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Last night I was among the privileged to see the return of the "new" Fathoms to
the stage at Vincents - an "off the beaten path" bar in Worcester, MA (nice
atmosphere and a good place where one could get drunk, but then again, what
place isn't?) Frankie - still brilliant as ever - assembled a new 4-piece lineup
(no sax) of really talented players to play 3 sets of instro. The rhythm section
was spot on & really tight. The rhythm guitar player - looks like Jerry from
the Spurs - played a Gretsch through a Line6 guitar pod into a small fender amp
& had a style more reminiscent of a Bruce Welch or Ivan Pongracic Sr than a
Gregg Burgess (ie, not much booch to be heard), but the band was incredible, as
was Frankie (played his Jazzmaster with 2 DOD-type pedals into a small fender
amp). Frankie had a mostly clean sound (think Mikka Lankinen with more of a
country/western influence mixed with Hank Marvin), but the name of his game is
precision - I don't think he ever hit a string he didn't mean to hit, and just
to watch him play three sets with no vocals was worth it.
Songs: lots of covers, but again played with enough technical proficiency and
stylistic nuance that it puts some other artists attempts at these songs to
shame. Here's what I remember after several PBR bottles:
Ventures: Diamond Head, Journey to the Stars, Walk Don't Run/Lullaby of the
Leaves/Walk Don't Run/Lullaby of the Leaves medley, Diamond Head (reprise) -
played again as an encore.
Shadows: Man of Mystery, The Savage, Apache, & maybe Gonzales
Astronauts: Baja, Movin', The Hearse
others: Mr. Moto
Fathoms songs: unfortunately a little light in this area, but I believe the
band is relatively new, so hopefully more Fathoms classics will find their way
into the setlist in due time. I think they may have played only 3 or 4 (not too
many more) originals including Git My Goat, Groovy Boots and Fathomless.
Laslty, the bar did not charge a cover (although I would have paid $10 or more
if charged), so Frankie was given a galvanized metal bucket to pass around for
tips - "sad when a 54-year old guy has to do that" - Frankie's words, not mine,
but we were certainly glad to contribute. The band was well received by the
crowd & a couple die hard fans came out wearing Fathoms shirts, as well as 75%
of The Nebulas, 1/2 of 9th Wave and a Clam.
I hope they play out again soon.
jim
www.thenebulas.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Thanks TFJ...this kind of news is greatly appreciated!
No "Getaway Car"?
BN
--- In , "tfj" <toofastjim@m...> wrote:
> Last night I was among the privileged to see the return of the "new"
Fathoms to the stage at Vincents -
