Oodles of Bodle's

Tuesday night the SCB was in historic Chester, NY at Bodle's (pronounced Boodle's) Opera House. We had a fun show, but the highlight of the night was definitely our opening band, A Fragile Tomorrow. These guys are a family band (with the exception of the bass player, sound familiar?) that writes and plays their own excellent pop tunes.

It was cool to see them play (and they let us use a bunch of their gear) but it was cooler to hang out with them after the show (except for the drummer, who had to run off to attend to his many female fans or friends). They're young guys, but quite intelligent and funny. Their family is extremely supportive, Dad even roadies for them. They should have a great future ahead.

Wednesday we had a bit of free time, so we hung around Chester for a while. We checked out a gift shop, ate at a great little diner, and got ice cream before splitting town.

Next stop was Philly, where it was great to see our friend Stu who had driven in from DC. After the show we drove a couple of hours to Potomac to stay, where we are now eagerly anticipating our show in Arlington, VA tonight.

Tommy

Tom was my best friend in grade school, back in Crown Point, Indiana. The summer after 5th grade, my family moved to Indianapolis, 2 hours away(!). Tom and I saw each other once about 2 years later, then never again for 24 years.


Possibly my first experience onstage was in grade school, when Tom convinced school authorities to let us get up at lunch time and perform doo-wop songs for our classmates. It was a typical school gymnasium/cafeteria with an inset stage, and we'd eat our lunches as fast as we could (he'd brown-bag, I'd buy) and hop up to do a few numbers by Dion and the Belmonts or Frankie Avalon.


Recently, Tom and I made contact via the internet, and I learned that he lives in Manhattan, just a couple of blocks from BB King's, and that he's a Cowsills fan. Obviously we made arrangements to meet in NYC and for Tom to come to the show. We emailed a few times and set it up.


Tom made it to the club a couple of hours before showtime and we were able to spend some time catching up and reminiscing before he headed out to pick up his girlfriend Kathryn. They came back and enjoyed the show, then we spent some time hanging around backstage and playing some more catch-up.


I have very limited memories of grade school, but Tom reminded me of some stories and filled in some gaps in my memory. It's funny, he's pretty much an adult extrapolation of the kid I remember- intelligent, funny, well-read and well-listened. It was great to meet again and catch up after so many years. We promised to keep in touch, which should be easier now that we're adults and have 20th century communication technology at our disposal.
Tom, it was great to see you, and I wish you and Kathryn all the best.

BB's House

I'm in Brooklyn with the Susan Cowsill folks, staying with friends. The Cowsills gang (Bob, Paul and Ryan) are on their way home and now begins the SCB (Susan Cowsill Band) leg of the tour.

Sunday we drove from Boston to Long Island for our SCB house concert. We were engaged in a brief power struggle with our GPS unit and encountered a pretty serious storm, so our drive took many hours. When we arrived on Long Island, our triumphant outdoor show was clearly a wash, so we set up quickly for an indoor acoustic show. We played a bunch of Susan's song, a little Tad and Aaron set, then some local guys played some classic rock with the crowd singing along. Overall, the acoustic show turned out to be a nice thing, loose and fun all the way around.

Monday we got up EARLY (for a bunch of musicians) and drove to the city. Susan had a couple of radio shows to do with Bob & Paul, so we needed to be there in the morning. Russ, Aaron and I spent the day sound-checking and wandering around Times Square, and I finally had some pizza that lived up to the NYC hype. John's pizzeria ("no slices") was delicious, and we stuffed ourselves.

The show at BB King's was a blast, and the crew there was outstanding in every way. The sound was excellent, the staff took great care of us, the crowd was fantastic, and the Cowsills put on a great show. I can't wait to head back to BB King's again.

More later...

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I finally got a good night's sleep in a glorious big bed. We had a great day in Boston, starting with lunch at the Cheers bar with Barry from Oldies 103. Sarah and I planned ..ping at Cheers on our last Boston visit, but we missed it, so it was good to finally see the place- and the food was surprisingly good for such a tourist spot.

We headed to the Hatch Shell for soundcheck and hung around most of the day. The Hatch Shell sits right on the Charles River in a beautiful park and the weather was perfect for an outdoor show. There was a big crowd, everyone seemed to have a good time, and our set flew by in no time.

We stayed around and watched the Rascals, who put on a fantastic show, and I had a chance to meet Peter Tork from the Monkees, who stopped by after the Sox game.

The Red Sox lost to the Yankees today, but we didn't let it keep us from wearing our Sox colors, and it didn't seem to dampen the crowd's spirits. A great day all around, and now I'm back in the big beautiful bed.

Bob and Paul are singing the National Anthem at Fenway Park tomorrow, while the Susan Cowsill Band crew heads to Long Island for a house concert. We'll meet back up in Manhattan on Monday. Good night.

Electric Pineapple

We're staying at the Pineapple Inn in Newport. Aside from the free HBO, the best thing I can say about this No Country For Old Men-style motor lodge is that it's about 100 yards from the very spot where Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival.

After finding my room and dropping off my bags, I decided I was up for the Cowsill family tour. First we headed to Flo's, a funky little seafood joint I'd visited two years ago on a Susan Cowsill tour. The weather was beautiful that day, and we played on the beach and gorged ourselves on clams and oysters. Not so this time, as it rained relentlessly from the moment I arrived. Still the food was as delicious as ever.

Paul led the tour, driving the van and showing us homes where the Cowsills lived, venues they played, locations of photo and video shoots, and various historic sites around town. I'd seen much of it on my last visit, but even on a rainy day Newport's charm shone through and I stayed awake for the duration of the tour.

We had a 4pm soundcheck, but the soundman was over an hour late, so I pulled three chairs together and caught a quick nap. When he finally showed, we whipped out our fastest soundcheck ever and headed back to the Pineapple for an honest-to-goodness nap. I was not the only one who needed one, as everyone's flights had been delayed and some got in in the wee hours of the morning.

The show itself, not surprisingly, was like Old Home Week in Newport, packed full of old Cowsills fans and friends. Our opening band, the Bloody Knuckles, delivered an energetic set, surprisingly tight considering the oldest band member was 16. We managed to work through some rough spots, inherent when you play together infrequently and don't rehearse. The crowd was great, dancing and singing along, and I managed to stay upright for the entire set.

There was a lot of visiting after the show, but eventually we made it back to the Pineapple and I was able to get some real sleep. Today we head to Boston, and there's no show tonight, so hopefully I can catch up on more rest later. Unless there's a Cowsill family tour of Boston.

Inauspicious beginning

I was aware that other flights had been delayed, but I admit I was fairly naive about my own chances of getting to my destination on time. I was flying from Indy to Providence (through D.C.) for the first of several Cowsills/Susan Cowsill Band shows, and weather along the east coast had caused several flights to be delayed or cancelled- but not mine, right?

Wrong. My flight from Indy to D.C. was delayed. About an hour past departure time, four of us going to Providence were quickly gathered and rushed onto a plane heading to Charlotte, NC- the idea being we'd get a connection to Providence there. Only the flight from Charlotte to Providence was cancelled. Fine, I thought, I'll catch the first flight in the morning- but all flights to anywhere near Providence were already sold out (oversold) for the next day. As were all hotel rooms near the airport, and every rental car in Charlotte. And Amtrak.

I kept trying to brainstorm ways to get my body to the show the following evening, eventually napping for a couple of hours on a bench outside the airport. Finally I got the call that the Cowsills' travel agent had managed to book me a 6am flight to Providence, with a connection in Philly, at considerable cost to the Cowsills organization.

Around 5am I checked in for my flight and found my gate. Delays from here were too numerous to mention. I was selected as the guy to search at the security checkpoint, we were delayed twice while maintenance crews repaired various parts of the plane or jetway, we had to taxi to a different gate- it seemed neverending. Eventually, I did make it to Providence a little past 11am, just 28 hours past my original flight time. I was exhausted and a little hungry, but glad to have made it and looking forward to rocking Newport.