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Southeast Regional Report
Edited by Gil McLemore - gmclemore@mindspring.com

Another review for you freaks this month that samples a taste of a different region of the southland. Read on as our friend Cam Duffy regales us with his recent trip down to sunny Florida and look for a new band profile to be introduced next month along with a series of reviews from a road trip across the south.

Enjoy!

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Flight of the Snowbirds

by Cam Duffy

Well, the annual flock of snowbirds to the sunny South included me and the missus this year and what a flight (actually a drive) it was! Talk about going on tour. The round trip from Beaverton to Sarasota was just under 5400 KM or approximately 3375 miles but it was worth every one of them!

Before I left the frigid North for the sunny South I got on the Internet to see which way the wind blows down that neck of the woods and came up with a couple real dandies including: Cosmic Charlies in Davie, FLA and a rockin' little combo by the name of Crazy Fingers out of the Pompano, Ft. Lauderdale area and Rocketman in Siesta Key (Sarasota area). I contacted these folks to let them know I was coming and with Crazy Fingers I thought I would combine a little "business" with pleasure and asked if they would mind if I reviewed the show. Kind folks that they are, they didn't mind and told me to make a point of introducing myself when I got there.

Crazy Fingers plays at the Fisherman's Wharf in Pompano Beach every Thursday night so the missus (the wonderful Miss Colleen) and I split from Sarasota Thursday morning to cruise over to the other (party) side of Florida. Now let me tell you I'm used to dealing in kilometres and when a sign says you're 100 KM away from something it's usually an hour away or less. When something is 100 miles away its a whole different story! Almost three hours later we arrive (following great directions) at the door of Cosmic Charlies.

Cosmic Charlies is a groovy little Dead shop owned and operated by Andy. When I contacted Andy on the net he gave me directions and told me to drop by for a visit. A couple of hours later the missus and I had loaded up on stuff, done some Phish trades, and got directions to the gig in Pompano. If you are in the area of Ft. Lauderdale / Pompano check this place out. Andy is a real decent dude. So decent in fact, that he gave me the travelers discount on shirts and when I ran out of time the next day to get back and pick up the tapes I had left behind and the dubs he made for me, I phoned and he offered to mail them home to me. Thanks a bunch Andy! Andy also gave me the directions I needed to get to Pompano.

The missus and I bummed around for a while and about 9:00 we went to the Fisherman's Wharf to see the deal go down! What a cool venue! The bar is the first portion of a public wharf with half inside and half outside so you could dance under the stars and wander down the wharf if you so desired. Couldn't be better! As we walked in I was surprised to see a mini Shakedown Street being set up in the foyer with the usual trinkets, beads, shirts and one dude who was setting up about 300 tapes for sale. Now don't get the wrong idea, he was liquidating analogs so he could go to DATs and was asking two bucks a piece to cover costs. Pretty fair where I come from. The only thing that pissed me off was that I got so into having a good time later that I didn't come back and grab some tapes!

I went to check out Rich, one of the guitar players and the Web contact for the band. As I got there they were just setting up and Rich introduced me to the others in the band (Bubba - bass, Josh - keys, Pete - drums, and Cory - guitar) briefly and then apologized for not having time to sit just yet. Seems the boys were running a little late but Rich promised to sit with me between sets. I said no problem and set about groovin' with the folks.

Now I have to tell you from the word get go the people I met on my trip were great. Very friendly - including the friendly strangers that helped a fellow head in my time of need ;- )~

I sat on the front corner of the dance floor (which was busy from the first tune) so I could observe the folks. And what a bunch of them there were. My estimate (does this make me an estimating prophet ?) there were at least 300 or so on hand and all looked like they were having a great time. As I looked around the room I noticed that all the servers were in tie-dye which was kind of a neat touch. It was also the servers that lead to the only bummer of the night. See, where I come from you don't get many mixed age audiences but here it was very mixed and as a result the servers were asking for I.D. Fair enough except that the missus and I are both 33 years old. We were flattered but a little pissed that we had to go out to the car to get our *%&#^@* passports to get a drink!

A little after 10:00 the guys hit the stage and if I remember correctly, opened with a nice little groove jam > Wharf Rat (how apropos considering the venue). I knew right away that this was going to be fun, fun, fun! Tunes start - dancers up - smiles in place (feels like I've been here before). Wharf Rat grooved its way out to Touch of Grey which really got the folks movin'. Out of Touch > a groove of their own that had a really cool time shift in the middle of it. When the groove ended there was just enought time to catch a breath and a beer before the boys settled into a Brother Bob (Marley) tune called Zimbabwe. Now I wasn't familiar with the tune but it was so right! Folks right beside me were huggin' and groovin' to this one! Zimbabwe flowed out into a nice little jam. When the jam was over Rich announced that they had a special request and invited COry's girlfriend Katie up to sing with them. Rich told me later that the tune she did was a Donna Buffalo tune I think (I was groggy rather foggy at the time). Anyhow it was very cool with a country poppin' kind of groove. Sounds like fun so far huh? Well hold on to your seats because these guys finish the first set with - RIPPLE into their own tune. Oh baby now I'm up and movin (one of my faves and the first of many on the night) and one of their own! These guys have a really good sound.

Set list # 1 recap: Groove jam > Wharf Rat > Touch > groove of their own; Zimbabwe > nice little jam; Donna Buffalo Tune > country groove; Ripple; Own tune

When set one ended I had a chance to sit a spell with Rich and talk about the scene, the tunes and generally gab about jam shit in general. Pete (the drummer) asked me how I got started writing for jambands and I wanted to tell him some cryptic story about surviving the selection process and clawing my way in but, well, lets face it all I really do is submit stuff so I told him so. He told me about his aspirations to be a writer and he told me about a really cool project he wants to try. Seems Pete hit every stop on the '95 and last :- ( Dead tour, and he kept a detailed journal which he wants to turn into a book. I'd buy it - wouldn't you ? Good luck Pete, dreams are always dreams, but reality is a dream acted upon!

While I was talking to the guys from the band there was the most incredible drum circle going on inside the bar. I didn't venture in but the missus said there were at least 20 ryhthm devils in attendance and they were awesome. The only problem they had was the noise so the announcement went out for them to please stay inside the bar. Fair enough I thought!

Time for the second go round. The missus wanted to know if I made a pile of requests while I was sitting with the guys because don't they open the second set with Aiko Aiko (fave number two). Aiko finds its way into Estimated Prophet > a cool Estimated Jam. At this point me and some dude in a touque (I left all mine home) were just groovin' and high fivin'! Well, no rest for the wicked because Estimated Jam finds its way into Scarlet Begonias. Now the missus really thinks the fix is in! Scarlet > groovy jam > I Am The Walrus (can you believe it). This was a most wicked little treat! Walrus finds its way into a Crazy Fingers tune called Wings which was really sweet! After Wings and a bit of a breather they came right back at us with Pockey Way > full tilt groove time and I mean wailin'!

Set list # 2 recap: Aiko; Estimated Prophet > Jam > Scarlet Begonias > I Am The Walrus > Wings; Pockey Way > Jam

The third set wasn't really a set it was more of an encore but a good one just the same. It was Uncle John's Band (the extendo mix) with a cool jam on the end of it. I could have taken another hour of these guys but as I found out later from Rich, there was so many people there (probably 400 - 450 by this time) that the management asked them to keep it a little short. Now where I come from our local guys get a pretty good turn out and have a pretty fair following but nothing like this and as you all probably know - the folks are half the show!

Crazy Fingers is well worth the drive across Florida to see for any of other snowbirds who happen to be in the South on holidays and are looking for what gets you off. If my opinion counts for anything (and it must, I'm writing the review) I give these guys 2 FULLY STOKED BONGS UP!

Cosmic Charlies - Davie, FLA www.cosmiccharlies.com

Crazy Fingers - Pompano, FLA www.crazyfingers.net

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