / Highway Star, Sister Christian, (You Can Still) Rock in America

Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road-blog chronicling their adventures and see his photo series documenting the disgusting bathrooms in the dives they play. He's a whiskey snob, an unapologetic fan of "good" metal, and couldn't really care less about the UofM - OSU rivalry since he once saw The Stones at the Horseshoe. Still, go blue.     
www.thetucos.com
www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic  
@jeremyportermi
www.rockandrollrestrooms.com

一番愛したバンドの一番好きな曲なのに、このパフォーマンスがyou tubeにUPされてないようなので、UPします。エンディングのアレンジ素晴らしい！