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If you do not like long posts, skip this one…….. There is a ton to cover and a lot of thank you(s) to be distributed. I am writing this at about midnight on Sunday, March 19th, two nights after the St. Patty's day show at Pub 78, a place that has been great to us in the last couple of years. I am still buzzed with fun and adrenaline. It was a crazy experience, but as I told the band, it is the most fun I have had to date, and I have a great time every time we play. I had a ton of anxiety about this particular show because it was the first one in which we were trying out a brand new digital board, replacing our old one. Eventually, we will be running all of our instruments out of the board, but for the Pub, which is a smaller place, we only ran the vocals (Lisa, Richie as leads, and Ron and Ellen on backing vocals, and me on idiot commentary) and Ellen's nineteen (well 3) keyboards through it. I asked Jake Helm, seriously, a kid genius, to run the board for us. Jake works at "A Sound Education" (Sound Ed Webpage) and has his own recording studio in his home with the same board. He plays in multiple projects and plays multiple instruments. The challenge is how do you mix those things with Jimmy and Joe's screaming guitars and the bass as they are coming out amps equally with the stuff coming out of the board. We only had room for two monitors because we are a seven piece band and the stage area is built for a four piece, so that poses another challenge. Jake came in and helped set up and worked his butt off the entire night. Given the evening, the circumstances, I think the kid did an amazing job. I am also incredibly jealous of his hair, his age and his skills. What a great kid, and he really is a freakin' kid!!!!! My second piece of anxiousness was getting all the crap to the show. Two woofers, two speakers, the board, (the back up board, our old one just in case – {yes I am neurotic when it comes to that stuff – I mean, I am a shitty bassist and I bring three basses to the show and two amps in case something doesn't work…}. – Billy the Barrel, because he has not missed a show, the box of never-ending chords and cables, the bear rug…. You get the picture) and Rob Blair was out of town. I asked my son's friend, Mitch Beasley to drive my son's giant monster truck to the show because there is no way I am driving that thing, and along with Cielo Oviedo, help bring in and break down equipment. Cielo, also in addition to having equally fantastic hair as Jake, was invaluable. He helped bring in equipment, set up and break down and assisted Ronnie with the drum assembly and break down, which as Ronnie will tell you sucks, big time. Cielo also took the majority of the photos that can be found on the photos page for the last two shows. Mitchell and Cielo were super helpful and the band really appreciates all that they did. Additionally, Tom Wiener, an Illinois State communication and production graduate helped wind up chords properly after the show. The man is a magician, because every time I do it, they end up a spaghetti mess. First things first… I have to give a huge shout out to three distinct groups:
Jake and the band kind of struggled through the first couple of songs to figure out the right levels. I thought the crowd was super patient and everyone worked hard to get it right. We seemed to find a grove around song 3 or 4 and went with it through the set. We had several weird spinal tap like moments during the both sets. All of the sudden, Joe cannot get sound. Richie says, "Folks, we will be back in five." Right after he says it in the mic, Joe connects a cable, or I think more than likely did an Arthur Fonzarelli (the Fonz – Click here to see who Joe Smith is really.... ) and cooly smacked his equipment and then it worked. I could not remember the stupid note sequence and took four runs to actually start "Hot Child in the City." Jimmy forgot to tune back after "Tainted Love" and needed a second before we could start, "Time for Me to Fly." Lisa told me I had to stall because Joe had to go the bathroom, so I broke into a 5 joke Rodney Dangerfield imitation. Jimmy says hold on, "I can't get any sound." After a few seconds he realized he pulled out his chord and just had to plug it back into the guitar. None of these things were all that bad, just funny things that happen when you are playing live. I am still learning, Joe, Lisa, Ron and Rich have played hundreds and hundreds of gigs, Jimmy and I are not even at 20 yet. It only seemed to make the evening just more fun and crazy. The first set settled in and I thought we gained momentum, The crowd really came alive when we ended the first set as Dave "Evad" Gonzalez, the original lead guitarist, taking Jimmy's place so Joe and him could rip it up. They did not disappoint as we tore through versions of "When You Close your Eyes" and "LaGrange." Damn that was fun watching those two trade off. Joe is freakin' amazing and it was cool to have Dave back even if only for two songs. The highlights for me were five specific things amongst a crazy fun evening.
I sense another t-shirt coming with the catch phrase, "no one has more fun at a BiPolar Bear show than "JELLYBEAN"!!!!!" Jellybean (I will only say her first name to protect her professional image as an esthetician) is an old college friend of Lisa and Rob Smola. She let the party rip, singing every song, dancing on tables, we LOVE JELLYBEAN!!!! Honorable mention goes to a friend of mine, a proud St. Lawrence Mom and rocking mad woman, Sara Morelli. She was singing and dancing and really went nuts during the second set. Sara designed a digital flyer for the show on the 22nd which you can see on the shows page. As we were playing "Last in Line" and "Juke Box Hero" I kept thinking to myself, how lucky am I that I get to play with these super amazing talented people. Joe is pushing us to another level. Ellen adds such cool pieces on keyboards and her harmonies are spot on. Ron is just a monster behind the kit. Jimmy works hard and provides a key sonic piece in filling the rhythm of each song. Our singers as I said are just freaks. They let it loose and both have amazing power and touch. I really can't remember them not giving it everything during the shows. There are some great bands out there, with amazing musicians, but I will tell you, when you see us, even when goofy things happen, does anyone look like they are having any more fun than us (except Ronnie when he gives me dirty looks for a wrong note)??? No way, and it is because of our friends, family and the folks that go to the shows are crazy supportive. All right, I am finally gonna shut up!!!!! Hope to see you on the 22nd. Rob, the idiot bassist!!!
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I was not real sure what to think when Jimmy Cavanaugh presented the idea of playing the polar plunge at Lawler's bar in Chicago. A Sunday afternoon show in the city after some brave souls jump in Lake Michigan to raise money for the Special Olympics was yet another different venue for band.
It was an absolute beautiful day (March 5th) and I am sure the plungers (is that the word?) appreciated the sunshine and warmer weather as opposed to snow and death defying below temperatures. Ronnie, Jimmy, Ellen and Rob (along with roadies Rob Blair and Cielo Oviedo) arrived pretty early as the tent was finishing being constructed. They got an early start on setting up when we realized Ronnie's cymbals were still in Jimmy C's garage. Ian Cavanaugh came to the rescue and brought them out in plenty of time. The band had not played a show since August and worked with the newest part of the Bear, Joe "The Baron Von Tappin" Smith on the set list as well as adding new songs. Wow, did the Baron deliver, ripping note for note solos by Steve Lukather, Neil Schon and Prince. Holy Shi*, did he slay Purple Rain! Perhaps my favorite part of the entire experience featured Richie getting a few of the Athletes in a circle and getting them dancing and singing during the first set. Those kids were out there for a good chunk of the first set. Dancing later occurred as several of the (overserved???) patrons were flying like airplanes during the REO – "Time for Me to Fly" classic. I do not know how to spell Joe "the sound guy's" last name (phonetically it is Boe – Sell -ie, I think). He plays in several bands all over Chicago including a country and Americana cover band. He did a killer job on sound. Perhaps we were a little loud because we were on one side of the tent and a good chunk of the audience was in back, eating, singing and drinking. In my opinion, sound is such a challenging thing, especially with a seven piece band. Rik Kroll, Kevin Cavanaugh and Nick Madsen have done awesome jobs for us previously and Tailgater's was phenomenal. Joe did a great job and I heard several comments that the vocals were mixed real well so everyone could hear Lisa and Richie clearly with no squeaking etc. as well as the background work of Ellen and Ron. A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO ROB BLAIR AND CIELO OVIEDO for all the help in setting up and breaking down and loading equipment. Cielo also took the pictures on the page for this event {www.bipolarbearband.net/polar-bear-plunge---352023.html.} It was a pretty cool experience, and we might just go back next year, you never know. Rob, the idiot bass player! It took a while to get this last show written up, and I think that is because I wanted to savor it a bit. Show 13 (including the two yard parties we played at the Cavanaugh residence to our friends and family) felt like the end of a cycle. The show at Salerno’s in Hodgkins took place on 9/24/2022, but it took 3 weeks for me to write this up. During those 13 shows, the band played 13 unique set lists composed of 51 tunes, some were played at nearly every show, and some were only played once. Now with winter approaching, the band is probably going to take some time off, eventually reconvene and hopefully even further expand the BiPolarBear Palette with some additional material to get ready for when spring rolls around.
The Salerno’s show (number 2) was marked by a modest but enthusiastic crowd, with a core staying to the very last note. Richie had them screaming for more with his vocals on the White Snake Classic, “Here I Go Again” while Lisa had them in the palm of her hand for Halestorm’s “Here’s to Us,” marking only the second time the band played that live (with Tailgater’s being the first). “The Prozac Portion of our program” as the idiot bassist introduced with Henley’s “Heart of the Matter,” and the Oasis classic, “Champagne Supernova,” appeared to go over well with the enthusiastic crowd. All night Richie and Lisa were on their vocal games, but you have to add a tip of the cap (or a do rag to keep the sweat out of your eyes because of your bald head) to Ron and Ellen, who not only did a great job on keys and drums, but added killer layers of harmony vocals all night. Richie was so pumped; he forced the band into playing one more song after Purple Rain (which has been the standard closer). The one hit wonder of Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta” was the final song of the night. Special shout out and thanks to Rik Kroll for his sound work (the vocals were amazing) and superfan Trish Cavanaugh, who seemingly is at every show and helped produce the silent film of nut shots, prat falls and goofs playing on screen behind the band. Additionally, thanks to everyone’s encouragement and attendance. I know I have had a ridiculously fun time embarrassing myself in front of those of you who attend and I know the band is chopping at the bit to get back out there. Hope to see you soon. In for Zippy, the idiot bassist (10/10/2022) Having completed three shows in 5 weeks, the band had to be pooped at the conclusion of the Mayfair Field show on August 3rd. This show had a lot of crazy external weather things going on well before the band started to set up at 5 PM that day.
The weather was absolutely bizarre. I suspect that the bands very own Tom Skilling (Jimmy Cavanaugh) stayed up all night studying barometric pressure, wind charts, the farmer’s almanac, and the theory of rain (thegeoroom.co.zw/climatology/rainfall-formation-theories/). Monday and Tuesday were warm cloudless days, and Wednesday started off that way, and then depending if you stood in your back yard or front, it was monsooning (I believe that is a made up word, but you get the picture) on one side and sunny on the other. When the band began carrying the equipment to the stage, the clouds would alternately clear, and then drizzle. Forcing the band to start and stop setting up, start and then cover the equipment with tarps and garbage bags. Did I mention it was humid as a Florida gator swamp (img-aws.ehowcdn.com/700x/cdn.onlyinyourstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20160319-132629-largejpg-700x394.jpg?). Doing the best, he could with the equipment he had, Nick Madsen tried to get the sound right. But as this reporter is learning, this is an elusive and challenging art. The Mayfair stage was set up on some planks and bricks in the outfield of the East Field, so there is no shell to really base the sound against. The drizzle, the humidity and the gremlins that apparently follow the band around to these outdoor shows were affecting lots of things, but Nick and the band soldiered on giving it the old college try. Hats off to both Lisa Strzelecki and Danny Dunn (open.spotify.com/artist/7muPMJKYfmShWtkfVEXZh2) on lead vocals. These outdoor shows are not easy between the heat and finicky monitors, but they dug in and blasted through 20 songs. The gremlins were particularly angry with the idiot bassist as his normally trusty wireless system failed him. He could not wander about, scaring the patrons with his bare feet. Instead, he was tethered to be near his amp and mic. As a result of this stress, moronically, he had to be reminded to introduce Lisa because he simply forgot. The purple Gatorade award goes to Ron “Rolly Tolly” Townsend, who frighteningly drummed so hard in the heat, he lost 1/3 of his body weight. Carrying the percussion around, setting them up, breaking them down, unloading and resetting up in the rehearsal space is a pain in the keister. Rob Blair, super roadie, was again there to help Ron, but it is still a challenging task. The band dusted off a few cuts they had not played in a while. Dishwalla’s “Counting Blue Cars” and Harvey Danger’s “Flag Pole Sitta” were back for the show. For only the second time, the band got to blast out the Scorps’ cover of Soft Cell’s, “Tainted Love.” Scorpions’ version is quite a different feel than the camp of Soft Cell. Jimmy Cavanaugh debuted a “Mad Max” shirt he got on Etsy in front of his hometown crowd. Sadly Aldo wore a hat, concealing his rock star hair. Once again, many people in the audience were in fact related to Mr. Cavanaugh. Quite frankly, at the conclusion of the Mayfair show, the 12th in band history, I am starting to believe there could be a town or a province which could be densely populated by people only of Cavanaugh descent! Thank goodness they show up to these events and that they reproduce at such a high rate! Zippy McWiggy  The band got in a 90 minute set in front of a really receptive, fun and large crowd at Kiwanis park in B as part of the Summer Concert Series for the Brookfield Park District . This reporter can confirm that it was freakin’ hot! Rob the bass player was quoted as saying, “We are not going to comment on it being warm, but we are concerned the drummer will spontaneously combust!” Poor Ronnie drummed through it like a trooper. Perhaps it was his aerodynamic haircut that inspired his brave performance?
It was a weird night for several reasons. Because of the humidity, rain and perhaps the invisible gremlins hiding amongst us, mics suddenly would go out, weird buzzing noises haunted Richie and a very small amount of rain fell on the crowd seemingly from a cloudless sky for a few minutes. The crowd was kind and patient as the band and Rick Kroll from RAK sound battled through it. There was a lot of folks singing back at the stage and 707’s “I Could Be Good For You.” Also getting a decent sing along and reception, were “Jump” (VH), Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and Chicago’s (actually Berwyn’ very own) Ides of March song – “Vehicle.” During the first several songs a mosh pit of 5 to 7 little kids aging in ranges of 4 to maybe 8 took over the center area in front of the stage. In one of the best moments of the night, during "Jump", the undeniable Richie LaFaire, attempted to get person after person to give him a vocal on his microphone. Person one, refused, person two made a face - no vocals, third person gave him the "hand of no." The fourth person looked to be an elderly man who might have fallen asleep before Richie finally got the fifth person to give him a "JUMP!” Well done Mr. LaFaire. Any of you that have attended biPOLARbear shows in the past must notice that Jim Cavanaugh carefully pieces together the clothes he wears for each performance. The band was unaware that he was actually going to be dressed in costume as the construction worker for famed disco group, The Village People. Til next time, Zippy McWiggy Zippy will be back for the next show report, this is Rob (Bob, Bobby, Boober, Boobster, Bobert, Ellen’s Roadie, Hey Asshol*), the idiot bassist and I wanted to write about the experience of playing at Tailgaters bar and grill in Bolingbrook.
To be a bit selfish here, Tailgaters has been an important place to me for a long time. For probably a dozen years or more, the bar sponsored the 12” softball team I played on for 31 of it’s 32 years of existence (Cool It Ringo stopped playing as of this year, 2022, It began in 1989. Yes, the name of the team was Cool It Ringo, and if you really want to know the genesis of the team’s name, just ask me). Additionally, over the years with either Jimmy Cavanaugh, my brother Jimmy Smola or fraternity brother Dave Kaczorowski I have seen killer national acts play at Tailgaters. Uriah Heep, Stryper, Local H, Geoff Tate (formerly of Queensryche) and Dio’s Disciples have all graced the stage of that cool ass place. I can now say, so did BiPolar Bear!!! What a trip. This was the most fun I have ever had playing with the band! And pretty much whether it is full band practice, mini practice with Jimmy and the blue tooth speaker, or a show, I have too much fun. Tailgaters is an awesome place. Food is amazing, the staff is very friendly and the bar/restaurant/stage inside is awesome. Two professional sound and light people work for the bar and they are crazy good. Starr Lee and Glenn Curtis are absolutely brilliant, they can even make me sound competent!! We had a ridiculous amount of snafus trying to secure an opening band…. I think the final count was four or five bands that said they would play, then (much like lovers practicing the rhythm method) they pulled out! So… BiPolar Bear opened for BiPolar Bear. The band ripped thru two 18 song sets! We debuted three new ones, Eddie Money’s “Shakin’”, a Scorpions’ laced version of Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” and Halestorm’s anthem, “Here’s to Us.” I get goosebumps several times a show. When Richie belts out Shinedown’s “Second Chance,” when I hear Ronnie do the double kick in Vehicle, When Aldo (and Dave before him) starts shredding in “Purple Rain” and I can now add Lisa’s performance of that Halestorm song to the list. Before we played it, she gave an impassioned dedication to her older brother James, who battled Parkinson’s disease and recently passed away. Her heartfelt intro and then her emotional performance brought me to tears. It is a great song and she killed it!!!! The band is a little leery of my effusive praise of them, but I can not express how much fun it is to play with these people!!!! On top of it, to be playing at a place like this with one of my dearest friends on the planet (Mr. BiPolar Bear himself), Jimmy Cavanaugh, is a lot of joy to process. I am still on an adrenaline high as I write this on Wednesday evening/Thursday morning. The show was even more special for me because I had six fraternity brothers there, several dear friends, my son and wife. What a trip, playing on that stage, with that sound, with the awesome humans in bipolar bear in that place! Finally, during “Switching to Glide/This Beat Goes On” after I had 4 other patrons doing the pogo with me (tying the record of Pub 78 second time), my wife came up to me while I was playing, and motor boated (www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=motorboating) me!!! My God, can it get any better? Rob (Zippy will be back next time). Bi Polar Bear got the chance to play Pub 78 for a second time on May 21st. Once again, the crowd was awesome and most of them probably related to Jim Cavanaugh. Thank God he is from a large Irish Catholic family or no one might show up. He has a built in audience – nephews over there, cousins on that side, in laws on another etc, etc, etc.
Rik Kroll, from Rak sound came out well before the show and set up the sound, something that had been an issue the last time the band played the Pub. Between his prep work and a great job by Kevin Cavanaugh on the board at the show, the sound was much improved. This was the very first show for Aldo Kliene, who had been working individually and with the band since Dave Gonzalez’s exit after the Salerno’s show on 2/26/2022. It was a fine debut as Aldo cranked through both sets and scorched the stage near him with his bluesy tone and approach. The band worked through two sets including the second time playing “She’s a Beauty” by the Tubes, “Uninvited” by Alanis Morrisette and “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson. Two new ones snuck in, as “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers replaced the Partridge Family thing in the beginning mash up and 707’s “I Could be Good for You both debuted. Jimmy introduced the Bay City Roller opener as “one of the most awful songs ever recorded” and if you listen to it, the sound production is just as awful. Once again, Richie and Lisa were breaking microphones with their powerful deliveries and Rolly Tolly had an awesome night behind the kit. Ellen and Rolly also were really crisp on some of the background vocals they delivered. Ellen was awesome on “Uninvited.” Behind the band, Trish (Jimmy’s sister-in-law) and Jimmy presented a 23 minute movie that looped in the background. I can not describe it, but if there was a title I could offer, maybe it would be, “Nut shots, unfortunate events and other really oddly funny things.” Bi Polar Bear is never gonna tell you they are the greatest band out there; so many great musicians are playing brilliantly all over the Chicagoland and suburban area. They will testify that they have a great freakin’ time playing and are ridiculously fortunate to have such great support from their friends and family (and a lot of people with the surname of Cavanaugh) to come out to the shows. On a final note, the idiot bassist conformed to the health code and instead of playing barefoot, which is the preferred method, he debuted some sweet toe socks, that he reported felt good, but also did not violate any standard restaurant procedures. Til next time, thanks for reading Zippy McWiggy The following observations do not reflect the views or opinions of any of the band members nor the collective philosophy of Bipolar Bear as a band. The following are the musings of Zippy McWiggy, who may in fact be yet another of the whacky bass player’s voices that live in his head.
What a crazy night! Salerno’s was packed, and it looked like the band was pretty on its game. Lisa and Richie were blasting out the tunes from deep inside of their privates. Ellen’s keyboards were on point, and her backing vocals were awesome. Rolly Tolly was bringing the thunder and making bizarre faces every time he did some of his thunderous fills. Jimmy was smooth in his weird skeleton outfit and with Dave, the guitars were really good. That band looks like it has fun. Lots of laughs and smiles and that obnoxious bass player, what a goof. It has come to this reporter’s attention that a controversy is a foot. In fact, the feet of the 4 stringer has caused quite a stir. Patrons, shocked and appalled at the unpedicured toe digits, to the establishment banning the bare feet at any future shows because of silly health codes, have in fact caused the man to order toe socks for any future shows. It appears if he cannot be truly barefoot at these venues, he is going to be close to it. Finally, Dave “Evad” Gonzalez played his last show with the band. That is a hard thing to contemplate. As he ripped his solos all night with a ferocity and sincerity, I sensed the rest of the players were soaking his playing in, holding on just a little tighter to the enjoyment he has provided during their almost three years of practices and 9 months of shows together. That kid is a special. Ronnie Townsend has often been quoted as saying, “Dave has no idea how good he is.” His modesty seems impossible given his talent, but it is sincere. He is a brilliant guitar player who can play nearly anything by ear. Every member of the band will tell you, he is a better person, just a very sweet, humble and nice gentleman. Seeing Dave pass the torch with Aldo Kleine, as the two shared the stage to trade solos during ZZ Top’s LaGrange, was a surreal, sad, but cool moment. Jimmy C broke the news to the folks at the show before gracefully leaving the stage to let the two have at it. That and when the idiot bass player cut his foot were my two favorite moments of the show! Till next time… Zippy McWiggy Here is the BiPolar Blog.
if you are looking for information on the Bear, you will find it here on this website. Thanks for the support. The blog will be an area where we will post observations about the gigs and hopefully have some fun in this space. Thanks to all for the support. See you out there. Zippy McWiggy (2/2/2022) |
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