Josh Logan Band- Hot and Sticky, August 2007

It was a hot and balmy Friday that I found myself driving away from the craziness of my life in New York to the much more pleasant town of Loganland, otherwise known as Manchester, New Hampshire. I started relaxing as soon as I crossed the New Hampshire state line. The reason I chose to travel to see Josh this weekend was that he was playing both Friday and Saturday. My pal Jiggy had convinced me that I must come for a visit to see JLB play in ManchVegas. Once the CD comes out, Jiggy told me, he'll be on the road, and it would be harder to see a performance. Jiggy is a good PR man!! I hopped in the car and drove!!
I got to the JW HIlls Bar & Grill on Elm Street to find Nate Comp, the lead guitarist, standing outside smoking a cigarette, his long beautiful hair flowing freely. We chatted a few minutes and then he went back inside to set up. Matt Reignkin, the bassist, came out for a few minutes and we chatted for a bit about the last time we saw each other in New York in March 2007. It was so good to see them after such a long interlude!
It's about 9:45 p.m., and they're set to play at 10 p.m. We went inside and there I ran into the marvelous Josh Logan, his wonderful girlfriend Emilie, my pal Jiggy, and their friends that had come to hear the band play that evening.
Jiggy got me a great seat at the front table so I could take some videos. It was so good to see everyone again!! I was so excited!! My heart was pounding!! I could feel the squeeing starting to rise. I was so happy I came up there!!
I said a quick hello to Ryan Barrett, the shoe-less, foot-stomping drummer, noticed his ponytail had been cut in half, and commented that I was surprised how short it had become since I saw him in March.
Jiggy pointed out the new man that had joined the band, John Maggio the hot new guitarist. Wow, can that man play!!
OK, so the band started to get ready to play, the lights dimmed, and I got the camera ready, keeping my fingers crossed that the batteries, memory card, and camera settings were all gonna cooperate this time!!
The set started with the rocking out Joe Cocker tune of Feelin' Alright. It had me and everybody there rocking out from the second the band hit the stage! The band was on fire!! They were smoking' hot!! It was so great to hear them live again!! Nothing beats the Josh Logan Band live!! The house was packed with a very lively crowd that loved the music!
The second song, Eric Clapton's I Shot the Sheriff, brought with it my second drink, LOL! I was feeling ALRIGHT, LOL! It was so great being with Emilie, Jill, Jiggy and their friends! I was trying very hard to hold the camera steady instead of shaking with excitement! They did a fantastic job on Santana's Black Magic Woman and Josh's Feel Better was just simply amazing beyond words.
So, the band takes a break, Josh comes over and we are having a great time just chatting away until they go for the next set. Josh orders me another drink, and I tease him about him trying to get me sloshed, LOL! We were all in a great mood! We got up and started dancing which was so much fun!!
Those Bloody Mary's I was drinking were giving me a good buzz, and I stopped writing notes somewhere during the second set, LOL! After the set finished, we got busy taking pictures, which I put on my myspace page. We had so much fun!!
Towards the end of the evening, I suggested we all go out for brunch in the morning at the diner by my hotel! They said sure, they had the Heritage Harley Davidson concert in Concord, NH the next day at 3 pm, so they would have time to get together.
I left for the hotel, feeling elated that I had been able to hear them play again!! I floated like a feather into dreamland and woke up the next morning half believing that I had dreamt the whole experience! It was a dream come true!
The next morning, nine of us got together for brunch before the show scheduled for that afternoon. Josh, Emilie, Carmen, Lisa, Nate, Jiggy, Matt, Ryan and I sat down in a booth together (with a few extra chairs tucked in on the end of the table!!) We all ordered and the food was delicious! I had the Josh and Nate sandwich, and it was scrumptious!
We all got a great chuckle when Jiggy asked for the Grey Poupon mustard! The waitress didn't blink an eye, and went to get it!! We were cracking up about it. They actually had Grey Poupon at the diner!
After we paid the bill, we stepped outside and the heat blasted me like a furnace!! It was about 98 degrees, if no more and I was perspiring just batting my eyelashes!
There was an antique car show in the parking lot just outside and we went to check out some of the classic beauties on display. After that I went to the mall to cool off, and planned to meet up with Jiggy to go to the Harley Davidson show.
We met up, parked, and went to the venue. I have never seen so many motorcycles in one place in my life! It was amazing to see all the "hogs" as they were called! I went into the HD store to cool off before the show started at 3 p.m. I thought I would get a sun stroke, it was sweltering. It was an outdoor venue and luckily, there was a slight breeze blowing by the front of the stage in the stifling heat. I got my camera ready, and got excited all over again to see them perform!
The show was fantastic! It was only an hour show, but it was amazing how good the band sounded.
It was great to hear them outdoors, a totally different sound from them playing at the Bitter End or JW Hills.
Afterwards, I said goodbye to everyone and headed back to the car. I nearly passed out from the heat! I thought only New York could be this hot in August! I was surprised how hot it was this farther north!! So, what an amazing trip! The band and their friends were so nice!!
Thank you Josh, Nate, Matt, Ryan, and John for a fabulous weekend!!
And thanks to Jiggy and Emilie for all the fun we had!! xoxoxo