TricksBlog - December 2011

Dec 30 & 31 - Happy New Year - Welcoming in 2012 with Tricks at Hilliards Corner Lounge

Tricks did some Auld Land Syning with close friends, old friends, new friends, and family at Hilliards this weekend. Friday was amazingly crowded. We never expected that. We thought everyone would save their party plans for Saturday's big party. But, people needed to get out on Friday and drink away their cares. Maybe 2011 was worthy of two nights of "fond farewell" and "good riddance". We celebrated Dan's birthday on Friday, with a whole bunch of party people joining in the festivities. Thanks to Dan for bringing your party to Hilliards Party Central. Big fun Friday.
But, then there was Saturday. New Year's Eve. Our bass man Ozzy never played at any New Year's Eve party, ever. Ever! Although he's been in several bands, he has never played at a NYE party. Hard to grasp that reality, when Tricks has played at dozens and dozens of NYE parties, in many different halls and bars.
New Year's Eve is one night when the party has nothing to do with the band. Instead, it's all about the crowd. Friends meeting up with friends and wishing them all the best in the New Year. It's hugs and kisses all night long. "Auld Lang Syne" is a Scottish saying that has no English equivalent. It literally means something like "Old Long Ago", but it has the deeper meaning of childhood friends meeting up years later and sharing stories and memories of the old times.
The most honorable mention of the night was Megan Wolowicz, our friend from US Naval Academy. Her birthday is Dec 29, but the most special thing is that she has been coming to spend the night with Tricks whenever she comes home from Maryland to visit friends and family. She brings the whole family out to see Tricks, because she loves her rock and roll. We were glad to make her happy with our rousing rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Gimme Three Steps". A good old Tricks classic southern rock crowd favorite.
Even though Tricks could not compete with the huge hot crowd, we gave it our all. I heard several people say that the band sounded even better than usual. But I still give credit to the atmosphere and the people who created that atmosphere. Thanks so much to Eric for creating Party Central at the Corner in Hilliards. Thanks to the remarkable crew of bartenders and wait staff for doing an amazing job keeping up with a "balls to the walls" crowd. Almost like the good old "Royal Knight" days. Almost. Thanks to Roger for dealing with Tricks t-shirts and cameras and mobile break room. Thanks to all the people who traveled a ways to hang and bang with Tricks on NYE; Allegan, Hudsonville, Grandville, Grand Haven, Holland, ... I hope everyone made it home in good shape.
Fri | Sat

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Dec 17 - Holland VFW Beer Bash

Tricks and friends were in the mood for this Saturday night party in downtown Holland. This was a long time coming. We've had friends suggesting a Tricks party at the Holland VFW for a long time. Many thanks to Rodney, Robert, Hutch, and Deb for getting Tricks for this great Christmas party. A solid contender for "Party of the Year 2011", and a clear winner of "Beer Bash of the Year". This was $10 at the door and all-you-can-drink draft beer. The bartenders could barely keep the beer flowing fast enough. Lots of people were smart and had Designated Drivers and Taxis to take them home, so they could safely get their money's worth, drinking and dancing. As you might expect with beer flowing so freely, the crowd got more and more rowdy as the night went on. What a blast! I gotta say, we usually expect a big hall to have all the sound quality of a big cement box, but thanks to the intelligent ceiling design, the sound quality was excellent. Very good dancing conditions, with a big tile floor to shuffle around on.
Rick had a whole bunch of his Trendway party friends there, so it was a "get in Doogie's face" night. Like usual in a good-sounding room, Steve was giving a great performance on the drums. The band was super tight, thanks to Ozzy's great finger work on the bass. And Krystal came through with some top-notch vocal work. Dave did a good job making the sound mix fit the room. A very comfortable gig. And that's not always easy to pull off. Everything has to click just right.
Thanks to all the VFW workers, supporters, and volunteers. We know it's a lot of work, and we know that the same people end up doing all the work most of the time. We appreciate your service to the VFW. Awesome job! Thanks to the Trendway friends for coming out and drinking and dancing with Tricks, despite the crappy roads. Hopefully, we'll have another Tricks party here when the weather is nicer. Special thanks again to Rodney for setting us up and pushing for a Tricks appearance at the VFW. We love ya, man.
Thanks to Roger for t-shirts and moral support as always. We still have some special-edition 35-Year Tricks Anniversary t-shirts left, so hopefully everyone can get a shirt; we worked hard to keep the price down low at $10 for a high-quality t-shirt.
Check out the VFW pics:

Here's the artwork for the 35 year anniversary Tricks t-shirts.
Only $10 for a high-quality t-shirt!

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Dec 2 & 3 - Wayland Hotel - Final weekend at Hotel for 2011

Tricks Blow-out Weekend! No disappointment here. We had two great nights in downtown Wayland this weekend. Why am I so hung-over? It could be the continuous shots for the band last night - fun for you, painful for us.
Friday was an excellent turn-out, with lots of friends from all over the place. Everyone was hot to trot, and ready to party with Tricks. The band was extra tight and adventurous, with Steve leading us out onto some scary limbs a few times. But, we follow the drummer, wherever he may lead. We are under his control, for better or worse. And this weekend was definitely BETTER! We celebrated a birthday with Ken on Friday night. The highlight of our night was a visit from our friend Marge from California, who was in Michigan for a few days to help Mary her mom celebrate her 70th birthday. Yes, she brought mom out for a couple sets of Tricks, including our special Beatles "Happy Birthday" song. How special is that? When I sat down to talk with Marge & Mary, mom said "how are your ears"? And I said, "What"?
Saturday was another wild night. Cold, rainy, and windy outside, but things were nice and HOT inside. Plenty of crazy dance-floor action. The special event of the night was a get-together with Steve's Outlaws. That means Steve's daughter's husband's family. Understand? It was the Dumond clan; out on the town, eating, drinking, and dancing All-Night-Long! Too bad Kayleigh & Mike weren't here, but we partied in their honor, while they spent the night being bored somewhere in Miss-iss-sssippi. Oh no! ... I mean St. Louis.
Unfortunately, what happened later in the night is a bit fuzzy, thanks to 3 rounds of double shots of Lemon Drops for the band. We'll talk more later... See the pics for details.
Fri | Sat

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TricksBlog - November 2011

Nov 23, 25 & 26 - Wayland Hotel

Tricks had a great long weekend for our Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Action-packed!
On Thanksgiving Eve, we had a pretty small crowd for "The Biggest Bar Night Of The Year". Not terrible, but nothing to write home about. We were happy to have our Hudsonville fan club keeping us company. Most notable guests of honor were Dave & Debbie Trierweiler from Middleville. Yes, the might BassBeast was in Wayland town for some Tricks time. We are always glad to see Dave & Debbie dancing with us again. We love you guys.
Other very notable guests on Turkey Eve were our friends Sherrie Coke and Rick Pasquino, both major players in early Tricks history . Sherrie and many of her friends used to be every-weekend followers of Tricks back in 1977. She knows too much and must be silenced, so we keep paying her off. Rick was in the band Osprey, a band that played with Tricks at several "parties in the woods" back in the wild 70's, with generators providing power and plenty of kegs of beer and hundreds of wild party people going crazy in the woods. We try to keep quiet about those times, but we have trouble recalling the details anyway. Rick was a member of the very popular Grand Rapids band "Yuwanna" in the 80's.
Most of our Saturday party crowd headed home early to get ready and rest up for Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. So, by about 1am it was so empty, Mary Kay let us go home early.
And then we had a pleasant surprise on Friday night. Usually this night is one of the slower nights of the holiday season; everyone is worn out from shopping, eating, drinking, football, ... and no one usually has the energy to get out to the bar. But this Friday was a fantastic fun night. Same thing with Saturday. The best thing about Fri & Sat was the new friends we made. A few Tricks newbies who came on Friday ended up coming back for the Friday show. That's always impressive.
The big highlight of Saturday was two birthdays. One was our friend Char who was one of our Tricks regulars over at the Sidetrack near Fennville. After the Sidetrack closed earlier this year, Char couldn't live without Tricks, so she moved to Wayland to be closer to "Tricks Country". That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Okay, maybe she didn't move for Tricks, but we consider it a fringe benefit that Char is within range of Tricks again. We miss all of our Sidetrack pals.
The other Saturday birthday party was for drummer Steve. Good thing he brought Tammy for a designated driver. He stopped counting shots by about 3rd set. We had a fun time with the tipsy drummer taking us for a Nantucket Sleighride. Thanks to Mary Kay and the Wayland Hotel staff. Tricks really appreciates all that you do to make things comfortable for the band and our friends, families, and fans. Thanks to everyone for the great support and great fun times. These are the Good Old Days!
Turkey Eve|Fri | Sat

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Nov 18 & 19 - Wayland Hotel

Tricks returns to "the best sounding drum room" as Steve likes to say. Even with a mostly empty room on Friday night, it was sounding mighty sweet. We couldn't help having a great time playing. Our special friends Junior and Jeanette came all the way from Holland to hang and bang with Tricks all night long. And Ozzy's good friend Rich was there getting into it and cheering us on. Other than that, just a couple small groups of party people were there at the Hotel on a slow Friday night. The highlight of the night was a double birthday party for Ray and Joe. Thanks for coming out, guys!
Saturday we put out the call for a Tricks "rent-a-crowd", and we got a good response. Thanks to family and friends who came Saturday to keep us company. Rick & Krys had special guests Tim & Sandy who are from Ann Arbor, with a cottage on Lake Allegan. Those two were there for the duration. Lots of other Tricks regulars came out Saturday night. Nothing but good times. Rick's son Dan made a rare appearance, and made it memorable by trying to get the band drunk with two rounds of double lemon-drop shots. I'm proud to report that the band outlasted Dan, although he had a big head-start with his partying.
Thanks to everyone again. We love ya. Thanks to Mary Kay and her staff for the great friendly service. Did I mention how good the food is at the Wayland Hotel? Next time, come early for dinner. You won't be sorry. They have some of the biggest burgers you'll ever see, and surprisingly good prices.
Check out our pictures. Thanks to Dave & Roger for taking pics.
Fri |Sat

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Nov 5 - The Dorr American Legion Post Annual Harvest Party

The band was hot - and the crowd kept right up with us. - What a fun night. Something about getting away from the bar scene makes this kind of party more intimate and special. And those low low club prices on drinks seem to help the dance floor action get LOOSE! Dorr is our Tricks hometown (and even "pre-Tricks"), with many good friends and fans who have stories about past indoor and outdoor Tricks parties in the halls and hills of the Dorr area. Thanks to everyone for coming out and making this year's Legion party a great success. The past few years they barely broke even, but this year we actually made some money for the Legion. It's always good to make the hard work of the volunteers worthwhile.
Added bonus to the party was Mitchel's B-day celebration. Happy Birthday Mitchel. Good luck!
Steve says: Great Party!
Thanks to all the volunteers who put it on. Bratwurst griller Sam & raffle chairman Lisa. Decorators Deb & Cathy. Food preparation Tammy, Vicky, Greg, and everyone else who helped out, good job!
On behalf of the S.A.L. and Auxiliary I’d like to thank Tricks (Rick, Krys, John, & Dave) for the show and for doing all the past Harvest Dances at a low cost to our Club. This year’s turnout was a little better than the last few and with all the smiles and wild antics on the dance floor, I’d bet next year will be even better.
 
Door prize winners of the Tricks t-shirts were more than I can remember, but the ones I recall were Marge Farmer, DaeLynn Post, Lisa Evans, Charlie Poehlman, etc.
50/50 winners were Jackie Gensler and a guy from the Henry Steffes group.
The Auxiliary Holiday Basket was won by our weekday bartender Janet Navaro.
 
15 year old David Post won the Remington 870 shotgun.
The son of Pete & Jane Post, both members at Post 127, had a couple episodes this year now that have turned out fine.
Earlier this year, David had to deal with a heart condition he has had since birth. Surgery was performed at U of M in Ann Arbor to stabilize this with a heart defibrillator.
Then, just a week ago, David went out with a hunting buddy in his pick-up truck with no tailgate.
Somewhere out on the dark road as they were coming home, Pete’s Remington 870 shotgun that David had put in the back of the truck flew out and was never seen again.
Looks like fortune has it’s way with the Post family this time!

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TricksBlog - October 2011

Oct 21 & 22 - Hilliards Corner Lounge - Big Halloween / Costume Party

Our Friday night was fun, but our Saturday was "Funner-est". The wall-to-wall crowd on Saturday night brought back memories of the "good ol' days" when this place was called "The Royal Knight". Lots of great-looking guys, girls, and ghouls. The parking lot was already full when we got there at 9 o'clock, and later on people were parking out on the roadside. Eric and his crew were running back and forth trying to keep up with the drink orders. And there were times onstage when the crowd was hooting and hollering so loud, they were close to drowning out the rock and roll Tricks music.
Birthdays - We sang "You Say It's Your Birthday" for several people on Saturday night; Mary's 50th, Justin's 24th, and Chad. Thanks for bringing your b-day celebration to party with Tricks at Hilliards Corners. Hope you had a good one. I'm pretty sure you did. It was a wild party scene.
Costumes - When it came time for the Costume contest, we had a long line of competitors. Be sure to check out the pictures. The $75 First-Place prize went to "Richard Simmons". 2nd place Tricks T-shirt went to "Sandy" (Olivia Newton John) from Grease. 3rd place Tricks T-shirt went to "Princess Poppy Cock". Honorable Mentions are "Big Green Alien Thing", "Cat Lady", "Lady Cop", "Captain Morgan", and many more deserve mention, but you can see them in the photos.
Thanks - to everyone who came out to party with us and make this such a great night to remember. Steve once again brought home the "Best Brats" at today's 97LAV Wurstfest , and I'm sure some of the crowd was from the Wurstfest. So, thanks to the Wurstfest people. Thanks to the birthday people for bringing your party out. Thanks to the great great costume work from everyone. Lots of work went into some of those costumes. Thanks to Roger for the photos, breakroom, Tricks T-shirts, and most of all; the chocolate. Thanks to Eric the owner and his hard-working staff. I hope everyone was tipping the workers. What a blast. This night is top contender for "Party of the Year". I wonder if we can top this party? I doubt it.

Fri |Sat
Mark Your Calendar:
• Party With Tricks on New Years Eve at Hilliards Corners

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Oct 14 & 15 - Hilliards Corner Lounge

Tricks old stompin' grounds at the Royal Knight, I mean The Corner Lounge. This place always feels like home. Lots of good ol' Tricks fans always stopping in to see us one more time and reminisce about parties of the past - "Glory Days". Speaking of the good ol' days, we had a blast from the not-so-distant past on Friday night. Dave "Bassbeast" and Debbie came over from Middleville for an evening of Tricks socializing. Sadly, we couldn't twist Dave's arm to get up and do some beastly bass work. Maybe one of these times. It was so good to have a few hugs with the Trierweilers. Very nice! Friday was just a small crowd, but it seemed like everyone in the bar was a close and special Tricks friend. That always seems to happen to us in Hilliards. Like I said, Tricks has lots of history in these parts. Many stories can be told.
On Saturday, we had more people and more parties. Lots of birthdays. So, we had to pull out our best Tricks version of the Beatles "Birthday" song. And everyone was dancing to that one. Krystal brought a contingent of dancing girls from Allegan, so we never had an empty dance floor all night. Lots of fun. Lots of t-shirts sold. Roger says he has plenty of t-shirts in all sizes left, and Krys is making sure that we order some "girl" t-shirts with trimmed sleeves and scoop necklines.
Thanks so much to Eric and the Corner Lounge staff; we couldn't do it without you! Thanks to Dave & Debbie for coming out on Friday, and to Krystal's girls who came to dance the night away with us on Saturday. And thanks to all the birthday revelers, and all our other party friends and family. Tricks loves you!
Fri |Sat

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TricksBlog - September 2011

Sep 23 & 24 - Hotel Bar & Grill - Wayland

Tricks had another fun-filled weekend at Wayland Hotel. Never mind that the crowds were nothing to brag about. We didn't have a packed house, but we had some very fun people out on the town. Friday was busier than that last two Fridays, and Saturday was less busy than the previous two. Hmmm, what's up with that? But we had plenty of dancers both nights, so that's what really matters to us. We get a little lonely up on the stage all by ourselves. So, we need some dancers to share the energy with and get us revved up. Friday we had a few local boys there who were nice and rowdy and getting in our face, headbanging along with the band. We encourage that. We also had some partying girls on the dance floor. That's always a welcome site.
Roger was selling t-shirts, and I think we already are running low on a couple sizes. Krys is ordering some girlie-style shirts with a trimmed sleeve and scoop neckline, so stay tuned.
This is the time of year that the band really starts getting tight. We are getting used to playing with Ozzy-style bass, and we also are getting pretty good at all the songs that we learned and re-learned last winter. When there is that kind of confidence, it allows us to take a few risks with a little more flamboyant playing, especially in the Steve drumming department. I can't wait to beef up our repertoire this winter, with more great classic rockers and dance favorites.
Thanks again to Mary Kay and the wait staff for all you do to make us feel welcome at the Wayland Hotel. We'll see you again around Thanksgiving time.
Fri |Sat

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Sep 16 & 17 - Hotel Bar & Grill - Wayland

Tricks and friends spent another great weekend at the Wayland Hotel. Although it was a very unbalanced weekend. Friday we had a few special friends come out to party with the band, but that was about it. There was never more than 20 people in the place. By last set, after a few friends went home, we were very lonely, with about 8 people hanging out with us to the bitter end. It takes all of our energy to get through such a slow night. But, we appreciate our good Tricks friends who made the trek over to Wayland to keep us company on Friday night. Thanks! We love ya! You know who you are.
And then there was Saturday. A complete study in opposites. Saturday was not an amazing crowd, but it was a very respectable crowd. And lots of dancers and screamers. The Tricks band rose to the occasion and played ever so tightly. It was head-banging fun time on stage and on the dance floor.
And the big news is that the Tricks 35-Year Anniversary t-shirts are finally here. Great quality shirts and very good-looking design. Five different color schemes, including MSU colors and U 0f M colors. $10.
It was 1976 when Rick, Steve, and Dave started the Tricks band with Michael Van Dyke. The rest is Tricks History, and those early years are well documented here in the Tricks History Pages - read all about it.
Thanks to everyone who came out this Friday and Saturday to party with Tricks and the Hotel. Thanks to Mary Kay and the Hotel wait staff. Thanks to Roger for everything. One more weekend to go.

Fri |Sat

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Sep 9 & 10 - Hotel Bar & Grill - Wayland

Tricks is back in town. Downtown Wayland that is. After our 2 month summer break, we usually creak and squeak along for a few nights until we get limbered up and back into shape. But that didn't really happen this time. It helps that during our summer "break" we actually did two big nights at the Gun Lake Casino, and one "Tricks Lite" party gig for a kegger / pig roast at Lake Allegan. So, we weren't completly out of musical, mental, and physical shape.
Friday was a slow night. Mary Kay says that it's been slow all summer long. But she has a good attitude about serving up great food, cold drinks, and good entertainment. So, let's hope that things pick up a bit for her. It's possible that the locals are hitting the Casino more than going to local bars, but the novelty of that will wear out as soon as they notice how much money they're spending at the Casino. The local rock bars are a better value for you money, and less smoky.
Steve says: Friends Friday night were Carl & DaeLynn Post and Pete & Jane Post with Doug & Lisa visiting from Delaware. Very good to be back to my favorite bar and best sounding Drum Room.
We also had a nice birthday celebration on Friday to liven things up a bit. It was Emma's birthday. We don't know her age, because they say a gentleman remembers a woman's birthday but not her are. Emma is a work buddy with Ozzy. Happy birthday to Emma, and we wish you many more.
Saturday was a different story. We had a large group of friends from our so-called "Hudsonville Tricks Fan Club". Long story why we call it that, when so many of those guys are NOT from Hudsonville. What a fun group. They never let us down; they like to eat, drink, play pool, and dance all night. We love you guys.
There also was a bit of naughtiness going on with Sara's big bachelorette party. Those girls were Girls Gone Wild! I had to censor a couple pictures, since my grandkids and my mom looks at this site from time to time. We're a family act. Sara and her friends dance on the dancefloor, the chairs, the tables, and finally under the table later in the night. I hope everyone is recuperating well today. Lots of pictures caught the action, but you had to be there to know the whole story. You snooze, you lose. I'm not telling. What happens at the Hotel stays at the Hotel, unless we record it and put it on the Tricks Website. See the pics.
Last but not least, we had Doug and Darcy Dryer come all the way from Borculo to party with Tricks. They recently had an anniversary, Darcy's birthday was last week, and Doug's birthday is today, Sunday. Nothing like piling all your parties into one spot on the calendar.
Thanks to Emma for coming out to party with Tricks for your birthday. Thanks to Sara for bringing your bachelorette party to the Wayland Hotel. Thanks to the Hudsonville fan club. Thanks to Doug & Darcy for coming out. Thanks to Mary Kay and her great wait-staff for keeping the party going. Thanks to Roger for pics and odd jobs.
Fri|Sat

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^{to Mid 2011
to Early 2012}