SENECA
NIAGARA CASINO PREVIEW
by
Ross Cat.
To help celebrate the Holiday Season the SENECA NIAGARA CASINO has parlayed
plenty of hot action as they welcome to town some of Rocks high Rollers.
Kicking things off this Friday night will be hometown hero’s the GOO GOO
DOLLS as they find their way home for the holidays in the midst of the
highly successful “Let Love In” tour. If you already have a ticket you’ve
hit the jackpot as this show inside the EVENTS CENTER was a sure bet and
sold out almost immediately.
Also sold out this Saturday night will be KANSAS as they will share an
intimate evening inside the BEAR’S DEN with their complex classic rock
sound. Lead by STEVE WALSH whose keyboard sorcery and lofty vocals have
helped this band carry on for over three decades.
Last but most certainly not least the SENECA NATION proudly presents the
GREGG ALLMAN and Friends tour. Back by popular demand the ROCK AND ROLL
HALL of FAMER is moonlighting while the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND takes a well
deserved break before the Beacon Theater Run in March.
The GOO GOO DOLLS have been on the road since their home grown release
“Let Love In”, hit the streets this past spring. This will be the bands
second visit to the area as they teamed up with the COUNTING CROWS in July,
treating their local fan faithful to a torrid performance. The second leg
of the tour which runs through late March will find the GOO GOO DOLLS back
in the headlining position where they belong. Opening up the shows
on this leg of the tour will be OVER IT (www.overitonline.com),
a band out of Virginia who’s touring in support of their new disc “Step
Outside Yourself”.
NIGHTLIFE had the privilege to “Slide” on down to Erie, PA earlier this
month to catch the band, let me tell you these most certainly are “Better
Days” for the boys from BUFFALO. The band has been “Burnin’ Up” the stage
with a new found Rock and Roll resurgence and robust determination. We
had the chance to catch up with our “January Friend” booming bassist/vocalist
ROBBY TAKAC before the show to chat about the success of 2006 and what
the New Year has in store for the GOO GOO DOLLS.
R.CAT-
Happy Holidays ROBBY we really appreciate you once again taking time for
us. I’ve had the good fortune to see the band twice so far on the “Let
Love In” tour and the shows have been tremendous, tell us about the tour
and the zone the band is in right now?
ROBBY-
The guys and I want to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy holiday season
in our hometown of BUFFALO.
This has been an incredible tour for us. It really is different then previous
tours for us in a lot of respects. I think that we had to reach down and
find ourselves again and get back to the basics of being a band. The whole
record industry thing can be so difficult on a band so we decided to get
away from all of that and come back home to write “Let Love In”. Another
part of that is by hitting the road hard and that is what the plan is to
start off 2007. We have been so fortunate with the success of selling records
the past decade, but that’s not what this is all about, it’s about the
connection you have when you share a room with fans. Whether it’s DARIEN
LAKE or some of the smaller venues we are playing on this leg we feed off
that vibe.
R.CAT-
The grassroots approach has seemed to work as the album has been out since
April and the title track is still hanging tough in the VH-1 top twenty.
As a matter fact it’s at #10 ten this week, this collection of songs has
some staying power.
ROBBY-
Yeah we are really happy with the video and the message that it sends.
I think when people listen to our songs they have a tendency to immediately
think that we’re singing about a one on one relationship with a girl. For
the first time in the bands history we made a concerted effort to make
the point that’s not what all our songs are necessarily about. There is
a much larger context to the word relationship; we think that the “Let
Love In” video demonstrates that. With the state of the world both JOHN
and I felt that the concept of LOVE as a whole needed to be addressed.
R.CAT-
From your humble beginnings here in the backstreet bars of BUFFALO your
live performances have always been the bands trademark. This tour is no
different in that respect but what is a little different is the added musicians
they’ve really bolstered the sound, tell us about that?
ROBBY-
The guys that have been on the road with us have really been great for
us and the music. As I said there are so many things we’ve altered both
as a band and as people this time out and for me one of the biggest things
is sobriety. I really haven’t dwelled on this too much with any other media
outlet, because this is a hometown paper I feel I can, and should, share
this with all the people who’ve supported me on this amazing journey. I
have to say I can hardly contain myself when I’m up on stage; we have a
new perspective on our music our personal relationships within, and more
importantly me. For so long you just think that the party is part of the
program and you just don’t realize how much time you lose in recovering
from the previous night. With the new found extra time and energy
we’ve dedicated it to the different facets of our lives and the GOO GOO
DOLLS as a whole. We really are grateful for where we are at and it’s nice
to share these amazing times in a different mindset.
R.CAT-
Lastly I know that the band is in the midst of enjoying the colossal success
of the record and tour, what can we expect to see in the New Year from
the GOO GOO DOLLS?
ROBBY-
How about we give NIGHTLIFE a scoop as we appreciate all the support you’ve
given the band. We are currently in the process of rebuilding the old Trackmaster
studio, and it looks like we will be hanging around our great city to not
only write but we also plan to record here as well. We’ve still got plenty
of work to do on “Let Love In” which we are enjoying so that probably won’t
be for another year or so.
We are still adding on to this tour as a matter of fact we are booking
dates for another tour in the summer of 2007. We are really looking
forward to coming home this week and sharing the holidays with fans, friends,
and family.
NIGHTLIFE would like to Thank ROBBY TAKAC as well as Angela Burke from
Warner Brothers Records. Those lucky enough to be going to the show Friday
please remember to “Give a Little Bit” by bringing donations for the U.S.A.
Harvest (www.usaharvest.com).
Be sure to check out the bands very interactive website @ www.googoodolls.com
for news and upcoming tour dates. Just added this week is a March
20th gig at the Reilly Center located at the campus of St. Bonaventure
University in OLEAN.
STILL HITTIN’ THE NOTE…..Earlier this month one of music’s most awe-inspiring
artist, GREGG ALLMAN celebrated his 59th birthday. Instead of kicking back
and riding high on his hog when the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND are on hiatus
the towering figure behind the Hammond B-3 will be belting out the blues
with some old friends.
ALLMAN and his band will make a triumphant return to the SENECA NIAGARA
CASINO on Sunday January 7th in the EVENTS CENTER. These solo treks are
always a treat for music fans as ALLMAN gets to visit some of the often
overlooked gems from his solo albums, “I’m No Angel” and “Just Before the
Bullets Fly”.
Playing outside the Brothers allows for a “Laid Back” atmosphere which
gives ALLMAN and friends room to improvise, they can also open things up
on some of the ALLMAN BROTHERS classics, giving them a new groove with
the help of percussionists FLOYD MYLES and STEVE POTTS. Also included
in this stellar group of musicians are MICHAEL BARNES (guitar), JERRY JEMMOTT
(bass) and JAY COLLINS on (sax).
Please be sure to visit the SENECA NIAGARA CASINO website @ www.senecaniagaracasino.com
for ticket information as well as upcoming shows.
GET WELL SOON….NIGHTLIFE Magazine would like to send our best wishes for
a speedy recovery to BUFFALO bassist RODNEY APPLEBY. He sustained a gunshot
injury to the jaw last month in an altercation with a neighbor. The neighbor
has since been brought to justice but this act of unjust violence has robbed
fans of the second leg of the successful GILLAN’S INN TOUR. The tour which
kicked off in BUFFALO in August was scheduled to head to Australia but
has since been cancelled.
GILLAN has been touring on the strength of his solo record GILLAN’S INN,
with APPLEBY and local musician MICHAEL LEE JACKSON (www.michaelleejackson)
on guitar in between DEEP PURPLE dates. The soulful PURPLE singer posted
this statement on his website (www.gillansinn.com),
“The main reason for this cancellation is the recent incident involving
our bassist RODNEY APPLEBY. We feel it is in the best interest to allow
RODNEY to rest and heal before we continue the tour. We apologize
for any inconvenience this has caused and we look forward to seeing you
on tour in the near future.”
************PEACE
and HARMONIES**********************
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