Alcohaulin-Ass!

Hey y'all...this where I would usually write how the weekend and I fully intend to but I just had to post this on our blog: a review of the Firehouse gig courtesy of Gary (the sound-man extraordinaire...I'm not joking this guy's awesome!) and the fine folks at Weekly Musician.com (Hollywood & Norm)Be sure to check out their site for what's happening and who's playing where...
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Are you sure that's "Whiskey Johnson"?

Well I had heard them in the past, but only briefly and usually only when I wasn't working, and hey I don't spend much time in a bar when I'm not working. But after 2 nights of antics and crowd fueled mayhem I propose at least an addendum to the name if not an outright change! I think once whiskey might have played a large part in the bands palate..that and BEER!"beer is good beer is good beer is good!"! but now I think it should be "Jagermeister Johnson"! ( hey! then you could be JJ for short!) I mean I had heard that theses guys drink and all but the stage looked like an explosion in booze factory! I can definitely see why Chad loves to have these guys "in the house" they definitely "bring the mayhem" when they stroll in the door! Even with mother nature at her cruelest Friday night there was a good crowd. But Saturday.. Holy Crap! DAMN the torpedo's, batten down the hatches and prepare for heavy rolls! Standing room only! Those folks were here to party!
Now I'm sure it comes as no surprise that these guys have a reputation to uphold! That's right I didn't say "have a reputation", it goes WAAYYY beyond that my friends. These guys don't just BRING the party they ARE the party! If rumors are true, then who drinks more? The band or the crowd! Well I have heard that they really fall apart as the evening goes on and the booze goes down. Ya I guess I saw some of that, and ya they had had a while off and only had one gig since 2007, but these guys are fun, down and dirty, and they do a pretty darn good job of having fun! They also whip the crowd into a frenzy and keep them on edge all night! I guess I wonder what they would have been like if they had been playing regularly!I mean they were a little rusty on some songs! hell, they completely fell apart on more than one occasion, but made fun of themselves in the process and came right back with a blistering version of this or that and generally rocked the house all weekend. There were some signs of confusion, and some disharmony, but that is to be expected with a long layoff, but the harmonies were thick and lush and the instrument work was good. Ricky is a mean chicken picker, and Dave! well Dave is just ..well Dave! A hilarious, crazy, bombastic, electrifying, and totally bizarre front man! Geez Dave, have a good time will ya.. I mean DAMN my KIDS don't have that much energy! Lyle, holding down the bass and singing a fair number of leads and harmonies as well. Chris, the newest member of the band is rock solid on drums, and sings harmonies as well. They alluded to the fact that they are all related, somehow! but ya, they're a family, and the crowd is treated as family as well. I think that is what has made these guys so popular. They have as much fun with the crowd as they do with themselves!



All right so lets get to the dirt! For some time now I have wanted to revamp my monitor system! well it HAS to be done! I was having a hell-of -a- time with the monitor rig trying to get enough out of it for these guys and truth be told I had some feedback.. geez I never have feedback, and I was having a hard time pinpointing it! I am going to end up bi-amping the monitors to try and get more out of them. That will allow me to have far greater control of the sound and much greater gain before feedback. We all know as musicians we are DEAF AS A STONE! but DAMN! LOL oh well, I will emerge from this better, and stronger. One big problem as I have railed before on many occasions is a lack of a proper sound check! It makes all the difference in the world, and helps to prevent such occurrences. But life is often cruel, and no one ever said it was fair, so suck it up and "get er done"! I found out I have some "holes" I need to patch and I will persevere! NEXT time guys! You thought it was loud THIS time! To quote your own page! Fugheddaboutit! Next time it will be different! Better, so come prepared to "Rock the house" I'll be ready, willin' and ready to blow holes in Volkswagens!

Dirty deeds...An addendum to the "Jager Johnson" band story!

Ah yes and the culmination of that phrase! Compliments of some rabid AC DC fan no doubt! "Done with sheep!" and yes, before you get your hackles up there is a corollary here. I gather there might be some "inside joke here" as well but Dave was somewhat ceremoniously presented with an "anatomically correct" blow up sheep ..er.."bedroom toy" to the strains of the AC DC song "Dirty Deeds". I say somewhat only because they might have made a bigger deal of it, (the presentation that is) especially since I get the impression that Dave is somewhat of a prankster in his own right! At any rate, Dave graciously accepted the symbol of a bygone era when "Men were men, women were scared and so were the sheep" and very UNCERIMONIOUSLY mounted said sheep on the "BUTT" end of his mic stand. This was soon insufficient and Ricky, trying hard not to be outdone, attempted to insert his telecaster up the errant sheep's wazoo,only to again be usurped by Dave who appeared to mount the somewhat shocked looking quadrupedal, ruminant mammal, and in true cowboy fashion and proceeded to ride the cloven-hoofed beast around the stage as if he were being drug behind the poor frightened animal.

I will grant you this, that sheep held up pretty well under the pummeling it took that night, and of course that offered these cowboy kooks one more good opportunity to wreak havoc on an already shellshock crowd. This mayhem brought screams of joy and laughter from the crowd which seemed to have an uncanny sense of clairvoyance in unraveling the mysteries of some of the profound things that happened both on stage and "in the house". It was clear to this intrepid reporter that nothing would REALLY surprise this crowd especially, if Dave was involved in the shenanigans!
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My review will posted on here shortly but if you there either night or both of 'em, we'd love to hear your thoughts about how it went, how much fun you had or not and what you think worked or needs to change? We want feedback from you our friends/fans so we continue to ROCK HEAVY and keep the music going!!!!!

Thanks and we'll see you at the next show,

Ricky (Lead Chicken-Picker)