|
March 27 - 2004
Map
Excuses: 2526 E. Carson St. (South Side),
Pittsburgh, PA (412) 431-4090
10:30 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sat.
"How You Like Me Now", "Last Night I Had A Dream",
"Heartbreak Shake", "Yesterday's Gone". We love it when
Norman and the guys make it look easy. The music just
came pourin off the stage...Powerful! Norman said he
wrote a new song the other day and wanted to try it,
although Whitey and Harry had never heard the tune
before. It came off pretty well. It's called "That Girl
Must Be From Graceland". Then Norman thanked the
audience for listening to an unprepared tune. He said he
learns a lot by doing shit like that. Whatever. A late
night version of the classic "High Times" was
appreciated by all. Lenny Ferrari of Lou Reed fame
(although Norman said he never held that against him)
got up to play drums on a couple of soul tunes while
Whitey Cooper tore up on vocals. Then Norman played half
of another brand new song "Wild Yonder Blues" stopped in
the middle and broke into a night closing "Smoke Two
Joints". He walked offstage before the song was done and
came back out to take some bows. He was acting like he
was out of his mind. I think he gets so high on the
music that he even scares himself!
Notables in attendance: Patty & Ron, Michelle,
Lenny Ferrari, Doug and Angela, Dave & carol, Martha,
Terry & Angelo, Terrible Tom, The two South Side Girls,
Gail and Lori and Larry, Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Lange
March 20 -
2004
Map
Driving Directions
Penn Monroe Grill: 3985 William Penn Hwy,
Monroeville, PA 15146 412-373-1180
10 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sat.
Harry Bottoms caught the cold Norman had last week. He
said he felt terrible but he sure did a great job. "Lazy
Bones" into "Heartbreak Shake" (great songs for early in
the set to get things rockin. Also, and early version of
"Nothin To Lose" just crushed. "White Trash Tragedy" was
also a standout tonight. A smokin version of "What the
F&*%" seemed appropriate for the evening's audience.
Norman mentioned the new release "Redemption" is almost
ready to hit the street! He played a song "Gorilla" from
the new CD while he made monkey noises. (He's f'd up!)
Norman tried to get the audience to sing backup vocals
on "Up Jumps The Devil" and they seemed to humor him.
Whitey went off on "Sick N Tired" and brought he house
down. The evening closed with a raw version of "Smoke
Two Joints".
Notables in attendance: Dave & Carol, Patty & Ron
& Lynn, Nick
March 13 -
2004
Map
Driving Directions
Big Dawgs: 2600 Liberty Way, Liberty Boro/McKeesport,
PA Jane (412) 896-9454
10 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sat.
It all started off so innocently. Norman and the guys
playin some bad ass Pittsburgh rock n roll to some nice
beer drinkin people. About one hour into the show,
somewhere between 10-15 local and state police converged
on Big Dawgs looking for under age drinkers. Yeah, that
makes sense...underage drinkers at a Norman show.
Obviously, there were no underage drinkers at the show,
but the arrival of a police task force can sure take the
magic out of the air...and the band played on. Norman
was sick all night with a bad cold so he was a little
goofy. The guys did an impromptu version of Roy
Orbison's "Candy Man" for no apparent reason. Cool! ...A
candy colored clown they called the Sandman...
Notables in attendance: Rocky and Dana, Karen,
Shelley, Mike & Gene
March 12 -
2004
Map
Moondog's: 378 Freeport Rd, Blawnox, PA (412)
828-2040
10:00 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Fri.
The first thing Normans said tonight was "Hi! I'm Norman
and I have a cold. "Till The Cows Come Home" has been
showing up early in the shows lately. Also, "Little
Things" showed up in the first set and kicked ass.
Anther real old Norman tune "Gorilla" showed up tonight
and gave Norman a chance to make a fool of himself as he
jumped around making monkey noises and picking fleas off
the other musicians. In the second set, Norman dedicated
"Rainbow" to bartender Mary. He gets the biggest smile
on his face during that song for some reason. When the
Rat Man got up to song "Wild Thing", the only people
left didn't seem to mind when he gave himself a wedgie.
Notables in attendance: Mark the vet, Grant,
Vince, Chuckles, Tony Pirollo and Bernie, Angelo &
Terry, Patty
March 11 -
2004
Map
Parkway Tavern: 312 Center Rd, Monroeville, PA
15146 (412) 372-8199
8 p.m. - 11 p.m. - Thurs.
Tonight he just made it look so easy. How he do dat? An
early show "Burnin Up" took on a serious note and
everyone seemed to understand. Norman said he wrote that
song in 1979 with Warren King and it sounded like it
could have been written yesterday. Great first set. The
second set started off where the first one left off. One
Norman song after another. Sometimes, it's hard to
believe that some of these songs are 25 years old or
older, while some songs are just a couple of months old.
Yet, they all seem to blend together so well. Then
Norman called a guy up to the stage, Chris Franchese.
Norman said he was a badass from New Jersey. Then he
handed Chris his guitar and Franchese proceeded to rip
up on guitar and vocals, performing a couple for blues
standards. He was in fact, a badass from New Jersey.
Then Norman called up Pittsburgh legend Sherry Richards
up to the stage and she sang "Queen Bee" and Kris
Kristofferson's "Bobby McGee". She kicked everybody's
ass! She's a bad lady! Then Norman sang the stupid song
"Norman" to end the show. The call for an encore brought
the old standard "Sick N Tired" to life...and if you
yourself have ever been sick n tired, then you knew
exactly what it's all about. Like Norman said, "every
day is a precious gift...even IF you're sick n tired!"
Notables in attendance: Foo & Jill, Nancy &
Handsome Hubby, LeAnn, Elaine & Howie, Rat n Betty
March
6 - 2004
Map
Excuses: 2526 E. Carson St. (South Side),
Pittsburgh, PA (412) 431-4090
10:30 p.m. - 2 a.m. - Sat.
"Lazy Bones" into "Till The Cows Come Home"...and it
just took off from there. "How You Like Me Now", "Play",
"Yesterday's Gone" all soared. Chizmo Charles got up on
stage and sang a great version of "Green, Green Grass of
Home", then a very cool "Boney Maroney". What a
wonderful Pittsburgh treasure he is. Then came all the
new Norman songs one after the other. "Boilermaker
started the second set. Harry Bottoms sang a great
version of "Pots N Pans". Then a crushing version of
"Nothin To Lose" seemed to put a little order to the
universe. Norman ended the night doing a couple request
for his sister's birthday "Rock You" and "Mustang
Sally".
Notables in attendance: Frank & Kathy, Nick, Ron
& Kathy, Dale & Debbie, JP & Ann, Randy & Chooch, Rat n
Betty, Erick & Chris, Terrible Tom
March 5th -
2004
Thirsty Ear Tavern Beer Bar: 1200 West Third
Avenue Columbus, OH 43212 (614) 299-4987
http://www.thirstyeartavern.com
9:30 p.m. - 1 a.m. - Fri.
It had been over a year since the guys played Columbus,
so everyone was happy to see the boys from Pittsburgh.
Norman started the show off with three instrumentals
"Lazy Bones", "Boilermaker", "Rebel Rouser". The first
set lasted two hours with Norman responding to a lot of
requests yelled up from the audience. "High Times",
"T-Bird", "Burnin Up" and "Godd Rockin Man" were all
called from the audience. Norman asked if anybody in the
crowd was from Pittsburgh. People from Sheridan, North
Side and a few other Pittsburgh neighborhoods called
out. Everyone seemed to enjoy Whitey Cooper's high
vocals on "Sick N Tired". The 90 minute second set just
ripped from the stage, ending with "Let It Bleed" to
statisfy so many request for something from the Stones.
Whitey Cooper sang the encore "Sweet Soul Music".
Notables in attendance: Bruce & Charlie Nutt, AMy
(bartender), Shawn Murray & Ken |
