Sure, the stage show was okay, but….

I wonder now if maybe I should have gone to “Movin’ Out” at Sangamon State last night. I’ve always been a big fan of Billy Joel’s music, but as a rule, I’m just not much for musicals, rock ballets, whatever you want to call them. Not saying anything bad about those that do like them; they’re just not usually my cup of tea. Mrs. Johann and her mom went, and the wife said it rocked! In telling me about the show, she said something about G-strings and pasties with tassels on them at one point. DAMN! And to think that if Mrs. Johann didn’t want to go, her mother would have offered the ticket to me. Drat da luck. Anyway, I heard the show was really, really good and I envy everyone that got to see it.

However, I definitely made up for missing the almost-naked titties great show and awesome music, because I went to see some awesome music myself when I went to Pizza Machine at Vinegar Hill Mall to see Springfield’s #1 Billy Joel Cover Band- Silly Joel!!!! For those unfamiliar, let me ’splain.

First, allow me to introduce the players: Captain Jack on vocals, Mr. Alan Towne on guitar, Downeaster Alexa on cello, Virginia on keyboards, and the effervescent Mr. Cacciatore on drums. They started promptly at… shortly after 11:00, taking the stage as different versions of our other Springfield icon, Abraham Lincoln. There was Abra-Ham Sandwich, Flav-R-Flav-raham Lincoln, Babe-raham Lincoln (nice rack, by the way, Virginia… don’t think I didn’t notice that two-handed “salute” you gave when you were introduced!), etc. The real reason for all the hoopla was that it was Mr. William Joel’s 59th birthday yesterday. Strangely enough, Billy never showed. Probably just had trouble getting a limo from Capital Airport or something. Anyhooze, they started the show by leading a chorus of “Happy Birthday” in Billy’s honor.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. This was my first live SJ performance. I’d seen the YouTube videos but have never actually been able to catch a live show. I gotta be completely honest here: I was a tad unsure how a guitar, a keyboard, a cello, and a drum kit would pull it off. I mean, some of Billy Joel’s songs are pretty hefty arrangements. But when they started, I have to say, I was very impressed.

First of all, let me say that I couldn’t believe how many kids were there. And I don’t just mean young’uns- KIDS. I mean, Pizza Machine is a family-friendly place and all, but holy crap- to quote the great philosopher Judge Smails, “don’t you have homes?!” I love my kids dearly, but I don’t think I’m going to keep them out at 11:00pm, especially in a place that has Vinegar Hill Mall’s… shall we say, reputation. But that’s another story. But there were lots and lots of kids (adults way younger than I, post-pubescents, etc.) there, and quite frankly, had I been an officer, I likely would have had an astronomical amount of underage-drinking busts. But yet again, I digress. The only reason I mentioned it at all was that it was freakin’ hilarious- and yet, sad at the same time- to see all these pups turn and look at each other and say, “Omigod, I, like, TOTALLY don’t know this song!” Ahhhh, da yutes of America.

ANYWAY, the band began, and they were incredible. They were rocking it from the very start. The whole set was great- from “Captain Jack” to “Allentown” to “You May Be Right”, “Still Rock and Roll to Me” to “The Stranger” to “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, “New York State of Mind” to “Just the Way You Are” to “My Life”, each song kept the integrity of Billy Joel firmly intact yet placed SJ’s own special stamp on it.

Special guest vocalist Mama Leone absolutely tore it up on “Only the Good Die Young”, and of course, the night wouldn’t have been complete without the other special guest vocalist dropping by for “Movin’ Out (Kermit’s Song)”. That little green dude is simply amazing. It was nice also getting to see Indiana Phones and Sgt. O’Leary in person.

They closed out with “Pressure”, with Virginia and Alexa working that rhythm section with style and finesse, and then “Big Shot”, one of my all-time favorite Billy songs. They played it faster than regular speed, but I think that is what made it all the more enjoyable, at least for me.

Finally, the chants of “Encore!!” and “One More Song!!” from the throngs and throngs of people crammed in the Pizza Machine were too much for the elusive quintet, and the hoards of adoring fans managed to entice the band to come out for a curtain call, upon which they broke into their reggae-country-opera-punk-Billy Joel fusion version of “Piano Man”.

One question, though… who was that imposter dressed as the Stranger?!! The way I heard it, the real Stranger didn’t make it.

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TRANSLATION: I probably sound like I’m their publicist or something, but I’m not. All truth be told, it was an extremely enjoyable show, one without all the same old crap songs that everyone else plays (that mostly aren’t worth hearing, and are usually so loud and garbled, you can’t hear them anyway). I will say that if I were Virginia, I would have probably been a little apprehensive playing keyboards in a tribute band for… well, the Piano Man. But she did an absolutely outstanding job, as they all did. Folks, if you just want to see some talented and charismatic musicians just simply playing good music, having fun doing so, and giving the crowd a good time as well, do yourselves a favor and check out Silly Joel. It’s a great time, you know all the songs, and there’s really no excuse for not supporting ANY local band, but especially one that’s just a little different from all the rest.

I also picked up a bitchin’ Silly Joel t-shirt last night. How friggin’ cool is THAT?!

Come one, come all!!!

I hope I’m not overstepping any bounds, stepping on any toes, or violating any copyrights, but I wanted to put this notice out to anyone in the Springpatch area who isn’t already aware.

Courtesy of Unpainted Huffhines, the inside source for all things Silly Joel and, quite frankly, all things cool:

A Public Notice to the Fine Blog Folks of Springfield,

I hereby issue an invitation to each of you to join in the celebration of Billy Joel’s 59th birthday with:

THE SILLY BILLY BIRTHDAY BASH with SILLY JOEL, Springfield’s No. 1 Billy Joel Cover Band
A free-admission event at 10:30 p.m. Friday, the Pizza Machine, 107 W. Cook St., inside the Vinegar Hill Mall.

Some of you know what Silly Joel is. For the uninitiated, know that it is, as billed, Springfield’s No. 1 Billy Joel Cover Band. Competitors are invited to come one and come all, but everyone knows we just may be the lunatics you’re looking for.

To honor Billy Joel’s birthday, this band will perform a selection of his greatest hits. (Let’s put it this way. Whether in person or just electronically, you know the drummer.) Both Silly Joel and Billy Joel would be honored if you’d all put on your birthday suits and join Captain Jack, Virginia, Downeaster Alexa, Mr. Alan Towne, Mr. Cacciatore and some very, very special guests for this special event.

Admission is FREE, as is a certain amount of pizza and soda provided by Sprint, the concert’s sponsor. Cash bar will be available, along with Silly Joel T-shirts - certain to be the summer’s hottest fashion.

Feel free to invite anyone else you think might enjoy the show. The more the merrier.

And, because I know you’re all Web-curious, learn more about, hear and/or see us at the following:

http://www.sillyjoel.com
http://www.myspace.com/sillyjoelrocks
http://www.youtube.com/user/sillyjoelrocks

Again with the basic details
Silly Billy Birthday Bash, 10:30 p.m. Friday, the Pizza Machine, 107 W. Cook St., inside the Vinegar Hill Mall
Did I mention in boldface that this whole thing is FREE?

I hope to see you all there, and for those of you I’ve not met in person, join me for a cocktail after the show. In the words of Billy Joel, it’s better than drinkin’ alone.

Mr. Cacciatore

I cut-and-pasted the above notice, which I received by having the great fortune of being at least on the fringe of Mr. Cacciatore’s Inner {email} Circle, simply because I wanted to make sure I got all the details correct.

So come out this Friday night, May 9, and check out the awesomest Billy Joel tribute band in this community or any other. See you there!

Guess I’m somebody now

Good Saturday to all four of you that read this blog. I’m coming to you live from the beautiful Westport Sheraton Chalet hotel in St. Louis. Well, I think we may actually be in Maryland Heights (an old stomping ground of mine from the younger days), but it’s St. Louis enough.

Kind of like being in Anaheim or Beverly Hills–it’s all Los Angeles.

Anyway, I’m here because Mrs. Johann’s company is having their yearly management appreciation weekend here, which is essentially a free two-day long drunk very thinly disguised as a (best Dr. Evil voice here) “business seminar… riiiiiiight”, since today the managers are meeting with drug reps and attending a couple meetings, all the while being fed free food.

I’m basically along for the ride as Mrs. Johann’s trophy wife. Not that I’m a trophy by ANY stretch of the imagination (and those of you that know me, people will get the idea without your comments, thank you very much), but we wives basically sit there and look pretty while the managers harumph and pat each other on the back, and then tonight, we’re all going to get dolled up and get our White People Freak™ on on the dance floor. It’s really quite the display, at least from a sociological standpoint. And by “quite the display”, I mean “sad”. It’s comical watching a bunch of middle-aged-and-up white people try to Cha Cha Slide and to dance to such kooky hits as “Hot in Herre”. Two years ago, one woman threw out a hip when they played L’il Kim. But I partake in said WPF™ myself, so I am guilty of adding to the carnage as well.

Anyway, the company treats us wives very well. We get free breffast (I had four plates full), and they have different activities for us to do. I think this year’s are scrapbooking, a winery tour, and a golf outing. I suck at golf (go figure), I’m not the scrapbooking type, and I don’t drink wine, so here I am. Basically I’m studying my Spanish (”riiiiiiiiiiight…”) but I decided to take a quick break and come to the lobby and take advantage of the free Wi-Fi and drop a quick blog before I go back to estudiar-ing. In years past, some of the wives’ activities have been a tour of the Central West End (a bit too “eclectic” for me but it was a free lunch), a trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens (I’ve always enjoyed going there, and it was misting very lightly that particular day, which, strangely, made the trip awesome for me), and a tour of the AB brewery (guess where I went THAT year).

But the damnedest thing just happened. I’m sitting here in the lobby typing to you, my four loyal readers, when some chiquita comes up to me, calls me by name (MY name, no less), and says that there was an extra lunch in the scrapbooking room and asked if I wanted it. So I says “sure”. So then she leaves and returns about 4 minutes later with a quite delicious-looking chicken club samble-wich and a… carbonated cola beverage that comes in red cans and rhymes with Broke-a-Brola. (Don’t want to run into any copyright issues…)

Does this happen to people often?

Some woman, who I’m guessing works for Mrs. Johann’s company since I’m pretty sure I saw her at dinner last night, sees me in the lobby, calls me by name, and brings me lunch.

I don’t get half that treatment that at my office.

I am a nobody around here and I know about 7 people here-as well as you can know someone you see once a year-and I’ve got my wife’s corporate thingamajigs bringing me lunch.

I could get used to this.

Well, it’s almost one o’clock… have to get to my massage. TTFN, dahlings!

Nuestras únicas vacaciones de este año

The Johann family was on vacation this past week, the only vacation that we have together as a family for the entire year. Where did we go, you may ask? We went to Indianapolis to the Caribbean Cove Indoor Water Park.

It’s a Holiday Inn Select hotel on the back of which they constructed an indoor water park, hence the name. It really was pretty cool. There is a foot-deep area for the little tykes with a 700 gallon bucket that regularly dumps water on the kids- an event, announced by a tolling bell, that the kids flock from all corners to take part in; there is a more or less “regular” swimming pool, which contains little floaty things for kids to stand on and/or fall off of, and also 4 basketball hoops for some full-contact water roundball. There is a “lazy river” on which one can… well… lazily float along, and the big attraction is three water slides- two body slides and one tube slide- that twist and turn throughout the inside (and the outside) of the building. There are kids’ “life-jackets” (buoyancy aids, as opposed to actual life-saving devices) available for a little extra peace of mind. There are also 3 hot tubs (”too hot fuh duh hot tuuub!”), spas, jacuzzis, whirlpools, whatever you may call them, in which parents and kids can relax.