Betrayer/Eleven help, Jake to the rescue, 4 new songs and Sebastian destroys any song with Purple in it!

Bipolar Bear journeyed out to Bartlett for a show at Bannerman's on 6/22/24 and it was a doozy.  The band debuted 4 songs not played before by this or any other line up and had another ready to go if the darn time had not run out.

The crowd was flat out amazing.  Lisa had a strong showing of friends, family and co-workers and they were vocal in support of the show.  It is still a rush to hear people singing along when the band is playing.  We could hear lots of voices joining Lisa on Creed's "My Sacrifice" and 4 Non-Blondes "What’s up?" 

The handsome and talented Pete Covelli, the incredibly ballsy Diesel and bad ass Sarge from the bands Betrayer and Eleven (except Sarge, he only plays in Betrayer, metal is his thing, party rock, alt etc is not!) made huge contributions to the show.  Diesel walks on stage and sings and dances on Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" with the band to start the show.  Pete sang lead on 4 tunes and provided harmonies on a bunch of others and absolutely blew the room away with Lisa on "Bring me to Life."  At the end of the night, Sarge helped us load up all the equipment and all I had to do was buy him one Miller Lite big can.  If you all have a chance to catch Eleven/Betrayer Facebook Page, please do.  Those guys are killer players and put on great show!

Let's talk about Jake Helm.  This young man is brilliant.  He has done sound for us over the last couple of years at different shows.  When Lisa emailed the sound guy from Bannerman's 9 days before the show to check in, she received an e-mail on Monday from the sound guy.  It read as follows:

                                                        "I won't be there Saturday, Good Luck, Larry."

Immediately we asked Jake if he could do the show.  He called Larry (no the kindest cat in the world) and got some info, but walked in cold on Saturday and did the sound.  Mic'd everything including the drums (mind you there are as many as 8 of us on stage at one time) and ran a sound board he had never seen.  He was familiar with the model, but still never worked this board.  There were a few snafus, but man, the kid got the job done and did it well.  I listened to a recording of it and the levels are pretty darn clear.  Jake gets part of an MVP vote.  If you need sound done, your show recorded on video and audio, or buy an instrument, you can find Jake at a sound education in Brookfield when he is not in school or working on a variety of musical projects (kid is a mean ass bass player too) Sound Ed Web page.

Paul Wilhelm continues to amaze with his great time keeping and imaginative fills.  He is super fun to play with because he always plays something interesting, while keeping great time (if we could only get the bassist to be nearly as consistent, we might have something, Sherlock). Of course, this was a "home game" for Lisa and she delivered.  Whether blasting with power through "The Story" or Quarterflash's "Find Another Fool" or bringing her range down a bit to tackle "Just What I Needed" by the Cars or "Champagne Supernova" she was in fine voice and the crowd ate it up.  She even kept a straight face as the idiot bassist laid down on the bar floor while playing "Rocky Mountain Way."  That woman is professional. 

Two highlights of the evening have to do with Sebastian Marecki and the color purple.  The second to last song of the first set was an alt polka called "Start Wearing Purple" by the band Gogol Bordello.  Sebastian's vocal performance part genius, part Borat is worth the price of admission.  The sincerity and commitment he delivers is awe inspiring.  I hope Sebastian sings that at every show he plays, it is ridiculously entertaining.  Conversely when he plays the solo in Purple Rain and channels the little Purple one while adding his own seasoning to it is another showstopper.  Ellen really had some great keyboard moments in the Pete Covelli sang, "Runaway" (Bon Jovi) and the Cars, "Just What I Needed".  "Just", "Start Wearing Purple", "Runaway" and "My Sacrifice were all first-time performances.
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Thank you so very much for your support.  The opportunity to play these songs with these folks in front of you is a pleasure and a privilege we do not take for granted.  We truly enjoy and love it.  I think you can tell we have a great time.  See you at the next one, I hope.
 
Rob – I have been mistaken for Dr. Bunson Honeydew of Muppet Labs!