1995
Saturday May 27, 1995
The Box, 265 Nantasket Ave. Hull MA
Pete opens for Stephen Fredette (ex-Scruffy the Cat) and Steve Martin (ex-Orpheus).
Record release shindig for Mr. Martin. Pete (on bass) is backed by John
Clarke on drums and is joined by Stephen Fredette on guitar. It's the first
time the two play together. Stephen proceeds to learn songs spontaneously
while future Rock Band drummer Emily Jackson observes from the audience.
Emily wonders, who is that guy with the beard? Maybe
he needs a drummer, I like his style. Pete is later introduced to
Emily by Charlie Chesterman and the seeds of PW&RB are sown.
1996
 |
Tuesday January 30, 1996 Kendall Cafe, 233 Cardinal Medeiros Way, Cambridge MA CD-release party for "Pete Weiss Presents the Astounding World of Tomorrow's Modern Hi-Fi Audio." Attire was strictly casual. A severely bearded Pete (on Les Paul model electric guitar) performs selections from his CD accompanied on guitar and mandolin by Stephen Fredette. The Lucky Charms also perform that night. Actually, an alternate version of The Lucky Charms--Biker Chick--one of Stephen's dream bands which he occasionally referred to, e.g., "...here's the Biker Chick version of that song . . ." |
Tuesday April 23, 1996, 9 pm
Plough & Stars, 912 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge
Emily joins Pete and Stephen and it's the WORLD DEBUT of what was then known
as "The Pete Weiss Rock Band." Stephen played his beautiful '62-ish
Gretsch 6120. A photo was taken; not sure of its whereabouts--perhaps on
my parents' refrigerator. Followed by Zen Lunatic.
Thursday May 2, 1996, 9 pm
Middle East (upstairs), 472 Mass. Ave. Cambridge
w/ Happy Bunny & Charlie Chesterman's Legendary Motorbikes. Cambridge
Pre-Rumble bash for WBCN's annual Rock and Roll Rumble was held in the early
evening. We loaded in to a full house, with food and beer! Then played in
the evening, to some hangers-on that stayed to see us. I believe
my first attempt at onstage "antics" took place that night and
consisted of me rolling around on the floor with my fake Hofner bass still
strapped on.
 |
Saturday May 11, 1996, 10pm |
Tuesday May 14, 1996 CANCELLED
Phoenix Landing, 512 Mass. Ave. Cambridge
(would have been with Mark Mulcahy of Miracle Legion)
Tuesday May 28, 1996, 9:30 pm
Bill's Bar, Lansdowne St. Boston
w/ the new and exciting pop of Penguin which, at that time consisted of
Pete on bass, Emily on drums, Dave Egan on lead guitar, and Nichole Ferree
on vocals and guitar. Bill's Bar will always be associated
with lots of beer. Between Penguin and PWRB, we would get 4 pitchers for
a total of 4 drinkers between the two bands, I gave one to my husband.
Monday June 3, 1996, 9 pm
The Casual Cup, 1362 Beacon St, Coolidge Corner, Brookline
Pete on guitar and piano in an unusual solo performance. Joined by his brothers
Chris and Marc on percussion. Pretty sure the patrons were mostly annoyed
at the racket; perhaps one or two bemused.
Thursday June 6, 1996, 9 pm
Chameleon Bar & Grill, 262 Friend St. (off Causeway) Boston
w/ Penguin, Grinning Broadly, Because, & Deep Seven. Short set peppered
with feedback, stage antics, and the premiere of "You Got My Bandage
Off." Another case of "nobody in charge" so the
first couple acts played too long. Stephen made the most of our fifteen
minutes.
Thursday July 11, 1996
Bill's Bar, Lansdowne St, Boston
An evening with The Pete Weiss Rock Band, presented by Cheeseball Magazine.
Two bizarre sets: 10 pm & 11 pm. The Sesame Street staple "Ma-na Ma-na"
was briefly performed acappella by the band. Also, a straight-faced cover
of "Back in the USSR" was played to an appreciative group of sober
bikers and drunk college kids. And Charlie Chesterman was challenged to
join us onstage and "stump the band" by singing a cover which
we would have to back him up on. I think he chose "The Twist."
We were not stumped.
Wednesday July 24, 1996, 9:30 pm
WMFO 91.5 FM radio broadcast, Tufts University, hosted by the legendary
Mikey Dee.
We played a live-in-the-studio set and talked on-air with Mikey for a bit.
The set was notable for its inclusion of the brand-spankin' new and completely
unrehearsed "Robert Robbs," which would later prove to be the
Rock Band's closest thing to a "hit."
Friday July 26, 1996
The Kirkland Cafe, 425 Washington St, Somerville
w/ Charlie Chesterman, Ray Mason, Bamboo Steamers, and a special guest appearance
by Chicago language-manipulation genius John Huss, who was in town working
on his "Lipchitz" CD with me at Zippah Studios. Huss ended up
playing some guitar with the Rock Band and sang quite
a few numbers too. I'm a bit hazy on the details, but I seem to remember
Stephen played bass and I played guitar at this gig; or was Stephen
even there? Stephen? Emily? Huss? Help me out here! Huss
to the rescue: Friday July 26, 1996 at the Kirkland had me subbing for Stephen
Fredette on guitar. He wasn't there, and you basically told me I would be
playing lead guitar that evening. You played bass and Emily played drums.
You equipped me with a wahwah/volume pedal and I brailled my way through
a few solos, the unwittingly passable one being on "Your Are the Cactus
of My Heart." It was one of those cases where I just got lucky playing some
random notes and was always one note away from going down the tubes. I played
the cartoon Strat. A few years later, Matt, the bassist for Ray Mason, recognized
me from that show when he was playing for Paul Hansbury (Treefort) in Northampton
when the Moderate Combo was on tour. Thanks Hussah!
 |
MYSTERY GIG (date unknown) IOTA, Arlington, Virginia. Sometime in 1996 or 1997 (?) Michael and Todd from the much missed Lucky Charms played as a duo, as did Emily and I (she on drums, me switching off on bass and guitar I think. Trivia: note that in this photo both of us are sporting our "old school" spectacles.) We all travelled together from Boston in Michael's van. The next day we went to New York... Over Sushi in NYC, Michael and Pete discussed the work and rewards of the music biz, Michael, talking about "Noisy Revolution Records," coined the oft repeated phrase: "It's heavy man, but it's killer." |
 Pepsi, impaired |
MYSTERY GIG (date unknown) The Spiral Lounge, Houston St, New York City. Sometime in 1996 or 1997 (?) On the way back from IOTA we stopped in New York to play an awful show at the Spiral. I think it was on a Tuesday night. We were the first to load in, and they made us play last of eight bands. The bartender and soundman, whose showbiz name was "Pepsi"--pictured here--were not exactly "straight and sober" and not exactly "cool," either. The four of us played as a single unit (two drummers, bass and guitar) which was a blast. Todd and I talked about a future double-drummer gig in which we would construct the Siamese Set, two-sets sharing one bass drum. It could still happen . . . We did half Rock Band songs and half Lucky Charms songs. We arrived back in Boston at around 6 am, uhhh. |
Thursday August 29, 1996, 11 pm
The Linwood Grill, Fenway, Boston
Preceded by The Red Circus. Stephen had technical difficulties with his
guitar and ended up borrowing a Telecaster from a member of The Red Circus.
Friday August 30, 1996, 4-6 pm
WZBC 90.3 FM radio broadcast
Pete and Emily stopped by for a visit with "Mass. Ave. & Beyond"
host Mark Hamilton who tossed out some fine interview questions, played
some PW music, and plugged a few upcoming gigs.
Saturday September 14, 1996, 9:30 pm
The Hard Rock Cafe (Cavern Club downstairs), Boston
Following the Rock Band was a group called Beverage. It was not known at
the time if Beverage rocked, but beverages were available in case they didn't
rock. The Hard Rock staff was very nice; in fact they treated me to dinner
and a beer. Nonetheless, there was something very UN-ROCK-like about the
Hard Rock. It prompted me to write the song "Hard Rock Cafe" about
20 minutes before our set. The general corporate vibe and the fact that
it took us about two months to get paid put the Hard Rock Cafe low on our
list of venues to play again.
Wednesday October 9, 1996
Johnny D's in Somerville's Davis Square (17 Holland St.)
Benefit show for Somerville Cable Access Television. I don't recall who
else played that night (an acappella doo-wop group rings a bell...) but
I do remember that 1) it was the only PWRB gig that Stephen played his Flying
V at, and 2) we attempted to play a Beatles song between each of our own
songs, which amused us and some audience members, and annoyed other audience
members. Particularly absurd was our take on "Get Back" (played
that night in the unpopular key of F#, and, incidentally, Emily's least
favorite Beatles song) and Stephen leading us through a chordally-accurate
"I Am the Walrus." Mickey Bones was heard to mutter that we "needed
work." If you read through this entire gig archive, you'll notice we
never played Johnny D's again.
 |
Thursday November 7, 1996, 9 pm Bill's Bar, Lansdowne St. Boston Record release party sponsored by Cheeseball Magazine w/ Charlie Chesterman, Penguin, and The Eddies. The four bands collaborated on a four-song 7" 45 RPM yellow vinyl phonograph record, each contributing a brief slice of pop. Our cut was the 30-second "You Got My Bandage Off." Our performance of that song at the party that night--noisy, atonal, and clocking in at over six minutes--was recorded and used to embellish the original studio mix for inclusion on the PW&RB debut CD. I remember falling to the ground onstage and moving my feet up and down like a toy soldier while my overdriven bass howled with feedback--this was during a period that I fancied using the Boss "Hyper Fuzz" pedal on my bass--and Stephen pounded his Telecaster against the concrete wall to the left of the stage, finally getting it to hang from a velvet curtain and squall squall squall. Ms. Stacey of Cheeseball Magazine--the evening's hostess--eventually took the stage and facetiously decried our "awful devil music" before introducing the next band. |
Friday December 13, 1996
Plough & Stars, Mass. Ave, Cambridge
Three sets! Special "blues jam" time-filler material towards the end
of the 3rd set! Vintage Shure Vocal Master P.A. speakers! I believe we may
have opened with a lounge-y version of "Sunshine of Your Love."
From the gig mailer: "Stay tuned as the band continues working on its
next CD, tentatively titled: ""There's Nothing Less Important Than The Recording
Of A Pop Album" --Bob Dylan""
1997
Thursday January 16, 1997, 9 pm
TT the Bears, Mass. Ave, Cambridge
w/ Forgetful Jones (CD release party), What About George, and the Banjo
Spiders. We played our theme song (entitled "Rock Band Theme")
between every "regular" song that night. Also, I believe this
is the show in which Stephen "surfed" his '67 Telecaster for the
first time. During "SWLABR" (I think), he got the guitar into
sort of a controlled feedback state, then threw it--face down--onto the
stage and stood on it, eliciting sonic weirdness from it because of its
Bigsby vibrato bar (which protruded from the guitar just enough to prevent
the strings from being completely dampened by the ground). Often when he
did this, the audience would be horrified (presumably because they knew
he was abusing a really nice vintage guitar), at TT's that night however,
the crowd loved it and egged him on. There is footage of this on our "L'Histoire
de..." video. Non-guitarists, please note: the Fender Telecaster is
probably the sturdiest of all guitars ever made. You almost never see one
damaged beyond repair because you would need a steamroller or a furnace
to damage one beyond repair. From the gig mailer: "Stay tuned as the
rock band continues working on its next CD, tentatively titled: "Bitin'
Off More Than We Can Chew"
Friday January 17, 1997
Bill's Bar, Lansdowne St. Boston
Not a Rock Band gig. Pete, along with Rich Gilbert played guest "lead
guitar" with Steve Westfield & the Slow Band. Three sets. Despite decent
press coverage, no one showed up except the band's manager.
MYSTERY GIG (date unknown)
Prenzare Restaurant at Howard Johnson's Motore Lodge Boylston Street, near
Kenmore Square, Boston
Solo performance sometime in 1997 (?) w/ Erin Harpe, Naked Lunchbox, the
Rayloves and others There was a brief period when Prenzare was booking bands
and trying to become sort of a rock venue. I somehow got onto a bill as
a solo performer. I remember playing "You Got My Bandage Off"
and, notably, my only performance of "Three Feet Tall," a great
sad pop song written by my old Ghost Shirts bandmate Mike Griffin. I say
"notably" because after I left the Ghost Shirts, friends would
often futile-ly request "Three Feet Tall" at my gigs.
MYSTERY GIG (date unknown)
University of New Hampshire radio
In-studio performance sometime in 1997 (?)
w/ Charlie Chesterman, Penguin, and Jeff Mellin. Jeff's brother, Joel, was
a DJ at this radio station and invited us to play some music in support
of the "four-way" single that we had put out. Stephen couldn't
make the trip, so Emily and I just played "bass-less" (I played
guitar.) I remember there was a Rennaissance Fair-type jamboree going on
all over the campus, with bearded chain-mail-clad guys walking around eating
sandwiches--nice Œn surreal!
Friday February 7, 1997, 8 pm
Kendall Cafe, Kendall Square, Cambridge
We played
two sets. This is the gig that got us banned from ever playing the Kendall
again. We didn't find this out until weeks later when Billy Ruane called
Pete about booking a show there and informed him that we were, in fact,
"BANNED." We had no idea. Apparently some guitar distortion and feedback
(!) at the tail end of our second set irritated one of the club's owners
enough to ban us for life...Our defense: we played very quietly 90% of the
time, had a great crowd, the soundman loved us and bought a CD, the waitress
dug us, too. Well, as you will see, we attack this venue again with slightly
more positive results... From a subsequent email: "...we were
booked to play there again and found out from an outside source that we
had been scratched from the bill. No one at the club ever told us we had
caused trouble. In fact we went home that night thinking we just had a great
gig..."
Monday April 7, 1997
Green St. Grill, Green St. Cambridge
Rhubarb Records split-single release party. The second of two multi-band
45-RPMs in one year, this time with Weeping in Fits and Starts (billed as
the Greg Jacobs Rock Band) and Paula Kelley of Boy Wonder. I recall playing
sluggishly that night (Although we started out with a bang, attempting to
open our set with a spontaneous cover of Steve Westfield's "Smoked
a Little Too Much Monkey Brain Last Night" with two thirds of the band
never having heard the song before.) Paula joined us on backing vocals and
tambourine for "Maggot" and "Fill Me In."
Mickey Bones returns to offer a more positive review, "that was OK, I liked
that. The last time I saw you it sucked."
Friday May 2, 1997, 9 pm
T.T. the Bears, Cambridge
w/ Magnet (featuring Moe Tucker of Velvet Underground) and Trona. This was
a really fun show. I don't recall much about our set, but I definitely remember
how great it was to see Moe Tucker up on stage bashing away at her upright
drumset with mallets.
Saturday May 10, 1997, 10 pm
Nightingales, 213 2nd Ave (2nd & 13th), New York City
Ruckus-and-roll set followed by the wicked barroom shenanigans of the Home
Grown 'Lopes. A fun little road trip. Stephen was particulary "animated"
onstage that night and just about sent his '67 Telecaster to an early grave--surfing
it, throwing it, pummeling it with his studded wristband--much to the horror
of some members of the crowd. Emily and Stephen were
hanging out on the sidewalk in front of the club and Emily saw someone that
looked familiar, a NYC friend from the past? No, it was just Judd Nelson.
We drove back to Boston that night and nearly got lost in a bad neighborhood.
The '97 World Tour postcard. Yeah.
Friday May 30, 1997
Middle East Corner, Cambridge
Half-hour set to kick off our "1997 World Tour." A bunch of friends
came out to see us off. We sold a bunch of T-shirts. I don't think we played
particularly well. A most exciting prospect, a Rock
Band Tour. Pete offered his Subaru stationwagon and we piled the drums and
suitcases on top, fully confident that our spit and string would keep the
load secure. Stephen tried to reason with us as we packed the car, "Pete,
you haven't done this before, have you?" Stephen insisted on allowing some
extra space in the back seat. Of course, he was right. Saturday morning
Emily's husband Bill instructed Pete and Stephen to "take care of her."
They looked at each other and shrugged, "we were hoping she'd take care
of us."
Saturday May 31, 1997, midnight
Baggot Inn, 82 W. 3rd St, New York City
Preceded by Mike "ex-Ghost Shirts" Griffin's band The Wobblies.
A bunch of New York friends came out to see us; it was heartwarming. Again
we sold a bunch of T-shirts. By the end of the tour, we'd made far more
money selling T-shirts than being paid for gigs. Merch, baby.
As is typical for a band on the road, we relied on the support of friends
and strangers to help us out. We stayed in a cool upper East Side apt, complete
with doorman to help haul our equipment into the storeroom.
Sunday June 1, 1997
Pontiac Grill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A rainy Sunday night in Philly. A Gordon Lightfoot-type singer-songwriter
"opened" the evening with a marathon set of covers. He was followed
by an acoustic lineup of a very cool rootsy band called The Rolling Hayseeds.
We played around midnight for a couple of area friends, a drunk who kept
yelling "Play some Elvis!" and the Pontiac Grill staff. It was
a bit of a letdown after the good vibes in NYC the night before. We closed
our set with a resigned version of Scruffy the Cat's "My Baby She's
Allright," sung by Stephen. And let's not forget
our first fight! Whether is it better to sleep in the car along the highway
or spring for a room in Philly, stubborn heads prevailed and chose the Red
Roof Inn for this rainy night.
Monday June 2, 1997
IOTA, Arlington, Virginia
w/ Kevin Johnson & the Linemen. Our best gig at IOTA. There was a great
vibe that night. Kevin Johnson played amazingly, the sound was great, the
crowd was pretty big for a Monday night and was really into it. The club's
co-owner Jane Negrey bought us a few after-hours drinks. Stephen
had to drive the boozers to Pete's in-laws in Bethesda, Maryland, he only
drove when Emily and Pete were trashed. While life on the road can be rough,
we were again pampered with a yummy breakfast and the great company of Pete's
in-laws, a couple of groovy folks. The next day, on the 5- or 6-hour
drive to Chapel Hill, we had an "incident" on Route 85 in southern
Virginia. My suitcase--which contained all my clothes, toiletries, a videotape
of the tour thus far, etc.--flew off the roof of the Subaru station wagon
we were travelling in. (We kept amps, guitars, food, merchandise etc. in
the back of the car, and strapped the drums [concentrically stacked, Babushka-style]
and suitcases to the roof rack, generally covered with one of those blue
plastic tarps.) When we noticed something was weird, we pulled over to the
side of the (extremely narrow) two-lane highway just in time to see a car
go by at about 70 MPH with my suitcase jammed underneath it and making an
awful scrapey noise. We hastily re-tied everything down to the roof and
pursued the "suitcase-dragger" to little avail. About 10 miles
down the road we saw the remnants of my suitcase; all that remained was
the top half of the case, and a single T-shirt (of the Northampton band
Tizzy; I still have it and wear it with pride.)
Tuesday June 3, 1997
Local 506, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
w/ Lud. After restocking my clothing needs at a local thrift store (supplemented
by socks and underwear from The Gap, a pair of jeans donated by Kirk of
the band Lud, and a couple of T-shirts from Neal and Sally Spaulding,) we
settled in to Local 506. We were joined on stage by Neal (of Dead Monkeys
and Sool) who played some dreamy keyboards on songs that he had a hand in
writing, like "Staring At The Dark" and "Dance." Lud
rocked hard and were gracious hosts. Each of us had
friends in Chapel Hill, so we went our separate ways for the night. We
used the following day (the Atlanta show had been cancelled) to record some
basic tracks at a cool Chapel Hill studio known as Yellow Recording. "Give
Me Love (So I Can Kill)," "Albatross," and "Glow in
the Dark" would all eventually be overdubbed onto back home at Zippah,
mixed, and released. The cancellation of Atlanta was
a drag, but it worked out well. Having an extra day in CH was perfect for
us.
Wednesday June 4, 1997
CANCELLED Atlanta, Georgia
Historical aside: Emily's only
other adventure in ROCK AND ROLL TOURING was in 1986 with Sally's Dream
who ventured from Bloomington to Athens GA with several shows in between--alas,
the Atlanta show was cancelled. Even though they had a signed contract to
play, Anthrax had bumped them off the bill. The club gave then $100 to go
away.
Thursday June 5, 1997
Victor/Victoria, Nashville, Tennessee
w/ Trauma Team and another band. We got an
early start from Chapel Hill on the 11-hour drive to Nashville. Remarkable
vistas as we traversed the Smoky Mountains. When we arrived in Nashville
we thought we were a bit late but were informed that we had crossed the
time line, so we "gained" an hour. Duh. It
was downtonwn Nashville, not much around after 7pm except we heard a "Planet
Hollywood." Pete and EMily found a little Greek place. Stephen had brought
all his food for the week in a cooler. We killed a considerable amount
of time playing pool with the soundman and listening to T Rex and the Stones'
"Some Girls" album over the P.A. This was a club that featured
drag queen shows five nights of the week, and indy rock on Thursdays and
Fridays. Stephen noted: "cool, a gay bar, they always
have the best dressing rooms." It was a beautiful room, with genuine
60's-era "faux rococo" upholstery on all the chairs. The dressing
room in back of the stage was filled with wigs and gowns. It was some guy's
birthday party that night, so we attempted to show him a good time with
our brand of rock. I think it may have been our most raucous show. I was
a bit tipsy and uninhibited onstage, jumping around and accepting a large
beaded necklace from someone in the crowd. Stephen was loud and in prime
form, and he threw his Telecaster (still plugged in and howling) behind
Emily's drum kit on our last tune "SWLABR." We found out that
about a year later the club burned to the ground. Pete
was propositioned outside the club, (by the Marlboro
Man.) though he didn't realize it until some weeks later.
Friday June 6, 1997
Second Story, Bloomington, Indiana
w/ two young bands I don't recall... Emily's old stomping grounds; she had
a bunch of old pals come out to see us--very heartwarming. Local DJ/personality
Brian Kearney joined us onstage on baritone sax for "Jade Cow"
and "Robert Robbs." Stephen's Fender Tremolux amp fritzed out;
he had to borrow someone's Fender Twin and was frustrated because of the
Twin's inherent clean sound. We were able to jury-rig Stephen's amp after
the show so we knew it would work the next night in Chicago. In order for
the amp to work, it had to be situated upside down so one of the tubes wouldn't
fall out of its semi-broken socket. While you can't
go home again, you can visit, and I dug playing again at the old fav venue.
One highlight was "the dancing gentlemen," Bloomington pals that fired up
the dancefloor, something you just don't see in Boston.
Saturday June 7, 1997
Lounge Ax, Chicago, Illinois
The Cardigan Festival. w/ The Dishes and Mitch Mitchell (of Pavement or
Guided by Voices, I think). A fun way to wrap up the '97 World Tour. Susan
of the much-missed Lounge Ax was super-gracious. Chicago pals John Huss
and members of his Moderate Combo cheered us on and even videotaped our
set. Stephen wore his paisley bell-bottoms and played/sang hard (his amp
was duly situated upside down). We stayed with Huss that night and drove
straight back to Boston (almost 20 hours) the next morning/day/night/morning.
Post-tour email:
"Hey! The Pete Weiss Rock Band has officially changed its name to:
*** Pete Weiss & the Rock Band *** We realize this is a radical change,
but try to hang with us, baby."
Friday June 13, 1997, around 8 or 9 pm
Somerville Community Access Television, 90 Union Square
Our big return from "the road." Art show "closing" party featuring
the art of Rock Band "wunderkind," Stephen Fredette. Also playing were two
of Stephen's side projects, Custer (southern rock featuring 3 lead guitars!),
and Ugly (featuring NO bass!) Chris Kay, the show's producer told me not
to wear any blue, as they planned to make use of "blue screen"
special effects during the broadcast. Feeling mischievous, I wore a nice
bright blue T-shirt and as a result appeared to have an invisible torso
for our set. Unfortunately no videotape of the broadcast is known to exist.
Anyone out there have one? Let me know.
Thursday June 19, 1997
Kirkland Cafe, Kirkland St. Somerville
w/ Joe Rockhead and Hank. Drum sharing occurs on a
random basis and in this instance Emily used a big-ass rock set with about
7 tom toms. She made it her duty to hit all of them as frequently as possible.
Thursday June 26, 1997
Plough & Stars, Mass Ave, Cambridge
3 sets. No specific memories here.
Saturday July 26, 1997
Kirkland Cafe, Kirkland St. Somerville
w/ Max and The Shods. This was an "all male revue" version of Pete Weiss
and the Rock Band. Emily was on vacation, so Andy Pastore (normally guitarist
extraordinaire in Charlie Chesterman's Motorbikes) sat in on drums. (For
those who don't know... Andy's an astounding drummer. Nuff said.)
Friday August 15, 1997
Middle East Corner, Cambridge
w/ Tackle Box and others. Hosted by Skeggie Kendall. Short set. Stephen's
last appearance with the Rock Band before undergoing heart surgery.
Saturday September 28, 1997, 2 pm
Simmons College, Huntington Ave. Boston
w/ Piewackit and Mystery Hill. Two remarkable firsts occured that day: 1)
It was the first (and only) time PW&RB ever played outdoors (and a very
pleasant, sunny afternoon it was), 2) It was the first of several times
David Fredette would step into his brother Stephen's shoes and sub for him
on guitar. From an email around that time: "If you haven't already
heard, our beloved guitar slinger Stephen Fredette had some pretty major
surgery a couple of weeks ago. We're happy to report that he's doing really
well but he'll be recovering in and around bed for several weeks....With
Stephen's temporary absence in mind, one might ask "Will the Rock Band replace
him?!?!" The answer is "Yes, temporarily. With his brother, David (Titanics,
Upper Crust etc...)" It's true, David Fredette will be playing some shows
with us, keeping up his big brother's tradition of sonic torture, vintage
instrument abuse and dry remarks. We might even have Jeb Ensslen helping
out on bass (giving Pete the opportunity to play rhythm guitar and hence
possibly sing a little better.)"
Thursday October 9, 1997, 11:30 pm
Middle East upstairs, Mass. Ave, Cambridge
w/ Piewackit and Nana David sat in for Stephen. God knows why, but at some
point that evening we played "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Or maybe about
3/4 of it. Some of the hip Middle East crowd was amused. Others, er, may
not have been familiar with the song.
Saturday October 18, 1997, 9 pm
Nightingales, 2nd & 13th St. New York City
w/Jessie Turner, Jupiter Kings, and Squirrels from Hell (Jeb on bass, PW
on guitar)
 |
Sunday October 19, 1997 |
Thursday November 13, 1997, 8:30 pm
TT the Bear's in Cambridge
All-star benefit show for Stephen Fredette featuring Serum, Wheelers & Dealers,
Boy Wonder, Sir David James & his Loyal Knights (David Minehan & friends),
and Charlie Chesterman. A never-before-attempted version of Pete Weiss and
the Rock Band played and featured Pete on guitar, Emily on drums, Jeb Ensslen
(of Penguin) on bass, and David Fredette (brother of Stephen and guitar
slinger for the Upper Crust) on guitar. I remember breaking a string (something
I hadn't done onstage since 1987) on the very first song. David jogged me
from my shock and handed me a cool little Gibson Melody Maker with P-90
pickups he had brought along for just such an occurance. Great show; great
vibes. A lot of cash was raised for Stephen's cause and he was even able
to make it there to enjoy the festivities, ambling onto the stage to join
David Minehan on "Whistling Past the Graveyard.".
 |
Thursday December 18, 1997, 11:40 pm Nana's Christmas party at... (gasp!) THE KENDALL CAFE in Cambridge's beloved Kendall Square. This is notable because the Rock Band had been BANNED from the Kendall for almost a year in an ugly guitar-feedback incident. (See February 7, 1997). It seems all had been smoothed over and the band was again welcome. There were about a million other quality folks playing that night including hosts Nana, Baby Ray (featuring guitarist Ken Lafler in full Santa Claus regalia), Steve Hurley of the Gigolo Aunts, Jim & Colleen from Buttercup, the Fritters, Paul & Scott Janovitz, Ville, Mile Wide, Resolve, Sixto Lexcano, Greg & Eric from Smackmelon, Collin from Prickly, and Betwixt. It was an evening of holidy cheer, twenty minute stripped-down sets and possibly the oddest lineup of any that PW&RB had ever assembled: David Fredette on distorted amplified acoustic guitar, Pete on vocals/harmonica, Emily on minimal drums. NO bass. I know this was videotaped; if anyone knows where I could get a copy, please let me know. |
Sunday December 28, 1997, circa 9:30 pm
Green Street Grill Central Square, Cambridge
w/ Steve Westfield & the Slow Band. This show was Stephen's official return
to his post in the Rock Band after recovering from heart surgery. He played
a guitar running through a pedal that knocked his sound down one octave.
The "bass" sound was then run through a bass amp, while his regular
guitar sound was split off and sent through a guitar amp. So he kind of
played bass and guitar simultaneously that night. It sounded very cool as
I remember. David Fredette played amplified acoustic guitar, Emily was of
course on drums and I played Farfisa organ and guitar. It was the first
time the Rock Band had shared a bill with kindred musical spirits Steve
Westfield and the Slow Band. The Slow Band was a remarkable entity featuring
tuba, trombone, and other unusual things. The Rock Band covered two Steve
Westfield songs in the past: "Give Me Love (So I Can Kill)" and
"Smoked A Little Too Much Monkey Brain Last Night." From an email
around this time: "The Rock Band's lineup is kind of volatile (in a
good way) these days. Founding members Emily Jackson (drums), Stephen Fredette
(guitar, bass), and Pete Weiss (guitar, bass, and/or organ) still make up
the core of the band. And when they are available, David Fredette (aka Duc
D'Istortion of Upper Crust) plays more guitar, and Jeb Ensslen (ex-Penguin)
plays more bass. It's all sort of haphazard at the moment, so for the next
few months, if you go to see Pete and the Rock Band, you're liable to witness
any combination of the above folks. Never a dull moment."
1998
Wednesday January 28, 1998
Middle East downstairs, Cambridge
w/ Mary Lou Lord, the Racketeers, and The Raging Teens. It was Mary Lou's
CD-release party in the 700+ capacity Middle East downstairs. We were asked
at the last minute by Lord's manager if we could be persuaded NOT to play
that evening. Huh? Well, it seems that Mary Lou had demanded at the last
minute that The Raging Teens--friends of hers--be tacked onto the bill.
Her manager offered us an extra 100 bucks to pack up and go home. This did
not strike us as good karma, so we told him that since we had already loaded
our gear in, we'd just as soon hang aroud and play. Why not? The pay was
pretty good anyway and there was no cover so we figured a lot of folks would
get a chance to see us. Well, it was a weird night. First Stephen took ill
and had to leave about an hour before our set, so the Rock Band lineup wound
up being me on Farfisa organ and guitar, David Fredette on guitar, and a
hastily procured Jeb Ensslen (who was handily hanging out at Green Street
Grill about a block away...) Our set was a bit of a nightmare. We played
last (I think) and most of the capacity crowd had filed out by the time
we took the stage. Oh, the stage. Yes, the stage was littered with all the
gear from the previous bands (the agreement was that they would leave it
up there till the end of the night), so we had very little room to move.
I accidentally gave poor David a bloody lip when, in a moment of inspiration,
I decided to hang MY guitar over his shoulders (giving him TWO electric
guitars to play simultaneously.) None of this was particularly well-received
by the smattering of bewildered Mary Lou Lord fans that had stuck around.
Friday January 30, 1998, 11 pm
Kirkland Cafe, Somerville
w/ Buck Dewey Big Band, Delta Clutch, and the return of Butterscott. I seem
to remember using my Boss "Hyper Fuzz" pedal not only to distort
my bass, but also as a crude slide (picking it up and rubbing the metallic
edge along my bass strings.)
Friday February 6, 1998, circa 11 pm
O'Briens, Allston
w/ Bitter Little Dutch Boy, Mishima, and Joe Cool
Saturday February 7, 1998 CANCELLED
private party (ooooh, mysterious.....)
Saturday February 14, 1998
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge
Record-release party for the long-awaited CD by Pete Weiss & the Rock Band
on Reverse Curve Records. 2 sets. Special guest Charlie Chesterman & the
Legendary Motorbikes. The evening's master of ceremonies: Robert Robbs.
Our first set was the original Rock Band trio lineup and was smokin' (as
I recall). The second set was less smokin' but featured the expanded lineup
(Pete on Farfisa organ & guitar, Peter Linnane on sound synthsizer, Jeb
Ensslen on bass, Emily on drums, David and Stephen Fredette on guitars.)
Long night, full house, good times.
 |
The beautifully-coiffed bassist known as Jeb Ensslen. Pictured sometime during his PW&RB tenure. |
Sunday February 15, 1998, circa 10:30 pm
Grandstand Lounge at Northampton Bowl, Northampton MA
w/ Tree Fort and another band who's name I forget... My parents actually
came out to see the Rock Band that night (the only time they did...) Also
in attendance were old pals from Western Mass. Ray Mason, Dave Frain, and
members of Tizzy. The PW&RB lineup: Pete on Les Paul model electric guitar,
Emily on drums, Jeb Ensslen on bass. It was freakin' cold out that night.
Friday February 20, 1998
Middle East Corner, Cambridge MA
I seem to recall playing "Walk, Don't Run" because the Ventures'
drummer had recently passed away. I think we generally offended people.
Emily's hubby Bill got justifiably miffed because he was getting harassed
by a waitress to buy some food or leave.
Thursday February 26, 1998
Smithwick's, Lowell MA
w/ Madcap Laughs and Sameasyou. Peter Linnane of Zippah Studio and the Madcap
Laughs helped us get this gig. He also joined us on "That There,"
playing his trademark sound synthesizer. Stephen couldn't make it, so it
was me on Fender Stratocaster guitar, Emily on drums, and Jeb Ensslen on
bass. I remember there was a weird stage setup: as you looked at the stage,
there was a four-foot high drum riser on the right side. Emily didn't want
to play on the riser, so I volunteered to play on the riser (with Jeb and
Emily seemingly miles away on "the ground.") It was fun; I felt
like king of the mountain, playing guitar way up there.
Saturday February 28, 1998
The Elvis Room, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
w/ the Oscillators and Lovewhip. Our only appearance in New Hampshire. The
lineup: Jeb Ensslen on bass, Emily on drums, and Pete & Stephen on guitars.
I found out that beer is not allowed onstage in New Hampshire. State law;
you can look it up. The Elvis Room is a coffee bar/regular bar open to all
ages. After our set some guy tried to break the house record for consuming
shots of espresso. He drank two pint-glasses full of espresso in one sitting.
He said he felt fine. About a half hour later Emily spotted him puking in
the alley next to the club.
Sunday February 29, 1998
The Call, Providence, Rhode Island
The only PW&RB appearance in Little Rhodie. The lineup: Jeb Ensslen on bass,
Emily on drums, Pete on guitar. Stephen couldn't make it. Weird gig: We
were told to arrive at the club at 6 pm for soundcheck and be ready to play
a 10 pm set. Fair enough. So we load our gear in and hang around a bit,
when the booking guy approaches us and says "You guys go on at 7."
Uh... okay, whatever. So we played a 7 pm set (to the staff and the members
of the others bands, whom I don't recall) and were sent home. I was back
in Boston by 9. Mysterious. The only thing we could figure was that maybe
the place had been double booked by mistake and they needed to clear everyone
out of there by 10. We were paid (fairly generously, too) but never asked
back.
Thursday March 5, 1998
Bay State Hotel, Northampton MA
w/ Steve Westfield & the Slow Band. (Pete & Stephen on guitars, Jeb Ensslen
on bass, Emily on drums.) This was the night I kissed a heckler in an attempt
to shut him up. A very drunk, aging goth wannabe spent most of our set standing
right in front of me, pointing at his watch and yelling about how he wanted
us to stop playing and Steve Westfield to start. During "I Hate Rock
and Roll" I stopped playing and stepped forward, embracing the jerk,
then gave him a big smooch. He was quite stunned for a moment and actually
stopped yelling at us briefly. Unfortunately he resumed his anti-Rock Band
crusade soon enough. What I couldn't believe was that the crowd loved us
and hadn't paid any attention to the heckling "goth." I remember
one guy bought a CD and told me I had some "awesome blues licks."
In Boston that would be an insult, in Northampton it's high praise.
Saturday March 28, 1998, 10 pm
Kirkland Cafe, Somerville MA
w/ the Oscillators, the Peasants, and the Doom Buggies. After a slew of
out of town gigs, the Rock Band returned home. For this period, this was
a rare appearance of the ORIGINAL lineup (Pete on bass, Stephen on guitar,
and Emily on drums. Yes sir.) The Oscillators' bass player got lost on the
way to the gig, so I filled in for him (having just mixed the band's debut
CD two days earlier, I was pretty familiar with the songs.) The poor guy
arrived during the last Oscillators song; he'd taken some wrong exit and
wound up near Braintree. Ah, the joy of driving in and around greater Boston...
Sunday April 5, 1998, 9 pm
Green Street Grill, Central Square, Cambridge
w/ Neptune-Oneida-Songs: Ohia. Pete Weiss solo set. I think it was the only
time I ever played my Gibson ES-120 out live. The output jack crapped out
during a mournful rendition of "I Hate Rock and Roll." I just
kept playing, pretending nothing was wrong.
Friday April 24, 1998
The Kendall Cafe, Kendall Square, Cambridge
w/ Pete Fitzpatrick of Pee Wee Fist, The Fritters, and Little Big Wheel.
Hellcountry night. We attempted an "all-twangy, all-instrumental" set (that's
right, NO singin' from us....) that night and I'm afraid it blew up in our
faces. The opening act played too long, we were rushed onto the stage and
our set was cut short. To make matters worse, we suffered technical and
tuning problems. Sad to say, but it was probably the worst Rock Band outing.
Luckily it was mostly friends in attendance and they kept our spirits up.
Plus, we rocked the next night...
Saturday April 25, 1998
The Kirkland Cafe, Kirkland Street, Somerville (next to Dali Restaurant)
w/ Slippy Keane, Hank & the Hankies, and Baby Ray. This probably wasn't
our finest gig, but after the night before at the Kendall, it was damn damn
good. We were tight, the sound was decent, and the energy was there for
us. Wow, what a rock cliche, "The energy was there for us..."
Thursday April 30, 1998, 10 pm
Middle East upstairs, Mass. Ave. Cambridge
w/ Girl on Top, Cheerleadr, and Blind Ambition. This proved to be a unique
show, featuring a completely different Rock Band lineup backing up Pete.
(Stephen & Emily both had other engagements that night, alas!) Taking S&E's
place were Andy Pastore (of Charlie Chesterman's Legendary Motorbikes) not
on guitar, but on DRUMS! Kevin Quinn, groovy bassist and songwriter (he
wrote the Rock Band classics "Nicotine Queen," "Staring at the Dark," "She's
a Shaker," "You Are the Cactus," and "Don't Go") and part time radio personality
(think Classic Rock) held down the bottom end and did some singing. Peter
Linnane, staff engineer at Zippah Studio and songwriter extraordinaire of
the Madcap Laughs, played some jangly rhythm guitar. Pete Weiss switched
from bass to LEAD guitar (oh horror of horrors!) At the last minute, Stephen
showed up with a lap steel and played beautifully (and somewhat surreally)
with us for the entire set! We dubbed the lineup the Alternate Universe
Rock Band.
Sunday May 3, 1998, 7 pm
Panini's bakery (adjacent to Dali's Restaurant in Somerville, with the familiar
Kirkland Cafe nearby.)
w/ Charlie Chesterman, Jim Buni (of Buttercup), David Wildman, and Nana.
Tea and baked goods were served. Struggling rock bands
often do not get much "dough" for "gigs", but in this case, our take-home
was an actual loaf of bread, mighty fine.
Saturday May 23, 1998
The Lizard Lounge, Mass. Ave. Cambridge (downstairs from the Cambridge Common
Restaurant)
w/ Slide. Each band played two (2) rock sets of rock music for a total of
four (4) sets of rock. PW&RB rocked first (9:30) and third (11:30), Slide
rocked second and fourth. PW & the RB employed two slightly different rock
lineups for its two rock sets: the first set was the traditional, original
rock trio (Stephen, Emily, and Pete). The second set was the expanded rock
quintet (David Fredette and Peter Linnane added.) At around 1:30 am, both
bands played a Slide song (can't remember which one) together. With two
drummers, two basses, three guitars, one accordian, and one organ, it was
VERY LOUD.
Thursday June 18, 1998, 9 pm
Kendall Cafe, Kendall Square, Cambridge
w/ the Pee Wee Fist and--from Atlanta--Big Fish Ensemble (both highly recommended
purveyors of unusually-instrumented skewed pop)
Friday June 19, 1998, 10 pm
Linwood Grill, Fenway, Boston
w/ Hank and at least one other band. I remember Drew Townson of Hank came
up to me after our set and said, "Man, I didn't realize how GARAGE-y
you guys were." I THINK he meant it as a compliment.
Saturday July 25, 1998, 9 pm
CANCELLED Nightengales, New York City
From the email: "Pete: electric Spanish plectrum guitar, singing; John
Clarke: (old Boston cohort, recently relocated to NYC): drums; Nichole Clarke:
(former bandmate with Pete in Penguin): guitar; Jeb Ensslen or Peter Linnane:
(we'll let them duke it out): electric Fender bass." This would've
been a fun gig. Unfortunately cancelled at the last minute because the bar
lost its liquor license after getting caught serving a minor.
Friday September 4, 1998
O'Brien's Pub, Allston
This was our first Boston gig in months. We attempted to shake off the musical
cobwebs. Also on the bill that night were the very cool Joe Cool (their
first appearance in many a moon as well) and Gravitron.
Thursday October 1, 1998, circa 10 pm
Lizard Lounge, Mass. Ave., Cambridge
w/ Charlie Chesterman & the Legendary Motorbikes and The John Huss Moderate
Combo from Chicago. Probably the most fun I've had playing live music. From
the press release: "Here's the twist: All three bands will be set up
and ready to play simultaneously. They will attempt to alternate songs (ie:
PW&RB plays a tune, Charlie plays a tune, Huss plays a tune, then PW&RB
plays another one etc. etc.) It's a "Rock -n- Roll Round Robin" or, if you
will, a "Garage-A-Trois." To our knowledge, it's never been attempted. There
may be a good reason for that." It worked out great.
With two drum sets, the next "drummer up" would be ready and members of
the next band would be hanging nearby. We magically moved fast between songs/bands
and played a long set. Instead of play-a-set, hang-out, split, each band
was involved and the audience was unusually attentive. Instead of the usualy
beer between sets, Motorbike Andy Pastore found himself stepping up to the
bar more frequently. It worked so well, I wonder if we'll every attempt
it again. There was an atmosphere of friendly competition between
the bands. Everyone tried--politely, of course--to one-up each other. One
of several culminations included us playing simultaneously with John Huss'
band, John and I trading off vocal lines to his great song "Go,"
with me trying to imitate his inimitable vocalage. Emily's husband Bill
still raves about this night. Huss adds:
J, John, and I (the three main members of the Moderate Combo) all agreed
that the Garage a trois show was the apex of playing live. It simply does
not get any better than that. J even said that it was the best moment of
his life.
Tuesday October 13, 1998
Baby Jupiter, corner of Stanton & Orchard (off Houston, near Arleen's Grocery)
Lower East Side, New York City
Solo electric appearance by Pete. Performed a handful of songs as part of
the "7200 Seconds" comedy & music show, put together and hosted by old friend
Tom Chalmers.
Thursday November 5, 1998
Plough & Stars, Mass. Ave. Cambridge
One of our trademark three-set nights at the Plough.
Sunday November 15, 1998
Mama Kin, Lansdown St. Boston
Benefit/CD-release bash for the Weiss-produced compilation CD "A Place to
Call Home". All proceeds from the show and sales of the CD go directly to
the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (a very worthy and hard-working
organization that helps locate permanant homes for hard-to-place kids).
Sets from a whole gaggle of bands including Mishima, Seks Bomba, Baby Ray,
Charlie Chesterman, the Peer Group. The Rock Band set had a memorable twist:
Stephen and I secretly agreed to switch instrument and lead vocal duties,
unbeknownst to poor Emily. So, while Emily was setting up her drums, Stephen
strapped on a bass and I fired up a guitar. She caught on just moments before
our first song, which I believe was "Robert Robbs." Stephen did
an admirable job singing the songs I usually sang. I'm afraid I butchered
the songs that Stephen usually sang. The Dana Cross-penned gem "Albatross,"
in particular, suffered a terrible fate that night, with yours truly not
aware of the lyrics, nor apparently the chords. The crowd knew what was
going on and, I believe, got a big hoot out of our rock and roll charade.
1999
Friday February 19, 1999
The Midway Cafe, 3496 Washington St. Jamaica Plain
w/ The Bamboo Steamers. Our first gig afer a couple of months off. Several
new songs were unveiled, and an attempt at a "medley of favorite short-short
songs" was successfully played. This included "Don't Stand Too Close,"
"Question Sherry," "Do the Fripp," and even a rare undertaking
of "Wulla Wulla." Many folks in the audience that night had never
seen us and they seemed to really dig the short stuff. We played two sets,
alternating with the Bamboo Steamers (an excellent pop-rock group that doesn't
play out as often as it should...)
Friday-Saturday, February 26-27, 1999
Toadstool Harry's, Killington, Vermont.
w/ Elbow (Friday) and a very elaborate bluegrass ensemble whose name I forgot
(Saturday). Toadstool Harry's is run by some
of the guys from the band Elbow (formerly from Boston's South Shore). They
go way back with Stephen and invited us up for the weekend. Really really
nice guys and excellent musicians too. We rented a van and trekked up to
the beautiful Vermont woods. The Elbow guys put us up in a wood stove-heated
basement next to the pub-restaurant. One of the club's
features is a turntable behind the bar and many crates of record albums
(remember?) around the bar. Patrons were invited to choose some vinyl. They
fed us and joined us onstage several times. It was a laid-back, feel-good
kinda gig. The only trouble I personally encountered was on Friday night
when an off-duty bartender told me that there were possums living in the
basement where we'd be sleeping and that they had been known to crawl over
slumbering guests. A previous guest had commented
on the kitty that walked across his legs at night, but they didn't see the
kitty the next day. "Hey man, there's no kitty living there!"
was the response. I had trouble sleeping that night, but went unmolested
by possums. The next day Emily and I went cross-country skiing while Stephen
read by the fire. A first time adventure for Emily
who quickly mastered the Kiddy Trail and repeated the adventure 3 times.
We rocked again on Saturday night. The bluegrass band after us (featuring
something like ten members!) had come all the way down from Burlington and
spent about an hour--no joke--setting up their gear and tuning their various
instruments. This was during "prime entertainment time" on a Saturday
night with a full house of folks wanting to hear some music. The Elbow guys
were understandably irritated and told the bluegrassers that they'd better
get playing or else the plug would be pulled. They finally played a couple
of very long songs and Elbow pulled the plug anyway and took the stage themselves
with Stephen guesting on guitar! The band was pissed; the crowd was psyched;
guerilla stage management paid off.
Monday March 22, 1999
Green Street Grill Central Square, Cambridge
w/ old pals and rock compatriots Charlie Chesterman & the Legendary Motorbikes
Wednesday April 7, 1999
Lizard Lounge, Mass. Ave. Cambridge
w/ Willard Grant Conspiracy, Baby Ray, and Keemun. Solo electric set. Also
sat in with the Willards on banjo (my public debut on the instrument).
Friday April 23, 1999
IOTA, 2832 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, Virginia
Regular Rock Band guitar-slinger Stephen Fredette wasn't able to make the
trip, but in his place was supposed to be old pal and astonishing guitarist
Andy Pastore. This would have marked Andy's fourth lifetime appearance as
a special substitute in the Rock Band. Well, maybe.
Emily and Pete, being somewhat paranoid about traffic, left Boston absurdly
early. We arrived at IOTA around 6 pm and enjoyed a leisurely dinner.
Andy, meanwhile, was travelling down from Boston with Charlie Chesterman,
who was to be the headliner that evening. They got a bit of a late start
and hit major traffic in New Jersey. Charlie called the club around 8:30
and reported that they had just gotten onto the Jersey turnpike. Yikes.
We were supposed to play in about an hour and our guitarist was several
hundred miles away. Plan B was formulated: Emily and I would play half a
set with just bass and drums. Ah, not the best plan,
but we were stuck. Then I was tipped off by the soundman that Karl Straub
was sitting! at the bar. Karl is a highly respected Washington DC-area singer-songwriter-guitarist.
I'd never met Karl face to face but had a couple CDs of his band
The Graverobbers--who are excellent by the way. We
had a chance for Plan C. After some hasty introductions and chord-pattern
discussion, he felt pretty sure he'd be able to limp along on guitar with
us--even though he'd never heard us before. Fearless man, that Karl. Well
he did a great job. The crowd--mostly there to see Chesterman--got a big
kick out of the "novelty" opening act. I recall finding it very
difficult to sing on pitch with no chordal accompaniment; things got a lot
better when Karl joined us. Anyway, we finished our set and felt pretty
good about ourselves, but there was still no Charlie and Andy. The club
owner requested that we play another set, as the crowd was getting antsy.
So we played another set, again with half the songs just bass and drums,
and the other half with Karl following along on chord cheat-sheets
(one instruction was "show biz ending"). The ubiquitous Jeb Ensslen,
down from his new home in Philadelphia to see us, played bass on "Cyclone
Fence" while I switched to drums and Emily sang. I got the distinct
feeling, however, that the novelty had worn off with the crowd. They had
paid to see Mr. Chesterman and they were enduring quite a bit of weirdness.
Finally, at around 12:15 am, a haggarad Charlie and Andy zipped through
the front door. We bolted off the stage; Charlie bolted onto the stage with
acoustic guitar in hand; Andy, who'd been in the car about 11 hours only
to be unneeded to play guitar, headed for the bar and quaffed several beers
in quick succession. We all drove to Philadelphia after Charlie's set (but
not before square pizza and Ms. PacMan) and crashed for a few hours
on Jeb's floor. Brunched around noon then drove back to Boston. Poor Andy.
Tuesday May 25, 1999, 10:30
Lizard Lounge, Mass. Ave., Cambridge
Part of "Skeeter Johnson's Grassroots Revival" Also playing that night was
accordianist extraordinaire Suzi Lee (of Slide doing a very very cool solo
accordian/synthesizer/French language set) and the Gilmans.
Friday June 18, 1999, 10 pm
The Linwood Grill, 69 Kilmarnock St. near Fenway, Boston
Followed by Auto 66, DJ Brother Cleve, and the truly inspirational Seks
Bomba (both Auto 66 and Seks Bomba were celebrating the release of their
debut CDs.)
Friday June 25, 1999
Plough & Stars, Mass. Ave. Cambridge
We invited our friend Dan to sing some of his twisted-ish country-ish tunes
on which we acted as his "backup band" for the first set (around 9:30).
Then, starting around 10:30 and going well into the evening, we played two
sets as the "Rock Band" that we usually were.
Monday July 19, 1999
Jacques, Bay Village, Boston
w/ Rick Berlin hosting and opening Pete Weiss & the SPECIAL Rock Band (Pete
on guitar, Kevin Quinn on bass, and Emily on drums) rumbled through some
old PW&RB songs, some future Weisstronauts songs and perhaps on odd cover
which I can't remember...)
Thursday September 9, 1999, 11 pm
Toad, Mass. Ave. Porter Square, Cambridge
NINE/NINE/NINETY-NINE: not a "Rock Band" show, per se. It was actually an
embryonic version of The Weisstronauts. Well, it WAS The Weisstronauts,
although at the time they were billed as "Pete Weiss & Friends."
The core: Pete on guitar, Emily Jackson on drums, Peter Linnane on guitar,
and Kevin Quinn on bass. New and old material was tinkered with... Peter
Linnane contributed a few solo numbers, as did Charlie Chesterman, and Stephen
stopped by and sat in on lap steel. Opening up the night was former Treat
Her Right-er Dave Champagne.
 |
Monday September 13, 1999 Green Street Grill, Green Street, Central Square, Cambridge Brief solo set (on banjo and acoustic guitar) by a very ill Pete followed by Baby Ray, Charlie Chesterman, and Mishima. It was the third in an ongoing series of benefits for MARE (Mass. Adoption Resource Exchange). $5 got you in, $10 got you in AND a copy of the "Place to Call Home" compilation CD. All profits go to MARE. |
Thursday September 23, 1999
Plough & Stars, Mass. Ave. Cambridge
PW&RB all night. I think this was the only time we ever performed Grand
Funk's "We're An American Band." This was Pete Weiss & the Rock
Band's second-to-last show before throwing in the rock towel (rumors of
a reunion tour in the early 21st-century are premature...) I recall Arto
and Sean from Mishima, along with Dinty Child (a talented cat who's played
with just about everyone who's anyone over the years...) being persuaded
to join us for "background vocals" on our last number of the evening,
"Rock Band Theme." None of these guys were particularly familiar
with "Rock Band Theme," but they rose to the occasion when informed
that the only lyrics they had to repeat ad nauseum were "Rock Band
Theme, Rock Band Theme, Rock Band Theme, oh it's the Rock Band Theme..."
It all seemed quite appropriate at the time. Stephen
announced to Pete and Emily his intention to retire. Or he might have said,
"this is the last one for me..."
Friday November 5, 1999
Lizard Lounge, Mass. Ave. Cambridge.
The last official PW&RB show. In typical PW&RB fashion, it was also a CD-release
party. Yes, just in time for throwing in the towel, we presented our swansong
CD "We're An American Band," the title track of which we did not bother
to perform. 'Twas a long, bittersweet evening. The highlight may have been
our only live performance of "Jeden Po 909" (the Beatles' "One
After 909" sung in Polish.) The last song we played, "Rock Band
Theme," clocked in around 9 minutes long, and contained a long listing
of everyone who ever played with us, live or in the studio. Zippah Studio
assistant engineer Dave Green recorded the entire two-set show (including
the official debut of the Weisstronauts, who played four songs sandwiched
between the Rock Band sets) onto a Tascam DA-88 and we later mixed it down,
which made me a bit misty-eyed (sniff). The recording sounds good and may eventually appear in some form. And thus ends an era--over 4 years, a full 55 months
of continuous rock glory, well, we enjoyed it. Related current projects
for our happy trio include: Pony (Stephen), back up for Licia Sky (Emily
& Stephen), The Hot Tamale Brass Band and other Mickey Bones projects including
Zydecrap (Emily), Sool (Pete) and The Weisstronauts (Pete & Emily).
We are pleased to rock in Boston with lots of great bands, friends and friendly
venues. See you at last call.
Saturday December
21, 2002
The Midway Cafe, Washington St. Jamaica Plain
Hold the phone, what's this? A brief PW&RB reunion at the Weisstronauts'
Holiday Jubilee (also playing that night was Lucky 57 and the first ever
actual performance of Sool featuring all three Soolies. But that's a different
story...) Stephen borrowed my maroon Les Paul, I borrowed Kevin Quinn's
G&L bass, and Emily played her kit as if we had never really taken three
years off. Our brief set included "Einstein," "Robert Robbs,"
"Jeden Po 909," and "Cyclone Fence" (with Dave Thomas
on bass while I drummed and Emily sang.) Will it happen again?
Thursday September 7, 2006
Plough & Stars, Cambridge
The answer is YES, we reunited for a full set at the Plough. The
Weisstronauts also played (and I believe this was the night that Kevin
Quinn was nearly groped by a drunk lady that wanted to recite
poetry.) Stephen looked awesome with amazingly sculpted facial
hair and a cowboy hat! PW&RB did not rehearse for this, but rather
agreed to do "independent study." The challenge of the night was
playing, for the first and only time, "Overflow," a song from the 2nd
album which we recorded but had never performed live. I think we
did okay! I do recall... we were QUITE loud. It's been a
while, but with the reunion album set for release, I imagine we will
perform another time or two. Or three...
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