#susan is not just a bass that is his wife. ok

[quicksilverdaisyday]

tom is so objectum if im being honest

[afterglow-tommylee]

Chapter 17. And The Audience Departed As I Gave Her Heart Away

Club Venus, Hollywood California April 19 2002

"Alright let's turn this party up!" Tommy calls out from behind the DJ booth and everybody cheers with him and he continues to spin the decks while the pumping drum and bass music fills the entire club. 

"Congratulations girl," Lizzy says in my ear as she embraces me in a hug. 

"Thank you, I'm so fucking happy you made it," I say loudly over the music.

"You know I wouldn't miss a party celebrating you being engaged to Tommy fuckin' Lee!" She says in astonishment when she pulls away from me. 

"Trust me I still can't believe it myself!" I say. 

It was still early in the night and everyone was having a good time. Tommy playing an impromptu set - he just couldn't help himself - and so many of his friends and people that we both know one way or another are here as well.  The club was filled and it was amazing. 

"Andi!" I hear a voice call me and I turn and see Susan Holmes, Duff Mckagens wife, her beautiful tall blonde self approaching me. 

"Oh my god hi!" I smile excitedly and she embraces me in a hug. 

"Congrats girlie, I'm so happy for you," She says in my ear over the music. 

"Thank you. Is Duff here too?" I ask once she pulls away from me. 

"Yea, he's over by the bar mingling, y'know," She says and suddenly Sebastian Bach - who I haven't seen in years - comes up to me to congratulate me.

"Holy shit!" I exclaim when I see his tall frame standing in front of me.

"Someone told me that little Andi O'Riden is getting married to Tommy Lee, now how in the fuck did that happen?" He says in that familiar exaggerated surfer voice he does. 

"Baz!" I say excitedly and he leans down to me embracing me in a hug. 

I can't believe he is standing in front of me. The last time we saw each other was when Soundgarden was opening for Skid Row back in '92, and before then, I hadn't seen him since he moved away from our hometown of Toronto Ontario, when we were just kids - well ok I was 16 and he was 18 but still kids. We had grown up together living just right around the corner from each other and went to the same school though he was 2 years my senior. He always stood up for me when all the kids would pick on me, and I guess he did have a crush on me, at least he only admitted it to me years ago when I was still with Chris. He was always the closest thing to home that I could actually get and I wish we hadn't let time get away from us. 

"Hey sweetie, congratulations," He says and we hold each other for a few more moments. 

"Thank you," I say as he continues to hold me.

"I missed you kiddo," He says.

"I've missed you too," I say, my voice breaking. We eventually pull away from each other and I introduce Lizzy to Baz, explaining our history as quickly as I could - the shortened version anyways - they smile and shake hands.

"What's up everyone?!" Tommy says through the microphone and everyone cheers.

"I uh, just wanna thank all of you, for comin' out, Andi and I really appreciate it and uh, by the way where is that gorgeous fiance of mine?" He says in that husky voice of his, all flirtatious and sweet as he looks out at the crowd from the DJ booth. 

"She's right here!" Susan yells and gestures to me and I could feel the blood rushing straight to my cheeks. 

"Baby, c'mon get up here with me," Tommy says into the mic with that charming smile of his. I timidly walk up to the small side stage to the booth that Tommy was standing behind and everyone starts yelling and shouting random cheers. 

"Look how fuckin' gorgeous she is, I mean, hello," Tommy says and there are more cheers from everyone and I could feel my cheeks flush even more, as I shyly approach him. 

"I honestly just wanted you up here to show you off to everyone," He chuckles with that huge charming smile.

"Oh my god, stop," I giggle as the mic barely picks up my voice and he takes my hand. 

"No way baby," He says as some laughter emerges from the crowd. 

"But really... I just wanted to thank you guys," He says turning to the crowd and then back to me "... and I just wanted to say how much I love you and everything about you, and how fuckin' happy you make me... and I just can't fuckin' wait to make you my wife," 

As some 'awes' emerge from the crowd, he raises my hand to his lips and places a few quick kisses to the back of my hand looking deep into my eyes and all I could feel was my heart fluttering, trying to fly out of my chest. Without even thinking and completely forgetting that I'm in front of all our friends, I place my palms on either side of his face and he leans down pressing his lips to mine. 

"Aero! where are you!?" Tommy says into the mic when he parts his lips from me and still holds me to him and I place my hand on his bare chest through his open white shirt. Then DJ Aero climbs up to the small stage, jumps behind the decks taking the mic from Tommy and starts spinning as the pumping drum and bass music fills the club again.

"So this is your engagement party huh?!" A voice calls out and Tommy looks out over the crowd and sees Nikki Sixx, standing by the stage steps near me, his hair so black, spikey and just everywhere. 

He startled me with just how much of a presence he is, his tall frame wearing a plain black t-shirt underneath his black leather jacket and black ripped jeans. I had never met him before and I suddenly felt extremely nervous. 

Where's a drink when you need one? 

"Holy shit! No way fucker!" Tommy smiles, letting go of me and immediately moving towards Nikki and grabbing him in a brotherly embrace.  

"C'mon you think I'd miss this?" Nikki laughs as they pull away from each other. 

"Well fuck man, I... I mean, fuck it's good to see you bro," Tommy says happily. Then after a couple of moments Tommy remembers me.

"Oh fuck, sorry babe... um, this is Nikki - "Tommy says excitedly when he turns back to me,  then says "Nikki, this is Andi," placing his arm around me and pressing his lips to my temple. 

"Hi," I say sweetly and shyly with a giggle, which at first completely felt like I was one of those girls that have that small baby voice, all innocent and flirty sounding but I am positive I'm just overthinking it. 

"Hi," Nikki says with a chuckle and a sweet smile.

Yea I definitely sounded like one of those girls.

Tommy and Nikki then start to catch up with each other, since they hadn't seen each other in months, and I couldn't help but just listen and watch them as it seemed like no time had passed between them. Nikki asked a few questions about me and I answered, trying my best to be confident but I'm so shy, especially when meeting Nikki Sixx.

"... yea, so I've just been working on the record, spending time with my boys when I get the chance, and uh yea that's pretty much it," Tommy says.

"Well and obviously getting engaged and shit," Nikki chuckles as he glances at me.

"Yea that too," Tommy smiles.

I then see Lizzy out of the corner of my eye, walk up to stand beside me holding out a drink for me to take.

"Oh my god, I love you," I say as I take it from her and Tommy and Nikki laugh.

"I thought you might like that," She says with a giggle.

"Oh um, Lizzy, this is Nikki," I say when I finish my sip and then say "Nikki, this is my best friend Lizzy"

"Hi," She says sweetly and it was like Nikki suddenly couldn't see anyone else but her. 

"Hi," He smiles at her subtly but not so subtly, studies her for a few before Tommy interjects saying something about needing to go and get a drink and have a smoke, then Lizzy apologizes that she didn't bring him one as well but she only has two hands and the other drink was hers and Tommy just laughed. She then glances back at Nikki smiling that sweet smile she has and pushing a few of her red waves behind her ear. 

Tommy then places a quick kiss to that spot under my earlobe, his hand on my hip moving to the small of my back feeling his warm hands on my bare skin, then moving to my ass and I giggle as he gives it a gentle squeeze, then turns to Nikki asking him to join him and he does but not before Nikki steals a few glances at Lizzy as they head off to the side entrance doorway disappearing in the crowd.

"Holy shit I just met Nikki," Lizzy says excitedly.

"Uh huh, and I think he's got his eye on you already," I say and take a sip.

"Me? No... pfft," She says dismissively, taking a sip of her drink.

"Andi! Andi!" I hear someone calling my name and I turn and see Tommy's business partner and partial owner of the club walking towards me with the cordless phone in his hand "You're wanted on the phone!" He says over the loud music once he approaches me.

"Me?!" I ask, confused.

"Yea, they say they were trying to call you on your cell but you weren't answering," He says leaning into my ear so that I could hear, and I realize I had left my cell phone with my wallet in the back dressing room of the club. He holds out the cordless phone to me and I take it, quickly telling Lizzy that I'll be back, asking if she could hold my drink and she nods taking it from me, then I make my way to a quieter spot in the club just by the back dressing rooms.

"Hello?" I answer, holding the phone up to my one ear and plugging the other so that I can hear.

"Andi, jeezus, I've been trying to call you,"

It was Susan Silver, my former partner in our management company that she started a long time ago back in Seattle. 

"Hey hi... what's going on?" I ask in a sweet tone.

"Andi, Jerry asked me to call you cause he couldn't bring himself to do it - "

"What? Why?" I ask, becoming concerned.

"It's Layne Andi... you gotta come home,"

"Home? Wait, what happened?"

"Layne's gone... he was found this morning in his condo... he's gone..." 

"What?" I ask quietly, my brow furrowing.

"He's gone Andi... you gotta come back home,"

With those words ringing in my ears, the entire club completely went silent and all I could hear was the tremendous loud ringing in my ears. It was like I couldn't even see straight and as minutes pass that feel more like hours, I see Tommy walking up to me.

"Baby, what are you doing back here?" I hear Tommy say to me as he appears and I still couldn't feel anything.

"I gotta go home," I say as my bottom lip begins to quiver, and Tommy's expression changes to worry as I fight back the urge to cry.

"Baby what happened?" He asks, placing his palms on either side of my face, forcing me to look at him, but I couldn't speak. He then takes the phone from me and holds it up to his ear to speak.

"Hello? Who is this?" He asks sternly at first and then once Susan explains the situation he looks at me and I start to really cry. 

"Ok uh, ok... ok... ok I'll tell her... thank you..." Tommy says into the phone and then tosses it onto the leather bench beside the dressing room door. He then takes my face in his palms again and looks directly into my tear filled eyes.

"We're going to Seattle ok baby? I'll book the jet and we'll head out tonight," He says and all I wanted to do was just crumble. Everything was numb. I couldn't see, hear or feel anything. He then wraps his arms around me and I lost it. I just started bawling into his chest and I couldn't control it. 

The only thing I remember is Tommy taking out his cell phone from his back pocket and making a call.

"Hey... yea dude, it's me... we need the jet tonight... Seattle... awesome, thanks man," He says and slides his phone back in his pocket.

"Oh my god no, I can't... I can't" I sniff lifting my head up from his chest.

"What baby, what do you mean?" Tommy asks.

"I can't leave, this is our engagement party... we can't just go," I say.

"Yes we can, don't even worry about everyone else... I'll call Leo and he'll take us back home, we'll grab some shit and head to the airport,"

"Are you sure?" I look up at him

"Yes," He says, looking into my eyes.

"He's... he's gone," and I start to cry once more as Tommy pulls me into his arms.

[cecilspeaks]

172 - Return of the Obelisk

“Nothing lasts forever” is a phrase with two meanings, and they’re both true. Welcome to Night Vale.

All of Night Vale is aglow. There is music in the air. You know what that means, listeners: the Obelisk has returned. It’s been nearly 8 years since the Obelisk last appeared, but it’s right back where it always shows up, in Mission Grove Park over on the east side, right next to the Wailing Pit. But a little bit south of the Memorial Debris Heap. The Obelisk returns every 5 to 10 years, sometimes as long as 50, and it brings with it joy, anticipation, and a deep fear. A terror so deep in the gut that it feels like you’ve eaten too much ice cream, but in all reality, your body is simply bracing itself for death. The Obelisk has always behaved benevolently, but so hast he sun, and we don’t trust that thing fully either, so I dunno. Past performance is not an indicator of future results. Unlike the sun, the Obelisk radiates a soft blue light, but like the sun, the Obelisk makes a lot of noise. In particular, music. The obelisk sounds like a Bach concerto played like a French horn and a theramine from inside a refrigerator. Everyone in town is gathering at Mission Grove Park to see the Obelisk in person, to pay homage to this rare visit, and to confront their fears head on. Hopefully everything works out fine, because there are some cool events I want to get to this weekend, and it would be terrible to have to cancel them over a rogue obelisk.

Let’s take a look at the community calendar, shall we? This Friday night is opening night of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-winning musical “Sunset Boulevard” at the Night Vale Community Theatre. I’m very excited to finally see this show, it’s supposed to be a really lavish production, too. And it’s based on one my all time favorite Billy Wilder films about an aging silent movie star who finds an amulet that lets her travel in time, but whenever she moves through time, she enters someone else’s body and can’t leave until she saves her life. This staging of “Sunset Boulevard” is directed and produced by… oh my god, Susan Willman?? Really? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrhooonestly, this has been a pretty long week and Iiii might need to just rest at home on Friday. I mean I’m not trying to be rude here, but Susan Willman is the worst! Did you know she once judged the chili cook-off, and I came in third? Third! Behind Joel Eisenberg, which is fine, Joel’s an OK cook, but also behind who else? Susan Willman! You can’t be a judge and win first place. I’m also pretty sure Susan used a prepackaged spice mix in that chili. [laughs oddly] I don’t have that verified through a secondary source, but I can confirm, it was oversalted, again. I’m not saying, I’m just saying. Anyway, go see “Sunset Boulevard” on Friday if you want to watch uninspired actors and muddled blocking.

Saturday afternoon is the PTA bake sale fundraiser to send our Academic Decathlon team to a tournament in our state’s capital. The PTA secretary… [sighs] Susan WiIlman, says this money will go toward hotel and bus travel for our brilliant and talented Ac-Dec squad. “Academic Decathlon is about intelligence and perseverance,” says Willman in this overwrought press release. “Ac-Dec is about freedom and fastidiousness. It is a celebration of hard work, and we want Night Vale to show the rest of the state that blah blah blah blah blah,” God she just runs on! I mean yes, Ac-Dec is very cool and I wish our kids well. But chill with the grandstanding! Anyway, go buy a cake to support those amazing students, even though I’m sure Susan will still manage to mess up a box mix.

Sunday is Youth Reprogramming Day at the Night Vale Museum of Forbidden Technologies. Does your child love learning about new gadgets and advancements in technology? Well, come on down to the Museum of Forbidden Technologies on Sunday for a day-long reprogramming event. Docents and curators will engage those curious kids through hands-on unlearning. They’ll take their patented mindwipe beam and point it right at each child’s forehead until all interest in forbidden technology has been removed. Kids love the mindwipe beam, because it smells like grapes, and they don’t feel any pain for weeks after. Youth Reprogramming Day is a family friendly day of discovering that you know too much, and knowledge is treason.

Today’s appearance by the Obelisk is the 19th in recorded history. Little is known about what the Obelisk is, who controls it, or what it wants. Most scientists and historians agree that it was created by subterranean gods millennia ago, and they think its purpose is a type of census for life at ground level. The Obelisk is about 25 feet tall, it is oily and soft like a fresh brick of parmesan cheese, and when it appears, everyone in town carves their name into one of its four sides. We do not know why or when this practice began, it’s simply how it’s always been done. And to question tradition is to admit weakness. When the Obelisk eventually disappears, perhaps today, perhaps several days from now, it will take our names with it. And when it returns, those names will be gone and we will begin the tradition anew. No one knows what happens to those names. Are they simply erased, or are they read and recorded? Is this data mining for some ancient technology startup, or does the Obelisk truly belong to the gods? We only know what happens to one of the names carved on the Obelisk, and for that person, we feel both envy and pity. For while the Obelisk has always behaved benevolently, past performance et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Let’s have a look now at traffic. Route 800 is shut down until 4 PM today, as it has turned into a river. No cars are on Route 800, it’s just water. Rough and choppy, spiking white rapid caps atop nearly black rushing death. Highway officials are investigating the sudden appearance of this river, perfectly overlaying our main thoroughfare in and out of town. Beneath the quickly moving rush of the river, a single fish, probably a bass of some sort. Highway officials are uncertain because they don’t think about fish. Why would they? Highway officials are annoyed that you think so little of their awareness of fish species. They can tell a salmon from a marlin from a mackerel. “See what you made us do?” one highway official said. “We could have been repairing route 800, but you started picking on us for not knowing if that’s a bass or a mackerel or a whatnot. In fact,” the official continued, “we just looked it up on Wikipedia and it’s a bass. And fun fact,” they added, “did you know that bass can grow up to 25 pounds, have four rows of human teeth, and speak Spanish at a first grade level?” The river is now branching out down sides of streets and into neighborhoods. Pavement everywhere is a network of fresh water capillaries through town. Expect delays of up to 10 or 20 minutes, as you try to get to Mission Grove Park. This has been traffic.

The whole town feels like a carnival now with the flashing lights of the Obelisk and it’s crescendo of lively music filling the cool twilight air. We dance, we sing, we revel in togetherness and share our  fears of what will happen next. What will the question be? And more importantly, what will be its answer? When every name has been placed upon the Obelisk, then the blue glow of the towering monolith will die away. The entire structure will turn black. All except one name. One name will remain lit on the Obelisk, and that person shall be sent forth to ask their question. They may ask any question they choose and the Obelisk will tell them and only them the answer. No one else will hear this communication. If the receiver wishes to share what they now know, they are allowed to do so.

Many years back, this ritual was more organized. Early Night Vale townships planned a democratic approach to this opportunity: a committee of the Obelisk was formed to decide on the single most important question to ask. This approach came about in response to the super blunder of 1932, when a 6-year-old boy named Bartholomew Thomason was chosen to deliver the question. He  asked the Obelisk if he was, quote, “gonna have corn for dinner”. The obelisk apparently said no, because little Bart started crying and the Obelisk quickly disappeared, not to return for almost 10 years. By that time, the committee of the Obelisk was established and they chose the question: “how do you cure cancer?” Ah, this is a good and noble question. But the citizen chosen by the Obelisk was a farmer named Barry McKenney, who tried his best to take careful notes, but a lot of the detailed medical jargon was just too complex for him. The committee tried this question again 6 years later, but the Obelisk refused to respond to any question it had already answered. So Sidney Laynord of Old Time Night Vale, not having a backup question from the committee, asked if his wife Jessica was cheating on him with Gerald Framingham, and the Obelisk said no, but it only said that because Gerald’s actual last name was Framington, so Sidney just messed up.

Over the decades, the committee of the Obelisk asked: “Is God real”? And the Obelisk said yes, but nothing more. After that, they tried to ask questions that would elicit more detailed response. Um, one year they asked: “who planned the assassination of JFK?” and were disappointed to learn that it was a CIA - Fidel Castro – Frank Sinatra triumvirate that conspired to murder our 35th president. This was the most boring answer, but at least it verified what everyone already knew.

By the 1990’s, though, the committee of the Obelisk had kind of fallen out of fashion after years of corporate funding and corruption. See, this controversy exploded in 1997, when the question put forth by the committee, which at the time was headed by the CEO of Pepsico, was: “what’s the best tasting carbonated soft drink on the market today?” The Obelisk’s answer, to the chairman’s great disappointment, was Surge. Today, whoever is called on by the Obelisk is given free reign to ask whatever they choose. However many news outlets regularly publish lists of recommended question, but there is always the risk that someone will ask something frivolous like “what’s Jason Mraz up to these days?” or “where is the body of my missing fahter?” Please, God please, just don’t call on Susan Willman. She will blow it.

And now a word from our sponsors. Are you tired of wrinkled shirts? Do your clothes get static cling? [increasingly angry tone] How many times do you show up to work with your shirt all rumpled and not smelling like seafoam mist? You’re not going to get a promotion looking like that, and while no one deserves anything, you certainly should appear to earn that promotion. You need crisp, clean, non-ionised clothing that smells like seafoam mist. Don’t you wanna smell like seafoam mist?! Try Tide pods. With our special formula of citrus extract, kelp and milk fat, Tide pods can be the all natural solution to all of your laundry problems. You deserve Tide pods, because you deserve that promotion over Michaela, who’s only like 22 years old. What has she ever done to deserve a promotion? What’s Michaela’s deal even? Tide pods. Remember when we seemed like a big problem?

Oooooooo listeners, the Obelisk has gone dark. The music has ceased. The whole town encircles the tower waiting for its declaration for who shall ask the question. In the quiet night, under few start peeking thru the purple sky, we can hear only the sounds of crickets. The Obelisk, so black as to appear cut out from reality, suddenly shines a small blue line. It is a name, it is on the south face and is it… Oh no! No no no, listeners, I don’t know if I can stop this but I will try. Uuuh, let’s go now to the weather.

[“Pros and Cons” by Sugar & the Mint https://www.sugarandthemint.com/]

Welllll it’s too late. She’s asked her question. I’m not sure how I could have stopped this disaster, even if I made it over there before she could ask it. OK, as you know by now, the Obelisk lit up with Susan Willman’s name, and she grinned smugly and did that fake like “who me? What, oh my god!” gesture and then walked on up to the Obelisk. The crowd was calling out questions to her like  game show audience trying to help a contestant, no single phrase discernible above the others, and Susan just looked around, her big goofy eyes scanning the people around her, as if she would actually lower herself to listen to their questions. [scoffs] She thinks she’s so high and mighty with her PT officer status and her hit Broadway musical. No no no, Susan’s above us all, just as important as she can be. She waved her arms like wings for quiet, and the audience obeyed, she’s so self-important, so attention seeking. And then she asked her question. The one question we as a town get only every decade or so, and Susan said: “Hey, so what’s your name?” What’s your name?!! God! What a waste! Did she forget we only get one question? The crowd began to boo, or at least I did. I started booing and I am part of the crowd.

The obelisk began to speak only into Susan’s mind and Susan listened closely. She giggled at first, like a little girl hearing a silly joke from a grandfather, and then her tear-filled laughs turned into tear-filled breaths, which eventually became tear-filled sobs. After about three minutes, the Obalisk vanished, and Susan stood alone on the small hill between the Wailing Pit and the Memorial Debris Heap, and she told us what she heard. Or [scoffs] she told us some of what she heard.

Susan said, in an unusually booming authoritative voice: “Whosoever speaks aloud the name of the Obelisk shall become the Obelisk. Whosoever becomes the Obelisk shall live forever. Whosoever lives forever shall know all things. Whosoever knows all things shall be damned. And whosoever hears the name of the Obelisk spoken aloud shall perish.” The crowd parted for Susan as she left the park. They mumbled their disappointment in both the question and its answer. Some spoke with pity, some with disdain, while some thought it was all pretty cool and now. “Much better than last time, when Dave asked who would win the 2013 NBA championships,” said one person. “Dave won a lot of money on that answer, though,” responded another. “He has a yacht now over at the Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area.”

But most everyone whispered their fear for Susan’s power itself. I mean, Susan received a gif today, a cursed cursed gifts. You know what? I think I might go see that “Sunset Boulevard” after all and I love it. I don’t get to tell Susan very often what a visionary theatrical director she is, but I, I, [chuckles] I might even put some stacks down on her cakes Saturday too. Really support that academic Decathlon team. And the spirit of American ingenuity and perseverance, and all that.

Good question, Susan. I’d like to never learn the answer, but good question nonetheless. You’re one of, if not the, best person I know. Thumbs up.

Stay tuned next for our newest game show, “Nothing will ever be the same”.

Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: Bite your tongue. Fun, right?

[krispyweiss]

Wheels of Soul feat. Tedeschi Trucks Band, Blackberry Smoke and Shovels & Rope at Rose Music Center at the Heights, Huber Heights, Ohio, July 20, 2019

Tedeschi Trucks Band proved the existence of life after death Saturday night, as the 12-piece killed with song after song after song and the audience came back with increasing enthusiasm each time.

From her exhortation to get your hands up in the air on the opening "Laugh About It" to her ad-libbed you can't put babies in cages and think it's OK on Bobby "Blue" Bland's "I Pity the Fool” late in the set, frontwoman Susan Tedeschi was a raspy storm of fire throughout the one-hour, 45-minute performance. And when she took the occasional guitar solo she was equally incendiary, demonstrating once again that she'd be the best guitarist in any band that didn't include her husband, the outwardly reserved but has-to-be-heard-to-be-believed slide guitarist Derek Trucks.

In fact, when Blackberry Smoke's Charlie Starr, no slouch himself, joined TTB for its encore - more on that and Blackberry's own set later - he occasionally looked dumbfounded as Trucks whipped up his fellow musicians and the nearly sold-out house with screaming line after screaming line.

The occasion was the 2019 edition of Tedeschi Trucks' Wheels of Soul tour, which in addition to Starr's band also featured Shovels & Rope in the opening slot. And while there is no denying the value in this packed night of music - which ran from 7 to 11 p.m. on a steamy, Southwestern Ohio night - it was the headliners that slayed listeners time and time again.

Whether Trucks was cuing solos from - and trading call-and-response lines with - his band's three-piece horn section on the jazzy jam inside Joe Tex's "Show Me" or Tedeschi was alternating lead vocals with its three-voice choir on "Signs/High Times," TTB showed the value in cramming as many people as possible on to a stage as two drummers, keys and bass teamed with the other eight musicians to create a joyful sound that never came close to a wreck and always achieved liftoff.

New keyboard player Gabe Dixon - who stepped in for the late Kofi Burbridge - harmonized beautifully with Tedeschi on a stripped-down (no singers, no horns) rendition of Willie Nelson's "Somebody Pick up My Pieces" and the full band simply exploded as Trucks played the opening notes to Derek and the Dominos' "Keep on Growing,” on which Tedeschi and the also-raspy (this is a good thing with these two) Mike Mattison had a delirious time singing their respective asses off.

The encore lasted 30 minutes and took off like a shot when Trucks played the opening notes to "Statesboro Blues," the Blind Willie McTell number he played countless times in the Allman Brothers Band. Tedeschi sang it from the original male perspective and when she, Trucks and Starr began their guitar-based conversation, it seemed the set couldn't get any better.

But then, more of the openers filtered on stage and the resulting two-keyboardist, three-drummer, quadruple-guitar threat launched in to a 20-minute workout of Sly & the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song," which segued into "I Want to Take You Higher." With that, the Rose Music Center at the Heights achieved liftoff in one of those rare in-concert moments when everything - the heat and humidity, exhaustion, any worries about everyday life, even the audience and venue itself - melts away and it's just the concertgoer and the music as one.

Religious experience is not an adequate descriptor.

During their 45-minute middle-show set, Blackberry Smoke played tracks that resembled Mick Taylor-era Rolling Stones whipped up with a bit of Gov't Mule. Engaging and full of triple-guitar, double-drumming verve, the performance sagged a bit during ballads such as "One Horse Town" and gurgled with life when the seven-piece tacked a bit of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" on to the show-ending "Ain't Much Left of Me."

Shovels & Rope began the festivities with the husband-and-wife team of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst sporting matching By Blood Ts to promote their latest LP and playing a mix of songs that were so similar as to grow tiresome before the 45-minute set ended. And when they switched between standing to play guitar and sitting behind the kit, Trent and Hearst were most impressive when each managed to play drums, harmonica and keys simultaneously.

Grade card: Wheels of Soul feat. Tedeschi Trucks Band, Blackberry Smoke and Shovels & Rope at Rose Music Center at the Heights - 7/20/19 - A+/B-/C

See more phots from the show here.

7/21/19

[thejustinmarshall]

A “Heart By Heart” with Steve Fossen

Interview by Danny Coleman

“Heart By Heart plays a lot of Heart music,” says original Heart bassist Steve Fossen. We play mostly from the 70’s catalog, we do a few 80’s songs and we try to play the music note for note as it was recorded and written.”  

Steve Fossen and drummer Mike DeRosier are 2013 Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame inductees and given the success which they achieved with Heart, a trip to the hallowed halls was inevitable.  

Fossen was there from the beginning, forming what would become the nucleus of the future juggernaut way back in 1967 when he and the Fisher brothers formed The Army. Bands come and go, change directions and personnel, some stay the same and others like Heart become the product of morphing over time.  

Unfortunately, Fossen and DeRosier’s time with the band ended circa 1982, well after the group was entrenched in accolades, massive fans, hits and million selling albums but Fossen and some of the earliest members have kept in touch and over the years have performed together; such is the case now with Heart By Heart. Fossen tells the story of the group’s forming and like most great rock ‘n’ roll tales it just all kind of fell into place. 

“Back in 2008, Roger Fisher, Mike Derozier and I wanted to play some Heart songs at a party that we were doing downtown and we had heard about Somar; she had  a Heart tribute band that she was playing in called, “Straight On.” We heard that she could sing the Heart material and she knew it so we had her come and sing with us and she’s a very intelligent and nice person so we got along well. That was in February and then over the course of the spring and summer I would run into her at different parties and clubs and we developed a friendship and then that evolved into a romance and once we were romantically connected we started a bass and vocal duo and we’d play songs like, “Dog and Butterfly,” “Crazy On You,” “Alone” and at first we started out at friend’s dinner parties and then evolved into bistros; we even did a wedding and a funeral and we were having a lot of fun just doing that. Then people heard about it and we got a call from a booking agent from Alaska and he called us and wanted us to open up for Dwight Yoakam at a show he was doing in Anchorage and we thought that a duo would be a little light to open a show so we asked Mike Derozier and Randy Hansen our original guitar player to help us out and we put together a 45 minute set and we were all set to go to Alaska and then at the last minute Dwight Yoakam decided not to play the show but we had a band; so thank you Dwight (laughs). Then some friends of ours had a benefit for, “Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness” and we raised a good amount of money and from that gig a lot of booking agents heard about us and started booking us around Seattle and Tacoma areas and the next thing you know we were playing shows all over the place. We started coming back to the East Coast about four years ago and now this year we’ve branched out to the Midwest and we did Florida, California, Virginia, Maryland, New York and now Pennsylvania.” 

August 9 sees Heart By Heart at The Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA for an 8 p.m. show followed by an already sold out show on August 13 in Mount Gretna. Tickets range from a scant $15 to around $45 between the two venues. 

Fossen seems totally at ease with the lineup and seems to be having an unexpected resurgence in not only the band’s travel itinerary but a rebirth of Heart’s music; something he says his former band mates, the Wilson sisters are OK with. “We have Mike DeRosier our drummer, we have Somar Macek on lead vocals and she is also my wife, we have Lizzy Damont who does acoustic and electric guitars as well as piano, keyboards and backing vocals and Chad Quist on guitars. I spoke with Ann not too long ago and she was totally cool with it as long as we keep it true to the original works. Let’s put it this way, they’ve not given us any indication that they are not blessing it (laughs).” 

Heart by Heart is governed by the same philosophy today which Fossen and previous band mates employed over the years and that’s realizing that everyone is and has uniqueness. “You play clubs and the audiences are people just like every place you play and they’re very enthusiastic about your music but it’s a real confined and concentrated area and if you set your goals and standards high enough you’ll play good no matter how many people are out in the audience. So by the time we got to the point with Heart where we were playing 15,000 seat arenas we were so confident and such a finely tuned entity; I mean there was more pressure and everything but we could still pull it off because we had that experience under our belts. Our philosophy was that we were playing for basically one person at a time and I play for myself too because I have very high standards and I want to do as well as I can to present myself and my skills the best that I can but if you think about it you’re playing for one person at a time whether there’s 20 people or 300,000 in the crowd because everyone is experiencing your performance one person at a time. We always try our best to do our best and if you have that in mind and never take anything for granted and be as good as you know that you can be all of the other things will fall into place automatically.”  

He also has advice for up and coming bands and musicians who are out there trying to make it in the music biz, “Hold onto your dreams, work hard at it. Have faith because sometimes it’s going to be very discouraging and sometimes it’s going to be fun and you want to be in a position where any opportunity that comes along your band is ready to take advantage of that; when opportunity knocks you answer the door.” 

Opportunity knocks twice in Pennsylvania this week and here’s hoping that we answer the door to see these legendary musicians playing times legendary tunes.  

To discover more about Heart By Heart or purchase tickets, please go to www.heartbyheart.com. 

Danny Coleman (Danny Coleman is a veteran musician and writer from central New Jersey. He hosts a weekly radio program entitled “Rock On Radio” airing Sunday evenings at 10 p.m. EST on multiple internet radio outlets where he features indie/original bands and solo artists.)

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