Dave's Smithereens Page
Dave's Smithereens Page
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The Smithereens at Irving Plaza, New York City, 10/29/04 by Steve Golisch
Pat Dinizio Presents -- The Reunion Of A Generation!
You know, this show could’ve been a bummer. In my lifetime of concert going I’ve only attended two of these “remember when” type of concerts. One featuring the Monkees, the other the Turtles, with a bunch of other 60s acts. The headliners each did 40 minutes, the other acts did either 4 or 5 songs that were only HITS-HITS-HITS, and then quickly got shuffled off the stage before the audience’s attention span waned. And, in between each act, an audio montage of “events of the 60s!” was played to the audience, like a quick history lesson. It was a little distressing for me to see these acts who still sounded great, reduced to the musical equivalent of Short Attention Span Theater.
So here we are at Irving Plaza. I was wondering to myself if the tone of the show would be like one of those nostalgia fests? Luckily, that was not the case. Each act this night, popular back in the 80s, were not “hit singles” acts , though all of them except Squeeze did have a hit in the Top 40 singles charts at one time (“Tempted” almost did it, hitting #49). They were more popular as album artists and got lots of play on WNEW-FM . So, there’s MY history lesson , now to the show. What made this show NOT a nostalgia fest was each act playing sets of tunes from throughout their careers, not just the tried and true ,old old HITS-HITS-HITS.
Graham Parker came on first and played his set solo, and he was great ! Songs that really had the crowd’s attention riveted. I must say, I had forgotten just how good this guy is. After getting called back for an encore, he ended his set with a cool version of Ray Charles’ “ What’d I Say”.
Next up, Marshall Crenshaw ,who usually plays these days solo acoustic had a full quartet and did an awesome rocking set . He and his band sounded great, probably the best show I’ve ever seen him do. He’s great acoustic , but Marshall’s stuff sounds best with a band, power pop at its best. For his last song Marshall mentioned that the first show he ever played in NYC was right there, Irving Plaza ( around ’82), and the first song he played then was “Favorite Waste Of Time”. Commenting that this would probably be the last time he’d ever play Irving Plaza he said he’d “bring things full circle” and finished the set with “Favorite Waste Of Time”.
Glenn Tilbrook was the last act to play that night. He started his set standing in the middle of the Irving Plaza floor, unplugged, unmiked , with a couple of Squeeze songs and the place went nuts! Then he got on stage with his new band The Fluffers and did some of his solo tunes, and whole batch of Squeeze songs. With an excellent band playing behind him, Glenn’s set was super. Here’s what was played:
Graham Parker Set:
Marshall Crenshaw Set:
Glenn Tilbrook and The Fluffers Set:
Even though they came on next to last, I’m saving the best for last , the Smithereens. To get back to my feelings about nostalgia fests( I hope I’m not sounding TOO negative about them), one thing comes to mind. Usually it’s not the full original group you get at these fests, it might be one or two original guys with new recruits, cranking out the memories. Can you imagine the thought of “Pat DiNizio and The New Smithereens” ? How about “The Green Thoughts Band featuring Dennis Diken” with their “Salute To The Golden Days of The Smithereens” show? This does occur out there on “the circuit”. Luckily for us, as always since the start of the band , it’s only been Jimmy, Dennis, Pat and Mike.
Hey Pat !! It was a blast ! Let’s do this again ! And bring your band !!
The Smithereens’ Set:
See our photos from this show!
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That was the title and theme of the show. A benefit show featuring the Smithereens , with Glenn Tilbrook (formerly of Squeeze) and The Fluffers , Marshall Crenshaw, Graham Parker, plus three other acts. Acts whose paths sometimes crossed with the Smithereens “back then”. It was also a tribute to the legendary NYC rock station WNEW-FM. A station whose motto was “Where Rock Lives“ , where for three decades you’d hear a variety of groups like the Smithereens and others get exposure , and not just the overplayed “classic rock” stuff . In the last few years, talk radio, classic rock formats, Clear Channel and maybe just the changing times of radio finally knocked WNEW out of business. For this show ,Pat DiNizio put together the lineup and invited many of the station’s former deejays to host the event in tribute to the station’s glory days. Days when they’d play lots of Smithereens songs, and they even broadcast Smithereens concerts live ( ahhhhhh… the good ol’ days……..wait, did I just say that ?).
For their intro to the Smithereens set, all the deejays came out on stage, then Eddie Munster himself, Butch Patrick!! And finally, the introduction by …….Ivana !! (Ivana Cadaver, that is) . Since they were one of a total of seven acts playing within a six hour show their set was shorter than their usual headline shows. Pat mentioned that they were happy to be playing the show and also said that they were ,of course “ still together as a band after 25 years “. Bragging rights, why not !! How many other American bands can say that? ZZ Top, maybe, not many though . So, a quick set of ( all right, I’ll say it ) classics, including Behind The Wall Of Sleep (dedicated by Pat to Johnny, Joey and Dee Dee Ramone), a nice long version of House We Used To Live In , amongst others before delivering the final one-two punch of Blood and Roses and A Girl Like You that leveled the playing field to sm…. well, you know. For their encore they did Behind Blue Eyes. Now, not to sound like a complainer again, I love The Who but that song, like many others, is one that those songs that “classic rock” stations have played to death. But the Smithereens made it … sound ….good again !! A total singalong by the crowd with the song , it was great !! Pat was grinning !! And that was it, another fine set by New Jersey’s phenomenal pop combo. They were great “back then”, and they’re still great. Business as usual.