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Apples in Stereo The
Holmes Brothers |
The Four Seasons Boys / The Gris Gris
Turns out he was just up there for one song and then these two other guys get on and are playing traditional Irish tunes. At one point the singer asks for requests from the five of us in the bar and then proceeds to not know any of the songs the suited guy is asking for. He then goes halfway through a song only to forget it. I was starting to get bored and was trying to finish my beer. He asks if I would like to hear anything but I say I don’t know any old traditional songs. “Something more recent then,” he says. Well, recent is debatable but he did play “City of New Orleans” which pleased me. Afterwards I was walking out and gave a shout out to Steve Goodman just so the guy knew I wasn’t a total idiot. Halfway up Polish Hill I’m riding past Sarney’s and see Bob Smith sitting inside. So I head in and have a brew. I don’t exactly convince him on the Gooski’s show so I finish by beer and head up the hill. I’m going to go on record and say this night might have had the most bikes parked outside that I’d ever seen at Gooski’s. Bikes on both sides of trees, on signs, garbage can, you name it. So I park across the street. I order and Iron and Marcus says they no longer have 16oz bottles. Damn! I forgot that apparently Pittsburgh Brewing got their bottles from that glass factory in Glenshaw that suffered extensive damage from the Hurricane Ivan flood in ’04. The plant went into bankruptcy and the brewery recently ran out of their stash. Turns out they also owe Glenshaw a few bucks as Pittsburgh Brewing is in bankruptcy itself. Whatever the deal is it’s an end of an era. No more Ahrn City pahnders! The Gris Gris was just taking the stage and I was a little surprised at how large the crowd was on this Wednesday night. I stood towards the back and chilled for a couple of songs. Later I moved right up front and was really getting into it. I think somewhere I read this band described as acid folk. They played one rambling psychedelic tune that dragged on for like 15 minutes but they kept bringing it back together before breaking it up again and they somehow kept the crowd along for the ride. I was standing right in front of the drummer and he was putting on a good show. As soon as this is over I sneak my beer out and head over to Bob Smith’s. On my way out I see the blond dude from Gil Mantera’s Party Dream and geekily as if I can grab a picture with him. At Bob’s we have a beer and he’s showing me his Guitar Zack pictures then decides to come up so we grab a few Buds and walk him in past the $5 cover. The Four Seasons Boys already are playing so we head straight towards the back and crack open the beers that were down our pants. We get right up front thanks in part to Sam Pace who I pretend to have a conversation with so it doesn’t appear I’m just trying to weasel up front. This band is basically Grand Buffet and The Modey Lemon doing straight-up original rock and roll or rap or whatever you want to call it. It was pretty awesome. Bob seemed a little hesitant at first but it’s hard not to succumb to Grape-A-Don’s charms when you are standing right below him. The drummer from Modey Lemon was on fire. About three times throughout the show the lights went out and people would shoot off their flashes to illuminate the stage. I don’t know when you’ll be able to see The Four Seasons Boys again (good name btw, right up there with The Yuppie Pricks) but it’s definitely a don’t-miss show. |
