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Next morning, back at the hotel, fairly well-rested and now in synch with the time change, we prepare to do what we came for — to play for the people of The Netherlands! But first things first …
Having discovered the plaza nearby the day before, Lane indulges in an afternoon “hair of the dog”. Outdoor seating in the cool sunshine at Wampie’s is just what the doctor ordered.
A little later on, it’s “hurry up and wait” time at the club, where soundcheck is trying to happen.
Charlie captures a pair of deer-in-the-headlights expressions as Larry and Fly take to the stage.
With soundcheck behind us all and Charlie’s drums silently guarding the stage, the band and crew head for the Hospitality room. The promoter who made all of this possible, Louie van der Stuyft (sorry – no one got a picture of Louie !!!), has hired one of “the best caterers in all of Holland”. Actually, Louie claims that the chef was too expensive to bring in … until HE contacted Louie and offered his services at a discount — because it was Orleans! Wow! and the food is WOW , too!
The Level is packed with rabid Orleans fans … some of who have waited over 30 years to see the band; some of whom have travelled many hours and hundreds of miles to get there — from all over Holland and even from as far away as England and Germany!
We did our best not to let them down. Knowing that this crowd would be particularly interested in first-album material, we made a point of working up some chronic requests, such as Ticonderoga Moon (which we hadn’t played in many, many years — and never without John present). Fly took front and center on a modern rendition of Two-Faced World, Lance handled the vocal on Please Be There and everyone chimed in somewhere on Tongue-Tied. The crowd went NUTS for Lane’s bass vocal parts! 🙂
Of course, we did all the fan favorites like Dance With Me, Dancin’ in the Moonlight, Reach, etc. We also unveiled a new medley of Sails, Power and Half Moon leading into Juliet.
I’m not sure who had more fun … the band or the fans! Even before the second show, these bootlegs started appearing on YouTube!
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It was our pleasure and good fortune to have Barnaby Bye open all the shows. These guys, originally from Long Island (like the Hoppen bros.), have been around about as long as we have and have played in Europe a LOT. The crowd LOVED them! … and why not? They sounded GREAT!
Larry writes:
Bobby and Billy Alessi are colleagues / friends from my 1980s and 90s tenure in NYCity’s ”jingle” biz – cutting vocal sessions for radio and TV commercials. Mostly I just sang on the sessions, but these guys were writing the music for some of the highest profile, busiest companies in that extremely competitive environment. It was always fun to run into Bobby at Crushing Entertainment or Billy at Sicurella / Smythe, or occasionally at a party somewhere. My experience in jingles was a blast, and these guys were part of the reason.
More recently, we’ve crossed paths with the Alessis and Pepe – also a jingle vet AND an original member of the Blues Magoos – with THEIR band, Barnaby Bye. Coming up on September 6th in Brookhaven, NY, there will be an all-Long Island rock band show featuring them, Orleans and a couple of other well-known bands from the historically vibrant Long Island music scene. Hey, it’s not just Billy Joel and Pat Benatar; it’s Eddie Money, Felix Cavaliere (the Rascals), Gary US Bonds, the Beckmeier Bros (Full Moon) and MANY, MANY other great Long Island native artists who have made their mark and contributed to American music over decades of hard work and passion!
What Larry had to say about working with Barnaby Bye —
Pictures from The Level courtesey of fan Alan Farnsworth
At the beginning of Still The One, Larry invites the Barnaby Bye guys (who didn’t hear him?) and Jacklien up to join in on the singing. Usually, that means “jump in on the chorus”. But, in a surprisingly confident and previously unheard of manuever, Jacklien has Lance’s mic down off the stand and is singing LEAD by the 3rd line of the first verse! 🙂 This causes Lance and Fly to do their reverse George & Paul impersonation. In the end no one got hurt and a splendid time was guaranteed for all!