MAGGIEPOWELL.NET – NOVEMBER 6 & 7, 2004 – BY MAGGIE POWELL
The first weekend in November saw Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes re-visit the Hyde Park club, in Osnabrück, for a never-been-done-before weekend package that meant a full-band performance on the Saturday night followed by an acoustic set from Southside Johnny and Bobby Bandiera on the Sunday night; the latter took place in the smaller, more intimate setting of the nearby Lagerhalle.
Joining the band for these shows was special guest, Soozie Tyrell, whose violin skills have earned her enviable gigs with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Without a doubt, Soozie’s presence brought a totally new dimension to the wall of sound normally associated with the Jukes and it was the most incredible experience to see her duelling with Bobby Bandiera’s nifty fret board work as well as with Joey Stann’s saxophone expertise during the course of the performance.
Apart from seeing Klaus introduce the band… if I had to choose just one thing from this show, the absolute highlight for me was the stunning version of Souls On Fire; and to be honest, you simply had to have been there to fully appreciate the depths Soozie’s violin sounds gave this classic from the Better Days album. Coupled with the dedication to the excellent Jukes’ Tribute band, “Souls On Fire”, who, incidentally, had come a long, long way to get to Osnabrück, it was altogether a very magic moment in a show that was certainly technically challenged, at least to begin with. But hey, with Joe Prinzo on board for this tour, the unforseen glitches didn’t stand a chance and so, the show rocked, just the way you’d expect it to, all night long.
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- Photo Copyright (c) by Rene van Diemen - 2004
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- Photo Copyright (c) by Rene van Diemen - 2004
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- Photo Copyright (c) Rene van Diemen - 2004
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- Photo Copyright (c) by Silvia Steiner - 2004
SETLIST: Love On The Wrong Side Of Town – Next To You – Talk To Me – I Remember Last Night – Cadillac Jack – She’s Still In Love – I Played The Fool – Coming Back – Soul’s On Fire – Help Me – All the Way Home (country medley, including El Paso, during which Soozie came out and they ended up swapping verses on “She Thinks I Still Care”) – Trapped Again – Walk Away Renee – It’s All Over Now – Claudine – Tell Me That Your Love’s Still Strong – Without Love – Fever – We’re Havin’ A Party – ENCORES: I Don’t Want To Go Home – Driving Wheel – Got To Be A Better Way Home – Hearts Of Stone
EUROPEAN JUKES’ CONVENTION – UNIKELLER – NOVEMBER 7, 2004
Prior to the Sunday night acoustic show, the very first Jukes’ Fan Convention to be held in Europe took place at the Unikellar bar, an integrated hostelry part of the Osnabrück University. Apparently the seed for this event was sown at the Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, when the Jukes performed there a couple of years ago. Something to do with a bunch of fans getting together before the show and having the surprise of their lives when the guys in the band came down to the bar to say “hi”, I believe! OK, so I knew the bit about the guys in the band stopping by, but hey… there was no way I was going to lift the lid on this!
Since then, one thing has led to another, including the launch of www.asburyjukes.de which subsequently caught the attention of some guys living in Munich who just happened to be in a tribute band called “Souls On Fire” that just happened to perform Jukes music and who just happened to be available the weekend of the Osnabrück shows! Long story short, the house band for the Convention had been booked.
Another contributing factor to this event was the fact that it had been 25 years since the Jukes first appeared on the German TV programme, Rockpalast. At that time, the programme’s host was Peter Rüchel and it was particularly fitting that Peter agreed to come to the Convention and ultimately make a presentation to Southside Johnny to commemorate the band’s first German television broadcast.
And so, thanks to Gisela, Klaus and Guido, we had ourselves a helluva party!
Now, there are “cover” bands and there are “tribute” bands and “Souls On Fire” very definitely fall into the latter category. Their set included a mixture of old and new Jukes’ songs and they certainly raised a few eye-brows – à la Roger Moore – when some of the older material like “Why” was performed.
It was just great to see Jukes’ baritone sax player, Eddie Manion, get up and jam with the guys and if smiles could have generated electricity, the Unikeller would have had been lit up for a week.
And as if that wasn’t enough… in walked the rest of the Jukes to a rapturous welcome.
After the above-mentioned presentations had been made by Peter Rüchel and Johnny had made his reply, “Souls On Fire” picked up where they had left off and continued playing until it was time to go home – not than anyone wanted to go, but the thought of the acoustic show was kinda alluring.
“Souls On Fire” really did credit to the songs they played and their performance had the Unikellar rockin’.
Check out: www.souls-on-fire.de for everything you’d like to know about the Best Jukes’ Tribute Band In The World and incidentally, “Souls On Fire” are also the current “Fans of the Month” on the official Southside Johnny website. Congratulations, thanks for a great time and, way to go guys!
SET LIST – courtesy of Wolle Fent: Got To Be A Better Way Home – Better Days – Snatchin’ It Back – Tenth Avenue Freeze Out – Why – She’s Still In Love – Time – Fever – This Time It’s For Real – Shake ‘em Down – Going Back To Louisiana – Talk To Me – No Easy Way Down – Lost In The Night – Jam-Blues (with Eddie Manion) – I’ve Played The Fool (solo Eddie) – Baby Don’t Lie – Got To Get You Off Of My Mind- Passion Street – Souls On Fire (solo Eddie) – I’ve Been Working Too Hard – All I Want Is Everything – I Don’t Wanna Go Home – Too Much Stuff – We’re Havin´A Party
Congratulations also to Klaus and Guido for putting the whole she-bang together and as for their incredibly clever t-shirt that said: “I Always Wanted To Be An Asbury Juke” – a quote from Jon Bon Jovi, it won’t surprise you to know that they were the most popular shirts of the day!
This set the scene perfectly for the acoustic show that would follow…
SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY – ACOUSTIC SET – LAGERHALLE – NOVEMBER 7, 2004
As per above, this smaller, more intimate venue was just perfect for this truly exceptional acoustic show. Vanessa may, but Soozie certainly does – rock with her violin that is!
Considering the fact that there were only three people performing on the stage, their collective, dazzling talents made it sound more like a full-blown ensemble. Suffice to say it was an incredibly mind-blowing occasion for those of us lucky enough to be there and the show included original material from Soozie and Bobby, as well as some Jukes’ songs and covers from the likes of Aretha Franklin, the Everly Brothers and Little Feat.
Some of the highlights for me were hearing Bobby singing Here Comes The Sun, Soozie performing Dark Clouds from her album, “White Lines” and a song Johnny sang that appeared to be called Looking In The Eyes Of Love which I didn’t recognise but it certainly had an impact on me. We also heard a wonderful rendition of Under The Sun, which was written by Bobby and Patti Scialfa, as well as Rosa and Into The Mystic.
From start to finish, this show had everything… great music, great sound, great banter, great personalities on stage and a great venue.
SETLIST: It Hurts To Be In Love – Coming Back – Under The Sun – Son Of A Preacher Man – Crying In The Rain – Looking In The Eyes Of Love – If I Needed Someone – It’s All Over Now – Dark Clouds – Willin’ – She Still Thinks I Care – Fade Away – Heart of Saturday Night – Here Comes The Sun – Trapped Again – Driving Wheel – Claudine – Till I Kissed You – Rosa – I Don’t Want To Go Home – ENCORES: She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain – Into The Mystic – When Will I Be Loved? – C’mon Caroline
Copyright (c) by Maggie Powell 2004 – All rights reserved