The Smithereens and The Grip Weeds Play The Colonial Theater
January 22, 2010
Pittsfield, Mass.
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From Left to Right:
Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken, Pat Dinizo, Severo Jomacion
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The Smithereens visited Pittsfield tonight. The rock band hailing from New Jersey, has been recording great music since their inception in 1980. They are one of those bands you know and love or never heard of before, There is no in between because they cannot be classified as mainstream any longer although they were close as it gets in the 80’s when they scored some hits. No doubt when they first arrived on the scene they were classified as rock or alternative rock but what I learned this evening is that they are much more than that.
The Smithereens are Pat Dinizo (guitar, lead vocals), Dennis Diken (drums, backing vocals), Jim Babjak (lead guitar, harmony vocals) and on bass Severo The Thilla From Manilla” Jornacion“. Before this entertaining band came on stage, their friends from New Jersey The Gripweeds opened up for them.
When we arrived at the Colonial and checked out the merch tables I instantly recognized The Grip Weeds name and remembered doing a review of (now remastered) The Sounds In You album. My review while brief and a reflection of someone that was writing for less than a year, was rather flattering indicating that stardom was not too far around the corner for this band, though they never did reach those grand heights. They play 60’s psychedelic revival music and essentially that is where they are locked in right now. They do what they do very well and gave us a nice show warming up for the main event. Notably the drummer, Kurt Reil, is a fantastic performer with a terrific voice.
What totally caught me off guard with was the scope and breadth of The Smithereens presentation. I knew going in that a recently released album titled The Smithereens Play Tommy was going to be part of the show. This album was released after the successful B-Sides The Beatles/ Meet The Smithereens. I recently picked up The Who cover CD and was extremely impressed with the quality of the tracks and production. There is a story behind the Who cover CD. Pat and Dennis first met in their freshman year in High School in 1971 and Pat had a picture of the Who on one of his books and at the time had no idea who they were until Dennis turned him on to their music. As they say, the rest is history and here we are today in 2010 yet experiencing a music time machine unfolding. This isn’t just another band paying tribute to their heroes; it’s a great achievement that every band member should be proud of.
We were all in for quite a treat on that night and were totally unaware of what they were going to do. I was thinking the focus of the show was the cover tunes, based on the advertisement from the Colonial. That ended up being only part of over 2 hours of nonstop rock music.
The night kicked into high gear quickly and then segued into 4 straight songs before Dinizo started telling us that this was the 20th anniversary of the album 11 and they were going to play the album in its entirety. The night kicked off with the instantly recognizable hit “A Girl Like You” followed by the rest of the nine tracks from the album. While 11 is not the best album from their catalog it was enjoyable to hear them play from start to finish, and it’s a unique thing to experience in a live setting,
The Smithereens are dynamic performers, and all are original members after 30 years with the exception of the bass player. Leader Pat Dinizo is very warm and invites plenty of audience participation, why at one point Severo (bass) and Jimmy (guitar) came out on either side of the floor and continued to play while interacting with the crowd. Severo sat down right in front of me and started chatting with the gentleman sitting there; we were all laughing and having a great time.
After finishing up the 11 album they reached into their entire catalog and proceeded to play a ton of songs including two of my favorites “Behind The Wall of Sleep” and “Blood and Roses” from their debut album Especially For You.
I was amazed how many songs this band tore through, barley taking a breather in between. Dinizo offered plenty of commentary and comic relief for us during this evening and was masterful at working the crowd. The entire band has marvelous stage presence. Dennis Diken is a phenomenal rock drummer, one of the best I have ever seen, and Jim Babjak is solid lead guitarist. He isn’t flashy or complex, just rock solid and leads the way with some hot licks supported by Savero’s thumping, and at times predominant, bass lines.
By the time they made their way through their own songs it was The Who and Beatles time. The Beatles covers were good and while presented well and played with skill, just did not sound right in such a hard rock context. It’s a matter of taste and personal preference when it comes to covers. The Who material was a different story, it was all excellently played. The crowd certainly appreciated every moment of this segment of the show, in fact they were appreciative all night and deservedly so, this band cranks live and they sure know how to entertain. “Behind Blue Eyes” was a total joy, Dinizo got everyone doing the call and response during the song, and we all knew the words.
By the time the encore rolled around Dinizo grabbed the acoustics (with double pick guards) and gave us some Smithereens unplugged. Again it was all outstanding. If you ever get a chance to catch this band live DO NOT PASS IT UP. And by the way, they have released several albums in the last four years so there is no lack of variety and music to choose from.
The Colonial continues to impress with quality entertainment and I hope it never ends. Every time I attend one of these concerts I walk away exhilarated feeling so blessed to have the privilege to witness these great performances and then to write about it. 2010 has started off with a bang in Pittsfield!
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck
January 22, 2010
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