APB at Bike Week 1999 in New Smyrna Beach Florida!

[Cagey-1]

Just returning from New Smyrna Beach after seeing and hearing APB tear
the place up! In what seemed like an army of bikers and more cowhide and
Harleys than the law allows, APB jammed for the enthusiastic SOUTHERN
ROCK loving army of bikers at the opening night of the 18th Annual BIKE
BASH at Pub 44.

Skynyrd Frynds own Patti and John Seitz showed up and so
did Ryan Young. If I missed any of you who were there please speak up!
Patti and John had some guests with them.

It was an outdoor affair
against the backdrop of a huge drainage pond-or small lake. It was
definitely shaped by man if not made by man. The road the band had to
back into was precariously perched on the ledge of a shear drop off into
the water. Artimus skillfully backed in his van and trailer all the way
up to the stage. His wheels less than 2 feet from the edge. A very
dangerous situation. One slip up and the whole rig would be in the
drink.

APB did a quick load out- only to have to wait around and hang
out because they were completely blocked in by a large bus and another
van. It took probably well over a half an hour to get things rolling.

Meanwhile the next band was on stage performing and it was very strange
to hear them performing Molly Hatchet! Mikey stepped off the bus to wash
his eye out as it had become infected from his contact lens and as soon
as he heard the other band he exclaimed: "Oh God No! Not Molly Hatchet!"
And with absolutely no prompting or any mention of it from me. He said
it of his own free will lending another eyewitness testimonial to the
already large amount of existing testimonials. I found this most
interesting.

Mikey really was having a hard time with his infected eye.
It was half swollen shut and red and watery. We were all suggesting that
he seriously go see a doctor. No telling what you caught there Mikey!!!
He had to wear dark sunglasses on stage to hide his eye. He almost
cancelled because of his eye, but he toughed it out and came anyways. He
was constantly flushing the eye out with water and or saline solution to
help keep it open and feeling lubricated. You could really see the
discomfort it caused him.

And as usual Artimus dedicated the show to all
of his lost loved ones Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Steve Gaines,
Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, and Chuck Flowers. All said and done it
was a great show-at least what I saw of it! I think Ryan was making a
video of it! Right in front of the speakers??? Let me know how it sounds Ryan!

APB was the BIKE WEEK KICKOFF PARTY BAND for both Saturday and Sunday.
And on Monday The ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION BAND will be performing, and on
Tuesday it will be RICK DERRINGER, and on Wednesday it will be a
SOUTHERN ROCK copy type of cover band called BOUNTY HUNTER, and then on
next Saturday HUMBLE PIE will be performing.

[Forum Lord]

2519APB in New Smyrna Beach
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K.L. G.Oct 24, 1999
Last night at the Biker event at Pub 44 with ALL POINTS BULLETIN was more
than expected for all of us I am sure... starting off by going with a
bachelor from hell, none other than Dr. Bob with more than 16 girlfriends
and none of them coming with us thank God! Dr. Bob is really an excellent
audio technician and acupuncture specialist who has done quite a bit of work
for Bo Diddley and many other guitar legends working on their amps and not
by sticking them full of needles. Fortunately he left those at home this
night as well. I showed up late as usual coming in during the first half of
the opening act BOUNTY HUNTER - a Southern wannabe copy act if I ever saw
one and a dam sorry one at that. Maybe I just caught them on an off night
who knows... I could hear this band from the street as we carefully entered
the property making our way through a veritable army of Harley Davidson
motorcycles lined up side by side as far as the eye could see. Every size,
shape and color and just as much of a variety of riders to go along with
them. Some coming in from all over the country and even from other parts of
the world. France and Germany showing a strong attendance. Bikers are
usually a rowdy bunch, but this crowd was tame as a pussy cat for the most
part. Surprising. I made sure to leave my arms at home. A little lesson
learned from Johnny cash and an old biker who use to live in my neighborhood
as a kid. The theory goes something like this: If you carry in a weapon and
get into a fight, you are probably going to pull it out and use it. If you
do, you could lose your life by having done so. But if you are wise enough
to leave your weapons at home and then get into a fight at a biker bar, the
chances of you leaving alive are greatly improved. Johnny cash sang a song
of similar philosophy called "Billy, don't take your guns to town." Well, in
the song, Billy did and Billy died. Lesson learned by passed down method.
Good advice for biker situations. You would think that a biker bar is a
place where you would most need your weapon, but in reality it could be the
worst place. Proceeding on into the joint which reminded me of Ron Jon's in
Cocoa Beach, this place looked like the tourist trap for bikers. Not your
usual biker dive. Most of these bikers were of your mom and pop type instead
of your Hell's Angels and Outlaws or Warlock types. They tend to be a little
rougher. Tonight was all fun and games. Pushing our way up to the front I
could clearly see Calicia and her video camera at work on taping this
opening band BOUNTY HUNTER. I had just missed the legendary LES DUDEK who
stepped out with this band to perform for a few minutes. No big loss. Les
can be a real asshole sometimes. I found that out the hard way at another
APB show many years ago when Les opened for APB in Winter Haven Florida. The
only album I could find in my collection with Les Dudek's involvement was an
old ALLMAN BROTHERS album, and I was hoping he would sign it for me. After
the show I approached Les for his signature and he got really irate and bent
out of shape about it. He refused to sign it. I found out why from one of
his roadies who told me that Les is sensitive to his public image. I asked
why and he said that Les really would like to be known for his solo work and
not for the work which he is only a contributor on such as with the ALLMAN
BROTHERS. I said is that any reason to get upset and refuse to sign an album
and give me a bad impression of the man? He said that was just Les. I
shrugged it off and found an opportunity later on after APB to corner Les
about it. This time I was in the company of the APB band backstage and asked
him again and he did not seem to want to cause a scene and begrudgingly
signed it and was not all too happy about it. So keep this in mind if you
should ever run against Les Dudek make sure you have one of his solo albums
to get signed or you may face his same demons all over again. Poor old Les,
can't make a name on his own, but gains fame through others. I can see where
he would eventually develop a sensitivity to this, but the man should not
take it out on innocent fans. Glad I missed him and his set on this night.
No big loss for me, but hey Calicia, did you catch it on video? BOUNTY
HUNTER visually resembles very much a cross between Molly Hatchet and
Skynyrd, but musically they can't come close. The drummer looked lost and
like it was against his religion to hit that snare drum with any intensity.
The drummer is the rocket fuel for a great band such as Artimus was for
Skynyrd in their hey day, but this guy couldn't get it off the ground and
the band floundered down there with him. The bass player was rocking more
than any of them. The guitars lacked intensity and gusto. There was
absolutely no bite to them whatsoever and they seemed disconnected from each
other at times. A very lame and often out of tune performance. The vocalist
was very much a copy wannabe of Ronnie Van Zant in appearance and stage
behavior in mic handling, etc. I guess he was ok and could use a better
band. I have heard regular bar bands play these songs better. I suppose the
one bright and positive thing about this band was that they are trying to
keep Southern Rock alive and well in their own way only they play way too
many Molly Hatchet songs and butcher them as well, but that is OK with me. I
could not believe they had the audacity to Play "Gator Country" with Artimus
there backstage. You know the words: "I've been to Alabama people and its a
mighty fine place to be. Skynyrd says its a real sweet home, but it ain't
nothin' to me." I can just see Danny Joe and his birdie finger every time I
hear that one as he continues on to put down ever other Southern band who
are suppose to be his brothers. Like singing: "Dickey Betts can ramble on
back to Georgia and I won't give a dam." Or Marshall Tucker can take the
highway and take all they can hold." What is up with that Danny Joe??? I
found out that DJB use to feel that these bands held his back and that he
could never score a contract and enter the mainstream because there was no
room for his second rate band in with the big boys at the top. It was only
after Skynyrd died in the plane crash that Molly Hatchet was able to score a
recording contract. Banner Thomas told me this story late one night at the
Village Saloon in Orange Park Florida and Banner himself said it has become
known as the "grave-robber" story. So in 1978 on Molly Hatchet's very first
album they come out swinging on all their Souther brothers who they feel
held them down and kept them back from their fame and fortune. I say Danny
Joe, if you and your band were good enough someone would have signed you up,
and not have waited until you became a potential clean up crew for the
market left behind in Skynyrd's absence. You can not hold your Southern
brothers to blame for your failure to gain mainstream by your own merits -
or lack of them. Anyways, this is what BOUNTY HUNTER is all about as well.
Just a clean up band for whatever Southern Rock market they can tap into and
funnel some of the funds their way. I spelled BOUNTY HUNTER this night
S-U-C-K. During the song Gator Country I started yelling at them to attempt
to play some Skynyrd. Boy did I ever live to regret that! They sure did and
not just any Skynyrd, they went after hard core Skynyrd by attempting FREE
BIRD. The opening was confused and none of the guitarists seemed to know
what part to play or in what key or anything close. They were all over the
place and way out of tune and off timing with each other. It was terrible. I
was hoping this army of bikers would help to toss this band out, but the
fact that they were playing Skynyrd actually endeared this crowd to them to
not only tolerate their lousy performance, but to embrace it for whatever
small piece of fond nostalgic memory they could uncover in their beer
clouded minds. Artimus was no where around. Lucky for him! I was hoping that
maybe he would come out and put a stop to it! And Calicia was still
recording! Gyrl, we are going to have to talk about that! I had a hard
enough time watching it live, I could not imagine suffering through a repeat
on tape! Patti Seitz and her hubby John - Big John were there as well. Patti
said I was being too hard of a critic on the band. If so then why were your
fingers in your ears??? LOL! Finally the butchering of every Southern rock
band came to an end and these guys begged the crowd for a response since
their so called music did not do it, and they finally left the stage so a
real band could show them what it is all about!
During the break a biker with a big mouth slobbered some more on the front
mic and started throwing out Budweiser freebies and even brought some biker
chicks up on stage to show off tits and throw things into the crowd which of
course they all clamoured for no matter how worthless the item. At one point
a Budweiser hat was thrown directly at me which I caught much to the dismay
of this woman behind me who seemed to want it very badly. I took one look at
the hat and decided she could have it so I gave it to her. For some strange
reason her boyfriend thought I deserved my own private flash from his old
lady. Silicon can solve that problem! Thanks Bud, now I will have tattoo
nightmares for years to come.
APB came on shortly and one thing I noticed right off was that Greg Baril's
normal guitar rig was noticeably absent! Oh no! He was forced to use Mike
Estes' Marshall head amp and some F#*$@#% Peavey speakers also belonging to
Mike who was not a part of the band this night. Greg normally uses a Russian
made Sovtek amp and speaker setup that absolutely screams and is much more
efficient in Greg's mid range area and is extremely loud and clean. Tonight
Greg just could not get the volume from this setup. I kept yelling at him to
turn it up and he heard me and seemed to agree since he and Buzzy Meekins
and Artimus were all yelling at the sound crew to turn everything up all the
way as far up as they could go with it. The PA sucked big time and looked
like some cheapo rigged up setup, but it worked - barely. They desperately
needed some presence speakers in the front mid section of the stage, but
what can you expect when biker Billy Bob is running the sound in between
running back and forth to the bar??? ALL POINTS BULLETIN consisted of
Artimus Pyle, Greg Baril, Buzzy Meekins, and Phil Swindle. Phil is such a
nice guy and does not seem to fit into the rock scene. Seriously, Phil looks
like he should be in some orchestra in a tuxedo somewhere. His personality
keeps him in such a cool composure on stage. Where as Greg Baril has this
natural unkempt look about him and usually appears to be a possessed maniac
on stage all over the place torturing his guitar. The two guitarists are so
different like night and day. Then there is Buzzy Meekins. In the words of
Dr. Bob, he said Buzzy was "barely adequate." We share the opinion that
Buzzy is not the greatest bass player and does not have the dynamics needed
to match those of Artimus Pyle and Greg Baril. Buzzy is the weakest member
of the band. Artimus introduced him as a bass player who has played with
just about every Southern rock band. I know he also has performed with
Vassar Clements which I find hard to believe since Vassar is such a
consummate professional, and probably the finest fiddle player in the world.
I wonder if Buzzy is the official new member or does he still have temporary
status because Mike Estes was going to bring in a bass player from Nashville
a while back. The band would probably do well to find a better selection. No
doubt Buzzy is a nice guy. Not the issue. I just don't think he is the best
choice for this band, and that they could do better. So far the best bassist
this band has had was Timmy Lindsey. He was a dynamic as Greg and Artimus
and his skill on bass was second to none and Artimus use to introduce Timmy
as the "best" bass player he had ever played with. I had often wondered if
that was a slight on Leon Wilkeson in any way. Though I would have to agree
with Artimus that Timmy is a better player. Artimus this night was not in
good spirits. You could tell something was bothering him and it showed very
clearly from the stage. He would sit stone faced behind his drums waiting
for his cue to perform. He seemed to allow the band to flow their own way
and he would fall in and do his part with them. It was obvious Artimus would
like something to be a different way and since it was not he showed the
frustration. When he was performing he right on time and very much the
professional with his snappy hard-hitting snare shots and very articulate
with his rolls and fills and classy cymbal work is very artistic. Artimus is
a great drummer with style and class and power to match. One of the few. I
am grateful to still be able to see and hear him perform. Hopefully he will
be around for a long while to come. This incarnation of his APB band is one
of the finest I think he has ever had, though he and maybe others would feel
otherwise, I say that because musically I enjoy this band more than any
other and I especially enjoy the talent of Greg Baril's playing. The blend
is very potent and has great commercial potential. I would love for this
band to write and do more originals and even record an album's worth - or
more. The set this night contained a lot of standard classics. I was
surprised to hear them do Jimi Hendrix' "Voodoo Chile" among the others
including one I never heard them do before "Born under a bad Sign." Artimus
would have liked for them to do a few more Skynyrd tunes, but not this night
for some reason. Maybe Greg leaned away from it. He is more into the blues
and I know he is not really fond of Southern rock. I guess he can not feel
it like that or with that country feel like Southerners do. He certainly has
the intensity for it though. Greg is very intense. A very confident guitar
player with no shortage of licks and variety. this night he was exploring
the new amp setup at one point turning it all the way up and literally
getting down on the stage floor in front of it and pushing the thing into
feedback and took a long while at exploring the dynamics of the feedback. He
seemed like a kid with a new toy to play with and I have never seen him play
with feedback as much as he did this night. Greg really dominated the
performance. i wonder what sort of pressure this puts on the other players
like Phil and Buzzy. I watched Buzzy slack off when Greg was not paying him
much attention, but as soon as Greg would give Buzzy his complete attention
Buzzy would then get on his job a little bit more and act like he was doing
something and try to play it up to Greg. And Phil did not seem the least bit
intimidated by Greg and made no effort to even try to act it up more like
Greg. Phil is way too cool for that. He solely concentrates on his
performance and does not jump around at all. Strangely odd how I could hear
Phil's Fender Super amp much louder and clearer than I could hear the amp
setup Greg was using. And Greg's did not sound clean to me. Muddy would be
more like it and I just attributed it to the Peavey speakers. I know
Marshall amps can produce if hooked up to Marshall speakers or JBL or other
high quality speakers, but those Peavey speakers - YUCK! And I was closer to
Greg's amp than I was to Phil's. I know Dr. Bob noticed this as well and
told Greg after the show that he would repair his Sovtek amp for free! So
hurry up and get that thing fixed Greg! Usually Greg is the loudest thing
around. This night he just couldn't get it up! LOL! No wonder he and I and
others kept yelling "turn it up Greg!" APB's show this night was a strained
one. It was a good show and performance no doubt, but there were factors
affecting the band in obvious ways making for a slightly out of ordinary
performance all the way around. Artimus wanted to say some things to the
crowd before Sweet Home Alabama and Phil mistakenly kicked it off and
Artimus stopped him for a moment so he could pay tribute to the real Lynyrd
Skynyrd by mentioning Ronnie, Allen, Steve, Cassie, Dean, and I believe he
may have even mentioned Chuck Flowers in his tribute. Artimus voice was very
hoarse and he told the crowd to help him sing it and I suppose this is when
the lead singer of BOUNTY HUNTER saw his chance to carefully crawl up on
stage and try to help Artimus out on front vocals. He sort of non-chalantly
waited on the side hoping Artimus would motion him on which he did and for a
brief second they tried to share one mic together and then Artimus grabbed
the guy around the neck and pulled him over to say something in his ear. I
would venture a guess that he told the guy to just take it over and Artimus
walked off stage and out back for a moment before returning to the stage.
The drummer from Bounty Hunter was paying close attention to Artimus'
directions on how to play it and did a much better job of actually hitting
the drums with some intensity under Artimus watchful eye. It was the guys
best performance of the night. Hopefully he will retain this and carry it on
into what he does with his band in the future. APB finished out the night
with a Greg Baril original. Something called "Sit down to play the Blues." A
very good song. Hope he records it someday soon. Artimus was out of there so
fast. You could see he wanted some peace and quiet and calmness. He was
tense. He had to go back the van out so he could turn it around to back in
and hook up with the equipment trailer so they could leave. Only one small
problem though. Some biker had parked his van in the road and was blocking
the trailer. Since the van could not back in there to get it out a bunch of
bikers pulled the trailer out by hand as far as they could. They very nearly
got it out but it became wedged in between a palm tree and the van. The guys
who owned the van had already left with some other people so we had a real
dilemma on our hands. The only thing to do was to physically move the van
and the same crew of bikers actually tried to pick up the front of the van
to move it over. Not going to happen fellas. Nice try. Next a floor jack was
brought in and a piece of plywood was put under the van and the front end
jacked up until the wheels were off the ground and then the biker crew was
able to physically shove the van over enough to squeeze out the trailer. I
won't say how close it really was! Or who is going to be pissed off about
that one! But the trailer was out and ready to go! Artimus checked the
hookup himself and was out of there. Four shows down in the biker army. A
tough crowd no doubt! I still get a laugh out of one comment from somewhere
in the crowd when after one song - probably the feedback distortion thing of
Jimi Hendrix, some guy yelled to Greg "Now play something that you know!"
Greg got a laugh out of that one! I'm still getting a laugh from that one. I
will have to file that one away and remember it for future use! At one point
I yelled up at Greg "Play that funky music white boy!" He yelled back "who's
white?" Normally I don't yell at the band, but at a biker joint it is par
for the course. Oh well, just another gig and another night under a full
moon. We knew going in it was going to be a strange night. APB still kicked
ass and it was an enjoyable show. See ya next time fellas.
Now, Calicia and Patti, how about your reviews???