Our first show at the Turtle and our first show of the 2002 season. We had a great time at the Turtle even though I was still hungover from News Years, drank a lot anyway! Was cold as hell for the load out, got a seatbelt ticket on the way back, but he let me slide for an expired emmissions sticker and doin 65 in a 30 (Milford cops are cool..I guess.)

OAS's 7^th show and our first one at the Pocket. For me it was a return after four years since my last gig there with MTW. An unlikley venue for the Who tribute and yet people came out and got into it. After the show when we broke down in record time, we finally beat the staff out the door..another first.Booked back there in May. Its becoming all very professional, very businesslike.

Another quiet night at Buffalo Bill's as usual, didnt even break a sweat. Best wings around though.

Had a blast playing at Billys, played like all hell! Greg finnally brought the recording gear and we got a good show, got a killer version of 'Get a Grip' and some other stuff. Met a whole bunch of long time Murry fans that I never met before. Was a great show, top of the world, and then the next the very next morning I blew out my arm big time..

First show after my injury, was hell on earth. Andrea said I looked sick. I felt sick.I almost didn’t feel anything…barely played.

Second night out in Danbury for OAS..another night in hell for me. Someone gave me some lidocaine patches that took the edge off a bit. Drank too much, played like crap but the crowd didn’t seem to notice . Rained like hell for the long trip home.

Our first visit to a great rock bar in Naugatuck. My arm was still messed up but starting to get manageable. Arrived for sound check an hour early and froze our butts in the parking lot waiting for someone to let us in. Finnally got set up and played three killer sets, crowd was a little thin though. Had our own dressing room..another first. Booked to come back in the summer.

The night EVERYTHING when wrong!! First my arm started hurting like hell on the way to the show, then, while unloading a speaker cab, I managed to break all the knobs off my amp (rendering it totally useless). Normally I carry a spare but that night it was in Seymour..so I got to jump back in my car and make a mad dash up there. Luckily someone was home and I got the amp. once we played it wasn’t too bad, a lot of Bridgeport girls were there, but boy was I in a bad mood.

Here's something that only happens once in a blue…A killer Murry show at the Star!!! We had a good crowd for once, Greg and I kicked ass and the amp I borrowed from Milford music sounded great. Took an accidental stage dive and played part of a song from the floor. Everyone thought it was part of the show! Totally made up for all the bullshit of the night before.

Pretty good show at Corvino's, all our friends were there. Drank a lot and got a strange look from old man Corvino when I almost broke the window on his cigarette machine with a handtruck on the way out..oops.

It happens once in a while, a dead OAS show , not much of a crowd. Played mediocre, very haphazard. During the break Laura and I snuck off to the Red Arrow to see Moe Jackson, but the crew found us and dragged us back. Missed a good MTW gig at the Turtle as well. Began thinking about life after OAS…

Killer show at Classics!! OAS's biggest crowd yet - thanks to the radio spots and print ads. Mostly people we've never met before. We thought it was gonna suck due to the fact that the road crew wasn’t there, Bill and I had to set up all the lights and sound ourselves…and everything actually worked! Chris Guthrie did an excellent job running the boards his first time out. The best OAS show yet, even my arm held up pretty well. True to form, it rained like hell for the load out and trip home.

Second floor gig,at a hip urban dance club all neon and flashy lights and stuff. ..(a real good place for a blues band), Had to haul all the equipment up a flight of stairs, that sucked. About 10 people were there, lookin at us like we were from another planet.. that sucked. Drinks were way overpriced, that really sucked.

Said I would never go back there, but I did ..big mistake. Rained like hell..Laura got sick and passed out..pulled the plug and left at midnight. As long as we get paid, what the hell..

A very strange show…last time I was there the Lodge was empty, this time crowd was ok. My back hurt like hell but after a few drinks, Greg and I played evilly, full tilt for two sets , then we just got tired. Played three songs by Cream and a whole bunch of other covers that we don’t usually do, the crowd felt strange not bad, just weird. Even the trip up was strange, a late March snowstorm when it was 60 during the day.

Wonders never cease.. a killer OAS show at the Star of all places! From first song till the last, the night just flew by. Good crowd, for the Star. By the end of the night I was still ready to keep playing. Vin and I had blast singing Zappa songs during the load out.

17.Friday, April 5: Q River, Wallingford (MTW)

An excellent venue, and yet not a single person came to see us except my best friend from my old company.. so we played to them had a few drinks, left at midnight and got paid for it… fine with me. No publicity = no show.

Finally made it back to the Turtle and we had a grand old time..although I think the other guys got a little flak from the girls for being a bit too friendly to the audience wink, wink. There's just something about those West Haven girls….

Last show at Classics till July, a little thinner than last time but still good. The standard stage act nothing remarkable. Went by really quick. As usual , rained like hell on the way home.

What a day!! Got there at 8 in the morning and still could barely park. Nice stage, good sound Murry was late and scared everyone. Good response to the Who music, even better response to MTW originals. Thousands of people,..played background music to racy fashion show. Got a wicked sunburn…cant wait to be back! What a way to end the spring tour!!! Looking forward to returning in July.

Oh well, I didn’t want to do this one anyway..why bother when I can go to a wedding and see my girlfriend eat a live fish at the reception??.Now THAT’S entertainment!!

SPRING/SUMMER

2002 TOUR

Notes from The Road

This was a brand new place,and it was awsome. We had a great time! Got caught in traffic and was late but still made it close to 10. Also known as the Old Orange Blossom. A few people we havent seen in a long time showed up. Crowd was great except for one guy who felt he had to toss his girlfriend in the street. Murry had a few Harley shots and remained coherent, a rarity for him.

Another new venue for me at least. I didn’t think it was all that great, the audience was a little on the old side. but Laura and all our friends that showed up had a good time. I wasn’t to keen on having to wear a collar shirt for a gig, at the end of 'Superstition' after a particularly vicious bass solo it was soaked through..

A crappy show crowdwise. OAS played great but the room was pretty much empty. Not our fault..the bar did not advertise the show at all. Said we were too loud, the store owner next door complained during the soundcheck saying we were killing her business...Phaaa!! Sent my amps ahead in the van and took my sports car to the gig, that was a rare treat. The first OAS gig after I announced I was leaving the group, that made it a little wierd. Bobby Kahn showed up and bought me a bunch of drinks.

An interesting little place in Branford, but the stage was awfully small. Started out ok but the crowd thinned later. Didn’t play that great, rained like hell on the way home.

Yet another Kick-Ass show at the Turtle!!!! That’s why they love us there!

One of my favorite places, had a good biker crowd, the bar owner said she had a great night and Murry was in great form but for some reason Greg and I were off all night, we just never seemed to get it in gear. No one seemed to notice though. After we were done I was trying to straighten out with some coffee but someone kept putting Jamisons in it..

Gig was cancelled, I told one of the owners and he never told the other one..so OAS joins the ranks of "Bands booked at the Star that didn’t show up". Not my damn fault!!!

Nick was real cool about it though..

A terrible night in Connecticut, gale force winds ,loading in the rain.Was so pissed I took a mike stand and walked across the parking lot with it, daring the lightning to hit me. Got so drunk I couldn’t play .fell a couple of times.ugly, almost passed out on stage don’t remember anything after about midnight. Was so ripped Laura would'nt drive home with me. A hell of a way to open a two day four show mini-tour.

Excellent daytime pigroast gig at the Turtle! Nice outddoor stage setup for us. We ate and drank a lot and Greg got a wicked burn..played four long sets before the cops finally shut it down…Wiped ourselves out for the next two gigs of the mini-tour,.too bad we had to leave and head on down to Norwalk. Had just enough time for a shower and a cup of tea with Laura on the porch between shows.

Good show at the River Cat except for being crammed like a sardine in one corner of the room, getting hit by a cymbul in the back and burned by a light . Bobby Kahn joined us for some cocktails.We all got pretty loaded. Had a good time with the rich folks ,but boy they sure dance funny..

A half hour trip home, then three hours sleep till the ride to the next show in Portland…

Where the hell is Portland?? Good bike event but quiet. More vendors then bikes due to bad promotion. Opened for Jim Weider & the Honkey Tonk Gurus,some ex-members of the Band..did a great set, knocked ourselves out. The wind blew the tarp down on the next act an accoustic guy..if we had gone on a little later it could have been us. Drank beer in the sun and watched the Band guys play, home by 7. All in all it was a good day… End of the mini-tour.

OOPs, looks like Bobby pissed em off again…oh well I'll catch up with my old friend Chris some other time...

My last show with Odds and Sods after two years, two drummers, three singers, seventeen shows, hundreds of rehersals and miles of tape. I had wanted to be a big hurrah like the 'Last Waltz' but instead we blew a bunch of fuses in the first set, after the third song got stopped we almost packed it up right then and there. The crowd never materialized even though we played damn good to the few that were there once we got the bugs worked out... Not a great night by OAS standards but that probably made it easier to say goodbye in the end…

Another high school graduation party that requested Murry The Wheel…strange. Greg missed it so I wound up playing the gig with Bobby T..even after a year apart, we managed to bring out that explosive quality we were known for. Everyone had a great time, next morning felt like I was run over by a Sherman tank like I always do whenever I play with Bobby.

A very important show for me, after not showing up with OAS and almost passing out at Corvinos' despite the run of good shows elsewhere my rep in Milford took a beating in the past few weeks. Of course the place wasn’t exactly packed but I told Tim and Greg we would kick ass anyway and we did! The people that were there saw a killer MTW performance, which is just what I wanted.

A good show at Corvinos' (finally) to make up for the unfortunate events last time around. Sang "My Generation" by the who in honor of John Entwistle. A great harp player from France named Lionel joined us for 'Roadhouse Blues'.

Quite possibly the best Turtle show yet and we recorded it all!! Those tracks eventually were remixed to become the album 'Live in West haven' the one weve been waiting to put out. Tim was quite hammered by the end (harley shots again..)but still pulled it off.

Another year, another Rich's birthday party, this time in Seymour. Played great, ate and drank a lot as always. Julio joined us for a rare appearance on sax with the full band.

A long hot day at the rally. Got double booked with another band at the last minute, had our day cut in half..got stiffed out of a hundred bucks. Put on a good show anyway, cut about an hour into the other bands time, they wernt too happy about that. Too fuckin bad.

We were supposed to play quietly for this one so we wouldn’t be dead for the next day's double header. That lasted for about ten minutes. Another killer show at Corvino's!

Not as good as the last pigroast due to weather and a big event down the street (they borrowed our stage as well). Played hard anyway. Shot the pictures for the album cover in the parking lot.

Started the night wiped out from the gig the night before and a long day gig. Kicked up the energy from the first song onwards and kicked ass the rest of the night. Handed out some free advance copies of the live album. Good ending for yet another mini-tour.

Entertaining the rich folks again. Did a good show but the tension level in the band was high due to various issues about the new album.

A good show at the Topside, a lot more people than last time, finally livened the place up a little!

Boned again by the weather!!! Played anyway for a couple of hours then headed inside.

After almost three friggin months, finally the release of the album right where it all took place, Live in West Haven at the Thirsty Turtle! As always, we put on a hell of a show.. the next morning I felt like I was run over by a tank! A big ending to a long hard 24 gig spring/summer tour.

A dead night at the Ale House. Bored to death, ended early, way to start the fall tour, with a big 'ol yawn.

The REAL start to the fall tour, with a killer show at an excellent new bar. The people were really cool and the drinks were free for a change. It was quite a haul up there from Milford but well worth it...

Another Topside gig, the audience was ok..After a too long absence, we were joined by Mark Infante on harp for the first time in more than a year. Got really hammered..heh.heh.

Back at Hoppers for the first time since May, did another good show, ran around a lot even though it was a small space. Crashed into Murry a couple of times. Drank alot. We're booked back there for most of next year.

A nice little gig for the yacht set and their kids after the regatta. Really nice day, not cold at all. Great food.

A tough gig at the turtle, had a good crowd by they seemed to drift after midnight. had a huge blister on my index finger so I had to play most of the night with a pick, havnt done that in years.

Another relatively good night a Rider's, its a really cool place!!. Once again Greg and I were mismatched, the first time I had the 'super stack' and he brought the small Lud's, this time he had the big set and I had my 'small club' rig. Maybe next time we'll get it right!!!

Wonders never cease....what we thought would be a quiet little 'get in, play, get paid and get out' gig at an upscale restaurant in Orange turns out to be a damn great time for everybody there! I guess we pulled another one out of the hat thus proving that we really are 'professionals'.....

Beginning a Halloween mini-tour and Greg and I's first gig at Alfa's, which is a place Ive eaten at many times cause its only about a hundred yards from my house, set a new record for shortest trip home from a gig - 60 seconds! Got off to a slow start but had em rockin by the third set. Good start to the mini-tour. Mark Infante joined us for a couple of tunes.

Another brand new one for Greg and me..had a hell of a time finding the place, but when we did , what a show we put on! In the words of the doorman 'You guys are out of control!' . Kind of a nice place so we said we'd play quiet, that lasted for about ten minutes!! Im looking forward to see if we can pull it off again..

First time back at Nine in almost two years....true to tradition I was expecting something bad to happen but nothing did..to me at least. Did a good enough show, a little on the sedate side. Didnt want to jump cause it felt like the stage would give way any minute. Saw my old friend Tom of the Furors. Mark I joined us again for a much needed harp (and got in a bit of a dust up with one of the locals later..).The end of yet another mini-tour.

A very rare Pete and Ed gig at Topside. Had a pretty good crowd. My back hurt like hell loading in, but a few Goldschalgers later I felt almost nothing . Ed and I kicked up a hell of a racket as always!

Had a real nice little time at the Star, hosting the open jam with my good friend 'Kevin Blues' and some really cool guests. The drummer was Malcolm, from the great deadhead band, the Sofa Kings.

A relatively good one at Corvinos for two sets unitl later in the evening when it all came apart for reasons that cannot be cited here.(other than we played the same as we always do...so it wasnt our fault!!)

Yet another fun night at the Thirsty turtle! Sang my new CSN cover and ..worked up a hell of a sweat Got some good pictures taken for the website. And later...'Bloody Marys for Everybody!!!', or me at least.

Another good show at the Topside...sold a few more discs and had a lot to drink. The highlight of the night for me was the bass solo during which (ever looking for something new to try) I took a Rolling Rock bottle and slid it around on the strings..that sounded cool so I hit them a few times with the bottle and two strings broke a the same time..Two in the same song..a record for me.

What a long strange trip its been..a hundred mile drive in the rain out to the wilds of Western Mass. Tough trip but we wound up doing an excellent show in a great new place..stayed way late later with our new friends..wound up with a major case of 'hotel blindness' Nicer drive back the next day but every muscle in my body hurt.Worth the trip though, cant wait to go back when its warmer.

Pretty good show at Corvino's, put to rest issues that came up at the last one. Managed not to dump any amps on the way out for once. Wound up at the Flyer again after the show, ripped and cocky as usual. I wonder if their gettin sick of us there yet?

A killer show at the Turtle to end off a long hard year of playing! On a couple of tunes we were playing so hard I couldnt catch my breath, must have lost about five pounds during the show..Broke my record for amount of gigs in one year (66) A mishap with some switched coats brought back some bad memories of the 'Nightmare in Devon' back in 96, but were all dealt with the next day. All in all a good end to a long and not always hard year on the bar circuit,not that I have much time to think about it, cause the 2003 tour starts on Friday!