May 10, 2008

Songs for kids (last night) @ Smith’s Olde Bar

Songs

So I had made my donation last week and had my ticket/pass to the last night of the Songs for Kids concert at Smith’s Olde Bar. I had a family commitment, so I wasn’t able to get there until after 11. But since I had a guaranteed ticket, I figured I’d have no problem getting in. When I entered Smith’s I saw a line waiting to get upstairs to the venue, so I walked around them figuring I could show my ticket and go on up. As I’m passing the line of people waiting to go up, I hear someone yell out my name. It turns out it’s Patrick Lochridge, the piano player in Audrey Spillman‘s band that I had seen the week before. He saw that I had my ticket, so I told him I would see him when he got upstairs. With my ticket I got right in with no problem. They were into the final 20, so I grabbed a spot to catch the show. The night I got my ticket, they had announced that Ceelo (of Gnarls Barkley fame) would be singing the last song, “Hey Jude”. But before they reached the final 10, Ceelo jumped on stage to perform #77 on the countdown, his own hit “Crazy”. This was an unexpected treat. Other great performers were there. Levi Lowrey (who I had seen the night before at Eddie’s Attic) was there and performed Garth Brook’s “Friends in Low Places”. A neighbor of mine, Masonic lodge brother of my Dad’s, and co-owner of my favorite Pizza place in Tucker (Enzo’s), Kenny Creswell was there playing drums. Kenny’s company provides a lot of the equipment for concerts, so I’m sure he provided most of what was on stage. I even caught where on one song, one of the volunteer drummers didn’t seem to know the song, so Kenny went over the top of him (and the guy ducked out) and Kenny finished the song. Peter Stroud (Atlanta guitarist who’s tours with Sheryl Crow and who I saw perform with Shawn Mullins at The Variety Playhouse) was pulled on stage to help play guitar for a lot of the rock ballads. Angie Aparo sang Don Mclean’s “American Pie”. Shawn Mullins performed John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Butch Walker performed Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian”. The final song, The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”, was sung by Angie Aparo, with Kenny Creswell on drums, Peter Stroud on guitar, Butch Walker on keyboard, The group Heavy Mojo , and Backing vocal by Kevin Spencer and the Songs for Kids staff.

Words can’t reveal how incredible this concert was. If you missed it you missed out.

Video’s I found on youtube:

Ceelo performs “Crazy”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJOhDCNd8uo
Closer clip:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oeOsVXM0Yko

Angie Aparo performs Don Mclean’s “American Pie”.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GBasgGrt3oM

Kiss’ “Rock N Roll All Nite” performed by Tim Smith. Peter Stroud, Kevin Spencer, & Kenny Creswell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wov4s2rnkPo

Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian” performed by Butch Walker, Kevin Spencer, Peter Stroud, Tim Smith, & Kenny Creswell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN18H-um1BE

The Beatles “Hey Jude”
Part 1:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-GE-uhgQxmQ
Part2:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y66k_ceR0RQ

Posted by under Angie Aparo,Butch Walker,Ceelo,Levi Lowrey,Main Blog,Peter Stroud,Shawn Mullins,Smith's Olde Bar,Songs for Kids | Comments (0)

May 3, 2008

Songs for Kids (Day 3) @ Smith’s Olde Bar

Songs for Kids

500 Songs for kids. Josh Rifkin and his Songs for Kids foundation put on a yearly fundraiser at Smith’s Olde Bar. Last year they had a countdown of the top 500 songs (as listed by Rolling Stone Magazine) performed by local artists. This year they chose to do a countdown of the THE 500 GREATEST SING-A-LONG SONGS OF ALL TIME.

Here’s the list of songs:

http://www.songsforkidsfoundation.org/500songsforkidscountdown.asp

I don’t remember why I missed the concert last year. Audrey Spillman had been invited to sing and performed the Rolling Stones song “Wild Horses”. I remember hating that I had missed it. Audrey was invited back this year, so I went to check out the show.

This was the 3rd night so they were covering songs 400-351. The performances were great. Each act got to do a cover of one of the songs on the list. As I looked down the list I noticed #373 was (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin and I hoped that it was the song that Audrey was going to sing. Sure enough, when it came to that number in the countdown, Audrey and her piano player, Patrick Lochridge, walked up on stage to perform Aretha’s song. Here’s a video I was able to take with my digital camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D3aCIgEQss

I love how the crowd reacts and gets into the song which causes a cool reaction from Audrey. After her song, I caught her off stage and got to talk with her and Patrick.

The concert was a fundraiser for the Songs for Kids charity, so they were taking donations there. They had a deal where if you donated over $100, you got a ticket, and guaranteed entry, to the final show. The list of performers for the final show was incredible, so I said what the hell, and made a donation. I had received my economic stimulus check into my checking account the day before so it seemed like the right thing to do with some of that money.

Posted by under Audrey Spillman,Main Blog,Smith's Olde Bar,Songs for Kids | Comments (0)