TricksBlog 2023

Dec 15 -  Dorr Moose Lodge





Final Tricks show for 2023. What a great night it turned out to be! Lots of drinkers and dancers making merry with Tricks. Since Dorr is our hometown "Tricks International Headquarters", we saw lots of old Tricks friends and fans. What a blast! One really special highlight to the festive night was our friend Tom who bought a Santa Claus suit for the occasion. Nicest Santa suit we've ever seen. Tom got lots of attention and had a lot of people who wanted to sit on his lap.
This Friday evening party was an Ugly Sweater party, so you see the band dressing appropriately in the photos. Tricks takes a winter break now. We'll be moving into the Dorr American Legion hall in late January, for a few weeks of rehearsals. We'll probably have one closed rehearsal during the week, and then an open rehearsal on Saturday night. We'll be rotating most of our songs from 2023, and adding some old favorites and a few brand new oldies.

Dec 2 - Holland American Legion



(Show note: This was the first time Rick brought out his 1974 Les Paul in over two years.) Every time that Tricks plays at the Holland American Legion, we have plenty of dancers on their little dance floor. Since they haven't had regular bands there for the past two years, we were hoping to make up for the lack of dancers. But, that honestly didn't happen until our last set, when the dancers suddenly came alive. Even though we missed the usual dance floor action, there was plenty of love and appreciation in the air. We heard kudos from the staff, and they said they were sorry they didn't have a bigger crowd for us. They said, "we just started having regular bands again, so I'm sure you'll have a better turn-out next time you are here". It really helps having a dance floor full of bouncing bodies, but we can still have a good time rocking the room when we see some toe-tapping at the tables. We'll be back here next spring, so we're counting on that full dance floor next time. They promised!
Thanks for having us back, Holland Legion. And thanks to those end-of-night wild dancers!

Blog - November 2023
Nov 22 - Thanksgiving Eve at Grand Haven Eagles.



Tricks likes getting the compliments from the venue managers and staff, but it's even better when they hire you back with a little extra pay to boot. That's what happened here at Grand Haven Eagles. The staff likes us because we get the crowd dancing and because we're not so loud that bartenders can't hear the orders. We were ready to go about an hour before 8pm start time, and then one of the managers came up and asked if we could start a half hour early. The place was packed and they didn't want to lose the crowd. Tricks was glad to oblige, especially since it meant getting finished a half hour earlier, and possibly getting home before 2am. Once again, at the end of the night, the staff was full of compliments. We'll see if that translates into another Thanksgiving Eve Tricks show here next year. No reason to stop now. We gotta rock 'til we drop. Literally!
Thanks to everyone who traveled to be with Tricks at this holiday time. Thanks to the staff for your kind words. And, THANK YOU DANCERS!!

Nov 18 - Dual Birthday Party for Jennifer and Eric at Fennville VFW

VFW members Jennifer and Eric decided to celebrate their birthdays with their VFW friends and family. They brought the Tricks Band in to liven up the party, and that made the perfect autumn-season fest. Cold outside and hot inside. Lots of drinkers and dancers. And, ... the band was tight. It always happens at this time of year; after playing a bunch of summertime weekend parties and events, the Tricks band becomes a well-oiled musical machine. Such a thing of beauty how that works. I think they have a saying for it; "Practice makes Perfect".
After tonight, we have 4 shows left for 2023. Then we have winter break which includes some rehearsals at Dorr American Legion hall, so we can learn a few new tunes. We don't want to get crusty and dusty with the "same-ol, same-ol" setlist. Too many bands play the same songs for decades and decades. Tricks decided long ago that we would challenge ourselves and keep it fresh by adding a few new tunes every year, as well as digging up forgotten songs from the Tricks Graveyard. We have about 150 songs up our sleeves. So, we can pull some out like we did at this Fennville party when people wanted to hear "Mustang Sally" and "Copperhead Road". We haven't done those in quite a while, but they are still in our memory banks. The crowd is the boss, so we hear and obey.
Thanks to the workers at the Fennville VFW for hosting a great party. Thanks to the members for the love! Thanks especially to Jennifer and Eric for hiring Tricks.

Nov 4- Laurie Miller Barn Party in Hopkins
 

Laurie Miller's husband passed away 3 years ago. Shortly after that, Laurie decided to retire and buy this beautiful farmhouse and barn a mile north of Hopkins. Laurie decided that she needed to have a "house-warming" party for herself, her family, and her friends. She went all out to be the Hostess With The Mostest, hiring the Tricks band as well as Porter's Smokehouse catering. She printed up cute flyers to send out as invitations. This was a good old-fashioned rock n roll Barn Party. People were still eating when the band started, so there wasn't too much dancing at first, except for a couple little girls who were entertaining in themselves. After that warm-up set, people decided to start dancing. That always gets the band going, so the dancers and the band feed off each other's energy. By the end of the night, we had some high energy for the "Sweet Emotion" and "Black Betty" final tunes. With Dorr, HIlliards, and Hopkins being right in our Tricks stomping grounds, we had lots of Tricks friends there.
Thanks to Laurie for your excellent party-planning skills. It was a memorable occasion for one and all. Tricks is honored to be part of such "family and friends" occasions. It is our favorite type of show. You can feel the warmth and friendship in the air. Thanks to everyone. Thank you dancers!

Blog - October 2023
Oct 28 - Halloween Weekend at Allegan Eagles

Saturday night in downtown Allegan. Halloween weekend! Time to play dress-up and get out with your friends for some drinking and dancing. With a name like "Tricks", this band  hasn't missed very many Holloween weekends. Great sounding room here at the Eagles. Thanks to Scott for his new sound and lights system. It makes our set-up and tear-down job a lot easier. We love the huge dance floor at the Eagles. And the crowd really likes their rock n roll dance music. A good time was had by all, and we have the pictures to prove it.

Oct 7 - TRICKS BAND at Dorr American Legion annual Benefit, Auction, Dinner, and Dance"



It seems like we've been here before, ... many many times. Steve is a longtime member and officer of the Dorr American Legion. Along with his wife Tammy, they have been involved in lots of benefits and other events at this Legion hall. With Dorr being the town that Steve and Rick grew up in, we always see lots of familiar faces and fans from way back whenever Tricks plays here. The last few years, Tricks has been borrowing the hall space for winter rehearsals. Our pay is a free show for their fall benefit, which helps keep this American Legion chapter alive, as well as helping provide money for building upkeep.
The evening started with a Roast Beef dinner, then an auction, and finally the band. All this is put on by the Ladies of the American Legion Auxiliary. Thanks so much for all your work. Nothing could happen here if it wasn't for the men and women who volunteer their time to support this veterans organization. The Tricks band is honored and happy to be part of this event for our Dorr family and friends.
And one more thing; Thank you dancers! You really rocked our world on this Saturday night.

Blog - September 2023

Sep 30 - TRICKS BAND at another annual party. This time it's the "Trap Shack" garage party at Indian Shores on Lake Allegan.

 

 

Another chance for the Tricks Band to be a part of an annual get-together with neighbors, family, and friends. This time it's the Lake Allegan community of Indian Shores. I think this is the fourth or fifth time that Tricks played in Erica and Charlie Kimber's garage. You should go through the Tricks History pages and check on that. It seemed like "Party of the Year 2023", but I admit that we've played music for several really good parties this year. And we have a few to go! It's a never-ending workout for us - Work Hard / Play Hard! It keeps us alive and kicking. Thanks to everyone who brought food, thanks to all the dancers, thanks to Charlie and Erica for being the hosts with the mostest!
 

Sep 2 - TRICKS BAND 13th annual party for Duane and Kim in Irons


 It must be Labor Day weekend, because here we are playing for Duane and Kim's annual party up in Irons. This is our 13th time playing for this get-together celebrating Duane's birthday. Always a great time dancing, drinking, eating, Like usual, this year we had a couple dozen of Duane and Kim's closest friends and family, and they really like to party. We can always count on lots of dancing from this group. We were also very happy to see Tom Pratt there, and we put him to work taking some pictures - something he has always done for us. Lots of good potluck food to go with the drinking and dancing. Beautiful weather! Duane made the band do the "shot-ski" a couple times, to keep us loosened up.
This was the second year that we had Steve on board for this party. He and Tammy get a room over at the Little River Casino, which is a little over a half hour away from Irons. The band did a lot of our 2023 set list of "neglected songs" which we've been straying away from when playing to crowds of Tricks Virgins (at Amvets and the Gun Lake party for example) who are just as happy hearing our more popular tunes that we supposedly taking a break from this year. But, the Kim and Duane group knows Tricks well enough that we can stick in those neglected songs and they sit up and take notice.
Thanks to Kim and Duane for letting the Tricks band be part of making memories with your family and friends.

Blog - August 2023
August 5 - TRICKS BAND annual concert in the park at Sandy Pines

 

This is the 8th time that Tricks closed out the Summer concert series at Sandy Pines. They have lots of activities all year round for all ages there at Sandy Pines Resort, but especially during the summer busy season when the place is packed with families. There's a reason why the place is packed with people and golf carts. It's because they do it right! In addition to the Tricks show, this weekend was their annual "Christmas in Summer" celebration, with tons of fun decorations everywhere you look. During the Tricks show, the Christmas golf cart parade went by, seemingly without end. This all-ages crowd doesn't seem to be getting tired of the old Tricks show. Maybe it helps that we mix up the song list every year, trying not to repeat the "same ol', same ol'" show that they see each year. But I think the credit needs to go to the people who are there to have a good time. A highlight of the concert is the little kids who love "dancing" in the grass, even though it's mostly little girls doing cartwheels. We love being part of a great friends and family event like this one. Thanks to Flo and Krystal for photos.

Blog - July 2023

July 22 - TRICKS BAND at Greg & Jodie's "2nd Annual Messer Music Festival"



It's Tricks Outdoor Party season. We're calling this one "Party of the Year 2023" for now. We have a few contenders still coming up, but this one was a memorable one, for sure. Food, drinks, fun, friends, fireworks, dancing. The band was nice and tight, just how we like it. The weather was about perfect - mid 80s and not too humid. A perfect July party. Greg and Jodie made sure to book Tricks for the last Saturday of July in 2024, so we can do it again. Every year, their backyard gets nicer and nicer. The band appreciates having a nice porch with adequate power and shade from the sun and elements. We appreciate everyone who brought food or drinks to share. And - Thank You Dancers! Like usual, the dancers both feed energy to the band and ramp us up to a higher energy demand. Good job, everyone!

July 3 - TRICKS BAND at Gun Lake party on the water

 

  

Tricks doen't use any booking agents to find gigs. We go by the old-fashioned "word-of-mouth" advertisement. We found a happy venue at the Kentwood Amvets this year, thanks to their connection with Kentwood American Legion. We get enough demands for Tricks shows that we have turned down several for this summer of 2023. Here's one that got on our schedule just in time. Steve met Ray at the Gun Lake Casino, and even though Ray had never seen Tricks, he assumed that Steve talked a good enough game for his band Tricks, we gotta get that Tricks band for our annual 4th of July party on Gun Lake. We made Ray happy enough that he said that he wanted Tricks to come back next summer. Gotta love those lake people! Our entire audience was in the water most of the time. Ray had a food and drink buffet set up in the garage right next to the band's "stage" on his porch, but hardly anyone was hanging out on dry land. Everyone was either chillin' on their pontoon boat or sitting on a lounge chair in the water. Lots of fireworks all around the lakeshore while we tore down and loaded out.


July 1 - TRICKS BAND 2nd Annual "Rockin The Shores" party, Lake Allegan

  

Tricks 2nd annual "Rockin' The Shores" party for our Indian Shores / Lake Allegan friends. We began this Lake Allegan "Tricks Party" tradition about seven years ago with "Jam N The Cove" which was a couple miles up the coast from the location we have now. The Cove parties were a lot better attended, but now we are doing more of a block party with people of all ages. The audience for the band is more of a "coming and going" audience, with people going out on the lake and going over to the community pool a couple blocks away. Thanks to Joe and Joe who provided a pretty lively fireworks show at the end of our Tricks show. Thanks to everyone for helping with the fundraising effort, especially the kids selling cookies and lemonade - that came in handy right next to our stage. Thanks to Scott's Landscaping for providing a trailer to use for a stage.
We're happy this year to be supporting the "Save Lake Allegan" cause that we ended up raising a little over two thousand dollars for. "Save Lake Allegan" is fighting to literally keep the lake. Consumers Power owns the dam that creates the lake and they own the entire lake and the shores surrounding the lake, all the way for over three miles stretching to the City of Allegan. The dam wouldn't be removed for at least ten years, but the bottom has fallen out of the real estate market for people trying to sell their lake homes. No one wants to live on a river surrounded by PCB-laden mud, which is what everyone is afraid of happening if Consumers removes the dam. The "Save Lake Allegan" group is negotiating with Consumers Power Company and several government agencies to see if we can buy the dam from Consumers and keep the lake at the level it have been at for over seventy years.
Here is a short article that explains the situation.



Blog - June 2023

Jun 23, Friday - TRICKS BAND, Amvets Post 23, Kentwood
 

This was a long time coming. Ever since we started playing at Kentwood American Legion, we've been approached at the Legion by people who say that many Legion members are also members of the Amvets down the road. And these people like to dance and they like our lively classic rock show. We've gone back and forth with the Amvets, trying to get a date that we both had open. Part of the problem is that Tricks usually books several months in advance. Our calendar is usually full for the year by March. On the other hand, these clubs don't book very far in advance. Thankfully, we usually hold the summer months open for those outdoor parties, so it just so happens that we had June 23 open when Amvets called with that date. The crowd really liked us, and the pictures show lots of dancers having fun. Amvets told us that one of their regular bands is retiring due to health reasons, so Tricks will most likely be filling the gap and we'll play here a few times each year.

Jun 3 - TRICKS BAND, Allegan Eagles - Sorry, no pics!

We played Friday and Saturday nights at Allegan Eagles. Friday was the Tricks Trio with Krystal, Ozzy, and Rick. We had very fun crowd with lots of dancers, but no pictures. Saturday was the full band with Steve playing the mighty Roland E-drumkit. Another great crowd and lots of dancers, but one again, no pictures. We've been a little lax on taking pictures this year, since we no longer have Linda and Dave. Linda was excellent at taking pictures for the band, and now we aren't sure whose job that is going to be. We ask Flo and she has done a great job, but Rick doesn't always bring the camera. Anyway, ... there is room for improvement in getting pictures for this website.


Blog - May 2023

May 26, Fri - TRICKS BAND, (Mem Day Weekend) Oak Grove, Irons
   

Our annual Memorial Day "Kick Off" Friday started with just an acoustic Tricks Trio show, but now it has evolved into a full-blown Tricks bash with even the mighty Steve joining us these past two years. People come up north to their Irons cabin and they don't really have anything set up for dinner. So, there is quite a crowd from noon until midnight at the Oak Grove Tavern. People stop in for burgers and beers, and they touch base with their Up-North neighbors and pals. The summer season has quad runs, horse events, fishing events, hunting events, and motorcycle events. Tricks has played a few times for the Irons "Cowboy Weekend" in September, which is actually nearly a week-long event where horses take over the town. We'll be back in September for the Cowboy Dinner at Oak Grove during the Cowboy Weekend. But, for now we're lighting the fuse for summer fun at the center of downtown Irons. Always a party / vacation atmosphere.


 May 12 - TRICKS BAND, Dorr Moose
 
 

This show was what we considered our "first" show of 2023 and our first show in a long series of summer gigs... even though it was only May. We played a few Krys & Rick shows during our February in Florida, then we did a party with Tricks Trio at the Lynx in March, then a big band Tricks couple of shows at Kentwood Legion and Kentwood Amvets. Since we spent April ramping up our "brand new" setlist line-up for 2023, we consider this Dorr Moose show to be our "Coming Out" show for 2023. Strange, but that's how a rock band thinks about their calendar.
The "brand new" setlist plan for 2023? We decided to drop ALL of the songs that we've been playing regularly for the past 3 or 4 years, and we built a completely new setlist full of songs that we have been neglecting during the past 3 or 4 years. We only had about 5 rehearsal nights in April at the Dorr Legion, so that only gave us time for one or two good repetitions of each song that we hadn't done in a few years. Quite a mental work-out. This work-out will follow us into our first few gigs, and this Dorr Moose show was the first testing ground for old favorites like "Under Pressure", Sweet Emotion", Money For Nothing", "Ballroom Blitz", "American Band", "All For You", Lonely Ol' Night", "La Grange", ... and more. We also kept Steve's most recent addition of J Geils Band "First I Look At The Purse" and Krystal's Alice Merton song "No Roots". The only brand brand new tunes added in April were Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" and the Stones "Satisfaction" - both killer classic rock choices.

to Tricks  2022

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