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The J. Geils Band at the Paramount

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The J. Geils Band with special guest Ian Hunter & the Rant Band
the Paramount
Huntington, NY
August 30, 2015

The J. Geils Band came to prominence first in the early 1970s with its R&B-influenced blues rock sound and then again in the 1980s when it shifted its focus toward a more new wave approach. The band began in the late '60s in the Boston area as an acoustic blues trio featuring guitarist J. Geils, bassist Danny Klein and harp player extraordinaire Richard Salwitz (aka Magic Dick). By 1970, the little group had evolved and now included the Bronx, NY-born Peter Wolf (born Peter Blankenfeld) on vocals, organist Seth Justman and drummer Stephen Jo Bladd. By 1970, it had signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records.

In late 1970, Atlantic Records released the band's eponymously titled debut album. This album featured what are currently the live show staples: "First I Look at the Purse," "Pack Fair and Square," "Homework" and "Hard Drivin' Man." Over the next few years, tracks on the band's ensuing albums began to receive radio airplay. in 1973, Bloodshot (Atlantic Records), the group's fourth album, propelled by the songs "(Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party," "Southside Shuffle" and "Give It to Me," became its commercial breakthrough, reaching #10 on the U.S. Billboard album charts. Blow Your Face Out (Atlantic Records, 1976), the live double record release, cemented the J. Geils Band's reputation as one of the greatest live acts of any era. In the early 1980s, the J. Geils Band found a whole new fanbase with the release of Love Stinks (EMI Records, 1980) and Freeze Frame (EMI Records, 1981). During this time, the band released the Top 40 singles "Love Stinks," "Come Back," "Angel In Blue," "Freeze-Frame" and the #1 smash "Centerfold."

Ian Hunter made his bones first as the lead singer of the Mott The Hoople, an English rock band. Mott The Hoople successfully mixed rock 'n' roll with glam, early punk, R&B, and a bit of neo-soul. The ban's most well-known recording is the David Bowie-penned and produced "All the Young Dudes" which was released on the 1972 Columbia Records album of the same name. Following the dissolution of Mott The Hoople (before and after a few reunion tours), Hunter achieved solo success with "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" (the song that later propelled Great White to fame) and "Cleveland Rocks" (the cover version of which performed by alternative rockers The Presidents of the United States of America became the theme song for the ABC TV series The Drew Carey Show).

Over the years, Hunter has released a number of critically acclaimed albums including: Ian Hunter (Columbia Records, 1975), You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic (Chrysalis Records, 1979), the live Welcome To the Club (Chrysalis, 1980), Short Back 'n' Sides (Chrysalis, 1981), Dirty Laundry (Cleveland International, 1995), Shrunken Heads (Jerkin Crocus, 2007) and When I'm President (Slimstyle, 2012).

In Huntington, NY the next to last day of August 2015 was a warm one. The temperature hit the upper-eighties and the humidity was high. Inside the air conditioned Paramount, middle-aged fans of both groups could be seen wearing their vintage, as well as recently purchased, tour t-shirts. Still other fans were crowding around the merchandise booth to buy products and swag created specifically for this tour.

While it may have been warm outside the venue, Ian Hunter and his backing group, the Rant Band, made sure that the temperature inside was raised to a higher level. The band's enthusiasm, showmanship and energy was infectious. Had the sound system been functioning properly for the entire set, the short ten song show would have been legendary. The performance was top-notch, but sadly the opener "Once Bitten Twice Shy" and the following three songs ("Just The Way You Look Tonight," Now Is The Time and "Just Another Night") were marred by a muddy mix. The audience couldn't have cared less. They greeted each song with thunderous applause.

A trained ear could hear that the sound was improving with each song and by the fifth song of the set, "Black Tears," it was almost there. Unfortunately, a slight echo remained. It would not be remedied until Hunter moved from guitar to keyboards for "All The Way From Memphis."

Hunter's set concluded with "23A, Swan Hill" from The Artful Dodger (Citadel, 1996), a mind-blowing cover of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" and the set ending "All The Young Dudes." When the performance ended, Hunter bowed, waved and thanked the crowd for the turnout. The poor sound at the beginning of the set was criminal. Hunter and his band deserved better, but his fans were thrilled to have seen his strong performance.

After an intermission that lasted just under a half-hour, the J. Geils Band, featuring original members Wolf, Justman, Klein (who Wolf would later introduce as "the ambassador of funk...DK on bass") and Magic Dick were joined by guitarists Duke Levine and Kevin Barrie as well as drummer Tom Arey. J. Giels, himself, was again absent (as he has been in recent tours due to a legal dispute between the band and the founding guitarist).

The band appeared on stage and performed the instrumental opening number. Wolf soon bounded on stage and the houseparty was on—the band ramped it up and dove right into "Hard Drivin' Man." The sound for the J. Geils Band was quite good, nothing like the murk and echo that plagued Ian Hunter. Following a rollicking version of "Southside Shuffle," Wolf addressed the crowd. He said, "Welcome to the Sunday night Funk Fry! So we have any blues fans in the house? With school right around the corner, I am not going to do my homework anymore!" The band revved it up and Wolf led them through an awe-inspiring version of the Otis Rush classic "Homework."

In addition to the classic blues tune, the band played songs from its own classic canon including: "Wait," "Sanctuary," "Just Can't Wait," "Freeze-Frame," "Love Stinks" and, of course, "Centerfold." It also delivered rousing takes on songs that it has adopted as its own—covers of songs originally released by others (Juke Joint Jimmy's "Cruisin' For A Love" and "Whammer Jammer;" Big Walter's "Pack Fair and Square;" The Valentinos' "Lookin' For A Love" and The Showstoppers' "(Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party").

The evening's other highlights were Wolf serving as a very cool music professor (as he talked about some of the songs), spitting out nonesense lyrical and babbling prose song introduction centering on Reputa and her long hair, scatting and reverting to the fast-talking ex-disc jockey spiel of his youth.

The performance rocked the house so hard that the mezzanine in the mid-sized club shook as the audience up in the rafters bopped and rocked the night away. Songs like "Give it To Me" became audience participation numbers as the crowd swayed and sang along. Wolf needn't have sung a single word of "Centerfold"—the audience not only sang along, but almost drowned out the vocalist. "Detroit Breakdown" from the severely underrated 1974 album Nightmares...and Other Tales from the Vinyl Jungle (Atlantic Records) was not only an homage to the band's spiritual second home, but a real lesson in how to play rock and/or blues guitar. The evening's version of "Whammer Jammer" included a short, but tasty "Route 66" interlude.

The main set closer, "Houseparty," was made even more memorable by the red, white and blue strobes that accompanied the song. When the song ended, the band members took their bows, but never left the stage. Less than thirty seconds after the bows, they were back in their places—either seated at their instruments or with the instruments strapped over their shoulders or nestled behind a microphone. Wolf counted the band in and the version of the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" was both true to the Motown tune's original spirit, but had a DNA injection that was all J. Geils Band—the original "Bad Boys From Boston." The encore continued with a strong version of "Start All Over" and concluded with a muscular, fiery, killer, rockin' and raucous rendition of "Must Have Got Lost." At the end, the band members again took their bows, but this time they left the stage and the house lights came up.

Throughout the evening Wolf was in strong voice. The reed-thin frontman was a whirling dervish, a perpetual motion machine. He rarely stopped, never stood still and kept moving throughout the performance as he bopped, shuffled across the stage, spun in place and danced his way through the just under two hour concert. He had the audience in the palm of his hand, as they were glued to his every move.

Photo Credit: Christine Connallon
[Additional article contributions by Christine Connallon].

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