So...with those thoughts in mind, we brought our dog & pony show to the scene of countless killer gigs, the Dry Bean in Fitchburg. It had been some time since our last performance, a Halloween show 5 weeks prior. While we weren't dressed as cast members from Hee Haw this time, we brought the same fun attitude and energy to this show!

I think everyone was freezing their buns off due to the chilly air outside. We've gone from autumn to arctic cold practically overnight. 19 and breezy sure felt cold to me anyway, but once things got underway indoors, the cold was all but forgotten.

As always, LUBE gigs sort of turn into a family affair. We have an incredibly loyal following and we've become friends with thousands of wonderful people over the years. That said, our friend Lesley managed to find a couple of the few remaining LUBE virgins and brought them to the Bean. I saw lots of smiles from them and now that the hard part is over, that being the first time, we hope to see them again soon!

Some of our fellow local musicians came out Friday night as well. Jeff, Shane, Dia, & Chris, along with Super Cam Dave from SuperTuesday were in the crowd. In fact, Jeff & I had a clandestine Girl Scout cookie exchange in the parking lot between sets. Best of all, they were already paid for! Thin Mints for everyone! Former ST & Gladstone bassist Craig was there, too, not to mention the lovely & talented Becca Rae, formerly of Wild Heart. I know I'm missing some others, but the double Grey Goose & 7s were mighty fine last night and my recall isn't fully engaged at this point.

We had a very fine contingent of Gimme Gimme Girls in the 2nd set. Back in the old days, the GGGs weren't quite sure what to do and so they sacheted around and just looked nice. Now, after some practice, they can smell when it's coming up in the set list and flock to the stage! They have also learned that they're supposed to sing "Gimme Gimme" at the appropriate time, and based on what I heard through the monitors, they did a mighty fine job with it.

As promised in the past, I'm trying to keep the blogs to a reasonable length these days. I'll just top it off here by saying that we had a most awesome time with you last night! The staff at The Bean treats us very well and it's always nice to play there. Also, Steve looked incredibly handsome in his new $94 shirt. Charles, too, was very fashionable in his GAP jeans and striped dress shirt.

The weekend's not over, though...Saturday night we tear it up once again at The Club Tavern in Middleton. Based on my past professional experience, I can attest that the Grey Goose & 7s will once again be splendid! We always have a blast there and based on the layout, the crowd can get right up close and personal there. See you in 7 hrs & 2 mins!

V V out!

Tour Blog: Saturday, October 31, 2009
Halloween @ Badger Bowl
Madison, Wisconsin

Ok boys & ghouls, following the mass hysteria that was the LUBE 10th Anniversary Show, we had a few weeks to collect our breath and prepare for our next venture...Halloween @ Badger Bowl! We've played some pretty bad-ass shows at Badger Bowl throughout our history but never a Halloween. For this year's gig, we decided to do a "Hee Haw" theme based on the TV show from our youth. We probably dated ourselves in do that, given that much of our fan base is "a little bit" younger than we are, but it turned out to be a good time!

If you recall some of those old "Hee Haw" shows, a country & western themed variety-type affair, they were a mix of good & bad. Popular entertainers, quality musicianship, but some hokey/amateurish acting. It all added up to bad jokes and lots of laughs. That part is right up our alley! We donned the apparel of hillbillies, and I hate to say it but we looked good. Sound guy Matt even provided us with hay bales and corn stalks to decorate the stage with.

There were many excellent costumes on display Saturday night. We saw an evil bird-witch, a dead prison bride, the Flintstones, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader & referee, Eve (from the garden of Eden), a supersized Ronald McDonald, the Blue Man Group, James Hetfield from Metallica, the UFC ring girl, etc., and it was clear that some folks put a tremendous amount of time and energy into their outfits. The Badger Bowl sponsored a costume contest with the winner receiving $100. Buzz did a nice job emceeing it, and in the end, the person in the electric chair walked away with the top prize. It was a great costume! Also, it was Amanda's birthday and I forgot to mention it at the gig. Sorry for the belated announcement, but Happy Birthday from LUBE!

On our end, we worked some tunes back into the set list that had been given a breather for a while. Not only does that help keep things fresh for us but for our fans as well. There are A LOT of people who come to see us regularly, often times both Friday and Saturday when we have weekend double-headers, and they get to know the way we organize our set lists better than we do! In addition to bringing a few songs back, we added two new ones that Charles sang lead on. If you haven't noticed, he's got a killer voice! Stepping outside the box and playing what normally isn't a rock song, we covered "(You Drive Me) Crazy" by Britney Spears. With a little creativity thrown into the arrangement and some crunchy guitars, it turned out to be a good rockin' dance song that people liked. The other new one we did has rocketed to the top of my personal list of favorites that we play. It gives me goose bumps! We put our own twist on "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes and it abso-frickin-lutely RAWKED! It's not a traditional dance song but it's hook & groove are nothing short of infectious. A big hit, to say the least.

Like I said in the blog from the anniversary show, I'm going to work hard to keep this one brief. Scheduling and life issues have created a circumstance such that we have another little layoff before we hit the stage again. LUBE's next show is Friday December 4 @ The Bean followed by Saturday Dec. 5 @ Club Tavern. I know it seems like a long ways away but it really isn't, just a few weeks, plus it's a double-header weekend. Back-to-back nights of LUBE! Kick ass! We'll be dropping a few new tunes in the set list again, so write that weekend down in your little black book we'll see you then! Might as well write down New Year's Eve @ Scatz, too, because that is going to be THE NYE party!

VV Out!

Tour Blog: Saturday Oct. 3, 2009
LUBE's 10th Anniversary Show @ The Bean
Fitchburg, Wisconsin

My friends, it is with a sincere sense of gratitude that LUBE was able to play it's 10th Anniversary Show this past Saturday at The Bean. Without our families, friends, and local music fans coming to see us, and in the early days there weren't very many, there would be nothing to celebrate. The fact that we're still doing it, much less filling bars and beer tents across the area, is quite amazing. The band is very humbled at the outpouring of love and good wishes we experienced Saturday night.

While some of you may already know the story, I'll give you a little rundown of LUBE history. Back in what must be 1994-95, Nick Hanushewicz and Al Lopez were working together and realized that both were musicians. Al was a drummer and Nick a guitarist. Nick invited Al to bring his drums over so they could jam some old Judas Priest and Van Halen tunes, and jam they did.

After they had played a few times, Nick and I (Bartho) were out bumming around Madison. He was telling me about how he & Al had been playing some tunes in his basement and since we all worked the same shift, maybe I should buy a bass and join them. I was a band geek in junior high & high school, playing the gamut of low brass instruments, but had never laid hands on an electric bass guitar. Nonetheless, after visiting both Ward-Brodt and Good & Loud, I was set up with a bass and an amp. Nick showed me how to play "Breaking The Law" by Judas Priest in about 2 minutes (there's only about 5 bass notes in it) and were off & running. We really didn't have a name for the fledgling band, however "10-96" sort of became our working moniker. That's police code for a mental subject, and it was fitting.

After some practice time, we got better but it was painfully obvious none of us could sing well enough to be a real band. Al did his best at rehearsal but it was clear he's no Bon Jovi. One night while hanging out at Flashbacks at the Marriott Hotel, the club's DJ, some guy named Mike Buzzell, put on a Judas Priest song as the staff was preparing to close for the night. As he was clearing bottles & glasses off the tables, he started singing along to the song and was just killing it. Al approached this Buzz guy and told him about the basement band we had going and asked if he wanted to come do some songs. Though he had no formal training, Buzz was up for it and joined us in Nick's basement. Suddenly we had a singer and sounded almost like a real band!

Over the next few months we got to where we could play about 12 songs pretty well and had a few more we were working on. Nick knew of a guy named JC Johnson who not only was in his own band but had his own bar. One day at the health club they got talking and the next thing you know, our basement band was booked to open for the JC Band. The fateful day was Oct. 1, 1999. We had to come up with a band name as no one was sold on "10-96." We kicked around various options, most of them kind of juvenile and a little dirty ("Meat Curtains"?). One of the names I threw out there could have multiple connotations depending on you're state of mind, and that was LUBE. Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

Oct. 1 arrived and we headed to Rox On The River in Jefferson for our first ever public performance. Buzz & I had never played live before but Nick & Al had prior experience, albeit it years ago. So with virtually no stage monitors and edgy nerves, Al clicked off the tempo for "The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)" by Judas Priest and it became official...we played a show. There was supposed to be another band opening for JC as well but they cancelled. Our set list was 10 songs, but JC asked us to keep playing so we did the songs that weren't necessarily "polished" yet to fill time. Adapting on the fly, a great learning experience!

After a 2+ year run, life circumstances changed and Todd packed up and moved to Colorado. We were back to the drawing board looking for another drummer (what is it with them anyway?!?). Nick had seen Heartbreaker play at Badger Bowl one night using a substitute drummer named Steve Schroeder (no relation to Todd). Steve was in the band Bad Jack, which later became Monkey Punch and was a former drum student of Heartbreaker's Scott Schroedl. Nick approached Steve and asked if he'd be interested in playing with LUBE. Steve & his wife Jenny came to Club Raven and scouted us one night when we opened for a touring regional band called See No Evil. Steve must have liked what he saw because he agreed to do a couple of practices to see how it felt. It felt good, damn good, and so the LUBE lineup was updated once again.

Steve has a great ear and dramatically helped us improve our playing. He also came to the band with lots of ideas for different, more dancer-friendly music. We had transformed from a Priest/Van Halen band to an almost alternative rock band with Todd. LUBE began adding some classic rock and songs better suited for dancing, and our popularity continued to improve. Suddenly we were onto something!

Eventually we came to a point where we decided we needed something more to elevate our game. We were playing some good gigs and beginning to make enough scratch to pay for our bar tab but we wanted more. LUBE decided it was time to add a second guitar player, especially one who could also sing lead and ease the burden on Buzz. We had heard that Jeff Hermans was leaving Super Tuesday and from what we knew of Jeff, it wasn't going to be long before he got the itch to play again. We casually bided our time, did some scouting and seed planting, and told Jeff that he could just come jam with us some time if he needed a night out of the house. Jeff & his wife Nicki were having another baby, and while we wanted to give him some family time, we did send a nice congratulatory plant when they had their son. Greasing the wheels with Nicki might seem like a dirty trick but it worked! After adjusting to the new addition to their family, Jeff came aboard and LUBE had a new look and sound!

LUBE's popularity and success soared with the new 2-guitar attack and a second very capable vocalist in the band. We got more and better gigs and we had more fun than ever! After almost 4 years, however, it was time for Jeff to move on. He took leave from LUBE and rejoined Super Tuesday, the band he had started years ago. The growth we experienced as a band with a 5-piece lineup was something we weren't willing to forego and so we decided we needed to replace Jeff in the band.

During all these years, we would frequently check out other bands when we weren't playing. Gotta keep an eye on the competition, you know? We knew of a smokin' guitarist with a killer singing voice by the name of Charles Thomas. Charles had played for several local bands including Badwolf, Hotter Than Karl, Chewy, and Old Man Sanders. Dude had it goin' on, if you know what I'm saying, and while Badwolf had played a few reunion shows, we didn't think he had a full-time gig going. Buzz got in contact with Charles and asked if he had interest in LUBE. We all sat down & talked, then played a practice or two. With luck once again on our side, Charles joined LUBE, and that is the current lineup for the band. Charles brings great experience, lead guitar chops and incredible vocals to LUBE, and you the fans can expect bigger and better things from us as a result!

So there is the lengthy history of LUBE. I'm sorry it dragged on so long but the story is what the story is! That history I just explained covers one full decade of time, time that has flown by yet seen us make considerable strides as a band. There's just one way to celebrate those 10 years...throw a big-ass party at The Bean!

We were excited to see that our club rotation worked out such that we were due for a show at The Bean in late September/early October. The Bean has seen many a great LUBE gig over the years and we knew the 10th anniversary show was going to be over the top. The show did not disappoint!

After making some phone calls, I was able to confirm that all three former members, Al, Todd, and Jeff would be able to make the show. That's incredible as Todd currently lives in Boulder, CO! We decided that as long as everyone could make it, they may as well play a few tunes. Old set lists and recordings were revisited and we found some tunes from the various eras we wanted to resurrect. On Friday Oct. 2, we all got together at Steve's studio for a refresher rehearsal so we wouldn't look like complete buffoons at the gig the next night. There was beer, cool tunes, lots of laughter, and more smart ass talk than you can imagine! We shook the rust off and got prepared for the big one. It was going to be awesome!

At The Bean Saturday night, all I could see from the stage was a sea of bodies. The place was packed! We kicked off the night with a freshly shuffled first set with the current lineup. The energy from the crowd was stunning and we as a band were flying high! After a short block to star the 2nd set, we brought up the past members for what is now of my favorite band experiences ever.

Al climbed behind the drum kit and clicked off the tempo for "The Green Manalishi," the very first tune LUBE ever performed live. Hearing Buzz wail those high notes at the end of the song gave me goose bumps again, just like it did 10 years and 2 days prior. We followed that with the arena rock anthem "Rock & Roll All Night" by KISS. I could hear the crowd singing it over the PA...it was awesome!

Next up was Todd. He is a veteran of the drum school at MIT in San Francisco and he brought some wicked chops to LUBE when he played with us. Nothing has changed as far as that goes! We opened Todd's songs with a longtime crowd favorite, "Voodoo" by Godsmack. To this day, the most requested song not on our regular set list is Voodoo. That was followed by "Smooth Criminal," the Alien Ant Farm cover of the Michael Jackson tune. When I talked with Todd on the phone and asked what songs he wanted to play, I barely got the words out and he said Smooth Criminal. Like him or not, Michael made some good music and the AAF cover rocked the crap out of it. We did too!

After that, we recreated what was known as the "Cool Side Of The Stage" by bringing the Hermanator, aka Jeff, up for a couple. LUBE fans were happy to see our recently departed friend back up jamming with us again. With Jeff, we brought out the funky stuff and did "Bust A Move" by Young MC and our version of "Tricky/Wild Thing" by Run DMC/Ton-Loc. The house went crazy as these have been fan favorites for a long time. Jeff looked resplendent in the retro/vintage LUBE shirt he bought from us back when he was still in ST the first time and it was great to play with again.

But we didn't stop there. As long as Jeff was on stage, we brought up our good friend and photographer/sticker hander-outer/placement guy Brian Henry to do "Thunderkiss '65" by White Zombie. Brian has performed this tune with LUBE a handful of times over the past year or so and we hadn't done it since Jeff's last show July 4. We were going to have Doug Skinner from Heartbreaker play bass on it, too, but he was unable to make the gig. Doug learned our whole show to play two gigs for me when my wife & I were on a Hawaiian cruise last year. Going through all that work for two shows makes Doug part of our extended family. At any rate, we played it and the crowd went wild again. It's just a tough tune!

Lastly, we found one more family member lurking in the crowd. Our good friend and long-time Madison area drummer Steve Barfknecht bailed us out at a Bike Night gig earlier this summer. Steve Schroeder had a work commitment he couldn't get out of and so Stevie B (aka Sneve)learned the whole show for what turned out to be that one lone Bike Night @ Quaker Steak & Lube. Stevie B is rock solid behind the kit, as you may have learned from seeing him in Shock Radio, Johnny Law, Pink Houses or the Sincheladas. He high-tailed it out of a wedding reception to make the show, and so we had him come up and play a couple of songs with us too. We did "I Ran" and "Superfreak." Actually, we did 2.5 songs with Stevie B. As he was getting situated behind the drums, Charles started playing "Jessie's Girl" and eventually Nick and I joined in. Once Stevie B had monitors, he played along as well and finished the tune. I wouldn't look for that song to join our set list but there sure are a lot of people who like it, right Kristin?

After all the dignitaries finished, we closed out the night with a hard rockin' 3rd set to a still-packed dance floor. It may have been hot & sweaty but the LUBIES know how to party and they hung in until the last chord rang out at about 1:45am. All of us, fans, staff, and the band, were wet, stinky, and tired, but these are all signs of a fantastic night.

On behalf of Steve, Buzz, Charles, and Nick, I would like to personally thank every single person who has ever come to a LUBE show. We're a bunch of short hairs with day jobs who escape the drudgery of regular life by playing other people's music. The fact that we have been able to do it for a decade is nothing short of amazing! I don't care how cliché it may sound, but if it wasn't for the fans, we would still just be jamming in the basement. You provide us an outlet for our love of music. While we may never become rich doing it, we are wealthy in so many other ways. It is our extreme pleasure to play music FOR YOU! Thank you to Mary & her great staff at The Bean for having us on such a monumental night, as well as all the other good times we've enjoyed there. Thank you for helping us celebrate the FIRST decade of LUBE history...we'll start the next chapter Halloween night @ the Badger Bowl!

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