Shoe Suede Blues - July 4, 2002 - Middletown CT's 4th of July Celebration

My first Shoe Suede Blues concert was one to remember! The band played for a full hour & a half and attendance was good considering the grounds were almost empty a half hour before the show, but they filed in very fast. After setting everything up, they started right on time with a Shoe Suede Blues merchandise girl jumping on the stage introducing "Shoe Suede Blues...presented by Citizen's Bank" before they started into the catchy "Treat Her Right," which was a great crowd opener. Then, they continued with songs like "Wine-Texas BBQ" and "Cab Driver," (which was written & sung by band members Tadg Galleran and Richard Mikuls). Somewhere during the show they did a song that was written by the person who wrote the Kit Kat bar jingle, but they jokingly said they couldn't sing the jingle because they would have to pay him royalties! Just as they were going to begin the song, Tadg came up with the idea that the audience sing it so we wouldn't feel deprived. By the end of the song, almost everyone joined in to sing. Peter and the other guys were in very good voice and sounded great. Mid-show, Tadg said "For those of you who don't know, Peter was once in another band." Peter replied, "I'll never get The Monkees off my back!" jokingly with a smile before they rolled into "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You." Then, the SSB merchandise girl came on stage again to tell everyone that their new CD was available at the table in the back. Peter then told us we weren't allowed to leave the grounds until we got a CD! They went on with "Hound Dog," "Slender Tender & Tall," "Big Boss Man," & others while Tadg played keyboards with his nose! He failed in his first attempt because his hat was in the way, but he got it the second time. Then, they played another Monkees tune which Peter told us was "a song that was featured at the end of a recent movie." That song was "I'm A Believer." A rockin' version of "Poison Ivy" followed, along with "Even White Boys Get the Blues," & "Wine-Texas BBQ." Throughout the whole last half of the show Peter made fun of everyone who walked past the stage and tried to stop someone by whistling and yelling, but they still kept walking! Next was a song that Peter said was "of his own composition, written by Paul McCartney." He also said that it was the first time they ever played it live in public. "Except for when we played it in Cleveland, St. Louis" Tadg joked. Next, was another Monkees song, "Last Train To Clarksville," that was what they called "a song you may recognize that was not covered by Smash Mouth." In the middle of the song, Peter messed up the words, singing the "dididididid" before "and I don't know if I'm ever coming home," and everyone had to fast forward to that section of the song in the process of laughing hysterically. Although the band sounded great, this was the only song in the whole concert that the guys just didn't have the right sound for. After a few other songs, they played "Daydream Believer" which blew me away! In the middle of the song when Peter wanted all of us to sing along, only about 1/3 of the audience was singing, but when Tadg screamed out "Don't sing if you don't love America!" almost everybody began singing "Cheer up Sleepy Jean..." The guys did a really great job with this song, and I think Peter might have even sung it better than Davy! Then, for about the third time in the show and for a laugh, Peter reminded us to pick up their new album before singing the album's title song, "Saved By The Blues," as well as others like "Blue Suede Shoes" before closing an excellent show. Directly after the show, Peter and the rest of the guys went to the merchandise table to sign autographs and take pictures. I met Peter for the second time in almost exactly a year (7/15/01 @ Westbury Monkees concert) and everyone signed the "Saved By The Blues" CD, which is a great album!