Poetry and the Luck of the Irish on St. Patty's Day

Normally the typical revelry of St. Patty's Day does not include a poetry open mic and folk acoustic set in a coffee house, but that is what Spazz did to celebrate St. Patty's Day.  I booked a gig following a poetry open mic and got spend my day being Irish with a Guinness and some acoustic tunes.

I played Five Leaves Coffee house which is a cool little place in Englewood.  Their large latte's are HUGE and the place feels very inviting.  The poetry was very well done....I half expected a bunch of beatniks with sub par rhymes, but the poets they had were true craftsman of their trade.  I enjoyed it.  My set was a lot of fun.  Most people stuck around and gave me the time of day.  Good banter from the audience and I even got heckled when I played John Lennon's "Luck of the Irish" for St. Patty's day.  A true Irishman took exception to the line "Wish they were English instead."  Fair enough.....they aren't exactly allies.  With my buddy Dave in the house, the obligatory Tramp Stamp>Everlong>Tramp Stamp was thrown into the mix to his delight and my wife's chagrin.

I should be booked there again, once they do their next round of bookings I should be receiving an email.  A mighty fine St. Patty's day and no hangover for work the next day.

Five Leaves Coffeehouse 3.17- Ryan Shane Spazz
Somewhere Between, American Slang, You Don't Deserve Me, Simple Lines, Luck of the Irish, Atlantic City, Goodbye (Doesn't Mean the End), Tramp Stamp>Everlong>Tramp Stamp, I Saw Jesus>Long Black Veil, Everyday Hero, This Land is Our Land  

Non-traditional Venues

While every musician loves the big stage, nice venues with lots of lights shining down on you; sometimes the non-traditional venues offer a much more enjoyable show.  For the Carnie Bums, our first show was playing a friends party and one of our best gigs ever was in a giant tent in a parking lot for climbing convention.  This past weekend we played another great non-traditional venue, at a pizza place/bar at the base of Mary Jane ski resort.  We were the first band to play there in over a decade and we had to make our own "stage" and set up our own PA.  None of that mattered once we started playing.  We played a covers heavy set and the people stopping to get food in between runs loved us.  Lots of energy, lots of cheers, lots of beer flowing in gratitude.  We had a high energy set and played one of our favorite shows.  So much fun.

In addition, we ran most of the set without a setlist.  Set lists are good, but sometimes you just need to call shots as you see them.  Someone asked for "Talking Heads" so we played Psycho Killer, someone asked for Punk, we gave them a block of punk music.  Over 2/3 of the set was called from the stage without a set list.  It felt very liberating and is something the Bums will explore again in the future.  Until then, here is what (we think) we played and some pics to show the energy....

Set list
Pepperoni's- March 12, 2011
Jumpin' Jack Flash, Roadhouse Blues, Seven Nation Army, I've Got a Feeling, Gin and Tower, 40 Gate, Dynastar Man, Four Kicks, I Wanna Be Sedated*, Colfax, Fight for your Right, Psycho Killer, Sympathy for the Devil, London Calling, PBR, Ball and Chain, Punks in Oklahoma, Chocolate, Rockin' In the Free World, Watchtower, Old Habits, Sweet Jane, Hey Hey My My, Are You For Real?

* First time played

Gigs, gigs and more gigs

A lot of times you go a few months without getting many gigs, and then all of a sudden gigs are raining on you.  I never worry when we have a small amount of gigs planned because I know soon it'll rain.  Between Carnie Bums and solo Spazz shows, we have added 6 gigs in the last two days.  Lots of different shows for you to dig your teeth into.

Upcoming Shows:

CARNIE BUMS
3.12 Pepperoni's Winter Park
4.8 Buffalo Rose Golden
5.13 Captain Jack's Westminster
10.29 Captain Jack's Westminster * will be our Halloween costume party

Ryan Shane Spazz Solo
3.17 Five Leaves Coffee House Englewood
4.16 Michelangelo's Denver
8.16 La Dulce Vida Arvada