TricksBlog - December 2014
Dec 31 - New Year's Eve Party at Hilliards Corner Lounge
Jane, Liz, & Deb - Always ready to dance ... Fran & Tom party all night ... Wolowicz family always there on NYE
. . . . . Thank you Dancers!!! . . . . . . Family & Friends group hugs . . . . Tricks celebrates 4 years of Ozzy
Tricks and friends rocked into 2015 with a big party at the Corner. Tricks has been doing the New Year's Eve party at Hilliards Corner Lounge for several years in a row now. We used to have quite the mob scene, at least the first couple years we did this. But, the last couple years really slowed down. We even advised Eric the owner to get a "younger, better-looking" band to play for NYE, because people get tired of the same-ol', same-ol'. Eric said, "let's give Tricks one more go for NYE". So, there you have it. We brought our best for NYE, and we got the crowd to match. Not a crammed bar, but a full bar. Very few empty chairs. And dancers? We had a full dancefloor for nearly every song. What a blast. We sang Auld Lang Syne at midnight to bring in 2015, and there was plenty of hugs and kisses going around the room. What a great warm feeling Thanks to everyone for being there. Thanks to Eric and the staff. Tricks feels honored to preside over such heartfelt and uplifting events. This was one of those special nights. A good time was had by all. Tricks wishes everyone the best for 2015. Peace and Love to all!
NYE Party, Hilliards 
Rick Says: The most special part of the band's final night of 2014 was our show of appreciation for our bass man, John "Ozzy" Bosscher. We couldn't let this NYE go past us without acknowleding our gratitude. We hired John exactly four years ago, in December of 2010. We've had a running joke about Tricks band being cursed with losing our bass player every four years. We love having Ozzy in the band, and wanted to say something in honor of passing the 4-year mark. The framed Certificate we presented says it all:
Dec 5 & 6 - Woody's Pressbox, Spectrum Lanes, Wyoming
Krystal takes charge of the party ... Steve is crowded on the portable stage ... Pack the dance floor
Tricks only started playing at Woody's last year in 2013. They immediately booked us for 4 weekends for this year. This is the final 2014 Tricks gig at Woody's, and it's just as fun as all the rest. There's always a decent crowd at Woody's, and very often we get a huge party crowd. Lots of people bring their birthday and bachelorette parties to Woody's, and you have lots of people coming in from the Spectrum Bowling Alley. Thanks to the great-looking and efficient staff and management for having Tricks this year. Hope to see you next year for a few weekends in 2015.
Woody's Rockin' Good Time Fri | Sat
TricksBlog - November 2014
Nov 26, 28 & 29 - Thanksgiving Weekend at AJ's in Dorr
Thanksgiving Eve party crowd . . . . Steve Birthday Boy on Friday . . . . Dancefloor worshipping the drummer
Even though the weather was looking like early winter, we had great crowds on all three nights of our Thanksgiving Weekend at Aj's in Dorr. Lots of our good ol' Tricks fans came out for some Holiday Cheer with Tricks. Check out the pics, if you doubt my words. Thanks to Amanda and the staff for your great work, keeping the party going with a big demanding crowd. Thanks to everyone who traveled a few blocks or a few miles to see us, especially if you traveled far. We appreciate your support.
AJ's Party Pics Wed | Fri | Sat
Nov 14 & 15 - Hilliards Corner Lounge
Fran is one of our best Tricks fans ... Look at the bad-ass bass man .... We bow in homage to the drummer
It's not easy to fill up this big bar. But, we love the big stage and huge dance floor. Dancers can really cut loose and get foot-loose on that big dancefloor. We had a pretty slow weekend with very cold snowy weather this weekend. Looks like an early winter. But, we had a great time be-bopping with the dancers. See you here on New Year's Eve.
Hilliards Corner Fri | Sat
Nov 7 & 8 - Wayland Hotel
Always a good-sound at the Hotel . . . Rick rocks it with his Strat . . . . . Ozzy rocks it on the dance floor
Tricks takes on one final 2014 weekend at the Wayland Hotel. We had an excellent crowd of party people on both Friday and Saturday. Great dancing, drinking, and head-banging action. Ever since Josh took over ownership of the Hotel last year he has really been working to make improvements here. He's got a nice digital jukebox and a few new TV screens on the walls. He did some remodeling to the back door entryway, touched up the bathrooms, and bought some new tables and chairs. It's not easy, but the saying goes, "you have to spend money to make money". The Tricks crowd appreciates all the improvements. One thing that remains constant at the Wayland Hotel is the good sounding room. It's not too muffled and not too bright. A perfect balance for live rock music. There are plenty of venues where you can see great bands, but the majority of places suffer from poor sound quality, cramped dance floor, or uncomfortable stage. The Wayland Hotel has none of those problems, and that's why you see the smiling faces onstage and on the dance floor. We've got several weekends booked already for next year, 2015. We'll be seeing you then at Wayland's best party place. Thanks to Josh and the great staff for providing an outstanding venue for rock and roll party crowds.
Hotel Photos Fri | Sat
Oct 31 & Nov 1 - Jake's in Dorr - Halloween
What's with Krys & Rick here? .... What's with "The King" doing Ted? ... What's with the good-looking dancers?
I've got a story for you children. Gather around. This is a good one. Friday night was the Halloween party at Jake's. Our debut Tricks night at the new Jake's in Dorr. It was a last-minute booking that Steve took, because as prez of the Dorr Business Owners Association, and across-the-street neighboring business, he wanted to make the new guys in town feel welcome. We decided to dress up like 60s Classic Rockers. Steve was Elvis, Ozzy & Rick were the Blues Brothers, Krystal was Janis. Fun, huh? We had a decent crowd to start with - early hours from 8pm to midnight. But not too many costumes early on. Did I mention that it was very windy outside?
We played about 4 songs and were getting good and warmed up, when suddenly the power went off. We were instantly worried that we blew the power out, but when we saw through the doorway that the bowling alley was also out, we knew it wasn't the band's fault. We looked across the street to Dick's Market and saw that power was out over there as well. Steve put his coat over his Elvis costume and headed out with Dave Lopez to save the frozen food at Dick's. We found out from a fireman in the crowd that there were power lines down a mile or so down the road, near US131 exit.
After 20 minutes of socializing with just emergency lights and back-up battery power, we decided to play a few songs with just acoustic. So Krys & Rick did a few songs, just standing close to the tables. After a few songs, the waitress came up and said we could plug into an outlet that was running off the back-up battery power that ran their cash registers and coolers. So, we took about 15 minutes to reroute power cables, so Ozzy could play bass and we could do some more acoustic songs. After doing a few songs that way, the power suddenly came back on. Steve and Dave returned from their Dick's rescue mission, and so we rerouted cables back to normal, and Tricks cranked it out. We finally had a few costumes there, so it looked like everything was going to work out. We did Funk 49 and then half of My Sharona, and lost power again. Jake's back-up batteries were drained, so we started losing emergency lights and they cleared the bar at about 10:15. With emergency lights growing dim, it was pitch-dark by the time we got our guitar cases packed and headed out of there. Man, what a first night.
The next day, we decided to re-do the Halloween party, and we all dressed up again. And we did the costume contest as well. Great crowds both nights. Thanks for coming out, Dorr people. Thanks to Jake's management and staff for a great time, despite the "adventure" of Friday night. Although this was supposed to be a one-time gig for us, we're taking several weekends at Jake's next year, 2015.
Jake's Halloween "Adventure" Weekend pics Fri | Sat
Jake's Website 
TricksBlog - October 2014
Oct 24 & 25 - M-89 Sportsbar & Grill, Otsego
Always lots of great dancing at M89 . . . Nice stage as well . . . . . . . . Dueling Cowbells - One is not enough
M89 has become one of our favorite bars to play at. After all these years of wondering if we should pursue this venue or not. We finally got a call from Tim the owner last summer in 2013. We told Tim that Krys came in to M89 several years ago and asked about the band situation. And some grouchy guy behind the bar said, "we have enough bands". When we told Tim that he said, "that was probabaly me, because I probably did have enough bands at the time". Tim is the most straight-forward bar owner we've ever met. He doesn't play mind-games. He tells you upfront how it's gonna be. And he doesn't treat all bands like they are new at this business. What a refreshing attitude. Not only do we have a good owner to work with at M89, but he's got a great-sounding room, a good stage with reliable AC, and a decent dancefloor. This place is in demand, with lots of great bands lining up to play here. But if you don't bring the crowds, Tim will tell you straight, "there are plenty of other great bands that I'd love to have here, but they don't bring a crowd, so I can't afford to have them". Thanks to Tim & Linda for having Tricks. Thanks to the rest of the staff and the Otsego locals. Thanks to our Allegan and other fans who traveled a bit to give us some support here. Last but not least, Thank You Dancers!!
M89 Images Fri |Sat
Oct 3 & 4 - HIlliards Corner Lounge
Friday was a bigger crowd than Saturday ... But Saturday's crowd made up with their enthusiasm
The slow economy has forced Eric the owner to cut back on bands. He can't seem to get good enough crowds during summer, so the Corner Bar hasn't had a band since May. Tricks had to try and get the ball rolling again. Strangely enough, we had a great little crowd on Friday, better than a normal Friday. And, Saturday is almost always a bigger night than Friday, but Saturday was quite a small group. We thank our friend Darcy for bringing a table full or party-people dancers from Borculo and Zeeland area. Witout Darcy's group, we would have been very lonely and bored on Saturday night. Thanks to Eric for keeping the Corner going with the help of a great staff of course. Live music is still kicking at Hilliards Corner Lounge. It's a shame to see things so slow, after Eric did so much work with his dad, remodeling the old place on the inside and the outside.
Hilliards Pics - Fri |Sat
TricksBlog - September 2014
Sep 26 & 27 - Wayland Hotel
Krystal & Ozzy rocking stage left ... Ozzy & Rick get out on the dance floor ... Everyone dance with the band
Tricks used to play triple weekends at the Wayland Hotel when Mary Kay was calling the shots. We would do nine weekends, three triple weekends every year, since about 1998. We would get first pick of dates, and Mary Kay set no limits. She wanted Tricks to be the house band, because of the well-behaved crowds we attracted. But, all good things must pass. Now that Josh is the owner, he needs to rotate bands more often, in order to pump up the crowds. So, Tricks is knocked from their throne at the Wayland Hotel. We only play there 3 or 4 single weekends each year now. But, that has forced us to get off our butts and find some new exciting places to play. So, it's all good. We like that Josh is trying to grow the business, with improvements in the kitchen and the bar. We wish him nothing but the best. We're all for the small-business owner working at his craft, bringing products and services to the community. The Hotel has been bringing great live classic rock to downtown Wayland for nearly 20 years now. We hope to be part of that scene for many years to come. Thanks to Josh and the staff for making a great party place for the rock and roll lovers and dancers in North Allegan County.
Hotel Pics - Fri |Sat
Sep 19 & 20 - Woody's, Wyoming
Lance & Beverly, who love to dance ... Krystal brings it for Woody's ........ The Tricks power trio
Tricks doesn't venture outside of Allegan County very often. But Grand Rapids has lots of good rock and roll bars. So, we just gotta take a trip to the city every now and then. Woody's is part of Spectrum Lanes on Clyde Park, right between the 54th St. Meijer's and Craig's Cruisers. Last year was our debut at Woody's, and they immediately booked us for 4 weekends in 2014. We hope to get in the mix for their 2015 band schedule, but there are lots of good bands vying for gigs here. The bowling leagues and restaurant diners give the band an instant crowd, as long as you can keep the interest up. So, we make sure to "bring it" when we start our first set. We hit 'em with some good boogie tunes and dance songs. Never a dull moment at Woody's. Thanks to our Allegan County friends and fans who came up to the big city to see us show these people how rock music was meant to be performed; full of fun but with finesse. Thanks to Todd, the management and the staff for having Tricks. We love playing here in the bright city lights.
Woody's Pics - Fri |Sat
Sep 12 & 13 - AJ's Grill & Cocktailz, Dorr
Rick & Ozzy boogie on the dance floor ... Strange hair colors, WTF? Must be a girl party ... Great dancing action
Tricks is back in downtown Dorr for the beginning of the fall season. We've had 5 weekends off for summer break. Steve is way too busy making sausages for your cook-outs. So, Tricks has to take a break during July & August. We might take a couple party bookings, but no bars. We enjoy having time to spend with our families during the summer months. Tricks is itching to play some gigs, to put it mildly. I'm surprised that the band was so tight and "in the pocket", because I thought we would have some mental blocks after 5 weeks off (it's not like Tricks does very many simple 3-chord songs). Steve says he's had his Gretsch drums set up in the basement, and he's been working on his drum technique - never too old to brush up your craft. Krystal, Rick, & Ozzy have kept in good musical shape playing acoustic gigs while Tricks has been off.
Friday and Saturday were both good nights at AJ's. Plenty of dance-floor action; just the way we like it. Saturday we had a bachelorette party show up, with all girls wearing multi-colored hair - some real, some wigs.
AJ's Pics - Fri |Sat
to Mid 2014
