John Entwistle Band out west . . .or . . .Heaven and Hell('s Angels)

["B W Radley" <bwradley@earthlink.net>]

I would like to echo the opinions expressed in the recent posts by Beau
McCrury and Tim Herrlinger regarding the recent appearances by the John
Entwistle Band.  I had the good fortune to see the band on October 29 at
the Crossroads Bar and Grill in "picturesque" Yuciapa, California.  Yuciapa
is a small city about 15 miles east of San Bernardino, and is best known
locally as the egg and microwave burrito capital of Southern California. 
Needless to say, we are not talking about a very upscale community here.

The Crossroads is a real live biker bar (complete with about a half dozen
Hell's Angels who were in attendance), which is branching out into the
occasional concert (The Fabulous Thunderbirds are set to play there this
week).  However, most of this bar's special events are along the lines of
the "Monica lookalike amateur strip contest--bring your own cigar"!!  And
as far as I am concerned, any bar that, instead of the usual NFL beer ads,
has Fosters' posters promoting Australian Rules Football (Go Gelong!) is my
kind of place.

The atmosphere at the Crossroads (as well as some road honed practice) led
to a much more polished performance, than the last time I saw the band, in
February at the ersatz roadhouse themed House of Blues.  Unfortunately,
there was no Matinee Madness before this show (which is just as well, as
the thought of me singing lead as Gad did (BTW Gad, you bastard, I'd love
to hear the tape of that!) would probably result in my having a pearced
nose--with a pool cue!).  Even more unfortunate was the fact that there was
"only" some 75 or so in attendance, but that meant that I had, for all
intents and purposes, a semi-private concert!  (Although I would not
recommend standing six inches from John's stage monitors, even with
earplugs.)

The playlist appears to have been identical to the Orangevale show that Tim
posted a few days ago, with the exception of there being no encore, which
was canceled by the management, due to an early season (for Southern
California) rainstorm, and some resulting roof leaks adjacent to the stage
(the playlist posted on stage indicated that the encores were supposed to
be YMB and My Wife).

BW Radley
bwradley@earthlink.net


P.S.  IDIOTIC WHO REFERENCE OF THE DECADE:  (This comes from an article in
the November 9, 1998 edition of the ORANGE COUNTY (California) REGISTER by
Jeff Miller regarding the inane NFL pregame shows (yes, I realize this is a
redundant statement).)

"Here comes another feature on Jamal Anderson (note--apparently Mr.
Anderson is the star running back for the Atlanta Falcons) and how he's the
most underrated and unknown player in the league.  (James) Brown (the
Fox-TV host, who is not to be confused with "The Godfather of Soul')
introduces it by saying, "When Pete Townshend wrote The Who's anthem "Who
Are You" he must have been thinking about Atlanta's Jamal Anderson."  Huh? 
The song came out in 1978, when Anderson was 6."