Bond-ing

By next Saturday night, I will have walked in the shoes of The Beatles...

... as an opening act for Gary US Bonds!

Yes, the Fabs opened for the Jersey shore party rock king when he toured Europe in 1963, and they were mere pre-Fabs. I was probably a mere embryo then. But I've waited for my turn in the sun, and now it's here. 40 years later. Another step in my embryonic musical adventure.

We found out on Friday that we'll be opening for Mr. Bonds at Lee's Palace next Saturday night. It's an early show; our set is at 7:45 till about 8:30. By "we" I mean the same core of musical affiliates who brought you the St. Paddy's Day Massacree, and the much-improved and well-received Fever On Queen Street Shuffle. Boag on vocals and hustle, Tim and me on guitar. And Boag has apparently secured the services of the lovely and talented Colleen Hodgson (John Borra Band), who is an excellent bass player and a fine singer. He's still trying to get a drummer (Don Kerr is touring in Europe or somewhere with Ron Sexsmith) and also possibly a harp or sax player.

Not sure what it is with these Jersey rock and roll stalwarts coming through town lately (we almost ended up opening for Southside Johnny a few weeks back, but that didn't come together). But Mr. Bonds has a new album out called "Back In Twenty", see cuz it's been 20 years since his last album. But, judging from the samples on his website, he's still in good voice. Springsteen appears on the disc, as does Southside Johnny, Dickey Betts and Phoebe Snow. And I'm sure he's got a kick-ass band. His back-up singers are his wife and daughter, both named Laurie Anderson (well, actually one is Laurie Anderson, Jr.), but not that Laurie Anderson.

You may remember Gary US Bonds from such early-60s hits as "New Orleans", "Quarter To Three" or maybe from the Springsteen-penned 80s revival number "This Little Girl Is Mine". He was a big influence on all those Jersey guys such as Bruce, Little Steven and Southside Johnny.

So Boag and Tim and I had out first rehearsal Sunday at Tim's place. Went through about 10 or 12 songs that we wanted to do. Of course, seeing as we only have a week, we'll also revive "The Fever", "Red-Headed Woman" and "Tupelo Honey" from our previous gigs. And most of the other songs are fairly straightforward, so hopefully we won't need to worry about wearing down the batteries on the Fuck-Up Meter. It's a pretty important gig, actually, especially seeing as we don't even play any originals, and we certainly want to make the best of it and not make the bookers regret their choice. So wish us luck, and if you're in the locale, come on by and cheer us on.