Musical Musings of a Tiny Rager

Again, another night of wonderful music to start off the weekend. Every Friday in November, Bonerama held a November Northeast Residency Tour at Sullivan Hall in the East Village, NYC.  I attended their 11.12.10 performance with Jonathan Batiste a week earlier but it was tonight’s performance (11.19.10) that had us purchasing tickets the day the residency was announced many moons ago. Buzz Universe would open the venue at 9pm. The Nate Wilson Group opened the show at 10pm with Bonerama going on around 11ish.

Formed back in 1998 by Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, Bonerama won this years Big Easy Best Rock Band Award.  This is a truly impressive feat and should be greatly recognized.  A Brass-filled Funk Rock Band winning over all guitar rock bands?  That is just impressive.   They do have a guitar which Bert Cotton rages the hell out of but it is the horns that draw their crowd to the venues.  They have released five CDs and had the luxury of holding stage with brilliant musicians all over America.  I beg you to attend one of their shows in your area….check out their tour schedule here.

Bonerama

Greg Hicks – Trombone
Jason Jurzak – Bass
Mark Mullins – Trombone
Terence Higgins – Drums
Craig Klein – Trombone
Bert Cotton – Guitar

Special Guests:

Steve Kimock – Guitar
Kyle Hollingsworth – Keys
Maurice Brown – Trumpet
Jonathan Batiste – Keys
Nate Wilson – Keys
Chuck Perkins – Poet

BC to Kyle (Photo by Allison Murphy)

As we arrived, the stage was in the process of being arranged for Bonerama.  It didn’t take long.  When the lights dimmed, the front row got a little more smashed but as usual our crew had locked down the front providing plenty of space for me to just dance my face off.

The stage filled with BONES!!, the nick-name given to or adopted by the members of Bonerama, and it took them no time at all to for Mark Mullins and his Bones to blast into a Meters Medley containing verses and measures from Stay Away, Doin’ The Dirt, 9 to 5, and Stay Away.  The energy rose right off the bat and the small venue started dancing in unison almost immediately. Terence Higgins (Dirty Dozen Brass Band) started the set at the drum kit, the only special guest to be on the stage from the beginning.

Bayou Betty followed but it wasn’t long until Bonerama decided it was time to bring the heat.  Introducing Kyle Hollingsworth (The String Cheese Incident) on stage to cover the keys, they bounced right into Deed’s Well Done.

CK & Kimock (Photo by Allison Murphy)

Almost immediately, they introduce Steve Kimock (Steve Kimock Crazy Engine) to the stage.  Praying that he would position himself somewhere towards the front of the stage, we were denied.  He tucked himself behind Kyle‘s keyboard and barely smiled.  I absolutely adore Steve Kimock. He was the main reason I was there but as someone close to me so aptly pointed out, the man has hardly any stage presence.  Not complaining , just observing.  He doesn’t smile, he doesn’t have much expression at all.   But Jerry loved him. And when you are as talented as Steve Kimock, you don’t need to do anything but play.  To been seen shouldn’t be important to those who are feeding our ears with music. Is it your image or your sound you want us to recognize? Kimock is all about the sound and there is nothing wrong with that 🙂

By Lost, a Kyle Hollingsworth song, all three major guests had joined the stage. Kyle, Steve Kimock and Terence Higgins.  Kyle starting out the song with the NOLA styling of his keys and singing with his smooth voice.  This was totally his song from the singing to his keys solo towards the end.  At this point, the show just gets hotter and hotter. I really do advise you all to download the link at the bottom of the article and listen to it as soon as you can 🙂  The jams, the horns, the hotness….Oh My!

Now, a song for the horns!! When My Dream Boat Comes Home, a song made famous by Fat Domino and Patsy Cline, saw Maurice Brown‘s trumpet popping up into the massive group of trombones that filled the right of the stage.  Maurice, a New Orleans transplant, was giving ample time to show us his chops on the horn. With every pull from his trumpet, he made furious little faces reminding me of Skerik for a moment in that respect and I promised to pay more attention to him next time. Perhaps see his solo show somewhere. Afterward, Greg Hicks takes some time to thank Maurice for the performance.

MM & Maurice (Photo by Allison Murphy)

It’s about this time that the music reaches a boiling point and they never take the lid off until the end of the set. The light show got a bit better.  Steve Kimock ripped open his arsenal of talent unleashing it upon 21st Century Schizoid Man, finally taking a few steps to the front of the stage.  He plays Jerry so well as it was sounding right then.  However, his sound is unique and those of us who truly love him can pick him out of any song.  The members of Bonerama blasting their horns out to close off a trippy jam, reminding us that this was a rock concert and they were the leaders!!!

CK & Kimock (Photo by Allison Murphy)

The jams kept coming one after the other continuing on with The Way It Goes, another Kyle Hollingsworth song.  Maurice exists the stage leaving the other special guests still on stage. Kyle Hollingsworth gave us one more hot and heavy keys laced jam before Jonathan Batiste was invited to take his place at the keyboard.  As well, Chuck Perkins entered the stage.  Not knowing who he was but LOVING spoken word poetry, this was one of my favorite parts of the evening. “Lights, Camera, Music…”

And then we got the jamming-est Bonerama Whipping Post I’ve heard in a long time. Jonathan Batiste on the keys and Maurice Brown on trumpet. Great! (Much better on the recording.)

Set 1: Meters Medley, Bayou Betty, A Deed’s Well Done, Lost, When My Dreamboat Comes Home, 21st Century Schizoid Man, The Way It Goes, Poetry Jam, Something You Got, St. James Infirmary, Whipping Post

Kyle Hollingsworth sang and played on Lost, When My Dream Boat Comes Home, 21st Century Schizoid Man, The Way It Goes

Maurice Brown played on When My Dream Boat Comes Home, 21st Century Schizoid Man, Poetry Reading, Something You Got, St. James Infirmary and Whipping Post

Steve Kimock sat in on Lost, When My Dream Boat Comes Home, 21st Century Schizoid Man, The Way It Goes, Poetry Reading, Something You Got, St. James Infirmary

Some Steve Love

Music...

During set break, I got a chance to chat with Kyle Hollingsworth.  I mentioned enjoying his set at Camp Barefoot in Virginia earlier that year.  He thought for  second and then it registered.  “The one with all the moonshine,” he said.   He spoke of how he and his band found El Jefe in a convenient store on the way to that festival.  I had come to the show last weekend and had some time to chat with my friend  Terence Higgins but wasn’t able to catch him this set break. We emptied onto a smoky street to rest before set II.

A few times throughout the show I gave my front row spot to  the lovely Allison Murphy of Allison Murphy Photography. Hope you are enjoying her photos 🙂 I will let you listen to the rest for yourself but a few fun points about Set II before I go.

MM & CK (Photo by Allison Murphy)

Set 2: Intro, Swamped In, The Other One, Dark Star, The Other One, You’re The One, Yer Blues, Allright Allright, Bap Bap, Moby Dick

Encore: Crossroads

Kyle Hollingsworth sat in on keys for Swamped In, The Other One, Dark Star, The Other One, You’re The One, Alright Alright, Bap Bap, Moby Dick.

Steve Kimock sat in on Guitar Swamped In, The Other One, Dark Star, The Other One, You’re The One (his song), Alright Alright, Bap Bap, Moby Dick

Nate Wilson on keys, Joe Scatassa and Asher Rosssat on Trombones and Scott Bourgeois on Sax for Yer Blues

Bonerama + Hollingsworth + Kimock

Last thing, a small anecdote, perhaps a warning.  A girlfriend of mine got spit on during one of the songs.  I saw it out of the corner of my eye fly from the trombone and land near her spaghetti strap. LOL!!!  She saw me register it and then we both broke out laughing.  The conversation that ensued was hilarious.   Now, was this spittle awesome or gross?  My girl was totally grossed out but trying to find the humor in it.  However, there happened to be a red-hatted woman in the front row being overly playful with Craig Klein. Totally Wook Video Network worthy if I had had the stealth to tape her, which I didn’t tonight.  She would have loved something like this to happen to her. Should we have wiped it for her as a souvenir?  LOL!!  EWWW! But let this be a warning to you all.  You rage some front row Bones, you are bound to be spit on.  Second set, I give my spot to a lovely woman and within seconds she leans back and whispers, “You get spit on up here don’t you?” And with that, she turned around with a huge smile on her face, welcoming whatever came her way because she KNEW them Bones were worth it!!  Enjoy the show!!

Download: Bonerama Live at Sullivan Hall on 2010-11-19 (November 19, 2010)

Bones + Maurice