Last night, our kids were both doing an overnight at a friend's house. So, for Denise and I, the possibilities were endless. I wouldn't have been surprised if we'd have just decided to sleep. But instead, because her sister Allison's band was playing nearby, we decided to go out for a night of music.
We last saw Shot Glass Nickel, Allison's band, about a year ago. That time was a late afternoon performance. This time was a night show, at a bar/restaurant in Yaphank called the Red River Inn.
We got there a little before 9PM, and settled into a comfortable table with a soft booth seat right in front of the stage. We managed to order a couple of burgers before the music started (which were actually quite tasty). We then watched the band play three full sets of music, which lasted until about 1AM. And throughout the course of the night, various friendly guest musicians/singers joined them.
Although they play sprinklings of songs from other eras, the main strength of Shot Glass Nickel is late '60s and early '70s hard rock. Over the course of the night, they covered (among others) Humble Pie, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Aerosmith, The Allman Brothers, Alice in Chains, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Pink Floyd, Ozzy, Rush and Blind Faith. And Zeppelin. Plenty of Zeppelin. (And Ali being Ali, they also covered her favorite band, Queen.)
The highlight of the night, though, was probably their cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star." The band was firing on all cylinders for this one, so much so that one of the girls dancing in the stage area kind of careened out of control to knock over a table and break a glass. (Luckily, that was the worst of the damage. A little earlier, a happily inebriated birthday girl was having so much fun playing air guitar with one of those light-bulb changers on a stick that I was afraid she was going to accidentally lobotomize me or someone else.)
In any event, the crowd here was certainly a good match for the band -- they knew all of the songs, and even out on the (huge) back deck, I could often see the smoking crowd dancing along. (Except for the black and white cat -- he mostly seemed to be concentrating on the food the bar maid put out for him.)
Shot Glass Nickel features Allison Paris on vocals, Jeff Michaels on guitar, Kevin Malone on bass and Joe Crocilla on drums. You can keep up with their schedule at https://www.facebook.com/Shot-Glass-Nickel-1484516765190466/.
(Now that I'm getting out again once in awhile for music, stay tuned. I've got upcoming dates on my calendar for several old friends, including The Kevin McLeod Band and the mighty Jones Crusher!)
