 We dropped by The Hayloft on Saturday, June 20th to catch Radiocraft, The Dave Hamilton Band and John Waite (of Babys and Bad English fame).
It was good to get out of the cave and mix it up again. Much drinking and merriment ensued - at least for me and Distortion Dave; my wife played designated driver (thanks honey).
What follows is a blow by blow, at least as my failing memory recalls.
Click "read more" below for the review.
Out Of the Cave & Into The Loft
We arrived early to find the members of Radiocraft mulling about in the Hayloft parking lot after load-in.
"Is that Mitch?" Drummer Chris Castro called across the parking lot with a tone of disbelief (I don't get out much).
What other local music dork would be sporting a 3X Radiocraft Work Shirt in broad daylight?
Hugs and handshakes all around. We've never made a secret of our unabashed loved for Radiocraft.
Inside, guitarist Kevin Breslin and bassist Ken Williams gave us the 411 on what the band's been doing since we last saw them at the CD release party for "Catch Your Death" back in aught seven.
Since then, Radiocraft managed to pay off their substantial recording debt by following up with some heavy gigging - which ultimately resulted in the band taking a lengthy pause while Suzy Ferro recovered from a bout of vocal strain (successfully, were happy to report!).
Having abandoned the auto industry for greener wartime pastures, former drummer/brother Danny Alcini took a programming gig with Boeing out in Seattle while guitarist/brother Ronnie Alcini, who's also suffered from the recent funkonomics, is supporting his clan with a marginally more profitable country/alt-country solo cover gig (apparently making good on his nom de guerre "Romeo Redneck"). We wish them both all the luck in their new endeavors.
Ken's supplementing his computer repair income with a cover gig and Kevin's looking for the same if you know anybody in need of a solidly professional guitarist/bassist and self-confessed "gear-snob" who's got more time on his hands than he's comfortable with. Anybody'd be lucky to have them.
Radiocraft
Feeling sufficiently informed, we took our perch near the stage (house-right/stage-left) by a pile of trap cases and a partiton wall wide enough to support a slew of cola-colored mixed drinks. We could only hear stage volume from our vantage point but it was loud enough to tickle the hairs in our reddening noses. The mix in the back of the room was predictably bad anyway (is that, like, a house rule for the opener?).
Radiocraft opened twith "The Burning Blanket" off Cach Your Death, sprinkled the set with some relatively new and brand new material ("Black Me" and "Make Me" respectively) and closed with some favorites from their sophomore release, Red ("Butterflies", "Bakersfield" and "Red"). Chris Castro hammered the drums so hard it shook the stage, causing a nearby keyboard to jump off its stand and attack an unsuspecting Ken Williams mid-riff.
Suzie was looking better than ever with a shock of blonde highlights contrasting with her ebony mane. She proved to be in fine form too, albeit still singing at the top of her range. A drunken plea for sonic sanity and a return to "In Stereo"-era dynamic vibrations fell on deaf ears (but who could blame her for ignoring my slobbering). According to her band, opening for Seether inpsired the move to harder edged material and it's been her standard operating procedure ever since. Still, I miss the more dramatic material of earlier days.
The end of set found me playing grateful roadie as the band had to make an expeditious departure from the stage to make room for the next act. Despite my drunken stagger and a brief stumble onto the dancefloor, I managed not to break anything.
The Dave Hamilton Band
The funky riffology of The Dave Hamilton Band would make any hair-metal fan proud, except for the fact that they all have closely buzzed domes and don't wear make-up or Spandex™. They're like Living Colour without the day-glo underpants or King's X without Doug Pinnick's goofy hairdo. Ok, what I'm trying to say is they're a black power trio but they rock hard, dig? But they can funk your face off too. Is that racist? I'm just trying to describe the band here, dammit! Never mind.
DHB features "Motor City Magic Dave" Hamilton on guitar, Wiliam Pope on bass and, shit, I don't even know who on drums - but he was just as scary good as the other two. They burned through a quick set of funky rock originals and supercharged classic covers, including an instrumental treatment of Rush's "Free Will" and a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" as a closer.
The crowd was duly impressed and roared with approval.
I don't think there was a still head in the house as William Pope pumped-out some seriously rubber-neckin' bass grooves on his wicked custom freakreation by Roun Couts and HMR guitars. You have to check out this band and that bass. Wicked.
John Waite
There's no mistaking the distinctive voice of John Waite. He sounded and looked as if thirty years hadn't passed at all. What a bastard.
But watching him perform was like being seized by some strage, junior-high regression time warp. Suddenly, I was transported back to Ski Club in 1979, traversing the slopes of Alpine Valley while THAT voice bellowed from the giant metal horns hidden amongst the evergreens. Oddly comforting and very cool. The half-pint of peppermint schnapps hidden in my ski coat didn't hurt either.
John Waite has written some really good songs. Great songs. Songs you might only admit you dig in the privacy of your own vehicle - unless you're a chick, of course. DD figures it's akin to being a Brian Adams fan - a guilty pleasure for any self-respecting punk. He made me swear I wouldn't "out" him . Oops. If it's any consolation, we both sang along like love drunk teenagers.
Waite opened with The Baby's classic "Isn't It Time" and played selections from throughout his career, including "Midnight Rendevous", "Head First" and "Every Time I Think Of You" (great). He also threw in a cover of Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" and Zep's "Rock & Roll". But it was those timeless singles like "Back On My Feet Again", and those classic adult contemporary romance tracks like "When I See You Smile", that made the show, somehow, magically delicious. Waite can still bring you back to the dance, if you know what I mean.
Oh, and the band rocked too. The guitarist maybe a bit too much. He was channeling Yngwie Malmstein when he might should have been channeling Eliot Easton. Great player though. Looks like Weeds character Shane Botwin gone bad.
Though the Hayloft's DJ repeatedly promised that Waite would be signing autographs after the show, he begged off at the last minute. The band recently returned from a European tour and cited exhaustion as a reason not to hawk merchandise in that dank, last-call, white-washed bar light.
It would have been an anti-climax anyway. Better to leave with junior high still humming in your head.
- Mitch
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