FOOLCiRCLE

On Friday the 13th was Don “Big D” McCloskey’s CD Release “Party” Show at Johnny Brenda’s in Philly. As far as I know it is his first time playing there, to a sold out crowd no less, plus he had his new band in tow with him. To say it was a blast for all is an understatement.

The new disc “Northern Liberties” came out about a month ago on Big D’s own Lemon Hill Records. One of the songs “This Just In” was also featured on WMMR’s Local Shots Volume 3 disc. I think because of the LSV3 CD Big D was getting some air play on MMR, especially during Jaxon’s show. It’s nice to see a local favorite take it to the next level; radio play and interviews, going from solo act to full band sound, playing new and larger venues, and dropping a new disc all within a month or two span – Big D’s prayers from “Open the Door” may have just begun to be answered.

The show itself was a blast! I went up with Karen, Todd, Jody & Heather and met up with Mikey, Wooly & Mitchell and later Big Steve “The Hammer”. Unfortunetly, the show sold out before Mitchell could get a ticket, bummer. We all basically hung out together for the night which was fun. The opening act Nervous Cabaret was LOUD. That is pretty much the best way to describe them. They are a 7 piece out of NY with only 3 member there that night. I seriously thought my ear drums were damaged. I did start to get into them at the end, but all in all – not so much.

By the time Big D came out (11:00ish) Todd was recked, and he knew it. He was trying to roll with it and have fun, but it eventually caught up with him. The band took the stage burning hot – a lead guitar/banjo player whose sound was good and full, a mellow bass player, an almost non-existent keyboard player, and a very charismatic drummer, plus Big D tore the place up. Johnny Brenda’s has a capacity of 250 and I think they were pushing 325+. Initially they played a lot of stuff off the new album (not surprising), then threw in some off the old album (Bombs Over Bristol) but more rocky/funk-style then the album versions. Big D then let the band take a break and he played maybe 4 songs acoustic style. When the band came back it was time for the long 14-different-encores-kick-you-in-the-shins-wrap-up. Several highlights from the show, but one good one was during “Up In This”, Big D pulled an Eddie Vedder from the Even Flow video and climbed up onto the front of the balcony to perform with his mega-phone. After he was done with the verse how else are you going to get back to the stage besides drop into the audience and crowd-surf? It was very enjoyable to say the least. Todd was walked out to the car at about 12:00AM to pass-out, and Big D went off about 1:30AM so we all could go home and pass-out.

You can watch a video of Big D’s “Up In This” from Johnny Brenda’s on YouTube here:

You can pick up the new album at some of the usual places: CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon – check it out!

This entry was posted on Monday, April 16th, 2007 at 12:06 am and is filed under Side Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.