............ Hey guys here is a review I did for
www.livemusicnewsandreview.com about the first Jam Stampede tour. Thought I'd share it in my blog, hope you enjoy :)
Hey Everyone,
....
I thought I’d share some of my experiences with Live Music
News and Review on the first Jam Stampede run. First of all, I am overwhelmed
with the enthusiastic, friendly response we got from everyone we played for.
With over 80 tunes in our arsenal we played completely different setlists every
night and had a ball doing it. Letting inspiration be our guide, some nights by
the 4th or 5th song of the set we would find ourselves
somewhere totally unplanned, merging into tunes we hadn’t even discussed doing
that night, if at all. Secondly, what an honor it is to play with such seasoned
pros. Klpyh and Tom have been playing/touring since before I was born, so as
you can imagine, there is always a lot to learn. Dave is undoubtedly the
best drummer that I have played with in quite some time and a hell of a nice
guy. Also Freeman and I have been bumping into each other in NEPA for quite
some time and I am so happy that I finally get to be in a band with him.
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Here is some of my most memorable happenings:
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We were greeted with much enthusiasm at our first gig 8/1
(Jerry’s B-Day) at the River St. Jazz café in Wilkes-Barre. This has been my
home base now for years and I think it’s definitely going to a regular stop for
us. The most memorable moment of the night for me was somewhere during
Sampson>Scarlet>Fire>Shakedown, looking up and noticing that there was
not one person in the room that was not smiling, including myself and the rest
of the band, and thinking to myself “damn, there is no place I’d rather be.”
....
BB King’s was an absolute trip in itself. I got there a
little late (NYC traffic, need I say more?) and after loading my gear and
heading downstairs, I noticed a very suspicious smell, as if something were
burning. Five minutes later the fire alarms were going off, firefighters were
running around, and the whole club reeked of smoke. Just as I headed backstage
wondering if I should get the hell out of there, the management opened an
elevator shaft and smoke started pouring out. The funniest thing is that no one
even seemed phased by it that worked there; people were still walking about
doing their jobs. Needless to say within a few minutes the firefighters had it
under control and all was cool. Hey, its New York right? The rest of the night
went great. With the band still shedding some of it’s new skin, by the encore I
think we were ready to play another set. Here is a little Sugaree for ya’ll:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgpoNI0-Fl8
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The rest of the trip was tons of fun. You always know you
are with good people when you get done and you don’t want to go home or stop
playing. Then you are home and realize that not one time was there even an
augment, and come to think of it, all you did was laugh.
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See you all at the Mountain Music Meltdown in Saranac Lake
on Aug 29!
....
-Mike Miz 