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I’m writing this from what used to be my house in Woodstock, NY, on a day off just prior to the last show of this run … and what a week it’s been!
If you will read the post from 8/17, you’ll see that we were at that point still gearing up for the big DVD shoot in Pittsfield. Things I forgot to mention about that:
1) We performed as “the Orleans Big Band”, numbering a full 8 on stage. Not only were the staples of Larry, Lance, Lane and Charlie present, we had both John and Fly on guitars. In addition, we managed to import Charley Dechant on sax (from the Hall & Oates band) and Manuel Quintana on percussion. (Manuel has been playing with Larry and Robbie Dupree when they do their duo dates.)
Special thanks goes not only to Charley and Manuel, but also to Jon Pousette-Dart and Artie Traum for their own terrific performances. Performing “Amnesia” as Jon’s backup band was a particular kick for us!
Everyone did a stellar job, as the packed-house audience would no doubt attest. The show itself lasted about 2 1/2 hours, including a few false starts and time-outs to change into dry shirts (it was a 3-shirt night for many of us :-), but I didn’t see anyone leave before the end … so I guess they were enjoying themselves!
2) It was great to see many of our old fans there, but special mention goes to the attendance of Sherman Kelly. Sherm is the brother of our late, great original drummer +, Wells Kelly, and the writer of “Dancin’ in the Moonlight”. Larry and Sherman recorded the very first version of the song in 1969, before Sherman’s band, King Harvest, had the hit on it in ’73 … but that’s a long story in and of itself. My intent here is not to tell that story, but to let Sherman (and you) know just how great it was to see him again!
In addition to the concert footage, we were all interviewed on camera separately (kinda like crime suspects?), including Sherman. I can’t wait to see the others’ versions of the same story(s) I told. Hmmmm….
According to John Marsden, who recorded and will edit/produce the DVD event, we managed to capture all we went hunting for. Post-production will take awhile (maybe a couple of months?), but we’ll be sure to let you know about the DVD release date as soon as we can figure that out.
As if that wasn’t enough excitement for one week, the next night found us at the Fairfield Theater Stage One, an intimate and very cool 200-seat room … a lot like your living room, only bigger. Thanks to Sam, the owner/manager, for bringing us in for such a good time.
Our night off was spent at the Steely Dan/Michael McDonald show at the Tweeter Center (GreatWoods) near Boston. These guys are just stupidly good! What can you say about excellence of that calibre? … other than, “You wish YOU were there!”
The fun continued as we rolled into Foxwoods Casino for a 2-nighter in their theater. Attendance was nearly twice what they normally expect for these mid-week shows, so even Casino Management had a good time! Thanks to the Foxwoods tech staff for making this a piece-of-cake experience.
That brings me up to date. Now, tomorrow we will be at the Belleayre Mt. Ski Resort in Highmount, NY, for a Labor Day weekend outdoor show with Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals). We play at 9; Felix is on at 10. But you can get all these details and more about upcoming shows by visiting the Touring page.
September will also be a very busy month for gigs, including a late-arrival just added for next Saturday, the 9th, at a festival in Danbury, CT. Please check back often for updates …
… and we hope to see YOU somewhere down the road!
Lance
