Rockin' in Hyannis

Finally, we arrived at Sophie’s in Hyannis on time. On time? We’ve been way too early. It was 9 p.m., Joe D’Urso was supposed to open up at 10.30 p.m.. After meeting the bands, we went to another bar to get something to eat. Still incredible, how cheap these T-Bone steaks are if they’re not done the way you ordered them...

Anyway, we got back at showtime. Unfortunately, the bar wasn’t crowded too much. There was easy enough space for dancing and partying...

For everybody of us, it was the first time to see Joe D’Urso playing with the band. In June, we’ve seen him with his bass player Dan Albanese in Zurich - acoustically. Now with the band. All the musicians on stage looked like true rockers. And they also played like true rockers!!! Joe D’Urso on acoustic guitar sweat it out. He was running over the stage, jumping, crying, dancing, joking. He didn’t care about the lack of a big audience. The people who were there had paid the entrance fee, so they deserve a Rock’n’Roll show. That’s exactly what Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan did. Beside Joe, there was Mr. Rock’n’Roll himself, Dan Albanese on bass. If you have ever the chance to see these guys live, make sure that you’re close enough to the stage!

Watch Dan’s face and his poses. The 50’s are back. Not too fast but with a lot of soul! The drummer also deserves a special note because if you see him off stage, you won’t believe that it’s the same man who’s on stage to play the drums for Stone Caravan. He’s doing an excellent job as well as all the other members! And, last but not least, Jason, the soundman, took care of the acoustics. It was because of him that we had such a great sound! Yeah, I think that’s very important! You see these guys giving it all on stage and it sounded excellent. All the energy on stage came down to the audience. And it really was a hell of energy on stage and in the air! Joe did it similar to Bruce Springsteen like he did it 20 years ago. But, and that’s very important, Joe did it in his own way! And he did it well, very well. It was too bad that he hadn’t more time to perform. All of us wanted to see Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers. But we wouldn’t have minded if Joe D’Urso & Stone Caravan had have played for another hour or two!!!

Yes, so ‘round midnight, Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers entered the stage for their performance. There were a few more people, but still not sold out, which was a shame! Both bands deserve sold out gigs!

Grushecky’s gig was different than Joe D’Urso’s. He wasn’t jumping at all. He was just standing there in black clothes with a red electric guitar and this powerful sound in the back. It looked completely different! Joe Grushecky always reminds me of one of his own songs: "Pumping Iron, Sweating Steal". Yeah, they’re really sweating steal. Compared to Joe D’Urso, Grushecky is sweating steel while D’Urso is sweating blood & beer. The sound is also louder, heavier, darker. There’s less fun onstage but more... It’s like they’re going straight through everything and nothing can stop them. Where’s a will, there’s a way. It’s not the easiest way, but if you work hard enough, which they all did, then you’ll get there.

Grushecky’s setlist was very interesting! He played a lot of songs from "American Babylon" as well as older tunes. To our pleasure, he also played a few new songs which are going to be on his new record. He also covered one Bruce Springsteen song: "Light Of Day" - the one he recorded for the "One Step Up/Two Steps Back" tribute-album.

After Grushecky’s two hour gig, a hard rocking, blood sweat & beers sweating night found its end in the silence of Hyannis.

This was cool, wasn’t it?!?!