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Peter Case released his first solo
record was released back in 1986. I
still have it. One of the songs from
that album was nominated for a grammy award. I’ve followed his career from a
distance. I appreciated his musical
style. Like many of you who are reading this, I was first introduced to Case
through the Plimsouls hit, “A Million Miles Away.” The song pulled you in and like a few of you; I ripped through my unique version with air guitar blasting the power
chords. Earlier, on Sunday I played Oliver
in a little one on one rematch. I beat
him after coming back from 8 to 3, and beat my good friend 11 to 9. I asked if he wanted to join Erik and I and
he said he would. I spelled out that the
ticket was $15 with a two drink minimum, but I’ll drive. After the game, I showered and picked him up
and we drove into East Northport to get Erik.
I played KD Lang on the CD and he agreed her rich voice is similar to a
former member of our church. We picked
up Erik and headed in. There was more
traffic than expected, but soon we were on Delancey and found a parking spot
for the Charger. We got some cash. I bought a genuine knish from an old Jewish store that has
been in its location for more than a hundred years, and we were off to get into
the Rockwood Music Hall. The main bar
was empty. There was a woman checking in
the guests and I gave her my name, I was in.
Oliver and Erik forked over their cash while Peter Case stood at the bar, and was having a quiet conversation with a tall kid in a black leather coat. We walked down some dark steps and into a dim
room in the basement. There was a man at
the sound board, about 30 people sitting in chairs, small yellow electric
candles flickered, red walls and wooden back drop.
I had to put my glasses on since it was so dim. Peter Case took the stage. He sat down and strummed and went right into
a mixture of songs off his latest album HWY 62, Pelican Bay, Waiting on a
Plane, Long Time Gone, Aint Gonna Worry No More and others. Between the songs he had time to share his
unique stories which glow in his songs.
At one point he complained about being on the road and was tired of driving. There were a few of us who would trade their banal lives to play gigs across the
country. Although the show was fairly
short, a tight one hour set, and the venue was strict enforcing the allotted time. There was another band scheduled to hit the stage and who were already bringing in
their instruments to the back of the room…a few minutes before Peter was finished. After the set I helped carry one of his
guitars back up the stairs. There were a
couple of us assisting Peter. I bought a
book of his as well as a copy of HWY 62 which he signed and of course asked the
man to pose for a selfie. After the gig
we had dinner and a great conversation.
There is no such thing as a light conversation with Oliver, he pulls out
a topic; whatever his curious nature leads him to probe. And on the ride back to Long Island, Oliver
watched the robust lights shining from the fading Manhattan, blessing the city
out loud and grateful to be alive. We
listened to the CD three times and it was a good night for three fellas who
came together from three different worlds.
Thank you for reading this.
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