Скачать или смотреть Wow with Pat DiNizio, live at The Stone Pony, 09 23 00

In September of 2000 the lead singer of The Smithereens had thrown his name in as a candidate for the US Senate from the state of New Jersey. As a way of campaigning, Pat DiNizio was playing music along with delivering his political message. A year previously we had Pat up to Portland Maine while on his "Strangers On A Refrain" 'living room' tour, and he invited us to come and back him on a campaign stop at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ.

I found this recording on a cassette in a box in my basement. I had no idea it existed. 16 years ago it was rare for someone to have a recording device in their pocket (ubiquitous smartphones were still a few years away) but apparently someone in the crowd had a 'digital tape' recorder and captured this performance. There are obviously some sound limitations with the recording: the person taping was moving around and sometimes the guitar is louder, sometimes the bass, the occasional shuffling against clothing or other people in the audience, quite a bit of tape hiss, and a spot where the cassette tape was damaged. For the most part its a pretty decent recording, and I tweaked the eq a bit to bring out the bass guitar.

Pete rocked his Rickenbacker while wearing orange pants, Andrew thumped and rolled his bass, and I just bashed away, thrilled to play Smithereens tunes behind the actual voice we'd grown up hearing on the radio. With my vocal mic still set up from our opening set, I contributed backing vocals, (Russell and I teamed up for the chorus on Top Of The Pops) and one of the funnier moments came after the gig when DiNizio said, "I've been playing some of these tunes for 20 years, and NOBODY ever sings the backing parts! That was awesome!"

Also interesting to note that in 2000 it was less than a decade from the time of The Smithereens' height of popularity, and the first 4 songs in the set were from their 1999 record... we were playing essentially brand new material.

2:57 I Believe
5:58 Everything Changes
8:40 She's Got A Way
12:04 Somewhere Down The Line
15:33 Behind The Wall Of Sleep
19:07 Top Of The Pops
24:00 Blood And Roses
29:43 A Girl Like You



Video posted for nostalgia and entertainment purpose, all songs copyright 1980-1999 Pat DiNizio and The Smithereens.