UPCOMING DATES & LOCATIONS
October 29, 2010: Central Park Grill at 8:00pm
This is as close as we'll get to a Halloween gig, so get your ghoul on and come out for some fun with the Fools.
Celebrate autumn with the Fools in the intimate surroundings of the CPG.
KEEP YOUR DAY JOB TOUR
To keep the wolves from the door, the Fools have focused their latest tour in Western New York. The KYDJ Tour has seen an exhausting schedule which sometimes playing two gigs in the same month! Safe to say these tireless road warriors will do whatever it takes to put the music out there for their loyalists.
CENTRAL PARK GRILL
8/13/2010 Friday the 13th turned out to be a night to get lucky with the Fools. An impromptu "Under The Boardwalk" in the first set and a unannounced guest singer on "LA Woman"? What gives? Jim E stretched his vocal cords a bit to help Joe get Mister Mojo risin'. Later in the evening The Fools nearly had a guest player when an apparently overserved and underdressed woman stepped onstage to ask if she could play Bill's guitar... no dice!... Mike's guitar?... no thanks!... how 'bout the drums?... at which time Angel Kim took her by the hand and danced her back onto the floor. Deftly done, AK! Thanks to Mark M for choosing to celebrate his 50th birthday at the Fools' gig, and congratulations to Mark, Susie Q, Joe and the others (there were others) who celebrated recent birthdays with the Fools, or just by being a Fool. See you in September!
6/25/2010 was a good night for the Fools. They rolled out several new tunes and celebrated the First Friday of Summer with a solid three sets of music. Joe rocked a new version of a Loretta Lynne classic, "Van Lear Rose", a famous oil-spiller, ocean despoiler got a dedication of "Vampire Blues", Bill & Joe harmonized a beautiful version of "Mother Nature's Son" that segued to a majestic "Into The Mystic". Late in the evening Joe followed the lead of distorted guitar by taking "Come Together" into a mysterioso jamarama "Riders On the Storm" and back again. Questions left unanswered: No dancing on this warm and beautiful summer evening? Who is Gip and what's the deal with the invitation to "a real hootenanny"? The Fools may attempt to unravel these timeless mysteries.
MUSIC AT THE MARCY SERIES
On 3/11/10 the Fools took part in the first ever Music at the Marcy Casino events sponsored by the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy (BOPC). The historic Marcy Casino building poised at the edge of Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park was rockin' into a beautiful late winter sunset as the Fools rolled out some new material to the BOPC crowd. One party-goer who only identified himself as "Al" betrayed his otherwise respectable demeanor and revealed his Deadhead past when the Fools launched into a raucous take on Tennesee Jed and a blistering rendition of Bertha. The series featured six consecutive Thursdays of music from local Buffalo bands and seemed to be a terrific success.
CENTRAL PARK GRILL - VALENTINE LOVE FEST
On 2/12/10 the Fools painted the CPG red like a big candy Valentine heart, packed with anti-oxidant dark chocolate, the kind that's good for you just like FLU music, not the kind with disgusting mystery cream in the middle that other people poke their fingers into trying to find out if it's a caramel... no this was the good stuff... yeah, all night long
CENTRAL PARK GRILL - THE REAL STEEL DEAL
A very, very special night was had by all the Fools and their foolish friends on 1/16/10, when the Fools were joined by pedal steel wizard Bob Barone. Bob traveled all the way from Charlotte, NC for this gig, and when he says "it ain't the real deal... unless it's got steel" he knows what he's talking about. Also sitting in with the Fools was Dan Kolb of the Buffalo band Beggar's Best. It was truly a monster night for the Fools.
THE PAST FANTASTIC
A SHORT HISTORY - BOOKWORM'S PARADISE TOUR
Diehard fans will remember the chaos created in the late '90s during the BP Tour when a thrown copy of War and Peace lodged in the tuner keys of Friedrich's balalaika. Friedrich abruptly exited the group over a tiff about the replacement cost of his damaged novel deflector. Without a dedicated balalaika-ocarina player in the lineup, the band was forced to re-tool the entire set list. Long Balkan jams were out, as were the haunting ocarina stylings that Freddie was known for in some of the band's best-loved songs. Three months of wood-shedding new material had the boys road-ready, but this time epic mechanical breakdowns forced the sale of the beloved Big Chartreuse Bus. After paying off the tax liens that haunted them like Willie Nelson's ghost there was barely enough to settle the nasty "Shave The Whales" legal proceedings. The lads escaped to Buffalo with just the shirts on their backs. Fortunately some of the best shows from those early gigs on the Bookworm tour survive on analog cassettes made by "taper-azzi". The 05/31/96 show from Slug's Shoehorn Inn, and the 06/04/96 show from The Pesty Side are deemed the most collectible and in-demand performances.
PREHISTORY - THE BANJO NATION TOUR
Almost completely forgotten (and most agree it's for the best) is the band's ill-fated participation in the Banjo Nation Tour. Several problems plagued the tour, not the least of which was the pesky detail that only one of the Fools can actually play the banjo. The promoter's prohibition against vocals or any other instruments forced the unschooled Fools to tinker along as best they could without inflicting serious aural harm. More fundamentally, the tour promoter misjudged the draw of a multi-city, all banjo tour. Bluegrass is one thing, but 17 acts comprised entirely of instrumental banjo proved to be too much for even the most dedicated fan of the five string. The unlimited free coffee supplied by a corporate sponsor (who has since sued for anonymity) was at first thought to be a blessing, but nerves were at a feverish jangle when the event recalled only as "The Frailing" began. In a "We Are The World"-type finale to the first evening, all 68 performers crowded the stage pounding away on their five strings. Sadly, a failure to communicate the chosen tune caused 17 different songs to be played at the same time. History does not record who threw the first pick (most believe it was "Snooty" Charles of the High-Waisted Pluckers; out of respect for his widow no charges were filed), but the ensuing melee forced the promoter to seek asylum in Canada. It is also believed, though undocumented, that the sonic shock from that performance disrupted a high-pressure system and brought about 17 days of uninterrupted rain. The symbolism was not lost on the survivors.
