MUSINGS & RAMBLINGS

I arrived about half way through the first set. Johnny Vernazza’s band was up. They were playing southern-rock tinged blues with a touch of “Americana.” The drummer was playing some hard rock drums and the keyboard player was comping along in a standard way. I’d heard Johnny Vernazza before and this was more of the same so I went outside for a while.

Volker’s set was a powerhouse. Opening with “Shuffleupagus”, they settled everybody into the groove. After that it was full out, all out, all the time through the whole set.

Volker was soloing into his stratospheric flights almost immediately. His new old Telecaster giving him both his roadhouse sound and the lead guitar sound that grabbed so many of us first in “A Case of the Willy’s” and then with the Volker Strifler Band when it first appeared at the old Tradewinds. I’ve seen a lot of shows and sometimes I’m not too ready to jump on the “Gee Whiz!” bandwagon, but Volker and the VSB’s set this night was magnificent. Blowing me away with song selection they went right to Volker’s truly unique slide guitar re-working of “Spoonful.” I don’t know how he manages to make the slide guitar have an extra scale note.
“People you’re a lying about,
That Spoon,
That Spoon,
That Spoonful!”

Carl Bowers has a trombone solo on that song that rightly made people cheer.

Songs like “Angel” were burning and the solos by Volker, David Schrader on tenor sax, and Chip Roland Conden on Hammond organ were incredibly full. This song has become a new favorite with its minimalist intro section and then the full power of the band entering.
“She was walking just like an angel,
Really something to see,
My mind was tumbling..
Just like a rolling…,
Just like a Rolling Stone.”

It was a very potent and driving set. People were going crazy out on the dance floor. The VSB never let up and pushed the energy level higher and higher. David Schrader was be-bopping in place and Carl Bowers was grinning harder and harder. Don Bassey, playing still another new bass, a “Musicman” with the big powerful pickups, was booming the bass lines as he twisted and shoved the bass in classic style.

Chip was rotating his head and getting really satisfied looks on his face.

Gary Silva on drums was looking really smiley and seemed to be making big arm extensions and lots of body motions. It looked like they were Having Big Fun. In the audience we were going pretty nuts and the dance floor was full.

The last set was a jam set with Johnny Vernazza and his band. It was all right, but the energy level was less, and the southern rock cast of the Johnny V Band limited the harmonic work the melded band could do. At a couple of points the harmonic substitutions the VSB does as a matter of habit seemed to make the Johnny V members uneasy. After the Johnny V’s bassist was substituted for Don Bassey and a flute player added to the VSB horn section the music got kind of tame with standard changes and familiar southern rock guitar licks and I decided to go home.