Each of
them being just as fun and friendly offline as they are online; Dannielle (Girl Scout)
Salapack, Sexy Sly, Bill Lane and Donna, "Magic" Carole from California, Steve
Walker, Dave (STOUT!) Vallee, Jackie and Gail Sheehan, Jack and Michele Paulishen,
Rivermary Maria and her husband, Matt and Irene Sadacki (good to see you guys again), the
famous Stan and Kim, Stan and Trish from "currently Atlanta but moving to
Florida", Mike from Atlanta, Dean and Hank, Tony and Pat, Pam from Queens, Ben
Berringer who supplied me with mucho CD-R's, Billy from Boston, "Southside" Neil
from England, Steve and Ilene, Brian B., Danielle from NJ (yes, there was a 3rd one!) and
her boyfriend. I feel like I'm rattling off an Emmy Awards acceptance speech here with all
the names but I had a blast hanging out with you all.
The fans made it just as much fun as the bands did. Keep in touch everybody. TGIFriday:
Checked in and hooked up with my roomie and partner in crime for the weekend Dannielle
Salapack from Canton, Ohio. Registration was fun. We each received a little package of
goodies that included a booklet about the weekend's events, an 8 x 10 black and white
photo of the band and our JUKESTOCK nametags which easily allowed us to connect with the
people who we've been looking forward to meeting.. and avoiding the ones who irritate us.
Just kidding. Lots of mingling going on.
Don't think I've ever shook so many hands before in my life or uttered the phrase
"Yep, I'm the tequila Danni". Hood and Billy Smith's collection of a few of
their favorite Juke’s things was quite impressive. Very large and varied with a few
rarities like the high school graduation picture of Southside Johnny that Steve Walker
laughed out loud at without realizing that Southside was standing right next to him!
Hahaha.
After the "welcome" reception, we moved into Garden State Ballroom where Jeff
Kazee's band, Professor Crewcut, entertained us with a cool palette of soul for about 2+
hours. Having Chris Anderson there on trumpet was a fun surprise, having Southside Johnny
drop in for a few songs was an even bigger surprise. The biggest surprise had to be Jeff
inquiring about Sly during his set. Sly was at the bar though and missed it. I bought
Jeff's CD, "No River" - lovin' it, lovin' it, lovin' it. Now how do I sign up
for this guy’s mailing list so that I can catch the band when they play my neck of
the woods?
Next up is Bobby Bandiera's Band and here's where things begin to get a little fuzzy,
kids. Ya see, the thing about posting comments about imbibing yourself in tequila is that
other people will of course read what you write (duh) so all night long folks were poking
fun at me and offering to buy me booze and what's a gal to do? I didn't want to insult
anyone by turning them down so 9 cuervo and grapefruit drinks later, I'm feeling kinda
happy and spent portions of the night semi-propped up against the back wall with a
Kool-Aid grin on my face. Although I do remember doing the lombada (not LaBamba) with Sly,
Danni #2, Hank and Dean. Of course, there was also that unfortunate incident that happened
when I stumbled through the lobby and into the Bobby Bandiera merchandise stand.
No worries though, Dan - I made it back to Brooklyn in one piece and friends made sure
that I wasn't without my Vitamin "T". I was happy to hear some Bobby originals,
"C'mon Caroline" which always gets me going and a very beautiful "Tracey
Marie", which I hadn't heard before. Ed Manion, Joey Stann and Jeff were on hand to
lend their flavors to the show and got things swinging in no time. Tons of dancing and
photo ops going on everywhere I looked as people got more and more comfortable with each
other as the night pressed on.
Another Saturday Night:
The thought of meeting the Jukes sent me into cardiac arrest and I had like 6 strokes in
the lobby right outside of the autograph room cause I was so damn nervous and stumped for
words. I had these visions in my head of the band being all grumpy and hungover and
spitting at us as they rushed us in and out of the assembly line. Well, let me just tell
you that they were the warmest and most personable people who I ever had the pleasure of
meeting.
Although each of us were given a time block to attend the autograph session, as to not
congest the room too much or have to stand around waiting for a long period of time, the
line that filed into the room was kinda slow at first and I eventually realized that it
was because the band was taking so much time to really talk to people that the line came
to a stand-still every now and then, as opposed to everyone moving along in 10 seconds -
it was great! They gabbed to us like we were old friends, smiling and joking and when you
asked them a question, they didn't just reply back with short "yes" or
"no" answers, they elaborated and told stories and it was such a comfort to all
of us to see that they really wanted to be there.
LaBamba was handing out these small, colored, plastic objects that Louie Appel had to
explain twice to me what they were (CD openers, I think), Jeff Kazee was signing Rusty
Clouds name to everything and he even recognized ME from the Digest!! Bobby wrote
"Dennis Franz" under LaBamba's autograph on my album and he let me take a
picture of him with the other Danni, comfortably resting his head on her bosom. Dannielle
and I exchanged perverse and callowish banter with the horny-horns. Mark Pender donned
Dannielle with the "Girl Scout" nickname after she joked with him that she had a
girl scout uniform she was gonna wear for him and when I had my photo taken with Mark and
Chris, one of them copped a feel!
Southside was a bit more reserved but pleasant and gracious all the same. It was a dream
come true for me to be able to shake his hand and tell him how much I appreciate his music
and the efforts that he and the bands were putting forth for us to make this weekend
happen. It was also real nice to feel his hands on me when we posed for a picture together
but that's a WHOLE OTHER DREAM of mine that we won't get into cause this is a family show,
dammit.
Later in the afternoon, it was time to share the love with The Love Man (umm, some of us
took that more literally than others but we won't go there just yet.. heh, heh). I missed
about a good hour or so of the Mark Pender Band because I had gone up to my room to try
and recover from my splitting hangover. However, I made it back downstairs just in time to
see Mark lead the horns out of the Ballroom and into the lobby where they surrounded and
serenaded a family who were standing there looking quite thrilled, especially the little
kids. Was also funny to hear Mark serenade Dannielle with a song about girl scouts!
The Jukes later packed the place in, past the doors and into the lobby. They were awesome,
of course! Highlights for me were; "Little Girl So Fine", "Tired
Skin", "Rhumba and Coke", Joey's kick-ass solo on "Walk Away
Renee", "On the Beach", Jeff getting up on top of his piano during "On
the Beach" pretending like he was surfing on some wild wave, Neil from England being
pulled up onstage to sing "The Fever" (which he executed brilliantly), LaBamba's
solo on "The Fever", Southside making fun of Carole's Jukes T-shirt from a
decade ago, someone throwing a pair of black, lace panties on stage and Southside saying
".. and they're just my size, too!" Bobby's son, Robert, playing guitar
alongside Dad, Mark leading the horns out into the crowd during "Havin' a
Party", Southside jumping into the crowd during "Havin' a Party", Maggie,
Jane and Debbie getting up onstage to lend background vocals during "Havin' a
Party" (the Chicken Sisters of the new millennium maybe??), 3 encores (or was it
4??), linking arms with the people standing around me and swaying back and forth to
"It's Been a Long Time" and finally being able to "raise a glass" with
people who "know what the fuck is going on" - as Southside had said earlier.
The band taking a moment to applaud the fans for all of our support. Singing "I Don't
Wanna Go Home" and really meaning it this time. They played for 3 hours and 15
minutes. Thank you to Johnny, Bobby, Muddy, Louie, Jeff, Chris, Mark, Joey, Ed and LaBamba
for 3 days we'll all never forget. Someone had mentioned in a previous post about how
accessible the band was all weekend long. So true. They were all just hanging around
whether they were scheduled to play that night or not.
They were extremely approachable and personable - they chatted for as long as possible and
they did say "hello" when they bumped into you throughout the weekend. Joey
Stann had told me that they were having a blast. By the way, a plug for Joey here - his
"Family Tree" CD is incredible. It swings! I recommend it to everyone. Buy it at
the next show, seriously.
Unfortunately, I had to blow outta Tinton Falls early on Sunday like so many others did
because of the threat of that stupid storm that was approaching. I stayed long enough
though to see the first half of LaBamba's Big Band (15=20 or so people up there including
Bobby) and was able too see the beautiful plaques being presented to Maggie, Jane, Debbie
and Joe Prinzo for all their hard work. It was very touching.
Gee, was this post long enough?? I hope everyone who had to travel great distances to get
home made it back okay. Favor to ask - silly me took like a zillion photos this weekend
but I didn't really get any of myself so if anyone out there has any pictures of me, I
would really like a copy of them just to prove to myself that I really was there and this
wasn't all just a dream. I'll pay for the postage and handling and fee for the duplicates,
of course. Until next time, my friends...
Raise a glass..
Danni "Tequila Girl"
Brooklyn, NY
P.S. - Okay, this is driving me crazy.. anyone out there know the answer to number 3 on
the Jukes Trivia Quiz? What IS Southside's middle name?? |
