Bananas, guest singers (3 of them), broken string, an amazing crowd and choking on cheese curds.. Pub 78 - 4/20/2024 - BPB 2.0

​People, it has been nearly 9 months since the Bear went to sleep.  If you do not like long posts, change the screen now, it has been a long time and the Pub crowd did not disappoint.  This was an amazingly fun time.
I don't know if Sebastian "The Sardonic Pope" Marecki, the new lead guitarist brought any cheese to the show, but he sure brought a shredder, and his leads were killing all night.  The funny thing is he remarked to me that he was fighting with the outlet all night and had to fight with his pedals to get sound.  I don't think anyone noticed as he soaked the sound with colorful guitar fills on "Secret Agent Man", "Counting Blue Cars" and "Ain't It Fun."  He really let it rip on Quarterflash's "Find Another Fool", Benetar's "Heartbreaker" and his electric solo on "Purple Rain."
BPB played five songs that no line-up has ever played.  The aforementioned Quarterflash "…Fool" and Johnny Rivers' "Secret..," as well as STP's "Interstate Love Song", Old Dominion's "Make It Sweet" and the crazy crowd sing along, "What's Up" by Four Non Blondes.  Lisa's amazing vocals were almost drowned out by the crowd singing along.
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For our first show back the six of us (Lisa, Ellen, Paul, Sebastian, Jimmy and the idiot bassist) wanted to make it as fun as we could.  So, we asked some folks to join us on stage.  For me, Jerry Madsen, my cousin, has been playing in a band for around 50 years.  He is a self-taught keyboardist and singer. His band, Canyon played every wedding venue around the area and then some.  We asked Jerry to lend his voice for three songs.  The opener "Secret Agent Man", Badfinger's "No Matter What", and "Vehicle" by the Ides of March.  Jerry was a trooper. Of course we didn't put those songs together so he had to keep hopping back up and down the stage and he has some mobility issues.  It was an amazing thrill for me to share the stage with him because I have seen him play forever.  It was great that Canyon's guitarist, Don Hartman (not sure if there are 2 Ns or not) was there to see Jerry play.  We are gonna have to figure out how to get a mini Canyon reunion on stage with the two of them to guest on a song or two.  In the further interest of patronage (and mind you, Sebastian and Paul killed it and Lisa was her usual powerhouse self), Colleen Cavanaugh, an official associate member of BiPolar Bear (I have to check the by-laws to see what that actually means) just stole the show with her cool laid back joyous approach.  She sang background all night, sang lead on the ceiling collapsing "Flagpole Sitta."  I thought the crowd could not get any louder when she took the mic.  Then on "Make it Sweet", Sebastian got a break and she played guitar on that song.  Much to Sebastian's chagrin, she broke a string on his guitar and could not play on "What's Up."  Thank goodness that was the last song of the set.

​Our third and final singer of the evening was performer (from the famous Redmonds) and bartender, Katie Redmond, who after a dedication to Jimmy Cavanaugh's wife Jen (who was not there at the time, but her sisters were, so they accepted the dedication), sang the hell out of "Make It Sweet."
Seeing Jimmy and Colleen playing together all night was really a treat.  Yes, 63.7% of the capacity crowd probably shared the last name of Cavanaugh, but that was magic.  In 2015, when BPB was just Jimmy, Rob, a blue tooth speaker and Rob Blair holding his ears at how bad it was, Colleen would come in and sing or play guitar.  She was always an unofficial member of the band.  But to have her on stage all night, man, she is a freaking star….
 
 "Rocky Mountain Way" is featured on the front page and that was just crazy fun.  To see Ellen utilize the Vocoder, is just as fun as it is effective.  She does a great job, but it always makes me laugh.  If you watch the entire video, I steal some cheese curds near the end of the song.  That was really bad idea. I nearly choked on them for the next ten minutes.  So, if there is something to learn, please do not eat and play, it could be fatal.
If you look through the pictures, there are multiple sightings of a banana.  I think multiple people wore that suit, but this is now becoming a thing at Pub 78 BPB shows. That Banana made an appearance at the St. Patty's day show.  Which leads to the question, what is up with that banana?  What does it mean? 
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I guess the final thing to say is…. That was the most amazing crowd we have ever played in front of, ever.  The crowd stayed for both sets, sang nearly every song and just was having a blast.  We can not thank you enough.  BPB has always been about fun, the goal is to have a great time with you!  Thank you so very much for the support and showing up!

If I could throw a few more bouquets out there, it would be to Jen and Caryn who always make us feel at home at Pub 78. We have played and enjoyed a lot of places, but we have played there the most, and I love the other places, but Pub 78 is our home bar.  Additionally, to see Mike and Trish Cavanaugh make it out to a show, was the best part of the night.  Mike has had some tough health issues lately, but that did not stop him from coming to the show, sitting in front of the bass player and taunting him all night!   The bizarre film that played behind us in set 2 was put together by Trish (and Jimmy, who is an artist, just ask him).  Big props to Nick Madsen who worked his butt off (with his assistant Andrea (don't kill me if I call her your assistant or spell her name wrong, Nick) who did our sound.  That place is a real challenge and Nick did a great job all night.  Another shout out to our roadies, Rob Blair and Ceilo Oviedo who help us load and unload a lot equipment.  Thanks to Zach Smola, Zach Petrovic and Art Petrovic for also transporting the equipment to an from the venue.  Finally, to our families who are patient with us and don't mind that we spend Tuesdays in rehearsal and devote a lot of other time to the band.  We are so lucky to have the significant others we have.  And one last thank you, to Lisa, Ellen, Sebastian, and Paul for waking up the Bear!!!  Cheers, to many more!


​The Idiot Bassist
4/25/2024