| Really Rough and Random Gig Notes.... Saturday, 11/1/08 Willy's Ale Room, Acton ME (gig #94)
This was our second time up at Willy's and we really like the place. They've got a great stage, great people. It's a bit of a drive for us, but it's fun to play there when people are up and dancing. The crowd was a little light since they'd had their big halloween bash the night before. First set was slow, but people got up for the second set and we ended pretty well. We introduced some new songs that went over pretty well. Looks like we'll be making several appearances at Willy's next year. Saturday, 10/25/08 3rd Annual Monster Bash for FBRD in Strafford (gig #93)
This is our third year doing this show and what a blast we had. Remember, our first year we did the Village People thing, last year we did the Devo video thing, this year we struggled with how to top the last two years and....we couldn't. So we decided to have many different special guests show up to play with Rough...we had some 70s disco men with big hair, big shoes, and big attitude, Devo made a brief re-appearance, one of the Hanson Brothers from the movie Slapshot showed up and stayed the night, Angus Young, Slash, some hippie dude, and Jackie Moon from the movie Semi-Pro. With all the costume changes the night just flew by and we didn't really get a chance to talk to many people, but it was fun and rockin' and we're looking forward to next year! Saturday, 9/20/08 Private Party, Barrington (gig #92)
This was an early afternoon end of summer party with some new folks in Barrington, the Ceppetellis. What a great spot and a great group of people. We ended up playing into the night and had our first experience with the Rough Girls back-up singers! Coordinated dancing behind Dave, lots of ooh's and aah's, they even changed into official Rough T-shirts to compliment their singing and dancing! Great time! Thanks to all who made this one fun! Saturday, 9/6/08, Private Party (40th B-day party) A.K.A. ROUGH-STOCK (gig #91)
There isn't enough room on this page to describe this event! Let's just say it was an outdoor party on the day that the remnants of Hurricane Hanna decided to come through Barrington. Can you say RAIN!. There were tents of course, but rain like this makes a tent useless. This crowd of folks was not to be deterred by a little wet weather though! As a band, playing with instruments that have cables plugged into electrical sockets, we obviously get a little nervous about being in the rain! So, our hosts went to herculean efforts to cover their back deck with tents, tarps and any other water repelling devices they could. And you know what...we didn't even realize how hard it was raining! We were dry while all the dancers and party-goers were soaked by rain and covered in mud as the water and dancing eroded the lawn into a muddy dance-floor reminiscent of woodstock...in fact we all named this event ROUGHSTOCK in honor of the die-hard partiers who wouldn't let a little rain stop them! Even with the rain, people were swimming in the pool...even Rob our bass player took a break from playing to go for a dip in the pool...of course he wasn't all that dried off when he tried to play again and his bass shorted out on him...we were almost done anyway, and in true spinal tap form, Rob kept playing even though you couldn't hear him! Saturday, 8/29/08, Willy's Ale Room, Acton ME (gig #90)
This was a bit of a drive for us...but it was worth it! This was our first time at Willy's and what a fun place! Great owners, great crowd, great stage and great food! If you don't mind drive up to Acton ME, this is a good time! We're back at Willy's in November. Saturday, 8/16/08, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #89)
A Saturday night at Kelley's on a warm summer night....well, lets just say it was quieter than normal. Thanks to our friends that did come out and to those that hung around for the night. We had a good time and hope to be back at the Row sometime in the fall. Saturday, 7/5/08, Private Party on the lake in Barrington (gig #88)
Thanks to the Frase's for once again hosting an Independence Day mega bash! We were a little worried about rain, but the weather held and clouds parted just as Rough got started! We rocked outside again and felt a little rusty since it had been a while since we'd played. But we got our groove back as people began to dance in the grass. Second set we went into our Rough-Decades mode paying tribute to the four main decades of music we play...the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s (we do play a good bit of music from the 00s as well, but hey, we're only 4 guys!). When we get some pictures (anyone have some?) we'll put them up...they'll clearly explain the decades concept!
We had a couple guest performances during our set break....Mike Morrison got up to sing a Marcy Playground song (great job Mike!) and his son Dec got on the keys and did a great rendition of our National Anthem! Bryan closed the Rough portion of the night out with a guitar version of America the Beautiful (accompanied by a great young tambourine player) just as the fireworks started going off. I can't tell how cool it is to play a song like that while watching fireworks light up the night sky in front of you! Thanks again to all our friends! Saturday, 5/17/08, Cocheco Country Club (gig #87)
We were beat after our crazy night at Kelley's the night before, but we were ready for a good time with this crowd since we know they LOVE to party! This was a private event for our friends from the Barrington Youth Association. We played this fundraising event last year at the Wentworth-by-the-Sea and this year's venue at Cocheco was equally as fun (and a lot closer!). After a great Italian feast, we took the small stage and rocked the room for friends...new and old. We love playing for these guys, they all know how to have a great time and because of that it feeds our enthusiasm...thanks everyone...we do this for you and you make it all worthwhile! Friday, 5/16/08, Kelley's Row (gig #86)
Another fantastic night at the Row! We had some friends from Rochester come out who hadn't been out in a while, some friends from FL who happened to get some great beer delivered to Kelley's and helped make the night truly full of Rough n' Roll. Some great new dancing friends who were dancing fiends and all ended up sporting Rough Baby-Doll Ts by the end of the night...wish we had some pictures to show you! Again a huge thanks to the crew from Garrison Players who came out after opening night of Our Town...Saucey Lady showed up in full post-show costume with a great wig and she rocked out from the get-go! And she's making a formal proposal to make a Rough Kelley's gig a mandatory event for the post opening night party for all future Garrison Players shows! Wow! That's commitment to cause! Thanks to Phil, Rich, Greg, Joe, Karen, Todd, and of course Linda (did we miss someone?). We're not back at the Row until August now...a little summertime break. Friday, 3/21/08, Kelley's Row (gig #85)
Our monthly gig at Kelley's Row in Dover...and what a fun night. We have to thank our great friends from Barrington for once again coming out to party with us! It's always great to see your smiling faces on the dance floor! And D...you got to let us know if you're leaving for a bit so we don't play your song when you're not there!!! Also a big thanks to some new friends from the Garrison Players. Bryan tried out some new acting skills in a play there recently and met some great new friends that love to Rough n' Roll! Rumor has it one of the guys left with $11 extra hidden away in his pants as a result of his incredible dancing skills!!! Thanks to Saucey lady, Rich, Phil, Todd and all their friends for coming out. And a special thanks to Buzby for rockin' out the harp solo in What I Like...you had the girls screaming Buz! Hopefully we'll see you all again in May....opening night after party with Rough!!!???!!! Friday, 2/15/08, Kelley's Row (gig #84)
Back at Kelley's after a long break. We weren't expecting much of a night, but we were pleased with the great showing on the dance floor from the get go! We brought out some new songs and some old ones and had a really rockin' night! Check out some video clips of the night taken by our friend John Saturday, 2/9/08, Strafford Grange (gig #83)
Well, we're back! The weather was bad and the snow was flying but we were in a great venue...we love this hall! Yes, it was the Barrington Snow Ball and we were afraid turnout would be pretty light due to the weather, but the Barrington folks came out and had a great time. We unleashed a bunch of new songs and felt great about getting out there again after a long break. Friday 11/2/07, Kelley's Row (gig #82)
This was our last appearance of 2007. We're taking a break through the holidays. We may get together in the Rough studio to work on some of our originals or add to our set list for '08...we'll see. The night at Kelley's was one of the best we've had this year! Huge thanks to the B-town crowd for coming out after Pokeno to really get the party going. We started off pretty well, people getting into the music a bit, but then after our first 3 or 4 songs, we saw the Barringtonites walk through the door...they never sat down...they dropped their coats, ordered drinks and danced non-stop until 12:30. Of course that got the rest of the bar going as well and we had a blast...Dave brought out his little horsie for Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy and it was quite a sight seeing people ride that pony! Big thanks also to good friend Kevin Burt for coming, staying the whole night and getting up to sing with us for Jessie's Girl and Sweet Home...it great to have you up there Kev...thanks! Friday 10/26/07, Bow Lake Grange Hall, Strafford (gig #81)
This was the annual FBRD Monster Bash. First of all, lets just say the venue is awesome! A full stage, big hall, great room! Hopefully we'll be back here for future FBRD events. Now, although the turnout was less than expected (attributed to the change from a Saturday night event to a Friday), those that were in attendance were amazing! Great costumes, lots of laughs and lots of fun! The Heat and Snow Meisers, the reversal of the Little Mermaid, Bacon and Eggs, Nightmare Before Christmas, Forrest Gump, Gene Frenkle and his flippin' cowbell! WE NEED MORE COWBELL!!! The band started the night in simple costumes...Dave as Angus Young in a little school boy outfit, Rob as Ozzy in a long wig and black shirt worthy of the Prince of Darkness, Bryan in all black with a cowboy at as the man in black himself, and Scott as nightmare before christmas cowboy hat guy...it was all a charade, a prelude to greater and more ambitious things...an intro to the most amazing reappearance in Strafford history....DEVO! In the week prior to the bash the band began discussions about how to top last year's Village People intro and appearance...after several e-mail exchanges....there was a brainstorm! DEVO! (Huge kudos to Dave for putting the DEVO costumes together by the way) So we decide...let's do a video in a similar fashion to VH1's behind the music kind of thing...where we (the band) play a variety of characters discussing Devo's influence on us and our music. OK! Great Idea! Holy Shit...how we gonna pull this off? Well, with a couple nights work in Bryan's basement (studio) we video the rough footage (pun intended) with a range of characters appearing from Angus Young, to Slash, to The Edge, and Ozzy, as well as some surprise guests...then Bryan goes to work in Final Cut, editing and adding the soundtrack. The whole thing turns into an introductory video worthy of Spinal Tap! Coming in a just under 13 minutes, the video set the stage for the second half of the night when Rough became Devo and everyone else's costumes began to morph into creative characters as people exchanged costume parts...what debauchery, what reckless joy...yes, a typical FBRD night! You can view the Rough Devo vid here and check out some pictures of the night here. Thanks to all who made this possible but especially LH for putting the whole thing together...we can't wait for next year and now we're wondering how the hell we're going to top this!!!! Friday 10/12/07, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #80)
This was the opening game of the ALCS championship...so we weren't even sure we should be playing!! But we all geared up with our Red Sox garb and ventured out to Rochester to share in a little music and joy from the big win in game one! We had on fan ask us if we were "posers" due to all the Sox stuff we were wearing...if this person only knew how hardcore Dave, Scott, and Rob are about the Sox...Bry's a fan too, but not nearly at the level of the three other guys. Anyway, after the game, we got some people up dancing to some of the new songs we unveiled and we were really pleased with the night. It had been a while since we'd played through our whole set list and we sounded pretty tight. Saturday 9/29/07, Rochester Opera House (gig #79)
We were asked to play this marathon benefit show for local food pantries put on by our good friend from Barrington, Mike. There were ten bands participating playing from 2pm through midnight. We went on 4th at around 5:30. Most of the bands were metal oriented so we didn't really fit that mold, but it was fun and for a great cause and it gave us a chance to play an incredible stage. After a few technical issues during our set-up we got going and rocked through 45 minutes of Rough tunes...a roughly half-and-half mix of some of our more obsure covers and our original songs. It was great to break out those originals, it had been a while since we'd played any of those and it felt a bit like coming home...we may try to put together a full set of Rough originals that we can break out on occasion. The crowd was come and go but we had some loyal roughians and some little roughians come out and dance and it was great to be playing and then hear "Go Coach Dave!" echo from the upper balcony....really cool! Thanks to everyone who came out and huge thanks to Mike for asking us to participate! Saturday 9/15/07 Big Head's, Rochester (With Jett Sett) (gig #78)
We had a great time playing with Jett Sett Saturday night. It was a lot of work to get all our gear set up to play for one set, but we figured we'd do the whole Rough show then let Jett Sett use our PA and lights to rock the bar to close. We had a great crowd, and hopefully made some new friends. Saturday 9/8/07 Whale's Tale, Hampton Beach (gig #77)
This was Seafood Festival Weekend on Hampton Beach and if you haven't been, it's crazy! They close off the whole strip and set up tents with food and beer and all kinds of other goods. We've never seen the Tale so crowded...it was difficult getting our stuff in and set up. People were into the show from the moment we started and we had a great time! Scott won a hoola-hoop contest put on by Seacoast Sky Diving...the rep convinced all of us (except Scott) to participate and grudgingly Scott went along and then won the conest while Bryan, Dave, and Rob tried hopelessly to keep the hoop spinning. We met some great folks from Rutland Vermont who were in town for the fest and their daughter got up and sang Hit Me With Your Best Shot with us...she was great! We had a blast! Friday, 8/31/07, Kelley's Row (gig #76)
After last week's private show at Kelley's we weren't sure what the night would bring. Then we found out the upstairs had been closed for a private party so we'd be loading in late (which means starting late). But a good many folks from the party stuck around and thanks to Mary and Isabelle for getting the dancing going. The place was pretty full and we had a great time. Thanks for the kind words from Pondering Judd's drummer Steve Jacques during the set break. Saturday, 8/25/07, Kelley's Row (private function in the downstairs bar) (gig #75)
Thanks to Stacie Santin for asking us to play for her husband's 30th birthday party. And huge thanks to her sister Kellie for hooking us up! Kellie's a great friend and supporter of the band and a lot of fun! We had a great time playing in this historic room (bands now play in Kelley's upstairs but lots of bands got their start in this really cool basement bar). The sound was great and the party-goers really knew how to have a good time. We had a blast! Friday, 8/24/07, Three Chimney's Inn, Durham (gig #74)
This a a first here and it's their first year having bands on their really nice terrace/deck. We had lots of space, a decent crowd, people were having a good time. Thanks to Danine for asking us to play there and for jumping up to sing "I Will Survive" Holy shit! What a voice! We'll probably be back here sometime in October. Thursday, 8/16/07, Paddy's American Grille (gig #73)
This place is great, though we've had our share of difficulties here due to weather in the past. The deck was full with the after work crowd for most of the evening and several Rough family and friends made the early gig and braved the thunderstorm warnings to come out on a nice warm August evening! We got through the night just fine....even with the incredible lightning show during our third set. But alas...as we packed up the rain came and came...heavy, heavy, heavy! We were under a tent but stuff still got wet...oh well...it slowed enough to get our stuff from the tent to the cars then started up again, so we should be thankful for little things! Saturday, 8/4/07, Big Head's (gig #72)
When we heard that some of the "regulars" at Big Head's were having a private party we were a little nervous. Then the waitstaff told us there were several private parties going on that they knew of and we should expect a very quiet night! Well things started off about as quiet as we've seen, but we had some great friends show up for a while and gradually over the course of the night people kept showing up. It was by no means a packed joint, but we've found that even small crowds that want to have a great time can make for a great night...and this turned out to be just such a night...thanks so much to our new friends...hope to see you all at Paddy's.... Monday, 7/16/07, Rockin' on the River with Shark 105.3 (gig #71)
What a great time this was! We got to the dock of the Thomas Laighton in Portsmouth early....we weren't sure how much room we'd have to set up in so we wanted to make sure we had enough time. It was pretty tight space, but we fit in and made sure all our stuff was secured so it would take whatever rockin' we experienced. The Shark guys were great and told us this was the most packed boat this season for their river cruises....210 people..near capacity. We got started just as the boat pulled away from the dock and we rocked and rolled until we re-docked at 10:00. People danced all night long and we even broke out the Rough Karaoke mics in our last set for some sing-a-long time! Thanks to all who came out on a Monday night to Rock the River with Rough and the Shark!! We hope to do that again sometime. Saturday, 6/30/07, Private Party (gig #70)
Once again the people of Barrington have proven their party-worthiness! And what a setting...a custom built stage on a bluff overlooking a grassy field with the dock and water of North River Lake and the sunset in the distance! Truly inspiring. We started early at around 5:30 and played through to the fireworks the were put on by our hosts. These were fireworks that rival and surpass some town's holiday displays! Unbelieveable! We had lots of dancing and frolicking and singing. It was awesome playing Rio twice and the second time to the dancing moves of the Silver Surfer! Amazing. It was great having all the kids dancing at the end while the fireworks display was going off above our heads and Bry got to finish the night with the Star Spangled Banner to the fireworks finale...what a moment. We really had a great time and thanks so much to our hosts David and Mira for asking us to play! Saturday, 6/23/07, Big Head's Bar & Grille, Rochester (gig #69)
Another night at Big Head's in Rochester. This was Moonlight Madness in downtown Roch-vegas and main street was shut down from 4-9. We weren't sure how this would translate for us...would people stick around and party or would they go home after 9:00....well it sort of fell somewhere in the middle. Thanks to the Ketchams for coming out and to the Gilberts...as well as all the Big Head's regulars who got up and danced until close. We back at BH in August. Thursday, June 14th, Paddy's American Grille on the Deck at the Pease Tradeport (gig #68)
Last year we got cancelled early on the day of our Paddy's gig because it looked like rain...turned out to be a great night with lots of sun...what a bummer! So we were nervous when the weather looked questionable for us...but all the weather sites said, "no rain" and clearing skies. Well, they were wrong again...well, about the skies anyway. While there was no rain, as we began setting up the temperatures began to fall and by the time we were ready to go, the temps had dropped to 50 and they contined going down! So, 50 degrees, no sun, you can see why it was definitely a brrrr-rough night. But the crew from OPL and some folks from PM came out to brave the cold and they stayed all night! We also saw our good friends the Burts for our second set (thanks for coming out guys!). So we roughed it through the cold and had a good time. Saturday, June 9th, Nippo Lake Country Club (gig #67)
The Loring's have danced to Rough music at the Barrington Rec events at Nippo and when they were looking for a band for their daughter's graduation party, they looked to Rough to help create the celebratory mood. We were a little nervous, to be honest, about how well our set list would go over with the 17 and 18 year old crowd, but were we ever pleasantly surprised. From the first song, this group of revelers was on the dance floor and it never stopped! Everyone was dancing and having a great time...even grandma! She danced the night away, and there are some pictures that we just can't wait to see! During our second set we started a new thing...a Rough Karaoke, sort of.....it just evolved from a song request and before we knew it, we had people up on stage singing everything from Neil Diamond to Bowling for Soup to Weezer! One of the most memorable and touching moments was having the whole Loring family up on stage singing With or Without You....what an incredible experience that was for us and hopefully for them as well. We also had a great set break with entertainment from Justin (the graduate's younger brother) who just started playing guitar 3 or 4 months ago and showed us all how he's developed! He played a couple Red Hot Chili Peppers' songs and the crowd willingly jumped in to supply the lyrics and melody! Keep up the good work Justin, that was pretty amazing playing! Thanks so much for allowing us to participate in your celebrations! Congratulations to Nicole and all her friends on their graduation! We wish you all the best of luck as you continue on your journey! Friday, June 8th, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #66)
Back at the Row! We were informed by the bar tenders when we showed up to set up that they've had some really slow nights inside since the deck's been open, so we were a little nervous. But by 9:00 when we started, the place was full, thanks to all the family and friends who came out. We unveiled some really fun new songs and some new Rough Stuff T-shirts! They look great! Friday, April 20th, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #65)
Coming off the Wentworth gig we were anxious to redeem ourselves and fix our feedback problems. Well, we took care of that and the night felt great! Kelley's is really starting to feel like home! We got some new stuff to play with...we finally picked up a smaller fog machine so there's more fog effect and less coughing! It really works great and adds just enough to set the mood! Also Bryan picked up a wireless unit for his guitar so now he and Scott can roam around a bit more! Bryan took advantage of his new found freedom to dance with his wife for a bit while playing...that seemed to cause a bit of a concern for some of our more devoted fans who weren't used to seeing such impulsive actions by Bry...anyway, the night went off without a hitch and the Sox won to top it off! Thanks to lots of folks for coming out...D you're awesome! As is the rest of the B-town crowd....also much thanks to our old friends Ty, Tina, and Barb for coming out and dancing up a storm! Dave seemed to have misplaced some drumsticks! Any ideas where they got off to? Saturday, April 7th, Private Event at the Wentworth by the Sea (gig #64)
This was our third time at this incredible hotel and third time is a charm, or so we thought. We were in the room with the "real" stage. A couple feet up off the floor, deep back stage area, real stage curtains...the works. We got everything set up and Scott jumped off the stage with his wireless gear to do soundcheck. The room sounded a bit weird, but with lots of tweaking we finally got something that we thought sounded really, really good...we were psyched! Of course, in our excitement we forgot to soundcheck from the stage and once we started we encountered wicked low end feedback that really distracted us and got of us to a truly Rough start! During the first few songs we kept playing with the board and finally got it to stop and continued on to what turned into a really fun night helping to raise funds for the Barrington Youth Association. As usual, the folks from Barrington truly know how to have a good time! Thanks to everyone who made this possible and thanks for asking us to join you! Friday, April 6th, Private Event (gig #63)
We were asked to play Dover Police Chief Fenniman's retirement party and what a great time we had! Thanks to everyone for dancing and enjoying themselves and congrats Bill on your retirement and good luck in your new position! Thanks also to Eugene Byrne for entertaining the crowd with some great Irish Folk Music during our set break. Friday, March 30th, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #62)
We'd been on break for about 5 weeks and hadn't practiced that much, but we were all looking forward to Big Head's. We hadn't played there since Thanksgiving and we really like the place. We were warmly greeted by Lisa (as usual) and got ourselves set up. We tried a new intro tonight and started our first set with some new songs....well it wasnt' nearly as smooth as we'd have liked, but it was different. The dinner crowd began to thin and we realized this was going to be a very quiet night. We found out later, that the whole city was quiet and we actually had a pretty good crowd compared to other places. Good friends Ralph and Reneé came out (from Gazpacho) and Reneé and Mary got some people out dancing early. Thanks guys...it was great having you there! Friday, February 23rd, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #61)
Tonight started off full of guys at the tables so we assumed that while the place was full, there wouldn't be much dancing. And that proved mostly true for the first set, but after a few dancers got things going and the staff cleared out some tables the place just started rockin' and roughin'! Too many kinds of dancing to mention but it was definitely a great night. We wish we could've kept going but the staff shut us down and thanks to the die hards who stuck around after we stopped playing optimistically trying to get us to keep going (though the staff a Kelley's really wanted to get out by then). We're back at Kelley's in April and we're looking forward to another great night! Saturday, February 10th, Nippo Lake Country Club (gig #60)
Another night with our friends from the FBRD. We were a little nervous when we showed up to load our stuff in since it looked like the room was occupied by a private party that was not associated with us! Turns out we were right, and the room had been inadvertantly double booked. Also, the folks at Nippo decided to tear down some walls and put us in a different place, which made for some interesting challenges (very low ceilings), but we had more room than we've ever had there and everything turned out great. Probably not one of our better nights performance-wise...lots of things going on, Dave just coming off oral surgery, Scott not feeling well, a different sound in the room, more broken strings than usual....anyway, it didn't seem to bother the folks that came to party and that they did! Lots of tambourine playing on the dance floor and you know when you've been to a rock show when the tambourine gets smashed (thanks D!) There were many attempts by some of our more vocal friends to cross the line onto the stage to sing with us...Rob had to fight off people later in the night and Bryan just gave up and swung his mic around out to the singers (we were recording folks and that mic pics up a lot, so we've got some interesting noises now!) We rolled out Blister in the Sun by request for Geena...we'd never played it before but it's a pretty easy song and it came off great and everyone was happy. Scott, Rob, and Bry also surprised Dave and his wife Lisa with a special song to recognize their 15th anniversay...congrats to you both. Friday, January 26th, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #59)
With record low tempertures we weren't sure what kind of turnout we'd have, but when we showed up around 8:00 to a packed house we were thrilled! Knowing much of the crowd was likely there finishing dinner we hoped we'd be able to keep people around for a bit once we started and we did. We kicked off the night (unintentionally) with a bag piper who came upstairs just as we were getting going and he brought the crowd from Dover Police Chief, Bill Fenniman's retirement gathering. The Chief has seen us several times at private parties and it was great to see him again and thanks Chief for sticking around for a while! Then right before starting some folks from WDH came up and introduced themselves to us (their pics are on our homepage from a gig last summer) and mentioned they were "psyched" we were playing! Of course, huge thanks to all our friends who weathered the cold and came out to warm up by dancing! The dance floor was full almost from the start and it stayed full of happy feet through our last song! Too many friendly faces to name here, but we hope to see you all again soon. Saturday, January 20th, Sheraton Hotel, Portsmouth (gig #58)
This was a private post-holiday party for the Portsmouth Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center, and what a great time we had! Initially the awkward set-up of the room had us concerned but it turned out to be no problem. It was great to get the many odd requests ranging from Disturbed to rare Jimmy Buffet tunes to the generic request "play something old"....well we think we managed to accommodate the requests if not in specific songs at least in type of music...we brought out Sanctuary, Weezer and Judas Priest for our heavier requests and Margaritaville for our Buffet request as well as some of our set standards like Harry Chapin's Cat's in the Cradle and Secret Agent Man for the "play something old" requests....Thanks to everyone for hanging around and dancing all night! Saturday, December 30th, Governors Inn, Rochester (gig #57)
We were asked to play a private party at this upscale venue. Things went great and we had a blast helping these great people celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Friday, November 24th, Big Head's Bar and Grille, Rochester (gig #56)
Well, after a day of Turkey we were back at Big Heads. We weren't sure what kind of night we'd have given this is pretty much the slowest bar night of the year and while it started out slow, by the end of the night the place was pretty rockin'! We didn't get any pictures from this night, but we'll be back at Big Head's in March. Saturday, October 28th, Nippo Lake Country Club, Barrington (gig #55)
We've been on Break for about 5 weeks and what a way to get back at it!! We did a Halloween Party in support of the Friends of Barrington Rec again and these people...as we continue to say are just plain fun! They know how to have a great time and we always have a great night with them. Saturday was no exception. We started very laid back, no costumes, mild lighting and some people wondered why we had decided not to dress up for the event. Well during our set break the four of us crammed into the waitstaff's bathroom (that was a sight to see in and of itself) and changed into our prearranged costumes for the rest of the night. Just minutes later we were dancing our way through the throngs of screaming fans trying to make our way to the stage with Macho Man playing in the background....YES, we had become the Village People (a couple shy of course, since we're only four). Featuring Scott as the Biker Dude, Dave as the Construction Worker, Rob as Military Man, and Bryan as Cowboy we danced our way to the stage to Macho Man and then got the entire crowd to the dance floor for YMCA! What a rush! Lots of lights, lots of dancing, lots of arms in the air trying to make letters, lots of fog! After that we got right back to our instruments and continued to rock the joint until the wee hours. During our second set break we were visited by Smooch (a Kiss lip synch act) who treated the dancers to some great Kiss favorites. These guys were all decked out and looked great! Thanks for helping make this party even more fun! We unveiled 7 new songs and all went over really well, but especially, Play That Funky Music! We may have to add some more Rough'd up disco tunes in the near future....Happy Halloween everyone and thanks again! Friday, September 15, Castaway's Boathouse, Dover (gig #54)
Well what a little gem this place is to Dover's night life! This was our first time here and we'd really love to get back here. It's an out-of-the-way, down-by-the-river, place with a pool table inside, an awning covered patio that is enclosed and an outside deck overlooking the water. We played "in between" that is, under the awning. They've got a nice little stage area (and I mean little) with tons of house lights (from the WERZ dance party every Thursday it would seem). So we got there early, not sure whether we'd be "inside" or outside on the deck. The weather is strange this time of year and while the evening can still be very comfortable, it can drop to frozen-finger temps pretty quickly. Last night was not one of those nights, but we set up under the awning anyway. We had people on the dance floor from the get go and with the exception of the tale end of our second set, there were dancers all night. Great people really looking to have a great time. Thanks again to the Dodier clan for coming out and it was great to see Steven Burt (of the Modulators) and "Goose" Brian Gosselin from Pondering Judd, Rob's Mom made it out for the first time, as well as many others. This was our last gig until Halloween so it was really nice to wrap up the Rough summer cover tour in this way. Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows this summer, we really appreciate it and we love playing for you! Saturday, September 9, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #53)
Only our second time at the house of frothy mugs this summer and we were really glad to be back. As we've said countless times in these gig notes, the folks at Big Head's are just great people. Jamie welcomed us back and we had a great turnout from friends and family. We didn't have a huge dancing crowd this time (thanks to Dawn and Mary for trying to get the ball rolling though!), but people seemed to enjoy themselves and Jamie said it was a good Saturday for them, so we were pleased. For those of you who caught the laugh-fest in the middle of Elevation, don't worry we weren't laughing at you (or anyone in particular) Scott just pulled one of his infamous lyrical improvisations that caught us all in the funny bone more so that usual. Thanks again to all who came out and a special thanks to Kirstie who came out for the first time to check out Rob in the Rough! We hope this won't be the last time we'll see you out there!! Friday, September 1, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #52)
Well we made it back to Kelley's Row for one more night this summer. It wasn't quite the dance-fest we had at the beginning of August, but the bar was full and we had sporadic dancers off and on during the night. Lots of nice compliments as we were packing up from late night stragglers and the staff. Thanks to everyone who came out; the Burts, Jes, Dave and friends, Mark and Brenda for making the trek down from the north country, and of course to Jordan and her entourage. Rob had his brand new Gallien-Krueger bass amp going and man that sounded great! We're still having the snap-crackle-pops, so thanks for bearing with us as we troubleshoot those issues....we're hoping we'll be all set for Big Heads next weekend! Saturday, August 19, Fundraiser for the Barrington Rec at Nippo Country Club (gig #51)
We first played for this group back in February of this year and it was such a great time that we just had to do it again! And we weren't dissappointed! These folks know how to have a good time and it just makes playing all that much more fun for us! People danced from the get go and we played three long sets. We were all really thrilled that people liked Elias, a song we added last year. It's a relatively unknown song by a band called Dispatch, but it's a really powerful song that we enjoy playing. We've always had pretty decent reactions to the song...not much dancinc, but people turn and look and watch. But this group really got into the song and were dancing, and doing a conga line and singing along...what a great feeling and as our bassist Rob said, "that's the kind of reaction that song deserves!" Thanks again to the organizers and as we understand it we may be called upon again near Halloween...stay tuned! Saturday, August 12, Private Birthday Party (gig #50)
We played a private 50th birthday party for some folks over in Lee. They put on quite an event with a huge tent and a nice large stage for us. We started the night a little quiet, playing while people were eating, but gradually a few people began making their way to the dance floor (it was the best way to stay warm on this frigid summer night) and by the end of the night there was lots of interesting dancing going on as people took turns with a life-size cutout of the birthday boy! We left them wanting more and chanting for another encore! How Rock Star!! Thanks guys and thanks especially to Sheila for asking us to play and putting on such a great event! Saturday, August 5, Gary Leighton's Annual Party (gig #49)
Gary (guitar player for Gazpacho) asked us to play some Rough tunes at his annual party at his house. He's asked for a couple years now and finally this year we were available (at least three of us were...Rob was on vacation). So we got our acoustic guitars together and played a quick set of some old Rough favorites. It was a little awkward following a couple metal"ish" bands and particulary following Seamus, an incredibly talented guitar player...but we got through it and had fun and then got to watch music from Friday (Ralph and Renee Napolitano's old band...who won MTVs basement tapes in the early 80s) and then some Divine Regale (Gary's old band), followed up by a Gazpacho all request jam to end the night. Friday, August 4, Kelley's Row (gig #48)
This was our second time back at Kelley's this summer and we'll admit, we were nervous. The weather forecast looked perfect, there was the Cocheco Arts Concert going on downtown and we were playing inside at Kelley's...we figured the deck would be packed...and it was...but so was the upstairs! People danced almost all night, which makes for a great night for the band! We rocked through two long sets and tried a few new songs (Slide, Beverly Hills, She Sells Sanctuary, and 99 Red Balloons). By far, 99 felt like it went over the best and we played it the cleanest of the new additions. There were lots of other people taking pictures all night so if anyone has any, please email us and we'll put some up on this site. Thanks to the Ketcham's for coming out with Allie to celebrate her 21st! Thanks also to the Kohuts who finally made to a Rough show and some of our regular friends (John, Chris, Lisa). Saturday, July 8, Whale's Tale (gig #47)
Back to the beach! It was ahot one again and it was great to see our friend Doug. Whale's Tale is an interesting place, you get a full room when you set up as most people are waiting for shows at the Casino, then you get various stragglers who stroll in for a few drinks. Tonight we were able to capture the attention of a large group of girls partying hard...they danced for most of the end of the first set and first half of the second set, then they had to leave and the place cleared out for a while until a recently married couple and their friends came in for the last set and danced as we incorporated Journey lyrics into each of the songs we played to appease the repeated requests for Journey (which we don't play). This was probably our best night at WT and we'll be back at the end of August. Thursday June 29, Paddy's Grille (gig #46)
We were supposed to play here today, but we got "clouded out" by the forecast for thunderstorms that never materialized. We were really dissappointed and hope we get to play here again. Friday June 23, Kelley's Row (gig #45)
Well, we were back at Kelley's and up until the day before we weren't sure if we were playing on the deck or inside...turns out we played inside because of the space issues with bands playing on the deck. It was a fairly quiet night, but we had some new faces from the DHS class of 86 that showed up and had a good time. Thanks Tina, April, Lisa, Tye, Jonathon, and Mark....and of course a big thanks to the Dodier clan and the folks from Barrington that came out. We're back at Kelley's August 4th. Saturday, June 17, Private Party (gig #44)
We did a daytime private graduation party today. What a great time! Dave had a drum riser and we played on a great custom built stage! While it was incredibly hot in the sun and we thought Rob was going to pass out at one point, we made it through the day and had a blast! Thanks to our hosts! Saturday, June 10, Big Head's Bar and Grille (gig #43)
This was the beginning of what we're calling our 2006 Summer Cover Tour! We're only doing cover songs and we've added bass player Rob McGary and Bryan's gone all electric. This was a great night at the newly opened Big Head's. We had a blast and the place was hopping and crazy...lots of crazy dancing. Thanks to everyone who came out. We hope to get back to Big Head's sometime in the Fall. Saturday 2/11/06, Nippo Lake Country Club, For the Friends of Barrington Rec (gig #42)
This was our first time out in nearly six months and it felt great! We were playing the first annual Snow Ball as part of the Barrington Rec's annual winter festival and these folks had a hell of a time and so did we! We were joined by Rob McGary on bass and we played most of the second and third sets in an all electric format that felt great, was well received, and packed the dance floor! We're hoping to participate in a summer party with these folks. Thanks to everyone who made this such a special night! Saturday 8/27/05, Marco's York ME (gig #41)
It was a double header this weekend with back-to-back gigs at Big Head's then Marco's on Saturday. Dave and Bryan got there a little late after taking the scenic route to York by going to Wells first! Once we finally got there we were very surprised to see five people in the place...yes 5! What a contrast to the night before at Big Head's and to any other night we've every played at Marco's. Our favorite waitress was on again and again, she wasn't supposed to be working but asked to work so she could hear us! That's dedication, and she's been fantastic. Well, some of our friends finally started showing up and by the time we got started playing we had amassed a crowd of nearly 15! For a while there was really only our friends in the place and it felt like a private Rough party! As the night went on a few more people strolled in and hung out around the bar, listening and singing, but we think appropriately, this night was about the dedicated people who have continued to come out and support us...you know who you are and so do we! Thanks! Chris joined us "on-stage" for her BNL song (Old Apartment) and sounded great as usual! Also, we had a special showing from our old friend Matt from Vermont. It was great having you there Matt! And thanks for sticking around all night and helping carry our gear out....in fact thanks to everyone who helped us carry the gear out...that was awesome! Friday 8/26/05, Big Head's, Rochester NH (gig #40)
Seems like we were away from Big Head's all summer so it was really nice to wrap up our summer there with good friends. We've said it before...the owners there are really incredible people and they are great hosts for bands, we really feel welcome when we're there...so thanks guys! We arrived to set up and found a big poster in the window for Big Head's Customer Appreciation Night and One Year Anniversary and at the bottom...."Featuring Live Music by Rough"...we had no idea! And the place was packed! This was by far the best crowd we've had there and they were all in a great mood and all wanted to listen to some great acoustic renditions of great music. Thanks to the Ketchums for coming out again and to good friend Ralph from the House of Tone and Gazpacho for stopping by for a while. We played our usual mix of stuf and threw in a couple originals. One of the really nice things to see was the mixing gear all moved off the small stage so we had a lot more room than usual...very nice! We played Elias again and this time we talked a little bit about what the song means...the reaction we got was great...people really seemed to be paying attention...not that they don't usually, but they seemed more focused about it during this song...it felt good and we played it well...it's a great song with a great message. It was a great night and we felt really good about it, we wished we'd known about the Customer Appreciation night, but one of the owners told us they wanted to surprise us, since the last time we'd played there, the place had been pretty quiet and they knew Friday night would be packed. Well it was and it felt good...thanks guys! Saturday 8/20/05, Whale's Tale, Hampton Beach (gig #39)
Our second trip to Hampton was interesting. It started with the parking dictator who felt the need to exercise his ultimate power on three mild-mannered musicians from Dover! I won't go into the details, but this guy definitely rules his little fiefdom and he lets you know that he does! We got set up in what seemed like no time compared to the first time we were there this year and we went into a newly arranged set list which was refreshing. There was a really large group of people sitting right up front for the first set...and it was great! They were really getting into it...sining along..throwing out compliments...definitely cool! After the first set one of the guys from that group came up and talked to us about getting down to CT to play...we were flattered...but for now, Hampton is as far as we go! That group left after the first set along with the Eddie Money crowd (Eddie was playing the Casino Ballroom that night), so when we started the second set it was to a nearly empty house...Thanks to John and Chris for coming out and giving us someone to play to for that set! Aside for a collossally (sp?) bad start to Cats in the Cradle (Bryan had his capo on the wrong fret and we got all the way through the first verse before we realized...although we all that up until we stopped that it just didn't sound 'quite right"...we started that one over..and it went OK after that. We also unleashed what has now become a favorite song for us...Elias by Dispatch. For those of you who've never heard of Dispatch, don't worry, we hadn't either until our first time at WT when the bartender suggested we check them out. Well we did, and they are (were actually) really good. There's a really great story behind the song Elias as well, so please check it out to learn more. Sunday, 8/14/05, Private Function at the Wentworth by the Sea (gig #39)
We got the opportunity to play the Wentworth again in support of Ocean Properties and the Wenworth Charities. It's a great event and a great causeWentworth Charities. We played a mellow set while people were mingling during the dinner hour and placing bids in the silent auction. It gave us an opportunity to try out some newer, slower songs we'd been working on and for the most part they sounded OK. It was a different kind of set for us, playing to 200+ people while they ate, but it felt really good. We took a long break for the results of the silent auction and for the full blown auction to take place. Then we came back hoping to rock the house until 11:30, but most people split right after the auction. It was pretty awkward for a while playing to a mostly empty room, but gradually a small group of die-hards began to build and make their way to the dancefloor so we finished the night with people asking for more...always a good way to go out! Thanks to Dennis for asking us to play and thanks to everyone who stuck around and danced all night! Saturday, 7/30/05, Whale's Tale, Hampton Beach (gig #38)
Hampton seems like a longer haul than it really is. We played here once last summer and had a blast, so we were excited to play it again this year. It seemed a tighter fit for us this year, but once we got everything set up it was pretty comfortable. The crowd at Whale's Tale is interesting, there are some people that hang all night and enjoy the music and there are others who come and have a drink and leave...the folks that are passing through from the beach side to the parking side...We had a good time and were glad to see a couple of friendly faces and we met some new folks that seemed to really like what we were doing. For a while it seemed like we were doing "Rough Jukebox" as a couple of women came and grabbed our set list off the floor in front of us and proceeded to tell us which songs they wanted and in what order... Thursday, 7/28/05, Paddy's American Grille, on the Deck (gig #37)
This was our first appearance at Paddy's after our initially scheduled show was rained out in June. What we first saw when we walked in was a welcome sight....a tent covering the stage. We'd heard the stories about playing uncovered at Paddy's and it was good to see the tent, though the weather was perfect! We had a great showing from some folks at Lonza who stopped by to celebrate a co-workers b-day and what seemed like a celebration of project that had come to an end...It was great having some new faces and they seemed to dig us so that's cool to. Of course we couldn't forget to mention the strong showing again from the OPL crowd...thanks guys you ROCK!!! There's group of people who know how to have a great time! Shipyard was on deck with some giveaways...Ts, bottle covers, and of course thongs...lots of thongs! We hope to get back on the deck at some point, if not this year then next summer for sure! Saturday, 7/23/05, Rochester Dog Park, Groundbreaking event (gig #36)
We got to play outside last Saturday...always an interesting experience. This turned out to be a great event and a fun time for us. We had a great stage that was covered so we were shielded from the sun, which made the heat bearable for us. Thanks to Bobbi Ketcham for asking us to participate in this event with RDOG (Rochester Dog Owners' Group). We had a pretty good showing among our families. It was great to play an event the kids could come to. Thanks also to Greg Descoteaux who MCd the event and played a set after us. Friday 6/24/05 Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #35)
Well our visit back to Kelley's was interesting to say the least! We were on the deck, which was great, but it was one of those hot, humid nights and everything was sticky. We got set up and started playing and it seemed like it was going to be a good night...good crowd, lots of friends and family and lots of new faces too. For those of you that don't know, Kelley's sits right next to the Cocheco River Falls. Just off to the side of the deck there's a check valve of some sort that occasionally blasts water straight up in the air to release pressure. When this valve blows, a portion of Kelley's deck gets drenched...or used to get drenched, until they put up a wall to block the water...or at least that 's what we were told. (you can already see where this is going right?) So we set up began playing, somewhat apprehensive, but we'd just seen our friend Kevin play the night before with no problems and Brian assured us it hadn't been a problem since they put the wall up. Well we broke into our second song "Signs" and BOOM.(the check valve goes off)......WHOOOOOOSH (all our stuff gets soaked)! Well, not all our stuff really...just Dave's electronic drums and Scott's guitar and stand cases. Electronics and water don't go together and we were really nervous that Dave's drums were fried...they were dripping! We stopped playing and moved everything out further and tried to dry Dave's drums off the best we could. About 15 minutes later we were playing again and Dave's drums were working, though they were doing some weird things...we're hoping once they dry out completely they'll be alright. The rest of the night went well, the deck was full...we were just out of reach of a major water release (and it went off one more time during the night!) Thanks to everyone for coming out and double thanks to the OP crowd for sporting the Rough Ts on your way out! That was a cool moment! Saturday 6/18/05, Marco's Sports Grill, York (gig #34)
It was nice to be back at Marco's especially after having Paddy's cancelled on us a couple days before. We knew we weren't going to have a big showing of our regular group of friends, but the place was busy and people dancing within the first few songs. Turned out to be a really good night. Thursday, 6/16/05, Paddy's American Grille, Portsmouth (gig #33)
OK, so we didn't actually play here, but we were supposed to had the weather cooperated. We were really looking forward to this gig... a new place for us, lots of friends coming, oustide on the deck in the summer, and an early show! Alas...mother nature has a way.....we got the call fairly early in the day that due to the cold and the impending rain in the forecast they were cancelling the entertainment for the day. We'll try again at the end of July... Friday 6/10/05, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #32)
Well this was our last appearance at what has become a home for us until August and it turned out to be a really great night. The weather outside was stifling and Dave was afraid of the lighting....but aside from the heat and natural light show, it was fun. The place was pretty crowded with people trying to escape the rain and humidity and we saw some new friends. Friday, 5/13/05, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #31)
What a difference two-weeks makes! Thanks to all those who responded to our email last week by coming out to the show on Friday. We really appreciate your support and hope you like the preview CD (please let us know your thoughts!) We could tell this night was going to be different for us at Big Head's...and it was a great time. It's always fun when you have friends there to cheer (or jeer) you on and there was no shortage of that! Scott and Bryan started on stools again and then wrapped the first set up with more up tempo songs. In the second set, Dave got the great idea to get people dancing by giving away a T-shirt to the first couple up dancing...well apparently he wasn't clear enough on his "rules" and everyone that was dancing wanted a T-shirt...so we gave a way a bunch...wear 'em proudly folks! Serioulsy though, after that people danced most of the night and we had a guest singer get up and do a rough rendition of Knockin' on Heavens door that was pretty fun. Thanks everyone! Friday, 4/29/05, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #30)
This is surely becoming our regular place (since we've played there so often) We'd love to have more of our friends show for gigs here...it really is a cool place and we'd love to be able to support them better with better turnout. Plus our good friend Kevin Burt (and his brother Steven) have picked up a regular Wednesday night gig here so it would be good to support them. We were really happy to see Bobbi and Nancy, thanks for coming out ladies! And it was cool to have new friend Elliot (guitar player for band Turbosloth) show for the first set. Thanks for hanging out Elliot...hope we see you again. We started the night on stools for something different. Big Head's usually starts pretty slow and often picks up late in the night, so we figured we'd follow suit. It was fun and we ended up playing quite a few originals from those stools to Elliot, Bobbi and Nancy, and a couple guys who proved that it's not just the ladies who like to get up and dance together! Thanks guys! Saturday 4/16/05, Marco's, York (gig #29)
Well we were back in York this weekend and our usual friendly faces showed to make the night a fun event. We even had some folks show that we haven't seen for a little while and made some new friends. Marco's is great. No pictures from this event (well actually there were a s*&%load of pics, but they looked like the pictures from the last Marco's gig, so we decided to save space and forego the usual picture page fun. But, we couldn't resist some great photos of Bucket head at his best...Bucket Head or Secret Agent Man?? and Bucket Head on a Magic Carpet? Also thanks again to Chris for getting up to sing with us...that's a lot of fun. Check out the picture of Chris singing while an "admirer" looks on with googly eyes...or maybe just glassy eyes! Friday 3/25/05, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #28)
We were back at what's quickly becoming a regular hang-out for us...Big Head's in Rochester. After having a bit of a string problem, reminiscent of Kelley's last fall, we got our groove going had a good night even though the crowd was a little thin...it was the Friday before Easter after all (at least that's how we rationalized it!). We had a few friends in the crowd and there were lots of great comments. We were even prepared with a Godsmack tune just in case it had been requested like it was last time we played here. As luck would have it, a large crowd showed up around midnight and started dancing just as we were wrapping up....where you folks earlier!? Anyway, as we've said before we really like the guys that run the place up there, they've got a really fun spot, and if you haven't been yet, check out the dates we'll be there and come up and say hi! We'd love to see ya!
Saturday 3/19/05, Trailblazers, Wells ME (gig #27)
Well we made it back up to Wells and to this great group of partiers! Thanks a bunch to Pete who sat in on congas for a good part of the night. Great job! Lots of dancing, lots of drinking, lots of music, lots of fun! Thanks for inviting us back and we hope we get to make a return trip. No pics from this one, sorry. Nothing could top the Halloween pics from the last visit here so we figured why bother....just kidding...the battery died on the camera. We may be able to salvage a couple and if so we'll put them up on this page...so check back. Saturday 3/5/05, Nippo Lake Country Club (gig #26)
IIt was a hell of a party! We knew many of these folks and had experienced their dancing abilities at Kelley's back in October, so we were really excited to play a private function for them, and what a great time we had! After a break for the Elvis impersonator in the next room, we motored through a long second set to a packed dance floor. We pulled out many old songs which we hadn't been playing and pulled them off pretty well considering. It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves....that's why we do this! Thanks to all for having a good time and for asking us to play. Don't forget to check out the pictures from the event...they're scattered around a bit, but there were so many, we wanted to get as many out there as we could....don't worry, we're saving all the "incriminating" pictures for some other time!! Saturday 2/26/05 Marco's, York ME (gig #25)
It's been a while since we've done a double header like this weekend, and we were beat after our night at Big Heads. But we love Marco's and new we had a good number of friends who would be in attendance. After lots of yawning and groaning as we set up, we got going and right from the start our friends and the faithful Marco's regulars got into it. We'll tell ya, there's nothing like seeing people enjoy themselves as we play to get over that tiredness. We had a great time and felt great. Thanks a bunch to our guest Chris, our guest vocalist. She did a great job with Bare Naked Ladies and a Sheryl Crow tune...we'll definitely have to do that again Chris! Thanks everyone for coming out, we appreciate it! Friday 2/25/05, Big Heads, Rochester (gig #24)
Well we asked to play here again on short notice and it turned out great, though we missed our friends! The guys at Big Heads were having a beach party night complete with hoola-hoop contests, limbo contests and prizes for the best beach going attire! We'll be back up there at the end of March so come check it out, they've got a great thing going here and it's a really cool spot with cool owners. Friday 1/21/05, Big Heads, Rochester (gig #23)
Our first time out in over a month and our first gig of the new year! This was our second time here and we really love the place. Gary and Jaimee, the owners are great to work with (Gary plays in the band Chafed) and the crowd is really cool. We're looking forward to getting back there in a month or so. We've tentatively booked a bunch of dates here through June, so we're excited. Thanks to all our faithful friends who turned out in the cold. Bryan and Scott both got to try out new guitars. Bryan was lucky enough to receive a beautiful Adamas by Ovation for Christmas and Scott has been experimenting with different mic placements in several of his guitars. Dave was so excited to play again that he beat the hell out of his leg....you're supposed to hit the drums Dave! Saturday 12/11/04, Café on the Corner, Dover (gig #22)
This was a scaled down show for us. We sat on stools! It was great playing in a very intimate setting where the people don't dance, they sit in big, soft, deep, leather sofas and chairs and listen to you play! We didn't have a huge crowd, but then again the place is pretty small and there were 5 other establishments with great bands and alcohol on the same night as part of the same event. Thanks to the Ketchams for coming out again and we're glad Ali got to hear us, she's been waiting a while for a show like this. Also thanks to Greg and Will for tolerating all the Rough music your mom plays! Good to see Mike and Kris and thanks to Ralph, Reneé, Gary, and Jay from Gazpacho for stopping for a bit before their gig at Kelley's. Seamus, we hope you enjoyed it even though it's not metal! We made some new friends too and thanks to those that picked up the CD and especially thanks to everyone who brought toys for the kids....that's what the night was all about. We hope to be involved with something like this again next year and from early accounts it was a record night for toys. Pondering Judd has done this by themselves for the last 5 years and this was the first city-wide event. Thanks again everyone and happy holidays to you and yours!
Friday 12/10/04, Muddy River Smokehouse, Portsmouth (gig #21)
Thankfully prohibition has been lifted! The Pixel Media gang were no strangers to the bottle, stage, microphones (we'd have doubled our money if we charged for special stage appearances), dance floor and stairs??? (from what we understand fromPixel lore, the easiest way down the stairs at the Muddy River is just to take one step and tumble down head first instead of just taking one at a time - ouch!) The big difference between this party and the last one we played for Pixel: there was substantially less water and lightning, which was nice, since we were in contact with expensive electronics! Great party, lots of fun playing for you guys - thanks to Muddy River, Mike the sound dude, Erik and TJ - thanks for having us. Looking forward to hearing stories from this year!!
Wednesday, 11/24/04, Big Head's, Rochester (gig #20)
This was our first time at this new club in Rochester (well it's not really new, it's under new ownership and new name). We weren't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great night and a really cool place. The stage is in the front of the building right by the entrance and in the front window which is pretty weird at first, but actually turned out to be pretty cool. There were probably 80 to 100 people in the place on Thanksgiving eve. Many were involved in a big foosball tournemant in the back of the place, but since they've got the whole place wired with speakers from the stage everyone got to enjoy the music of Rough! They've got their own sound system which made our work a lot easier. They even have an electronic drum kit similar to what Dave normally plays so Dave didn't even have to bring his drums...though he did spend an awful lot of time adjusting their Yamaha kit to suit his particular needs. The stage area was a little tighter than we're used to but it all worked out well and Dave got the drums to work and we had a blast! We missed all the friendly faces that usually turn out, and we ended up with only a handful of pictures that Bryan snapped as we were setting up. But we did meet some new folks and the owners were really happy with the night, so we'll definitely be back there. We're looking forward to being back up there and thanks to Gary and Jamie, the owners for their support and to Craig who manned the door most of the night and patiently waited for us to get to the Sublime song....See ya next time! Saturday, 11/06/04, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #19)
Well, for those of you who were at our last Kelley's show, you'll remember all the string breaks Scott had and the weird sounds we were getting from our PA system. Well, we had the chance to redeem ourselves in our second visit and what a great night it was! Thanks again to all the Rough regulars who came out. What a great showing from Scott's family! And all the other regulars (you know who you are by now!). We had low expectations for the night, since we'd heard Kelley's had been really slow on Saturdays lately, but the place was packed and we had people on the dance floor all night. Now...you won't believe this! We didn't! But we really think there is some kind of Kelley's curse....Scott brought three guitars to avoid the string problems from October, but what happened? Yeah, he broke a string on each guitar he had and ended the night using Bryan's back-up. Unbelievable! And this is the only venue Scott's broken strings in. On top of that, Dave's kick drum pedal came loose and started moving around so Bryan had to stand with his foot holding the pedal steady for the last couple songs of the first set. We took a break and brought in the trustworthy pooh rug and that took care of it...We still had fun and had to laugh at that string thing! We can't wait to see what happens next time we get there and how many guitars Scott will have to bring to avoid the curse! Check out some of the pictures from the night. Saturday 10/16/04, Trailblazers, Wells, ME (gig #18)
This was our first time at Trailblazers and we definitely hope it's not our last! These folks were so much fun! Some members of the club had seen us play at Marco's last spring and asked us to play one of their monthly dance parties! It just so happened we walked into their Halloween bash...many people in great costumes. Check out the pictures page for shots of the night. About the only bad thing that happened was the Sox lost...badly! Thanks again to all the dancers and to the folks that picked up the CD! Hope we get to party with ya'all again soon! Friday, 10/1/04, Kelley's Row, Dover (gig #17)
Our first time at Kelley's! All we can say is that it was definitely a Rough Night! Thanks to the huge crowd of friends and fans that turned out to support us. And thanks for putting up with all the technical difficulties we faced. Scott broke 4...yes 4! guitar strings on two guitars in less than 5 songs! We hope you all enjoyed the additions of Rob McGary on bass for several songs and Kevin Burt adding those oh-so-sweet-harmonies and some extra rhythm on congas and shakers. Thanks for the guitar tech help too Kev! We got some great comments on Rob's bass playing too, so thanks everyone. We had some dancing going on later in the evening and what a great time watching everyone dance and sing to Sweet Caroline....that's the first time we played that (the first time we're counting anyway) and it's definitely a keeper! We're back at Kelley's on November 6th, so mark your calendars...we're bringing lots of extra guitars and strings to this show so we're anticipating a much smoother night. Hope to see ya! Friday, 9/24/04, Brick House, Dover (gig #16)
This was our first appearance in this great new music club in Dover. We were fortunate to be asked to open for Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root, who is now on a solo tour. Anyone familiar with the movie Ice Age will recognize Rusted Root's most popular song, Send Me On My Way. We opened the night with a 30 minute all original set and Dave got to play his congas and beat the hell out of his hands again (we do this for fun right?!) It was a treat to play on a proper stage with real stage lighting and a dedicated sound guy. It was loud! Thanks so much to a great friend (Bobbi), who dragged her sister out to see us, paid the $10 cover and then left after our set to grab dinner! We finished up and then hung out for Dan's set and Michael's. We hope we get back there for a longer set at some point. Thursday, 9/17/04, Marco's, York (gig #15)
This was possibly our last performance of the season at Marco's. It was a good Thursday night, thanks to our regular crew for coming to hang out. We got try our some new covers, and Dave was able to bludgeon his hands on the congas for the second set. The Sox even managed to win easily over Tampa Bay, and we had our own TV monitor right next Bry's amp to watch it all up close on stage. Thanks to Mike and the whole Marco's gang for taking good care of us over the past few months. Saturday, 8/21/04, Redhook, Portsmouth (gig #14)
We got to play out on the patio at the Redhook Brewery under the tent, at least for one set anyway. We were on hand for a corporate event which looked to be a promising gig, but the rains came...and came...and came. A couple of lightening flashes almost electrocuted Scott and Bryan. The tent proved to be fairly rain proof with addition of the optionally rented sides, but alas, it was not drainage proof. All the water shed by the tent and the Red Hook roof was directed by the mis-slopen patio right back under the tent walls to where we were set up leaving us and our equipment in a big puddle. Regardless, we were there to play, and drink the fine Redhook Beer, and so as not be caught doing one without the other we unplugged, cozied up onto a picnic table, and had at it acoustic style. Dave even commandeered the water keg and used it as a makeshift drum. All the pictures are on the picture page. Thursday, 8/12/04, Marco's, York (gig #13)
Marco's in York has shaken up their live entertainment schedule which provided an opportunity for a rare Thursday night appearance for Rough and some fireworks at the bar. The Sox played an afternoon get-away game, but the place was still as packed as we'd seen it right up until we were loading up our gear. We tried out some new songs to add to our ever growing list of covers, and they seemed well received. Some of our loyal fans even made a rare break with tradition opting to forgo the 16oz PBRs in favor of the "born-that-day" Bud Light. However they may never admit to it and coincidentally no pictures of Bud Light drinking have yet to surface. Hmm. Saturday, 7/17/04, Whale's Tale, Hampton Beach (gig #12)
We pulled off our first performance at the Whale's Tale to an ever changing crowd of beach cruisers, tourists, and locals. And while Chrissie(sp) the bartender was too hoarse to sing with us (she performed the previous night with the Kevin Burt Trio), she volunteered her sister Jackie who performed a beautiful rendition of Behind Blue Eyes to the roaring crowd, lighters and all. We're looking forward to getting back down there even though the PBR 16s were selling at a 25% premium! Saturday, 7/10/04, Marco's, York (gig #11)
It's summer time and we're back at Marco's, the only Sports Bar York, ME. No pictures from this one, there was too much hedonism so all cameras were destroyed. Wednesday, 6/30/04, Allis Dance Club (gig #10)
We did our first dance party for a rowdy group of almost teenagers, complete with disco ball aluminum foil light cones. Unfortunately, most of our audience was about a generation removed from the covers we play, but regardless it's always fun to play for friends and family and a good time was had by all Saturday, 6/19/04, Mendum's Pond (Private Party) (gig #9)
After a Friday night gig at the Railway, getting up Saturday morning to play at a party was quite unpleasant. At least all the gear was already packed from the night before. We had to wait out the rain since we were playing on a covered, but outdoor, deck area, and it was worth the wait just for the view. We cranked out three sets looking out over a lake on what turned into a nice afternoon. We hope it was a happy birthday for Nick and Steve! Thanks to Lynda for having us. Friday, 6/18/04, Railway, New Durham (gig #8)
Friday night of Bike Week at the Railway Station. There were many bikes and a male dominated crowd. That didn't make for much dancing as these men were not into dancing with each other, and the Sox were playing, but it was still fun. Saturday, 6/12/04 , Private Party (gig #7)
We felt like Jimmy Buffet this weekend, playing out by a pool on a nice summer day for a friend's graduation party. Thanks to our gracious hosts for letting us have so much fun (and food, and drink). And we learned that even brand new digital camera's should not be worn around your neck while involuntarily swimming. Saturday, 5/29/04, Marco's, York (gig #6)
Great crowd at Marco's Saturday night. Thanks to the Rough crew for making a night of it and keeping PBR in business, especially the post-midnight crowd which we couldn't get off the dance floor. We have a few private events in June but we will be at the Railway Station on the 18th so come on out. Saturday, 5/22/04, Railway, New Durham (gig #5)
There was a good crowd at the Railway Station this past week-end for our 2nd gig there. We hope everyone had as much fun as we did. Looking forward to being back there again next month as the summer crowds start to roll in...maybe the deck will be open by then and we can play out there! Friday, 4/30/04, Railway, New Durham (gig #4)
We got to play at the Railway Station up in New Durham for the first time. There was a solid crowd of regulars, a few of which we couldn't get off the dance floor, but that's a good thing. Saturday, 4/3/04, Marco's, York (gig #3)
We made our debut appearance at Marco's in York and it was a blast. There was a good showing from our loyal supporters and nobody got hurt! Sunday, 2/29/04, Wentworth by the Sea (gig #2)
Thanks to the Barrington Girl Scouts for letting us have a good time at their annual event. Friday, 12/19/03, Private Christmas Party (gig #1)
Our first official "gig" at a private christmas party. We were nervous as hell, but had a blast....here we go!!! | |
