Arch Street Zoo Reunion Party featuring Grapefruit Ed, et al
2014-09-28
the Grate Room at Terrapin Crossroads
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA
4:00 PM, Sunday, September 28, 2014
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!
[6:19 PM Announcements from Chuck]
Quite the party at TXR tonight, celebrating 50th Birthdays for Juliet Jones and Lori Zook, and a 30th reunion celebration for the Arch Street Zoo. The event kicked off with a fine buffet dinner, featuring platters of salmon from Fisherman Dave, as well as a killer kale caesar salad, sauteed vegetables, grilled chicken, and steamed brocollini. Yum! I probably could have knoshed through one plate of each dish, but I exercised self control (how rare!) and limited myself to just one dish split across all of the yummy choices.
Rob and Sasha got the musical portion of the night off to a fine start, with Sasha singing a pair of originals before Rob followed with a couple classic covers. Up next – and a surprise to me, though they may have been listed on the Facebook event page – was Gush, a Rush cover band composed of Rich Brodsky's son Adam on drums and vocals, with two otherwise unidentified pals – Alex and Trevor – filling out the trio. The boys acquitted themselves admirably: taking on Rush requires more than a little ambition and guts!
Grapefruit Ed took the stage about quarter past six, opening with a massive Shakedown Street. And thus the twirling began! While not particularly strong on the vocal end, the band certainly filled out the jam side of the equation, with strong efforts from everyone. About an hour into the set, Adam Brodsky swapped in for Steve Ellis, and the band raged through a finely distinctive pairing, sandwiching Eyes of the World within Feel Like a Stranger. I don't think them dead boys ever done it that way, but it worked pretty good for my ears.
The music continued without pause during setbreak, as Vince Charming popped up onstage for a couple of acoustic tunes while most of the revelers headed outside for a bit of fresh air. When Chuck called us back to order around 7:45, there was hardly more than a quorum of 20 dancers present, but at least we outnumbered the band, and their return was greeted with enthusiasm. Chuck announced that it was now the guest sit-in portion of the evening, and after Cubby jumped onstage to lead the crowd through a sloppy rendition of the Birthday Song for Juliet and Lori, it was time for more classic covers, beginning with a shared lead vocal on Feelin' Alright by Cubby and Juliet. Midway through the first jam Will Scarlet joined in on harmonia, woo-hoo!
The rest of the gig was one big slab of hot jam: the Weight – featuring a stellar harmonica duel between Sam and Will – and then Tangled into a 1971-ish NFA » GDTRFB combo, topped off by a climactic Gloria. What great fun! Gonna shout it every day!
Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!