It was a wild night down at the Fais Do-Do. My first show in L.A. proper. My first solo performance in L.A. or the States, for that matter. And it was fantastic from my point of view.
Thanks to everyone who made the trip on a Friday night with high gas prices and a cover at the door. Sunshine funk makes good counter-programming for those who can wait to see the Olympics on their DVR. Ha ha. A special thanks to everyone who bought my CD at the show. Hope you are bopping to it now.
It was great to see a lot of familiar faces (Jen Tafolla, Paul Brown, Amee Brown) and some I hadn't seen in a year (Gabe Gianola, Lisa Golden, Bart Gold, TV's Star Hansen). Decades almost in some cases (Craig Hall). Many of you brought new people to see the show. You rock.
Like Homecoming, this year's International Pop Overthrow was chock full of friends: the Piper Downs played last night; Lisa Mychols from Nushu was in the house; Theresa Cowles, who sang on my album, was representing the Chaos Band; hadn't seen the guys from Adam's Attic or Checkpoint Charley in a few. In fact, Larry and I played the very first IPO in LA back in 1998 and many of the alums didn't know he was doing his thing with my solo act.
We went on at 8:30 and promptly blasted through our funkiest material, kicking off with Fall Out. The audience packed the dance floor in front of the riser. Cool. We jumped into Sucka and Bryan (aka Sterke Gitarrifs on guitar) and Larry (Astro on drums) brought their "heaviest" to it. This was the earliest I've ever played A Talent For Loving in the set, but it really worked. Bryan and I joked, because he threw up a prayer that he had started the song in the right key. The three of us hadn't been together to play or practice since we were in Liverpool. Take that! We hit our stride with U Had The $. That number continues to bring down the house. I really love playing it. Most of my old friends/fans hadn't heard the newer material and it was encouraging to hear raves for that song particularly.
Everything My Heart Desires followed. What can I say? Dedicated to the lovely Patty and all the ladies in the house. EMHD is a joy to perform. I gotta give a lot of props to my producer Adam Marsland for crafting such a listenable track. It's gotten dozens of plays on my iPod. How about yours?
We ended the set on a disco-note. Thirty years ago this week, the number 1 song in America was the Rolling Stones' Miss You. Many of you know this is absolutely a crucial cut for me. I can barely describe what the song touches in my soul. As threatened a few weeks ago, we played the heck out of it. Made it superslinky and I let Bry and Larry take turns burning that grease during the break down before "walking Central Park." People who had never seen me before were floored and the fans, well, the ladies loved it.
I will get some pictures posted from the show by the end of the weekend.
Of course, ours was the most slamming set. Although I really dug Armchair Oracles from Norway (nice trumpet solos) and Grove Hill from L.A. Groovy and grooving. The Piper Downs, who had themselves slyly introduced as Robert Bognar (Bobby, you may be getting your own TV show on the History channel and you may own normkelsey.com, but you can't keep up with me) rocked the house. Their new song "Handsome" is destined to stick in my head like the rest of their songs.
Overall, a wonderful night. Kudos to David Bash for putting on the best IPO night in L.A. ever. Yeah, I said it. Don't forget, in two weeks, I'll be headlining on the Universal Citywalk (Monday Aug. 25) to end their Summer concert series presented by KIIS-FM. I'm hoping to have a few surprises for you.
The other highlight in my life this week was meeting Martin Fry backstage at the ABC concert at the Gibson Amp. He was is great form for the show. I was really pleased that he played several cuts from his new disc Traffic. Told him so, too. He's a very charming guy and actually taller than me!
The whole of that concert was fun. The lineup included Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's and the Human League. That's right it was Sheffield's finest 80's pop bands. It was a thrill to hear the Human League play (Keep Feelin') Fascination, a 45 that I practically wore out back in the summer of '83. Whew... 25 years ago!?
On a serious note, I will miss Bernie Mac and his wall-eyed, full-tilt humor. His performance in the Original Kings Of Comedy makes me laugh just thinking about it. God bless you.
Peace & Disco Beats
Thanks to everyone who made the trip on a Friday night with high gas prices and a cover at the door. Sunshine funk makes good counter-programming for those who can wait to see the Olympics on their DVR. Ha ha. A special thanks to everyone who bought my CD at the show. Hope you are bopping to it now.
It was great to see a lot of familiar faces (Jen Tafolla, Paul Brown, Amee Brown) and some I hadn't seen in a year (Gabe Gianola, Lisa Golden, Bart Gold, TV's Star Hansen). Decades almost in some cases (Craig Hall). Many of you brought new people to see the show. You rock.
Like Homecoming, this year's International Pop Overthrow was chock full of friends: the Piper Downs played last night; Lisa Mychols from Nushu was in the house; Theresa Cowles, who sang on my album, was representing the Chaos Band; hadn't seen the guys from Adam's Attic or Checkpoint Charley in a few. In fact, Larry and I played the very first IPO in LA back in 1998 and many of the alums didn't know he was doing his thing with my solo act.
We went on at 8:30 and promptly blasted through our funkiest material, kicking off with Fall Out. The audience packed the dance floor in front of the riser. Cool. We jumped into Sucka and Bryan (aka Sterke Gitarrifs on guitar) and Larry (Astro on drums) brought their "heaviest" to it. This was the earliest I've ever played A Talent For Loving in the set, but it really worked. Bryan and I joked, because he threw up a prayer that he had started the song in the right key. The three of us hadn't been together to play or practice since we were in Liverpool. Take that! We hit our stride with U Had The $. That number continues to bring down the house. I really love playing it. Most of my old friends/fans hadn't heard the newer material and it was encouraging to hear raves for that song particularly.
Everything My Heart Desires followed. What can I say? Dedicated to the lovely Patty and all the ladies in the house. EMHD is a joy to perform. I gotta give a lot of props to my producer Adam Marsland for crafting such a listenable track. It's gotten dozens of plays on my iPod. How about yours?
We ended the set on a disco-note. Thirty years ago this week, the number 1 song in America was the Rolling Stones' Miss You. Many of you know this is absolutely a crucial cut for me. I can barely describe what the song touches in my soul. As threatened a few weeks ago, we played the heck out of it. Made it superslinky and I let Bry and Larry take turns burning that grease during the break down before "walking Central Park." People who had never seen me before were floored and the fans, well, the ladies loved it.
I will get some pictures posted from the show by the end of the weekend.
Of course, ours was the most slamming set. Although I really dug Armchair Oracles from Norway (nice trumpet solos) and Grove Hill from L.A. Groovy and grooving. The Piper Downs, who had themselves slyly introduced as Robert Bognar (Bobby, you may be getting your own TV show on the History channel and you may own normkelsey.com, but you can't keep up with me) rocked the house. Their new song "Handsome" is destined to stick in my head like the rest of their songs.
Overall, a wonderful night. Kudos to David Bash for putting on the best IPO night in L.A. ever. Yeah, I said it. Don't forget, in two weeks, I'll be headlining on the Universal Citywalk (Monday Aug. 25) to end their Summer concert series presented by KIIS-FM. I'm hoping to have a few surprises for you.
The other highlight in my life this week was meeting Martin Fry backstage at the ABC concert at the Gibson Amp. He was is great form for the show. I was really pleased that he played several cuts from his new disc Traffic. Told him so, too. He's a very charming guy and actually taller than me!
The whole of that concert was fun. The lineup included Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's and the Human League. That's right it was Sheffield's finest 80's pop bands. It was a thrill to hear the Human League play (Keep Feelin') Fascination, a 45 that I practically wore out back in the summer of '83. Whew... 25 years ago!?
On a serious note, I will miss Bernie Mac and his wall-eyed, full-tilt humor. His performance in the Original Kings Of Comedy makes me laugh just thinking about it. God bless you.
Peace & Disco Beats
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