TricksBlog - September 2013
Sept 6 & 7 - Log Cabin, Grand Rapids
  
Two nights of party fun at the LC ... Rick's reunion with High School pals ... Tricks fans & friends came to dance
Tricks has to bring their A Game when we play in Grand Rapids, especially at the Log Cabin where they have lots of great hard-rocking bands. Our first 2013 at the Log Cabin was during Memorial Day weekend, and the crowds were mighty thin. This time around it was a much better showing. But we're told by the regulars that winter time is when the best crowds show up to drink and dance at the LC. Owner Matt Potter runs a tight ship, but is a hands-off kind of boss. We really like the way Matt keeps the Log Cabin looking good with a recently remodeled stage and dance floor area. Not every bar owner puts money back into their bar's upkeep. Tricks appreciates the 110% effort, so we try to match that in our show. We have the sore bones on Sunday to show for it.
Friday was a smaller crowd than Sat, and we forgot our camera. The few pics we got were from Krystal's iPhone. Not the greatest for indoor shots. Anyway, Matt likes us to "bring it" right from the start, so we dump the acoustic songs that we usually start our first couple sets with (most venues with food like it when we start nice and easy for their lingering dinner crowd). We started right in Friday night with some hard rocking Foghat and Foreigner, and onward and upward from there. We got plenty of dancing action for the entire night.
BTW, Tricks says "welcome back, we missed you and we need you" to Dave our soundman, who has been in and out of the hospital this summer with some GI problems. Hope you continue recovering as quickly as possible, Dave. It's been a crappy summer without you. We miss having someone to blame everything on, you know.
Saturday was more like the crowd we were looking for. Just about a packed house, and tons of dancers and people interacting with the band. Lots of Tricks regulars came out to support us. That warms our hearts. The famous drummer Bill Roelofs was there for a birthday toast. We had Tricks alumnus Dave "BassBeast" Trierweiler (also of Meanstreak fame) in da house, with his beautiful wife Debbie "Mrs BassBeast". Most notable mention had to be Rick's pals from high school, who he hasn't seen in many years. I'm not talking about just any old high school, we're talking about St. Joseph's Seminary, the Grand Rapids Catholic Diocese priest factory. Rick and his friends Larry, Mike, and Jim didn't turn out to be priest material, sad to say.
Thanks so much to our family, friends, and fans for supporting your local rock and roll music scene, and our little old band, Tricks. Thanks to the birthday party people who brought their party to the LC with Tricks. Thanks to the locals for the great positive feedback. Thanks to Roger for taking pictures. Thanks to owner Matt and his great-looking and hard-working staff for serving it up right for the demanding crowds of party people. We look forward to getting some dates at the LC for 2014.
Fri  |Sat
TricksBlog - August 2013
August 23 & 24 - AJ's Cocktailz & Grill, Dorr
  
The theme for both nights was "dance all night" and "gonna raise hell"
Tricks was competing against some big-time amazing weather this weekend. Last beautiful weekend of summer before Labor Day. Small crowds at AJ's both Friday and Saturday, but a heck of a lot of dancing, along with some respectable hooting and hollering. It was big fun trying to keep up with the demanding dancers. They didn't want to stop, and they didn't fizzle out after midnight. They stayed for the duration, drinking and dancing like maniacs.
These two fun nights are picture proof of what we always say, "when it comes to crowds, we don't care so much about quantity, we care about quality". I'd rather have a small crowd that is out to raise hell and dance their butts off than a huge crowd that uses the band as background music for their chit-chatting. We bust our butts working on getting our songs tight, our gear set up and working right, and all the other logistics of running a band. It's so cool to have people head-banging and throwing their hands up while they get into the Tricks jams. That kind of crowd response makes the band "feel the love", and it makes us play better - no different than when you're cheering for that guy running toward the goal with the pigskin ball. Tricks rises to the occasion when we get a quality crowd of rock n roll party people.
Another important note of interest is the health status of our soundman Dave.
Dave has spent much of the summer in and out of the hospital with some stomach surgery and all the recovery drama of that. The past couple months, Tricks has been missing Dave's touch on the soundboard that gives us a better-than-average sound quality. Dave was back this weekend, and we hope he's onboard for good now. Hope you get well and stay well, Dave. We need you, man.
Thanks so much to everyone who came out these two nights. We had a heck of a good time dancing with you and performing our best for you. Thanks to Krystal for taking pictures. Thanks to Amanda for hiring Tricks. You and Ernie are doing a great job with AJ's. You not only brought a good quality restaurant to Dorr, but you brought back live local music to town. And now I can't wait until you get that back deck finished. Maybe we can have some Doogie solo acoustic music back there... just a thought.
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August 16 & 17 - M89 Sports Bar & Grill, Otsego
  
Friday Night Tricks Debut . . . . . . . Saturday Wolf Pack MC Memorial Ride / Benefit for Jon "Rocket" ten Haaf
Tricks has always been told "you should play at the M89 Bar in Otsego". So we've reached out a couple times over the past fifteen years or so, and always got the answer "we have enough bands". It's true, M89 Sports Bar has plenty of excellent bands, including classic rock bands and country bands. It's an honor to play on the same stage as these other great bands. On Friday night we had a decent crowd, thanks to our friends and fans who came from near and far to support our debut. Notable Tricks alumni in the crowd, guitarist Dale Boysen and bassist Tim Clifford. We even got Tim up to play bass for the Stones "Sympathy For The Devil". If we had an extra guitar amp, we would have made Dale get up and play as well. But maybe next time we'll arrange for an extra amp onstage. Our soundman Dave has been in the hospital recovering from stomach surgery, so we had to fly without a soundman. It's a good thing that M89 has a room and stage where it is easy to get a good sound. It helped to have opinions on the sound from Dale and Tim, and other Tricks regulars. We managed without Dave, although we are hoping to have him back by next weekend.
Saturday was the Wolf Pack Motorcycle Club's Benefit Ride for their fallen friend, Jon "Rocket" ten Haaf. Jon was killed when he lost control of his bike on US-131 a few weeks ago. He leaves behind 8 children under the age of 15, so the Wolf Pack MC has set up a professionally-managed fund for Rocket's kids. Over $4,000 was raised on Saturday for Rocket's children, and a lot more at Sunday's benefit rodeo at Silver Dollar Ranch north of Wayland. Rocket was an avid bull rider and a music Dee Jay. He was well-loved by many, and will be sadly missed, but not forgotten. Saturday's benefit ride was the first of what is going to be an annual event, to continue raising money for Rocket's kids.
Tricks would like to thank everyone for a great first weekend at M89. Thanks to our fans and friends who came out. Thanks to Tim the owner for hiring us. Thanks to the M89 staff for keeping the party flowing, especially for Saturday night's huge crowd. Thanks to Wolf Pack MC; we feel honored to have a small part in the Jon ten Haaf Benefit. Thanks to Nate and his workers for coordinating the raffles and such. And thank you dancers! We love to play when you are dancing with us. Tricks will be back at M89 in November.
NOTE: Rick is playing solo at M89 on the 3rd Thursday of each month; an acoustic show from 8 to 11pm. Each Thursday has different solo entertainment. Stop in for a bite to eat and drink. Support local music and local bars & restaurants. Like everything else in life, you gotta "use it or lose it".
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TricksBlog - July 2013
July 19 & 20 - RoadHouse, Paw Paw
  
Friday was Tricks Lite indoors . . . . . . Saturday back outdoors . . . . . . . . . . . . Class of '73 party
This was a wild three day adventure in Paw Paw. Lots of moving gear around, setting up, and tearing down, and then setting up again. Rick & Ozzy showed up around 2pm Wednesday to set up in the blistering heat and humidity. After four hours of rocking the biker crowd (who mostly stayed indoors in the air conditioning, but wandered outside now and then), we had to get all of our gear shielded from the thunderstorms predicted for Friday. We covered everything with heavy tarps provided by Rich the owner. Then on Friday, Rick drove back to Paw Paw to set up our Tricks Lite set-up, consisting mostly of the equipment we use for Doogie solo and KaR Tunes gigs. Everything turned out okay on Friday. We had a good crowd and the sound was good, with Steve using his electronic drum kit (while his "babies" were on the big stage outside, covered with tarps). After last set on Friday, we tore down our little indoor sound system. On Saturday, Rick came back from 2 to 5 and set everything back up on the outside stage. Back home for an hour nap, and then we rocked the Roadhouse patio from 9 until 1AM. We had a better patio crowd than our bike night crowd. Lots of new fans giving us the love, and a 40 year class reunion with a dozen fun people. Saturday's Tricks show was a lot more energetic than Wednesday, because the heat and humidity was calmed down. After Saturday's last set, we had a record-breaking tear-down, loud-out in just over one hour. Got outta town by 2:15AM.
We had a great time all three nights; what a great summertime adventure. We really did a lot of work to bring the jams to these Paw Paw party people. We hope to be back as soon as we can find an open date. We only were able to fit two Roadhouse weekends on our 2013 calendar, so this was our last gig here for this year.
Thanks so much to the Tricks friends who traveled a distance to see us. Thanks to Rob for giving Krystal a ride to bike night - she says your bike is very comfortable and rider-friendly. Thanks to the Class of 1973 folks, you really helped make our Saturday super fun. The "balloon dance" during Stairway To Heaven will have people wondering what was going on, when they see the photos. Thanks to the great and good-looking wait-staff - you are so friendly and nice and make Tricks feel so welcome Great job running indoors and outdoors to keep the party going. Thanks to the cooks; you have a hot job during this treacherous heat-wave. Thanks for loaning us your 2-wheel dolly. Special thanks to Rich the owner for having such a cool venue for live music in Paw Paw. You got something good going on there. It's got everything; great food, Plenty of TVs for sports, games indoors and outdoors, very friendly staff, friendly to bikers as well as families, great mix of young and old crowds, live music either indoors or outdoors. We love this place. See you again sooner rather than later, we hope.
Fri | Sat
July 17 - RoadHouse Bike Night, Paw Paw
  
What it's all about - The Bikes . . . So hot! So humid! It's called "summer" . . . Tricks does it right!
What can I say about Roadhouse Bike Night? I could go on and on about how hot and humid it was. I could go on and on about all the cool bikes, studly biker dudes, and hot biker mamas. I could go on and on about the stamina required for standing in the hot humid air and singing and rocking for four hours. I could on and on about all the great compliments we got from the nice folks at Roadhouse Bike Night. I could go on and on about the long sweaty hours of set-up and tear-down (after the long hot show, we put lots of stuff in the trailer and covered everything else with heavy tarps). I could go on about our Friday and Saturday outdoor shows coming up at the Roadhouse, and the "severe thuderstorms with damaging winds" forecast for Friday afternoon and evening. But I won't because I'm way too worn out and wrung out. This is what they call "fun work". Rock and Roll life style.
Wednesday Bike Night Pics
July 4 - Dorr Annual Independence Day Celebration - Dorr Park
  
Dorr July 4th Celebration - Steve's Wrap-Up Report
The 2013 Dorr Celebration was a resounding success. After the 2012 scorching heat wave put a big damper on that year's Celebration, it is very satisfying to see all the planning and effort by the volunteers being rewarded.
After delivering about 500 freshly grilled Bratwurst to the park by 10:30am I watched the parade on main street. Dorr's parade always delights the huge crowd with everything from cuteness to awesome! Hope you got to see the display of characters on parade.
I missed the afternoon stage events due to Bratwurst counter duties at the store.
By the looks of the pictures, it appears there was a very good turnout with some outstanding entertainment.
~ Pics from "Dancing with the Scars"
~ Pics from Babies & Toddlers
Thanks to Jeff Lenhart's Ghouls & Gals for a great show!
Congratulations to the winners and all the participants at the Corn Maze programs and the Baby/Toddler contest.
The photos of the crowd at the Tricks performance Thursday evening shows you what a family friendly event the Dorr 4th of July Celebration really is. With ideal weather conditions, the south park was pretty full midway thru the band's 2nd set. By the time the band brought up special guest John Jr. the crowd response was tremendous.
~ Pics from Tricks band concert
All eyes turned to the sky for the great fireworks display just as Tricks cut short the crowd-favorite song "Walk This Way".
Friday night we had several hundred people in the park to listen to the fantastic picking and singing from the Williams Family band
~ Pics from Williams Family concert
Following the Williams Family show, there was the Lantern Launch, which was very impressive to see. You had to be there. Thanks to everyone who participated.
So glad to see our town's famous 4th of July Festival still going strong. Thanks to everyone that turned out for all the events. Proceeds benefit Dorr Recreation's youth ball programs.
Special thanks to all the volunteers from Dorr Rec, Dorr Lions, Dorr Business Association, and their family & friends who show up to help out. We couldn't do it without you!
Saturday afternoon's Volleyball tournament had a lineup of ten teams playing thru a double elimination bracket from 3:00 until 7:00. The weather was just fine for this competition. Dorr Chiropractic deserves a "well done" for bringing back the tournament for this year's Celebration.
Dr. Mike Dumond reports: "The volleyball tournament went very well. We had about 60 participants who made up 10 teams. We started the tournament with round robin pool play then used each team's record to seed them in a single elimination tournament. The 'Sarcastic Six' took home the belt, winning with the number two seed in the tournament. The members of the team were Jim Gort, Phil Gort, Matt Gort, Rick Koenes, Keith Dosenberry and Brenda Dosenberry. They beat runner-up 'Unprotected Sets' in a best of three championship match that came down to a score of 25-20 in the third game. 'Unprotected Sets' consisted of Mitch Iciek, Skylar Iciek, Nate Iciek, Aaron Sturgis and Ryan Nousen. Third place went to the 'Ball Slappers'."
~ Pics from Volleyball Tournament
Saturday night's concert in the park by Stone thrown was enjoyed by many in a pleasurable setting and ideal weather. The live music shows every evening throughout the Celebration were very good and will most likely return for next year.
~ Pics from Stone Thrown concert
Pizza Wars Sunday saw many folks feasting on large plate-fuls of pizza from the 4 Shops - Tillys, Perfect Pizza, Ucello's, & Guiseppies. Both Wayland Pizza establishments Ucello's, & Guiseppies took home the best Pizza plaques.
The Car Show ended the 4 Day Celebration with some cool hot rods & sweet classic cars. Many too many awards were given to list here.
Great job by Crosswinds Church running Sunday's events.
TricksBlog - June 2013
June 28 & 29 - River City Rocks, Grand Rapids
  
Great fun on Leonard Street on GR's west side. These people know how to rock. Good times.
Tricks returns for a 2nd weekend at River City Saloon. Our debut weekend here was during a snowstormy, icy, nasty weekend in February. The crowds were much better this time around. The bartenders didn't have much time to stand around. The wait staff was hopping. We had dancers for nearly every song, both Friday and Saturday. Lots of new Tricks fans getting into our jams, and we were feeling the love. Thanks to the Tricks fans who traveled way up to the north west side of Grand Rapids to support our Tricks rock and roll cause. You know who you are. Greetings and welcome to our new fans and friends; we hope to make River City a regular part of our Tricks rock and roll schedule. Looks like the name is changing to "River City Rocks" - that sounds good to me. I hope it sticks. Sometimes you can change your name, but everyone refuses to drop the old name. Old habits die hard, they say. Anyway, it's nice to have a Tricks presence in this area, so we hope to continue here. But I repeat myself.
This weekend was quite hot and humid, so it was surprising to see so much energy on the dance floor. Our energy was drained by the end of Saturday night. But we had to pack up and get loaded and out of the way for their Sunday karaoke. By the time Krystal and Rick got home to Allegan, it was exactly 4AM. It takes a few days for the internal clocks to get reset to daylight waking hours. It's a hell of a job, but someone has to do it.
Thanks so much to Bob the owner and the fine River City wait staff. We appreciate your hard work to keep the party crowd happy and comfortable. Thanks to new and old friends for the support. Thank you Dancers!!
Fri | Sat
June 14 & 15 - Roadhouse, Paw Paw
  
We love this town, . . . we love this bar, . . . these people know how to party, . . . Krystal Birthday shots
Tricks finally returns to Paw Paw Roadhouse. Our first gigs here were last August when we did a power trio Bike Night, and December just before Christmas. Both of those gigs were memorable and fun. The rocking crowds are very impressive, both in quantity and (more importantly) quality! We were chomping at the bit to get back here, even though it's a pretty long drive for Steve, Ozzy, and Dave.
Where to start? Friday was just about packed to the walls, with a big wedding party ready to drink and dance. Rich the owner is a biker, so the Roadhouse caters to the biker crowd - that usually translates into a lot of Rock n Roll lovers. Before we even started, someone yelled out "Lynyrd Skynyrd". So, we knew we could make this crowd happy with our solid set list full of hard bluesy rock tunes. They really go for the ZZ Top, Texas-style boogie dance songs. After most of the wedding crowd left around midnight, we still had a respectable bunch of party people who wanted to dance with Tricks all night long.
Saturday we were competing with the Hartford Bike Festival, with Rich the owner promoting that on his sign out front. It was also a huge weekend for graduation party open-houses. But, despite all that competition, we managed to have a real good crowd show up at the Roadhouse. It was Krystal's birthday at midnight, so she did plenty of shots. We were so happy to see some of our old pals from the Sidetrack Bar. And we made lots of new friends on both Friday and Saturday. Tricks will be back at the Roadhouse real soon, for a Bike Night on Wednesday July 17, and the following weekend - weather permitting we'll be outdoors all three nights. Fantastic!
Fri | Sat
June 7 & 8 - Debut at Woody's (Spectrum Lanes), Grand Rapids
  
Our very first time playing at Woody's - Cramped stage & dance floor - but good sounding room and fun crowd
Tricks comes to GR once again. Since our Allegan County venues are either closing or cutting back on live music, we've been forced into taking one-weekend gigs in Grand Rapids. It's not Tricks country, but it's a chance to be proud of our band as we gain new fans for our Tricks show.
Woody's was a pleasant surprise in many ways. The set-up was very cramped onstage, but as soon as we started playing on Friday night, the sound was very comfortable and tight. The crowd was very friendly and receptive. Tricks was feeling the love from some new fans who liked our song selection and our enthusiastic and dynamic performance. This is where the hard work pays off - new venues and new fans (not to mention keeping our loyal fans and friends interested and excited to see Tricks). One more pleasant surprise was the staff and management, who were very pleasant to work with. Todd the manager gave us very specific and direct instructions, but was very friendly about it - not insecure like many bosses can be. After first set on Friday, we approached Todd to find out if our volume level was okay. He said, "you guys are doing great, I've had a bunch of people come up to me already and tell me how much they like the band".
Woody's has a fair share of party groups coming in by the table-full. I don't recall names, but there were a few birthdays, and we sang our Beatles "Birthday" song on both nights. Lots of good dancers both nights. Also, we ran into a few old Grand Rapids Tricks fans from way back - that's always cool.
This was festival weekend downtown GR and the B-93 Bash at Martin Dragway, but we still had decent crowds. Friday was better than Saturday, and Saturday really fizzled out by last set. It was beautiful weather, and people get worn out by midnight when they've been active and outdoors all day Saturday. Todd insisted on writing Tricks in for 4 weekends next year, since this year is full for both Woody's and Tricks. It's safe to say, "We'll Be Back"!! Todd said, "you're gonna love playing here when bowling leagues are happening, because the place is always packed wall-to-wall."
Thanks so much to Woody's great staff, including our ol' friend Nicky who used to work at Wayland Hotel. Great job, waiters and bartenders! And, thanks to Todd for giving us a chance and thanks for our first bookings for 2014 already.
Fri | Sat
May 30 & June 1 - Tricks AJ's Grill & Cocktailz in Dorr
  
A Huge bunch of Bachelorette Bunnies on Friday, Saturday Indoor Rock and Roll in Dorr
Tricks gets back to roots with a weekend in Dorr. Not sure why the crowds are a bit thin, maybe too much going on at home with grad parties, camping, and other spring / summer action. Don't get me wrong; we had a blast with the people who showed up to party and dance with Tricks - it just wasn't packed like the last couple times at AJ's. Friday was great weather and Saturday was drenching rain.
Friday got off to a great start, with some dancing action and some great jamming from the band. Suddenly during 2nd set, some girls dressed in playboy bunny costumes came in, and they kept coming as we watched the busload of bachelorette party girls coming in for a drink and a dance. There were over 40 girls, and that gave us a packed house for a while. But they were in bar-bunny-hopping mode, so they took off after about an hour. After that flurry of activity, it seemed kind of empty. But we had a great time jamming with the couple dozen people there hanging and banging with Tricks. Saturday we had some of our favorite Tricks friends show up. Even an appearance by Mr. and Mrs. Bassbeast - too bad Dave declined singing this time, I think that dinner of AJ's Baby Back Ribs were slowing him down. That sounds yummy; The band is usually starving while we're playing, because eating slows us down too much, so we save eating for 2 or 3am when we get home.
I think the small crowds shows that Tricks plays too much in this little Wayland / Dorr / Hilliards corner of Allegan County, so even our best fans are overexposed to the "same old" Tricks show (That's why we try to play LOTS of different styles and tunes). We'll be working on that exposure problem the next couple months, with gigs coming up at Woody's in GR, Paw Paw Roadhouse, and River City Saloon.
Thanks so much to Amanda & Ernie for bringing live music back to Dorr. Good luck with your new project building a deck out back - maybe you'll need some live Rick Doogie music out on that deck. Stay tuned for news about that, everyone. Thanks to our friends and fans for supporting local live music here in Dorr, the heart of Tricks country. We love ya, man. Thank you dancers!! The next time you'll see Tricks in Dorr will be at the 4th of July (I prefer to call it "Independence Day") celebration in the park.
Fri | Sat
TricksBlog - May 2013
May 23 & 24 - Tricks at Log Cabin, Grand Rapids - Memorial Day Weekend
  
Great remodeled stage at the Log Cabin, with slightly smaller dance-floor, but just as much fun as ever
Tricks hasn't been at Matt Potter's Log Cabin in three years, thanks to continued scheduling conflicts that kept us from aligning Tricks' dates with Matt's dates. But this year in 2013, thanks to Steve and Dave's efforts, we have 3 weekends booked at the Log Cabin. This was our first weekend of those three. Matt the owner is a super nice guy, but he knows his business. He demands that we "bring it" from the start, with no starting easy with acoustic songs like we normally do for the sake of the dinner crowds in other bars. So, we re-arranged our Tricks set lists and came in hard and loud from the very first song.
When we took this booking, we questioned whether there would be decent crowds on Memorial Day weekend. Matt said, "we always have good crowds". So, we were a bit surprised when both Fri & Sat were kinda slow. I know that lots of our Tricks regulars are also camping fans, so they are not going to bars much during the summer months. But we were counting on a good turn-out of regular Log Cabin clientele. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of LC regulars coming up to us and telling us that they liked our song selection, because "so many of the regular LC bands play the same songs". We were glad to hear that from several people, because that's out Tricks goal: to play songs that are well-known, but not the songs that every band is playing on every bar stage in America. We aim for those "deep cuts" that are favorite songs that you like to crank up when you hear them.
Saturday we had a special time with Mary's bachelorette party; her groom-to-be Steve showed up later and we played a special slow song for them to dance to. That was very cool. We want to give a special thanks to our friends who showed up despite the nice weather. Also, thanks to the great wait-staff and bartenders for your hard work. We appreciate the fact that you have to work on a holiday weekend while everyone else is partying. Thanks to Laurie for helping take pictures. Thanks to Matt for booking us, and we will double our efforts to get a Tricks crowd in here when we are back in September. The LC is a very nice place, great sounding room, great party atmosphere, great staff.
Fri | Sat
May 10 & 11 - Tricks at Hilliards Corner Lounge - Weekend 2 of 2
  
Decent crowds both nights - Friday was more 20-somethings, Saturday more our age, Tricks for all ages.
Tricks weekend two at Hilliards Corners. After last weekend's slow nights, we were naturally concerned that the nice weather would continue to give us slow nights. But, our friends and fans, along with some new faces, made for respectable nights on both Friday and Saturday. Nothing to write home and brag about, but plenty of dancers hooting and hollering to make Tricks feel the love. Friday we had Brian and his pals there all night, celebrating Brian's 21st birthday. I wonder how much Brian remembers. He kept wanting to get up on stage and join in the fun. We did our best to show him a good time for his first legal rock and roll bar night. We had to do the Beatles "Birthday" song. And we included Raymond who was also there with friends on his b-day.
Saturday we had a young Pogodzinski girl there with her family, and she auditioned for Tricks drummer. Very cute. Wish we had more pics, but our camera has been acting up. Time for the band to buy Krystal a new band camera. After the kids went home, we rocked out with the adult crowd. A bunch of Tricks regulars showed up for our last night at the corner until October. Another highlight from Saturday was some of the parents from Brian's Friday night party - they said "we sent that young group here last night for Brian's birthday".
Thanks to everyone who brought their party to Hilliards for the Tricks show. Hope you come back, y'all. Happy birthday and thanks to Brian and his bunch. That was a fun time. Happy birthday to Raymond, and thanks for coming out. Thanks to our Tricks insiders for showing up to support us. Thanks to Eric and the Corner Lounge staff for all your hard work.
Fri|Sat
May 3 & 4 - Tricks at Hilliards Corner Lounge - Weekend 1 of 2
  
Friday was very slow at all area bars because of the great weather. And guess what? Saturday was even slower.
Tricks returns to Hilliards for two weekends. This first weekend was the first nice weather we've had in a couple months. All of February we were saying "when the heck is winter going to end"? And then in March we got pelted with wind and rain for days on end. But now we have instant Springtime! Presto! Beautiful 80º days, just perfect for barbecues on the deck and backyard bonfires.
Tricks had a mighty good time with the handful of people who showed up on Friday and Saturday. And we're grateful for the company. A few die-hard Tricks fans were there, and a couple tables of party people. Don't get me wrong, we still had a great time. We have fun jamming whether our crowd is four or four hundred. The only problem is that we feel guilty taking pay from Eric the owner when we know full well that he didn't make enough money to afford us. A piss-poor economy has put more than one Allegan Country bar out of business. So, we have mixed feelings; we love jamming and having fun the friends who show up to support us, but we are scared that Eric will have to take drastic measures if he can't make money with live bands. He already has taken the step of "no live bands during summer" because people go to the lakeshore and up north when it's summertime.
A big "Thank You" to those friends and fans who came out to support local live music this weekend. Thanks to Eric and the staff for all that you do to make a nice party place. We have the deepest gratitude for our local fun Allegan County rock & roll bars.
Fri|Sat
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