Feb

20

George Harrison Fest 70th Birthday Celebration George Harrison Fest 70th Birthday Celebration

with Alan Merrill Trio, Sean Yox & The Streamers, Kath Buckell, Nenad Bach Band & Durians

Wed February 20th, 2013

7:00PM

Main Space

Minimum Age: 18+

Doors Open: 6:00PM

Show Time: 7:00PM

Event Ticket: $10

Day of Show: $15

event description event description

George Harrison English musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. During the mid-1960s, Harrison became interested in the Hare Krishna movement, and over time became an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, introducing it to the other Beatles and to their Western audience. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 11 in their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. His songs with the band include “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Here Comes the Sun”, and “Something”, which became the second most-covered Beatles song.
 
Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass, from whichtwo hit singles originated. Later, he wrote hit songs for former Beatle Ringo Starr, as well as for the Traveling Wilburys. With Ravi Shankar, Harrison organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid. Also a music and film producer, Harrison co-founded HandMade Films in 1978.
 
Performers:
ALAN MERRILL TRIO
SEAN YOX & THE STREAMERS
KATH BUCKELL
NENAD BACH BAND
DURIANS
 
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TABLE SEATING POLICY
Table seating for all seated shows is reserved exclusively for ticket holders who purchase “Table Seating” tickets. By purchasing a “Table Seating” ticket you agree to also purchase a minimum of two food and/or beverage items per person. Table seating is first come, first seated. Please arrive early for the best choice of available seats. Seating begins when doors open. Tables are communal so you may be seated with other patrons. We do not take table reservations.
 
A standing room area is available by the bar for all guests who purchase “Standing Room” tickets. Food and beverage can be purchased at the bar but there is no minimum purchase required in this area.
 
All tickets sales are final. No refund or credits.

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George Harrison Fest 70th Birthday Celebration

Alan Merrill Trio

In the early 1970s Merrill was the first western musician to gain pop star status in Japan. He is the lead singer of the first ever released version and co-author of the song “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by the Arrows in 1975. In 1982 Joan Jett released the Arrows song “I Love Rock ‘N Roll, ” and it went to number one in the US charts for 8 weeks. Some little known facts about Alan Merrill-
 
As a composer, Alan Merrill has written songs performed and recorded by such diverse artists as Lou Rawls, Rick Derringer, Chuck Jackson, Britney Spears, Runner, Freddie Scott, Felix Cavaliere, Queen Of Japan, Vodka Collins, Joan Jett, Five, Dan Penn, The Grand, Mickey Curtis, The Arrows, Spooner Oldham, Reverend Run, Tensaw, George Collis Band, Monsieur Kamayatsu, Ramon Bugatti, Phoenix, Dragon Ash, Catherine Howe, Miley Cyrus, Mari Kaneko, The Grand, Tensaw, Tiny Tim and Troy Turner.
 
Alan was elected a New York Chapter Governor of NARAS, the Grammy Awards organization, for two terms in the 1980’s.
 
Alan Merrill was the first person on earth to sing the classic song “I Love Rock N Roll” of course, at the time when he wrote it. He was also the first singer to release a recorded version of the song in 1975 as lead singer and frontman of The Arrows, and he was the first person ever to perform the song, both on stage in front of a live concert audience and on television.
 
He was the first successful foreign pop star in Japan’s domestic market, scoring a top 10 solo hit with the single “Namida” from the album “Alone In Tokyo” on Atlantic Records Japan in 1970, singing the entire album in Japanese
 
Alan was the first signing to Atlantic Records Japan in 1969 as a solo artist and the first artist to have a hit single on the newly formed label.
 
Alan Merrill was married to supermodel, the late Cathee Dahmen in the late 1970s and they have two children, Laura and Allan jr.
 
Vodka Collins, Alan Merrill’s band formed in late 1971 with The Tempters drummer Hiroshi Oguchi and bassist Take Yokouchi, were the first glam rock band in Japan’s local music scene.Their debut single double a-sided single “Automatic Pilot” & “Sands Of Time” in 1972 was a landmark release in Japan.
 
Alan’s composition, “When The Night Comes” (as recorded by R&B great Lou Rawls in 1983), was taken into space by the first black astronaut in history, Guion “Guy” Bluford. It was the first LP ever in outer space, and Alan Merrill wrote the title track! The album “When The Night Comes” by Rawls, also won two Beach Awards for best album, and the recording has a 5-star rating (full marks) in Rolling Stone magazine’s album guide.
 
Alan was featured in a Nissan car commercial as a model in 1970, for the Nissan Sunny Excellent 1200 and 1400 campaigns. It was the biggest ad campaign ever by Nissan at the time, and the commercial ran 200 times a day on Japanese TV on all channels. He was also a model for Jun clothing, GT jeans and others in Japan.
 
!In 1974 after leaving his successful career as frontman with the band Vodka Collins in Japan and being in England only six months, Alan Merrill made the UK charts as lead singer of The Arrows rock band with his debut recording in that territiory, the top 10 single “Touch Too Much” produced by Mickie Most. The song made #6 in the NME charts and #8 in the BBC charts.
 
During his band The Arrows weekly television series run Alan Merrill seriously dated and nearly eloped with actress Mackenzie Phillips in the late 1970s. Their relationship is detailed fondly in Ms. Phillips’ autobiographical book “High On Arrival.”
 
An American starting his career in Japan, Merrill has more chart hit singles in the Japanese language than he has in the English language. He has had hits as a singer in Japan, the UK, and Europe in both English and Japanese in various career incarnations across the years.

Sean Yox & The Streamers

Sean Yox recently came back from Europe where he played 250 shows in 11 countries, previous year.
 
Sean Yox -The Streamers make a good bridge between the New York garage punk of the ’70s/’80s and the hip garage-Indie band scene of today. Rocking out with all the abandon of the rock personalities of yesterday but frequently holding to the idealism and optimism of today’s left leaning bands, The Streamers have an infectious enthusiastic approach to music that will have even the most cynical dancing around the room.
 
Sean recently toured Europe and band is entered into Grammy Awards 2012 with new single “Wonderwall Imagine”.
 

Kath Buckell

From her roots in a small Australian country town in the heart of the farming district of Northern Victoria, talented singer-songwriter Kath Buckell captivates audiences wherever she travels. In classic troubadour style she connects to her audience with her heartfelt stories of the Australian land and its people. Buckell’s distinctive style draws upon many musical traditions, seamlessly fusing folk, blues, traditional Irish and country. Buckell’s earnest connection with her audience exudes a wisdom far greater than her years. Her voice is rich, raw and passionate and evokes some of folk music’s greatest female artists.
 
“She takes me back to the 60’s and 70’s to the likes of Joan Baez and Judy Collins…such a talent!”
– The Lab, French Festival – Jerusalem
 
Currently residing in New York city, Buckell was introduced to producer and saxophonist Jaruslav Jakubovic (Carly Simon, Paul Simon) and his son Daniel Jakubovic who produced her latest album ‘Faces Do Not Change’.
 
“Through Jaroslavs’ mentoring and Daniels amazing production work we were able to find a sound that really captures a sensate experience of where I grew up and the Australian land and culture not just through my lyric, even though the lyric is very important as I do tell a story most of the time…well all of the time.” She is joined by special guest Ula Hedwig on a stunning rendition of Ula’s original ‘Bird Of Mine’.
 
“This album is very special to me as I feel it really captures the importance of family, home and culture. It doesn’t matter where I’ve been or what I’ve done I still hold dearly my identity as opposed to just taking it for granted that’s where I’m from.”
 
In the midst of discovering her Australian roots she has adapted contemporary music to the eloquent and thought provoking lyric of three infamouse Australian poets Andrew Barton Patterson, Henry Lawson and Dame Mary Gilmore. At only 26 she has already been touring internationally for eight years “… from each culture I came across I was immersed in their connection to traditions and sense of belonging to their land especially whilst living in Isreal for three years.
 
Being Australian I wondered what is it that defines me and how did the culture of Australia come to exist from early colonial times and who voiced this…well I found it in the poetry.”
After identifying this connection with her roots in Israel she met the
renowned Aoife Clancy whom is the daughter of Bobby Clancy of The
Clancy Brothers.
 
“After meeting Aoife, I was not only incredibly touched and inspired by such a beautiful person and natural artist though my understanding about tradition really took hold as she is preserving such a rich tradition of Irish music and the music of her father and uncles whom had such an impact on the people I admired and respected such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Van Morrison.”
 
Currently she is performing with Aoife Clancy, Becky Chace and Hadar Noiberg in a group called The Jammin Divas. The Jammin Divas is a special collaboration of four women each from different cultures Ireland, USA, Australia and Israel coming together to perform traditional and contemporary folk music.
 
“What I love so much about this group is that we each have a powerful voice not just through song though together we blend in a way that is indicative of our world today.”

Nenad Bach Band

Nenad is a recording artist, composer, and performer who recorded for Sony, Universal, Decca, Polygram and many other labels. Two of his albums reached No. 1 in Europe, and to date he has sold over one million records. In addition, he has performed all over the world with a wide range of artists, including Luciano Pavarotti, Bono & The Edge (U2), Brian Eno, Indigo Girls, Richie Havens, Garth Hudson & Rick Danko (The Band), Vince Welnick (Grateful Dead), Martin Sheen, Michael York, John Malkovich, Ellen Burstyn, and many more. He performed at Woodstock 94, and in 1998 he made a compilation album with Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and Allen Ginsberg. In March 1999, he opened the Miss Universe pageant in Europe. On his most recent tour he performed his music accompanied by Klapa Sinj, a Croatian a cappella group, in New York City, Washington D.C. and Chicago.
 
Nenad also writes and records music for film and theater. He has scored many features and short films. One such project was “King of Cool,” a biopic about the life of Steve McQueen which premiered on American Movie Classics (AMC), to over 65 million households. Another was “Life beyond Timothy Leary”. Subsequently, Nenad scored the Mladen Juran film “Transatlantic”, which was the Croatian entry for Best Foreign Film in the 1999 Academy Awards and a film directed by Burt Young called “Murder on Mott Street”. Other projects include “The Making and the meaning of We Are Family” film by Danny Schechter in 2002, “Justice” by Evan Oppenheimer in 2003, “Freedom from Despair” by Brenda Brkusic in 2004. Recently Nenad contributed to the score of “Random Lunacy,” the award winning documentary about Poppa Neutrino and the Neutrino family by Victor Zimet and Stephanie Silber.
 
Nenad is also a record producer with a special interest in documenting the fascinating but little-known musical traditions of his homeland, Croatia. His most recent work includes the production of four new SACDs (super audio compact discs) of a capella music from Croatia (by Klapa Sinj, Klapa Fa Lindjo, Klapa Navalia and Klapa Luka). These followed three previously released a cappella albums: “Fire on the Sea,” by Klapa Fortunal; “Following the Cross,” a collection of Lenten chants based on 600-year-old Gregorian Chants by the Pharos Cantors; and “Novaljo, Novaljo,” by Klapa Navalia. The klapa music produced by Nenad was one of the highest rated programs on the long-running NPR radio program “Millenium of Music,” hosted by Robert Aubry Davis.

Durians

“an ambitious and highly danceable experiment, recalling STS9 at their most electro, or perhaps Daft Punk at their most organic” – Dan Bolles, 7Days Magazine, Burlington, VT
 
The Durian, the spiny, stinky fruit, is both famous and infamous in its native home of South-East Asia. Eliciting emotions that range from respect to disgust to adoration, the fruit has earned the nickname, “King of Fruits,” and has been banned in many hotels and public areas due to its smell. No doubt this brash fruit is an appropriate namesake for the Brooklyn live Electronic/IDM/Dubstep band, Durians. The trio’s powerful presence and sound are as impressive and unique as the fruit’s funky odor.
 
“…This is live-instrument electronic music on steroids, featuring dance-inducing break-beats and drum and bass amongst a psychedelic swirl of sonic delights.” – Ed Dufresne, Montpelier Times Argus
 
Although the group uses recognizable elements from the newest DJ-dominated Electronic Dance Music genres, Durians never sticks to formulas. Wobbly bass lines are played from Nick Kirshnit’s hybrid MIDI/Electric bass, which come out aggressive, dirty and compelling. Drum n’ bass and jazz-infused dubstep beats are played by drummer Ryan Ramirez, which further provides the crucial “live” element to their music. Melodies and sounds from Eli Chalmer are provided not just by synths and sounds produced by laptop, but by live trombone, keyboards, and unique original instruments such as MIDI-Theremin.
 
” …like Aphex twin and Squarepusher but they take it to the next level…” – DJ Lovelace, Brooklyn Radio
 
The idea began with longtime musical cohorts Kirshnit and Chalmsky in Burlington, VT. Having played in dirty jazz-funk bands together for a long time, the two were eager to indulge in electronic experimentation. The success of the project eventually compelled them to move to New York City, where they met drummer Ryan Ramirez, a recent transplant from North Carolina. Ramirez, an already accomplished session drummer with Soul/Funk ensembles, had been inspired by Electronica drummers such as Adam Deitch, Jo-Jo Mayer and KJ Sawka. He, Kirshnit and Chalmsky clicked and immediately began work on releasing their music.
 
“…booming synths, heavy drums and instrumentals reminiscent of alien screeches — so bombastic that the floorboards shake.” – Lauren Harrison, Newsday, Long Island
 
After releasing two EPs, and a few singles, Durians have been growing in notoriety in the North-East. They find themselves at home in a variety of scenes, from EDM, to IDM, to Jamtronica, even picking up fans of jazz and heavy metal.

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