Memories of Sudsy Malone's

Here's a random sampling of my personal favorite moments at Sudsy Malone's, in no particular order:

Listen, when the bass player chick from Nashville Pussy waves a flaming torch around onstage indicating that the audience up front needs to move back from the stage, you move back pretty damn quick. And when she hops down onto the dance floor still waving the torch in front of her there really is only one sensible course of action. If I live to be a million I will never forget the sight of a capacity crowd leaning back in unison as she breathed fire Gene Simmons style straight into their horrified faces. I'm sure there were no fewer than 60 singed eyebrows in that crowd after the show. Something about the fact that the band was playing Ted Nugent's "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" as she performed this most righteous gnarly stunt makes it even cooler. Earlier in the same show some poor drunk bastard in the front row who, after repeated warnings, kept grabbing the guitarist's tits, was dragged out on the sidewalk in front of the club and pummeled to a bloody pulp by the other guitarist and the drummer. Returning to the stage we were admonished, "Now you know we're not fuckin' around." I gotta be honest though. By that point, I was already well aware.

I've read elsewhere that the club as we knew it did not open until 1986 but I am 99% sure that the Speed Hickeys' very first gig was on Christmas day 1985. I am certain of this because we were originally a quartet and our front man went off to college in '86, forcing me to somewhat reluctantly take over lead vocals. This was in the days before the stage or bleachers. In fact, there was a seating area on a raised platform in front of the bandstand such as it was with tables, chairs and railing around the perimeter back then. As I recall, only a couple of our friends showed up for the gig. It was Christmas day after all. We probably knew fewer than 12 songs at the time. Most vivid recollection of the evening is club owner John Cioffi stomping around and screaming at us to turn it down. In our teenage insolence we kept turning it up as Cioffi's face cycled through more shades of red than the entire history of the lipstick industry. It was the beginning of what turned out to be a long personal history of performing on that stage with and for the best friends I have ever known.

My dear friend Marilyn worked for Columbia Records back then. She introduced me to Jeff Buckley at Sudsy's. One of the best shows I ever saw there was G. Love & Special Sauce on their first tour. Marilyn said, "You gotta see these guys!" Maybe 20 people in the club when they started. During setbreak I think all 20 of us called friends and told them the same thing. By the end of the show the place was pretty packed.

Faster Pussycat's punishing volume and way overqualified smoke machine turned that laundromat into Heavy Metal Hell for 2 hours. THAT was fucking incredible.

The Raisins played Sudsy's only a handful of times around 1988-1989. In those days, I never missed a Raisins show. One night as Fetters was taking a solo in a song called "Number One" he extended his Strat in my direction, inviting me to take a solo of my own. The guitar stayed strapped over his shoulders. I just took the pick he handed me and reached my arms around the instrument to noodle over a few bars. Rob's expression indicated approval and I will never forget that moment as long as I live. Rob is an inspiration, a major guitar hero to me, and probably thee biggest Shoulda Been the Queen City has ever produced.

Mere words could never convey the honor and thrill of opening for former Zappa guitarist Mike Keneally at Sudsy's on my 31st birthday, August 1, 1998. (I spent the rest of that week on Phish tour and actually came HOME to play the gig!) Previous to that night Mike and I had a correspondence and growing friendship. That night sealed it and we're still in touch. That was also one of the very few times my father saw me perform. The Loose Wrecks played a great set that night and I'm sure Dad's presence in the room played a big role in elevating the experience for all of us.

The first time I saw the Rolling Stones I was 14 years old. Though only a child at the time I noticed right away how folks at that particular concert and even indeed the entire surrounding area all seemed to take leave of their senses for the occasion. It was like a dark cloud of decadence would descend wherever the Stones performed. Normally straight-laced upstanding citizens will piss in the streets on the day of a Stones' concert and I have seen this scene play out numerous times in multiple cities since 1981. The only other band that I have seen have a similar affect on people, albeit on a smaller scale, is the Trash Brats. Of course your normally straight-laced upstanding citizens weren't exactly the target audience in this case. High Octane Detroit Glam is not for the faint of heart. The Brats' following was a fiendish force, ever ready to get twisted and two-fisted. Animals accustomed to pissing in the streets got even weirder when the Brats played at Sudsy's. Walking through the door on the night of one of their gigs you could just FEEL it in the air: Shit's going down tonight.

Anyone who ever saw the Love Cowboys play at Sudsy's was a witness to pure musical wizardry. Those guys brought Funk with soul deeper and wider than the Chili Peppers ever dreamed of. On at least half a dozen occasions I saw and heard them execute twists and turns and weird time changes live on stage without so much as exchanging a glance, like one brain with eight arms. And Kevin's voice, O my gawd. How the White Boy Funk trend of the late 80s / early 90s passed them up I will never know. Of course they were so much more than that too. Sudsy's hardwood floor bounced like a trampoline when they got the crowd dancing. For me, as a musician myself, I felt like the Love Cowboys had far more to admire about them than the next ten bands combined.

Honorable mentions, unforgettable performances & great memories:

Opening for Zakk Wylde

Stereolab

BuBu Klan

Lazy Cowgirls

The New Vulgarians

The Middle Fingers

Poster Children ALWAYS brought the roof down

Dock Ellis

ANY band with Marc Friedlander or Tony Franklin on drums

Day drinking while doing your laundry!

Throneberry playing "Peeling Off My Skin"

The Swarthy Band "Mass Transit She's Treating Me Well"

Sean Smith / Satchel

Flaming Lips “Zaireeka” listening party

Chrissie Hynde & Kate Pierson stopping by Sudsy’s on their "meat is murder" vegetarian propaganda publicity tour

Lots of changes in the bar staff over the years of course but Sudsy's enjoyed a good long run of FANTASTIC bartenders.

I will join the chorus of voices heralding the heroic efforts of Mr. McCabe. I don't know what I ever did to get on his good side but he never failed to take care of me. Much love for you Dan.