PSYCHEDELIC BREAKFAST | 11.25 | TOAD'S PLACE

Aug. 23, 2001 | Photo by Todd Anderson

E: I Know You Rider&&&+#~

* first time played.
** Hubinger Street cover; with Casey & Matt from Hubinger Street on guitars and vocals; first time played.
*** Jefferson Airplane cover; with Kyle Esposito on bass; first time played.
^ with Fred 'Derf' DeLeone on keys.
^^ with James Albis from The Elastic Band on saxophone.
^^^ with Jeff Gitelman on guitar.
@ with Jake Coen on bass.
@@ DJ Real cover; with DJ Real on vocals; first time played.
@@@ to Jimmy T. (Adrian's dad).
% Beatles cover; with Mike Greenberg on acoustic guitar and vocals & Jimmy T. on guitar; first time played.
%% with Vic Steffens on drums & Adrian on percussion.
%%% Red Hot Chili Peppers cover; with Dave Pecoraro on vocals; first time played.
$ with Paul from Perpetual Motion Machine on guitar & 'The Arm' on splash cymbal.
$$ with Ben Groppe from Addison Groove Project on saxophone.
& Steely Dan cover; with Kyle Esposito on guitar; first time played.
&& Allman Brothers Band cover; with Callie from Electric Blue & The Kozmik Truth on vocals; first time played.
&&& Grateful Dead cover; with Kyle on bass & Callie on vocals; first time played.
+ with Megan Johnson on vocals.
# with TZ on percussion.
~ with Jeff Pevar on guitar.

Now that is a serious set list for a serious night of music. I originally didn't think I was gonna make it last night, but I knew 10 seconds after walking in the door that I had made the right decision.

Toad's Place was not too terribly crowded but there was a strong presence of kind folk. Mostly on the under 21 side. That is so great to see. To end the Chain Fence controversy right here, It's all about the music, no fence will stop me from gettin down, and I do have the choice to head over to the Under side if I want an unobstructed view. The fact that Psychedelic Breakfast pulls in a younger crowd is FANTASTIC, and something they need to keep the wheels turning on what could turn out to be the BEST BAND THAT EVER CAME OUT OF CONNECTICUT!!!!

The band came out strong and hard. I thought The Palace Theater was BIG PB, but Toad's last night was HUGE MUTHAFUCKIN PB. "... Ahh The Name is Breakfast Baby" opener is a good sign that the show to follow will be a nasty one. And with Toad's loaded to the hilt with guest musicians, the show kicked off nice. I really enjoyed the new tune "Dig." It seemed a bit on the commersh side but I liked it a lot "you dig me, I dig you the most" fantastic.... The other new original was "The Great Big Firey Ball In The Sky." More along the lines of traditional PB tune (whatever that means) but I definitely dug "Dig" much more. The other new PB tune, though they played it at CJays in NaugVegas was "Eschers Etchings." Now that tune is a full out PB trip. Real nice.

"The Son Of Simpleton" is always great to hear. Next it was time to start the cavalcade of guests. When I saw Johnny Weaver in the crowd I know we were in for a little Hubie. Casey and Mat of Hubinger Street came out and did "The Climb" with PB. IT was a dream for me to see that. Hubie was the first local band that I started to go see. Always a great time. Once I discovered PB, my Hubie shows declined, much to my dismay, but "The Climb" was so strong and possibly one of my favorite Hubie originals, next to "Shoes and a Jacket."

Next came Megan Johnson, who is on Deuce and I have seen her at Callahan's once before. They were also joined by Kyle Esposito. I picked up on the "White Rabbit" early, but couldn't believe they were gonna play it. The real highpoint of this tune was the vocals by Megan. She nailed it. The real treat was "See The Light." Musically it was as beautiful as the song could be played. One of my real true highlights. "Lit" was perfectly nutty, and is a sure PB classic (as Freddie might put it).

Next came the surprise of the night for me. "Buquebus" with sax. I was spacing out at the end of "Lit" and missed the beginning of "Buquebus" in my mind. This blew me away and it had the whole place gettin down hard. HEY HEY HEY HEY!!!!!! Amazing!!!!!!

How could they top that shit???? Only one way, The sickest "King Kong" ever. The jams between Tim and Jeff Gitelman were unbelievable. Fingers flyin all over the place! "The Spunk" was seriously funked out with Jake Coen on bass. I had the pleasure of seeing both Jeff and Jake at the Desel Exp. Top notch then and insane last night.

Now here is where the night took a turn for the completely bizarre. DJ Real has gotta be one of the craziest cats I have ever seen on a stage. Doing the "Thug Song" (truly hilarious) with a pair of control top pantyhose on his head... followed by "My Pillow." This kid is nuts. I hope he shows up more and more....

And what would the Holidays be without family. It was Adrians dad's birthday. So we received nice "happy birthday" into "Revolution" with Mr. Tramantaro (sorry for the butchered spelling) on guitar along with an acoustic Mike Greenberg. That was sick. The lyrics were a bit fuzzy but the music was the point and man it was on point. Had a quickie Phil & Friends flashback, which was nice.

At this point a set break was needed. I wish they took set break to do the raffle instead of just hangin in and waiting for the raffle to be over. I don't know if they were afraid that everyone was gonna leave but I'll tell you one thing, I wasn't going anywhere, and if anyone did leave, they sure missed out on an unbelievable Part 2....

"Question Mark and the Mind." A personal FAVE!!!! Probably my 2nd or 3rd "? and the mind." Definitely not the best, and I attribute that to the lack of a "true" set break. The night was rollin along wonderfully and then it kinda hit a weird lull with the raffle that took a bit of time to recover from, as far as getting into the swing of Part 2. Producer Vic Steffans did a nice job. Its gotta be hard to get on that drum stool after Adrian was kickin it seriously insane for the first part of the night. Kudos to the balls Mr. Steffans. Well Done. It was nice to hear Adrian join in on the conga/bongo setup about halfway through.

When I saw Dave Peck getting on stage, all I could think was "please not the Beastie Boys girls again"... And it was no where near that. A really sick version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers "Sickamikanico." I have never heard that tune (not a RHCP fan) but I am now. Dave was on fire, and I was really impressed. I Can't believe the RHCP "Diesel" is pushed back again. If seeing that last night as kind of a sneak preview into the RHCP "Diesel," Callahan's is gonna get a torn apart on that night. Ronnie was wailing on the bass, it was Amazing!!!!!!

The last two Psychedelic Breakfast originals of the night came next. A classic "Puppetry" was great to hear. Paul from Perpetual Motion Machine ("In this house we obey the law of quantum physics") really didn't obey any laws and was all out jammin' this tune. "The Beef Barley," usually a bathroom break for me, was even more amazing than the "Puppetry." The homage to Farley had the nastiest jam I have ever heard (as far as "Beef Barley's" go) and Ben from Addison Groove Project had it going on. I will never listen to "Beef Barley" the same way again...

The final two tunes was where I really lost my shit. The stage was crowded with musicians. And I was wondering what was coming, when I heard the opening licks to "My Old School," I almost hit the floor. It's great to hear a Steely Dan cover. It was well played with Jeff Pevar and Timmy really getting the jam rolling. Pevar was nasty the first time he played with PB. They did, what is now the 2nd best "Beef Barley" I have ever heard. But last night Pevar and Timmy had a serious vibe going. It was a joy to witness.

After that I was thinking encore, the show is done. Next they called on Callie from Electric Blue and the Kosmik Truth. I again, had the fortune to catch EB&TKT at Tobacco Road on the St. Patties Day Show. I was hoping Callie was gonna whip out the washboard and spoons last night, but when I heard the opening groove to "Whipping Post," I was like "No way!" But yes way, and a serious HELL YEAH! Megan and Callie provided the soul and the musicians provided a sick musical journey, with the sickest Pevar, Timmy Jam of the night. Probably the sickest JAM of the night Period!!!! As a buddy put it (he showed up late; right in the middle of "See The Light") "If I just made it to see the "Whipping Post," and that's it, It would have been worth the trip."

The "I Know You Rider" encore was another surprise, but with all the Grateful Dead that was being played at the Phase III intermission, I was expecting a Dead tune of sorts. The tune was all over the place but everyone got the point. I Would have liked a "China Cat" as well but I think I was spoiled enough for one night.

To wrap it up, the Toad's benefit show was worth all the hype and anticipation, AND THEN SOME!!!!!!! What an unbelievable night, THANKS TO Psychedelic Breakfast and ALL THE GUESTS FOR A GREAT NIGHT OF MUSIC!!!!

Stephen Gencarelli
JamBase | Connecticut
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