Lanark Records: Show Dates

a review from a fan

Wednesday,November,26th,2008 was a great night in downtown Philthadelphia,Pa. @ J.C. Dobbs club 304 South Street.
1. J.C.Dobbs
Wait,rewind 30 minutes...Gary and I did make our usual trek for steak sandwiches. Gary wanted Geno's,I cried like a bitch for Pat's...so Pat's it was. Btw...Gary's parking skills are off the hook. Everytime we go to this spot,Gary get's us right to the sidewalk and I did freeze my ass off for Pat's too!
Anywayz.......
I generally don't write reviews on shows because it has to be one hell of a show for me to be inspired to write of. Well,last night was such a night. Myself and best friend Gary made the journey to see some long time friends,Quentin and Wendell Jones...The Reach Around Rodeo Clowns.
Years ago, When I was in the hardcore band,Somber,here in Lancaster,Pa. We did a show with Quentin and Wendell at a little club called "The Uptown Comedy Club" (the original Chamaeleon Club birth home),which eventually burned down,from the inside out. R.I.P. Great times their.
As Gary and I made our way to the front door of the J.C.Dobbs club,their stood Quentin on the walk enjoying the Philthy night life of South Street. We shook hands and shared some memorable moments of times past. I couldn't remember the original name of his band when we did a show together long ago and Quentin was kind enough to refresh my memory of the original name of "The Rockabilly Brothers". Awesome!!!
Wendell arrived to his own personal parking spot in front of the club and it was great to see he still has a great sense of humor.
The club...J.C. Dobbs.
Lets enter,shall we?
Small...dark...no smoking and 2 kegs of beer,all you can drink for $10 bucks!!!
As the staff were getting things set up,I met two wonderful girls from Australia that were only in the country for 4 hours!!! Their names (hold on)...Larry and Tanzia. Yes,the girl's name was Larry (and she was in her pajama's)and she was gorgeous. I remember them both staring,pondering,gazing and motioning at me,when Gary and I were hanging outside. The girls looked at me like I was a bad science project gone even worse,but...I get that a lot. So I took no offense. As we introduced ourselves later inside and said cheers to a piss warm Pabst from an over pumped keg,(For the record. I don't care who you are and how much "Pabst" you can drink. It is impossible to get drunk off that rat snot),Larry was intrigued to snap a picture of my neck. She was told that once in Philadelphia,that she would meet someone with a tattoo on their neck,and low and behold...their I was. :>)

The crowd was filling in full of some very nice folks that we're themselves. Rockers,greasers and rockabilly babies.
First up...Laurie Radzniak. A very pretty rockabilly/country solo performer that had a voice that bared a striking remembrance of Patsy Cline and lead singer of Mazzy Star,Hope Sandoval. Laurie and her acoustic guitar even covered a Patsy Cline tune (which I forget the title of) and even better. She covered Kitty Wells,"Making Believe". Which she did incredibly good!!!
Kitty Wells - Making Believe

I got to talking with Laurie after her performance and she is such a very humble person. She was shaking in fear and was so nervous AFTER her performance. I reassured her that she did great and everyone loved her performance. She was grateful and later she found me to bid her goodbyes for the evening. If anyone knows where I can contact Laurie,please,hook me up with any contact info on her. I neglected to do this myself,duh. Star struck I guess. I know she lives in Jersey,thats all I know. So help a brutha out! :>)

Next up...burlesque dancer,Miss Mae. Which reminded me of a very heavily tattoo'd,Kelly Osbourne. She came out to a rather blinding light show and had her booby tassels bearing the evening chill. Hahahaha....interesting to say the least.
By the end of her performance, the place was full. Wall to wall,front to back. Soundcheck for the band took a few minutes then away they blasted. Full on,hi-fi rockabilly energy at it's best. Loud (I mean,very clearly,but fucking LOUD show)!!!
Clowns Drummer Dave Farerra has got to be one of the hardest hitting and most talented drummers I have seen in a very long time. He didn't hit em hard cause he was madman,he hit em hard cause he was fucking good and earned his right to do so!
"The Clowns" had a new bassist (from what I understand this was her first show with the band),and for the life of me. I forgot her name. Very...very talented girl. On a stand up,fretless bass that was literally twice the size of her. During the course of their performance,she climbed atop of it and rocked it through the entire length of a complete song. She even did a little dance number on top of the monster bass. The girl definitely had her own balance and chops..no doubt. she played good,she played proud and didn't miss all night!
Wendell was in his true form and not only did he give a great show,his humor is uncanning during the show. Wearing his beloved "16" shirt,he made sure that their wasn't a moment to be missed.
Quentin...what can I say. If you've never seen a true guitar genius, then you need to make your way to see Quentin shred! I mean...SHRED! Just mind blowing of his talent on the guitar. I couldn't help but lose my voice shouting during is leads and fine,fine finger work. I'm not sure what type of amp Quentin plays through,but he definitely earmarked that classic rockabilly guitar tone.
The Reach Around Rodeo Clowns ripped through a long set of some long time classics of theirs. Such as "Mexico","Beaver" and "Bad Dudes A Surfin". (and yes I was singing along to all of 'em too) and they belted out some very,very cool rockin new tunes. Like "You Love Jesus,I Love Satan". The new songs are definitely in true Clown form.
It didn't take but 2 songs into their set,when the rug cutters stepped in and tore up the dance floor. Some young cats and their girls literally danced their asses of to such dances as The Lindy and some great Swing dance moves. I thought for sure the one guy was gonna spin his girl straight through the floor like a fuckin drill. He was tossing her around pretty good,but she held her own and was right their with him the whole time,rockin her ass off as well.
The Clowns also did some great renditions of some classic rocks songs as well.
Quentin,played lovingly (to his wife,Caroline,which was present and rockin all night with the crowd). Quentin played a classic guitar tune,written and recorded by brothers Santo and Johnny Farina. The song: "Sleep Walk". Which he did superbly.

The Clowns also played a great song by their friend Robert Gordon and the song - "The Way I Walk".
They also covered Elvis' "Little Sister" and did a great job at both songs.

For surely,the band also ripped through their hit song "Girl From Hell",that Stray Cat bassist Lee Rocker covered.

Oh,and not a 1 song encore...the Clowns charmed us all with a hot blooded 3 song encore!!! Schweeeetness!

All in all...if you were not at this show...your loss! As it was incredible in my humble opinion. But...don't fear. The Reach Around Rodeo Clowns and Quentin (The Comancheros) do have some upcoming shows,that you should make an effort to go see.

Please,by all means,check their page for their schedule!!!
1. "The Reach Around Rodeo Clowns" Myspace Page
Lanark Records Myspace Page

Pictures of last night. I will post as soon as Gary get's em uploaded to his hard drive. So,Patience. Gary deserves time off too! :>)

A little help if you will. Quentin and I were chatting and Quentin needs some help with a project he'd like to do.
To somehow rip some relic "VHS" footage to some other format so he can upload it on Youtube.
I am not that knowledgeable in doing such a task. (I can barely turn my VCR on,that hasn't been used in almost 10 years). ;>P
If you have any clues on how this can be done,please contact Quentin Jones via his Myspace page and title the header as "VHS Conversion".

Quentin Jones Myspace Page

If I'm mistaken in any of the nights events...blame it on the Pabst!!! No I wan't drunk,but I was just too busy trying,to no avail! :>)

Dutch

www.ticketmaster.com then search " JC Dobbs ". You'll see ticket information on the show

www.olympicskatingcenter.com ( Directions )
( Note : There is no alcohol served at the event , but
people can B.Y.O.B at the tailgating pre-party in the
Olympic parking lot which begins at 4:30 PM )