TricksBlog - February 2012

Feb 3 & 4 - AJ's Grill & Cocktailz in Dorr
Two fantastic fun nights in downtown Dorr. Friday was fun and Saturday was funnerest.
Tricks returns to ground zero, and the home of the founders, Rick & Steve. This place is literally one block away from where Steve & Rick grew up. These are the streets that we terrorized as kids on bicycles. These fields are where we played baseball and swam in the creek. We explored these woods and wandered many miles down the railroad tracks that are gone now. During winter, we hauled our sleds out into the hills just west of Dorr. We didn't have no Internet or Video Games, so we sometimes just hung around at the feed mill, or one of the gas stations, watching the men working. Dorr is our Hometown.
It's been about 6 years since Stan's closed down, just shortly after the Dorr Country Lanes also closed their rock & roll bar. It's good to be part of the resurgence of live rock music in Dorr. You may not realize this, but Dorr is the largest population center in Allegan County, bigger than Wayland, bigger than Allegan, and bigger than Plainwell or Otsego. Look it up. But, Dorr is sadly lacking Live Music venues. AJ's is correcting that fault. (Like AJ's on )
Amanda & Ernie Gills bought the old Stan's last year, and they took on the daunting task of remodeling the old place. Ernie says that if he had it to do over again, he'd tear down the building and build a new one, instead of going through the pain of all that remodeling. But, you can see the beautiful results of Ernie and Amanda's hard work. Check out our pictures from this weekend.
Tricks is fresh out of the basement with 21 songs added - bringing our total song repertoire to a "Quality & Quantity" level where we can finally get back to our goal of Dual Quad "No Repeats". This is our Tricks policy of trying to avoid repeating the same songs on Fridays and Saturdays. Back in the late 90's we decided that since we liked learning new classics, but we didn't like dropping our favorite songs, we would try to have separate set lists for Fri & Sat. Then we could have twice as many songs in active rotation, keeping them hot and tight. Rick started creating Sets labelled "Set A" and "Set B". Steve dubbed them "Dual Quad" set lists, since we have 2 lists with 4 sets of songs. Dual. Quad. Get it?
Anyway, what about this weekend? Friday started a bit slow, so we were scared of a dead night. But we shouldn't have been scared. The place filled up, and was still hopping when we packed our guitars and headed for home. And then Saturday? Sheesh!! You had to be there. It was just like the good old days. It's like that place has a life of its own. We've seen our share of slow nights at the old Stan's, but this wasn't one of those. It only brought back memories of crazy nights of that packed little dance floor, with way too many people trying to dance and get in the band's face. It was happening - Déjà vu all over again. The crowd was actually better than the band. The band was good, but the crowd blew us away, in my eyes (and ears). Happy b-day Sam. Great to see Debbie & Dave Bassbeast. Dave even helped run some lights, and sang harmonies with the Queen songs from back at Krystal's light board. All kinds of old Dorr Tricks fans who could tell you their own Tricks Party stories. Thanks for coming out. Same to you people from the so-called Hudsonville Tricks Fan Club, who came out to celebrate with Sam. Thanks to Amanda & Ernie and the great staff. We'll be back at AJ's sometime in June. Stay tuned!

TricksBlog - January 2012

Jan 28 - Maribel's Black & White / Mariachi / Tricks / VFW Party / 40th Birthday
Tricks was honored to be part of the big event put together by Maribel & Rodney to celebrate Maribel's 40th Birthday with family & friends. Most everyone was dressed up in Black & White, as requested by the birthday girl. (Hey, I just remembered; Tricks didn't do the Beatles "You Say It's Your Birthday" song for Maribel. Dang! And we do a great version of that. Talk about dropping the ball.) For an hour and a half before Tricks started their show, we were treated to a fantastic Mariachi band. Wow! Very cool! When the Mariachi band did a special song for Maribel, and her grandpa said a special prayer for her, Maribel had very wet eyes, and it was a super special moment for everyone there.
Plenty of food was on hand, with many people bringing party food to pass. (Krystal brought her famous jerk chicken wings.) There was also free draft beer provided by Maribel & Rodney. So we all got pretty toasted and were filled with the spirit of the occasion. Besides the main event of Maribel's b-day, this was a special gig for Tricks, because it was our first "Coming Out" gig of 2012. We learned 21 new songs listed below, and we test drove all of them at Maribel's party. I'd say all the new songs were a rousing success with the dancers. Very adrenalized crowd, and the band did a fine job. We had a blast! This was a classy party.
Roger sold a bunch of Tricks t-shirts, and we also raffled off 3 shirts. Maribel won the first drawing. Cool!
We really love the sound of the VFW hall, and the stage is very comfortable. Hopefully we'll make the Holland VFW a regular venue for Tricks parties from now on. Thanks so much to the VFW volunteers. Thanks to all the people who helped us load in and out. Thanks to everyone who brought food. Thanks especially to Maribel & Rod for all the hard work they did getting this Party of the Year put together. Happy Birthday to Marible from Tricks, and we wish you many more, and many more Tricks Parties.
Here are photos from Maribel's party -
Our friend Fred brought his nice SLR camera to capture the event -

sign up
Go read what Krys & Steve have to say about the current status of the Tricks band.
And here is what Ozzy has to say on the subject:

January 9 thru 25 - 8 Grueling rehearsal nights in the basement
This was the shortest and most action-packed Tricks Winter Break ever.
Rick sings 8 new songs for 2012
Semi-Charmed Life - - - Third Eye Blind
7 Nation Army - White Stripes
Run Around - - - Blues Traveler
And She Was - - - Talking Heads
Real World  - - - Matchbox 20
Why Pt. II - - - Collective Soul
American Idiot - - - Green Day
Lady - - - Little River Band
Krystal sings 6 new songs for 2012
Black Horse & Cherry Tree - - - K.T. Tunstal
You & Your Hand - - - Pink
Limelight - - - Rush
I'm Outta Here - - - Shania Twain
What U Need - - - INXS
Tie Your Mother Down - - - Queen
Steve sings 7 new songs for 2012
Fat Bottom Girls- - - Queen
Black Betty - - - Ram Jam
Bad Motor Scooter - - - Montrose
Lips And Hips - - - Electric Boyz
Low Rider - - - War
Shakin' - - - Eddie Money
Rock n Roll All Night - - - Kiss

Nearly all of these songs are from the Tricks Graveyard
We brought back the most-requested songs. Every time someone said "hey, why don't you do this song any more?" We made a mental note. And in November the band members voted on what songs to bring back, and here you see the result. We didn't have a whole lot of time, so we put off learning any actual "new" songs until later this year. We might have a few weeks off in June, so send in your requests for new Tricks material .
Here's some fun photos of Tricks hard at work in the basement.

Jan 6 & 7 - Final Weekend of "Tricks Fiscal 2011 Calendar" - Hilliard Corner Lounge
The Tricks band has just about seen it all, as far as great crowds and warm receptions. But this weekend was a big surprise for us. We brought our 2011 calendar to a close with an extra special group of people. It seems that a big group of our pals from Sue's Sidetrack in Fennville conspired to surprise us on our final "2011" weekend. They traveled all the way through the backwoods of Allegan County to come over to little old Hilliards and party with Tricks - All Night Long! What a beautiful surprise for us. There were more Sidetrack people in the bar than Hilliards people. They had two long tables full of Fennville and Pullman area people, with most of the former staff from Sue's Sidetrack, including Sue herself. All the great rockers who I've mentioned so many times in my descriptions of our Sidetrack nights over the past 7 years that Tricks played music there.
Like I've always said; those people love their rock and roll. We are so sad that Sue had to close the Sidetrack back in June of 2011. It's a big empty hole in our life. They had so many fun parties and charity events there at Sue's ... see my history pages. We often talked about the Sidetrack gang, and wondered if we would ever see any of these nice folks again. Sure, we might bump into one or two of them at some party or bar. But we never expected this massive conspiracy to surprise Tricks at the Hilliards Corner Lounge. They said that this whole plan came together on Wednesday, when a few phone calls turned into a whole bunch of phone calls.
What a cool way to top off our Tricks 2011 calendar.
It was Auld Land Syne all over again.What a warm feeling. Thanks so much for making the trip out, you guys. We love you so much. Hopefully we'll get an outdoor party together or something, where we can meet up again and drink and dance the night away like old times.
We had surprisingly great crowds on both Fri & Sat. We expected that everyone would stay home after such a big New Year's weekend last week. Lots of local young folks were hanging out both nights. Maybe "Generation Next" is picking up the ball where the X-ers and Boomers have slacked off a bit. Whatever, we appreciate the 20-somethings who like that good "Premium" classic rock that Tricks works hard to serve up hot and "the way it was meant to be". Special shout out to Kaitlyn & Joey for bringing out their birthday parties to the Corner. Happy Birthday to you from Tricks!
Thanks to Sue and her gang for coming out. Thanks especially to Joe and Gary who were the prime movers who started the ball rolling for this Sidetrack reunion party. Thanks to Eric and his fine wait-staff girls. We couldn't do this without you, and we appreciate your hard work to keep the party going. Thanks to Roger for his great work for Tricks all year long in 2011; the t-shirts, the finances, the break-room motorhome, the Limo, the camera and recording work . . . the chocolate.
Now Tricks says "Amen" to 2011, and we go into Steve & Tammy's basement for a short 3 week so-called "break". We will emerge with new repertoire under our belts, mostly old favorites that keep getting requested - we'll be bringing some favorite head-bangers and dance songs back to life with our bassman Ozzy.
^{Fri | Sat}

TricksBlog - December 2011

Dec 30 & 31 - Happy New Year - Welcoming in 2012 with Tricks at Hilliards Corner Lounge
Tricks did some Auld Land Syning with close friends, old friends, new friends, and family at Hilliards this weekend. Friday was amazingly crowded. We never expected that. We thought everyone would save their party plans for Saturday's big party. But, people needed to get out on Friday and drink away their cares. Maybe 2011 was worthy of two nights of "fond farewell" and "good riddance". We celebrated Dan's birthday on Friday, with a whole bunch of party people joining in the festivities. Thanks to Dan for bringing your party to Hilliards Party Central. Big fun Friday.
But, then there was Saturday. New Year's Eve. Our bass man Ozzy never played at any New Year's Eve party, ever. Ever! Although he's been in several bands, he has never played at a NYE party. Hard to grasp that reality, when Tricks has played at dozens and dozens of NYE parties, in many different halls and bars.
New Year's Eve is one night when the party has nothing to do with the band. Instead, it's all about the crowd. Friends meeting up with friends and wishing them all the best in the New Year. It's hugs and kisses all night long. "Auld Lang Syne" is a Scottish saying that has no English equivalent. It literally means something like "Old Long Ago", but it has the deeper meaning of childhood friends meeting up years later and sharing stories and memories of the old times.
The most honorable mention of the night was Megan Wolowicz, our friend from US Naval Academy. Her birthday is Dec 29, but the most special thing is that she has been coming to spend the night with Tricks whenever she comes home from Maryland to visit friends and family. She brings the whole family out to see Tricks, because she loves her rock and roll. We were glad to make her happy with our rousing rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Gimme Three Steps". A good old Tricks classic southern rock crowd favorite.
Even though Tricks could not compete with the huge hot crowd, we gave it our all. I heard several people say that the band sounded even better than usual. But I still give credit to the atmosphere and the people who created that atmosphere. Thanks so much to Eric for creating Party Central at the Corner in Hilliards. Thanks to the remarkable crew of bartenders and wait staff for doing an amazing job keeping up with a "balls to the walls" crowd. Almost like the good old "Royal Knight" days. Almost. Thanks to Roger for dealing with Tricks t-shirts and cameras and mobile break room. Thanks to all the people who traveled a ways to hang and bang with Tricks on NYE; Allegan, Hudsonville, Grandville, Grand Haven, Holland, ... I hope everyone made it home in good shape.
^{Fri | Sat}