Official debut of the new Nik Everett Group

Undertoad • Sep 2, 2004 5:45 pm
The Point, Friday October 1, 7 PM.

This event is expected to sell out.

I am expected to play bass.

My head is expected to swell beyond recognition.

In theory, we are doing a benefit gig early to solidify the act for the October 1 gig. This happens on Sunday September 19 at Finnegan's Wake, some time between 4pm and 8pm to be worked out later. However, our sound guy is not doing sound for that gig, and also it is sort of a dress rehearsal, and so we may suck.

(On stage one week before we're on stage: Al Stewart. Yes, "Year of the Cat", "Time Passages", THAT Al Stewart. Guy's kind of a hero to me.)

So what's it like - well the easiest way to find out, you can go to the itsaboutmusic.net download store Nik Everett page and listen to the samples by clicking on the little animated speakers. The stuff we are doing is basically the whole "Summer's Gone" album. In fact the event is the record release party for it. (That is not me on the samples. The record was done with other musicians.) Or you could go to Nik's home page. Those of you who wrote to the guestbook before, thanks, but something messed up and he lost a lot of entries. No, I don't run his website...

(and those samples come from the server sitting next to the Cellar server)
Griff • Sep 2, 2004 7:43 pm
Undertoad wrote:


I am expected to play bass.

My head is expected to swell beyond recognition.



As well it should. :thumbsup: Nice sound!
dar512 • Sep 2, 2004 8:03 pm
Nice tunes, toad. Should be a lot of fun to play.
jane_says • Sep 2, 2004 8:10 pm
Congratulations!!!
xoxoxoBruce • Sep 2, 2004 8:56 pm
It's a date. ;)
smoothmoniker • Sep 3, 2004 2:52 am
lemme know when you hit LA. we'll drink scotch and trade road stories. It'll be a hoot. A drunken, debaucherous hoot.

-sm
Elspode • Sep 3, 2004 1:40 pm
Undertoad wrote:
[url=http://www.atthepoint.com](On stage one week before we're on stage: Al Stewart. Yes, "Year of the Cat", "Time Passages", THAT Al Stewart. Guy's kind of a hero to me.)


My bandmate, Mike Nichols, would kill to see Al Stewart. Al is more than kind of a hero to Mike. Mike does about 50% of Al's catalogue, I think, and thinks that he and John Stewart are basically dieities.
warch • Sep 3, 2004 4:14 pm
Go get em, toad. xxxooo
lookout123 • Sep 3, 2004 4:18 pm
awesome UT. congrats and good luck. and putting a really tight ace bandage around your skull will keep the swelling to a minimum.
DanaC • Sep 3, 2004 8:52 pm
Woof! Good goin UT.
wolf • Sep 24, 2004 11:25 pm
phew ... I managed to remember to order a ticket. Thank goodness for "will call".

Edit to add: Anyone know the firearms policy at The Point? It's been a lot of years since I've been to a club. Back when I was following Beru Revue and the Flamin' Caucasians from place to place there was no search policy or metal detection, but the world has changed ...
Undertoad • Sep 30, 2004 2:47 pm
For those showin' up tomorrow - thank you! The show starts really directly at 7:00. I'm probably on your right-hand side, stage left. And, you can enjoy a fireworks display, as my mom, my girlfriend, my ex AND her boyfriend are all likely to be in attendance!

We are gonna be excellent, and put on a great show. I hope you give us the one encore because we have saved up the loud rockin' songs including one of Nik's older 80's-ish scene-ish songs. It's "Robert Hazard-esque"!
limey • Sep 30, 2004 6:17 pm
Good luck, have fun! :thumbsup:
When's the World Tour? ;)
xoxoxoBruce • Sep 30, 2004 7:16 pm
Undertoad wrote:
And, you can enjoy a fireworks display, as my mom, my girlfriend, my ex AND her boyfriend are all likely to be in attendance!

Hmmm, should I bring a whip or popcorn!?!?
Got it,.......coconut oil. ;)
elSicomoro • Sep 30, 2004 11:14 pm
Good luck, UT. Stay focused, but have fun.
Elspode • Oct 1, 2004 12:14 am
Break a leg, UT...anything but a finger or a bass string (bass strings are notoriously hard to break).
lookout123 • Oct 1, 2004 12:41 am
but boy are they fun when they do break. especially when you are in the middle of a show and like a jack ass, in a hurry you think you can rip it the rest of the way out like it was a guitar string, so then not only do you have to back up, do it the right way, and then get back in the show - you get to play the rest of the show bleeding from the dozens of little holes in your hand... yeah, bass strings are fun.
xoxoxoBruce • Oct 1, 2004 5:03 am
THE Bassman is nervous. Big night, Lots of distractions, reams of drama.
BUT it doesn't matter a whit, 'cause his axe is sharp, his fingers are calloused, his chops are hot.
Stand back ladies and gents, he's a professional. :king:
lookout123 • Oct 1, 2004 4:24 pm
Bruce - you currently have the best signature line. way to go. :thumbsup:
xoxoxoBruce • Oct 1, 2004 9:59 pm
I have felt the Toad's bottom,.........it was tight. ;)
I'm happy to report, the Cellar was not embarrassed tonight, in the least. Well,...except maybe when he tried to take over the group by tripping Nik as he came up on stage, but that just shows the man has drive,...ambition. :haha:

[COLOR=DarkRed]The crowd went crazy, when Tony took the stage.[/COLOR]

Now I've been listening to a bootleg of Summer's Gone, for a couple weeks but that's just between you and me. Let me tell ya, they killed it tonight.
2 encores and a lot of love in the room. :grouphug:

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You should have seen the hot groupies. Carumba!
xoxoxoBruce • Oct 1, 2004 10:02 pm
Yes, they boogied. :D
wolf • Oct 1, 2004 10:24 pm
The truth indeed is that UT rocked the house.

Overall the Nik Everett Group is fantastic. The combo is packed full of musical range indeed ... stylistically broad, without becoming sloppy about it. The variety of types of tunes enhances the experience rather than detracting from it. They are not a band in search of an identity, they clearly have one.

UT, incidentally, is not just a guy who plays bass. He is a guy who plays bass exceedingly well ... this is from the standpoint of someone who knows a bit about music and has an ear (I run screaming from discordance. It's physically painful to me ... and I spent the whole night in a very pleasurable space).

A little uncertain out of the gate, UT did exactly the right thing ... let the music take over and become the focus. You could see him loosening up and warming to the task as soon as he discovered the audience wasn't yelling for his head. he provided some amazingly lyrical bass playing, my friends, and those of you who missed this, missed magick.

UT is the (bass)man.

No question.

And I had a lovely time meeting Katkeeper and Jacquelita, and, as always, spending time with My Dear Bruce.
lookout123 • Oct 1, 2004 11:12 pm
you couldn't force me to move back east or up north or especially to the northeast, but sometimes i wish i was up there just so i could meet you all. and worship the bassmaster general, of course. sounds like you is da man anton.

(I run screaming from discordance. It's physically painful to me ... and I spent the whole night in a very pleasurable space).


oh, but wolf, there can be beauty in dischord... i might suggest a few things for you - even if you don't enjoy it, if you appreciate musical creativity you can respect it. Bloodlet - entheogen was a work of art, as was Coalesce - Give them rope. but if you want to be amazed at a band built around bizarre time signatures and a bassist who uses all 4 strings you must check out Uphold - Constant Use, or Apollo and Corbus.
elSicomoro • Oct 1, 2004 11:31 pm
lookout123 wrote:
you couldn't force me to move back east or up north or especially to the northeast, but sometimes i wish i was up there just so i could meet you all.


But would anyone want to meet YOU? :)
lookout123 • Oct 1, 2004 11:39 pm
sycamore wrote:
But would anyone want to meet YOU? :)


well, hell no... that is why i've been sent to arizona. tony had some pull with the government and i was sentenced to desert isolation.
Undertoad • Oct 2, 2004 5:44 am
It was a great night and I thank you guys so much for coming out! It was so much more fun having the Cellar "corner" there with the comfy chairs!

I am the luckiest guy to be playing out with Nik and his authentic voice and great songs.

I feel like saying, today I am a man. I got paid! For playing these songs, I got paid! Not much, but I got paid! What's the catch?
elSicomoro • Oct 2, 2004 9:21 am
Undertoad wrote:
What's the catch?


The Cellar is going to crash again soon. That, or the gig last night was payback for having so many issues with the Cellar lately.

Good to hear that things went well...you guys should play NXNW or one of the other city venues.
limey • Oct 2, 2004 10:00 am
Glad to hear it went well!

PS Isn't it wierd to get paid for playing music :3_eyes:
Undertoad • Oct 2, 2004 11:52 am
sycamore wrote:
Good to hear that things went well...you guys should play NXNW or one of the other city venues.

It'd be great! Nik is looking to book there, as well as the Fire, Tin Angel, Steel City Coffeehouse and the new XPN World Cafe venue. Meanwhile it looks like the next confirmed show is December 10 at the Grape Street Pub.
elSicomoro • Oct 2, 2004 12:05 pm
How come such a long gap between shows?

We'll be there...I've heard good things about the new Grape Street. Plus, it's close to our new place.
Undertoad • Oct 2, 2004 12:27 pm
I think there will be more shows booked, maybe even November, but I think Nik wanted to get the whole package together including band before setting up a lot of shows.

He is so jazzed about last night that I'm sure we will be playing regularly. And we'll get better! We only had two rehearsals with the full band together! If we rehearsed more I think we could put together vocal arrangements and really blow people away.
Elspode • Oct 2, 2004 2:53 pm
It takes awhile to build an audience, so bookings can be kinda spread out, I'll bet. Once you catch on, though, sky's the limit. Glad to hear it went well, UT. There's nothing better than the positive vibe from a gig well-met.

I've got to do an outdoor wedding in a couple of hours. Hardly the same thing as a kickin' bar gig, but still, you get that nice feeling when it all comes together.
be-bop • Oct 2, 2004 7:20 pm
Nice one UT whens the european leg of the tour? :D
wolf • Oct 3, 2004 12:17 am
Okay, we'll need to start a list of volunteers who would be trusted to babysit Pearl, Bean, and The Cellar ...
Katkeeper • Oct 3, 2004 6:59 am
Have to throw in my 2 cents - I was a very proud Mama. They were terrific and loved by the audience. We didn't want them to stop.

Wolf is right on about the baby sitting...
Undertoad • Oct 3, 2004 9:29 am
wolf wrote:
Okay, we'll need to start a list of volunteers who would be trusted to babysit Pearl, Bean, and The Cellar ...


Well Pearl and Bean are taken care of by joint custody. The Cellar I can reach remotely from wherever I am. We just need to find someone to book the Euro locations and pay us, you know, the big cheques that we'll need to get this done.
wolf • Oct 3, 2004 11:10 am
Anybody heard from Jaguar lately?
elSicomoro • Oct 3, 2004 11:14 am
He's off to the Lenin/Guevara Indoctrination Camp in Cuba, though he was sounding conservative on some issues in the not-too-distant past.
wolf • Oct 3, 2004 11:26 am
It's cute when the trust fund commies figure out what socialism really means.

But seriously, wasn't he heading for someplace dangerous? To photograph Palestinians or something? Or was he going to London instead?
elSicomoro • Oct 3, 2004 11:27 am
I believe he was off to the UK for a bit.
xoxoxoBruce • Oct 3, 2004 12:02 pm
He's probably in Mexico or Canada trying to sneak into the US without giving up his fingerprints. :D
Undertoad • Oct 3, 2004 1:43 pm
Image

From the other side of the stage. I'm the guy on the right grinning like a mad man with his head swelling at a massive rate.
Griff • Oct 3, 2004 2:14 pm
Darn you guys look like you're having fun!
wolf • Oct 3, 2004 2:17 pm
So that's what the lead guitar player looked like ...
limey • Oct 3, 2004 4:21 pm
be-bop wrote:
Nice one UT whens the european leg of the tour? :D


My thoughts exactly! :eyebrow:
limey • Oct 3, 2004 4:25 pm
Undertoad wrote:
Well Pearl and Bean are taken care of by joint custody. The Cellar I can reach remotely from wherever I am. We just need to find someone to book the Euro locations and pay us, you know, the big cheques that we'll need to get this done.


Ummmmmmmmmmm no big cheques but I'll book you into my local village hall anytime!!!! :D
warch • Oct 4, 2004 1:34 pm
(That is a gig shirt, my friend.)
You're playing! That is very cool indeed. :)

I'll check into Scandinavia for you. ;)
xoxoxoBruce • Oct 4, 2004 10:38 pm
Jax picked it out, warch. ;)
Undertoad • Oct 15, 2004 2:38 am
More images have come out!

Image

Image
Undertoad • Oct 15, 2004 2:41 am
I'm getting new glasses

Image
wolf • Oct 15, 2004 9:29 pm
Unless you have something really funky going on with your prescription, I strongly suggest extended wear contact lenses (start out with the 7 days and see how you tolerate them before you buy into the 30 day version.)