Marc’s Musings: Free-Form Classic Rock Radio Lives! – Prisoners of 2nd Ave.

The Prisoners of 2nd Avenue are the answer to our prayers! They play rock from what they refer to as “The Fillmore Period.” Band leader Jimmy Vivino (best known for leading Conan O’Brien’s Basic Cable Band since Max Weinberg left the show) grew up in Glen Rock, NJ. He got a taste of what these FM stations were playing every day by going to see concerts at Bill Graham’s fabled Fillmore East. So with Rich Pagano on drums and John Conte on bass, the Prisoners are your classic power trio in the vein of Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Grand Funk Railroad or even The Police. But the music these three men put out (Mr. Vivino plays guitar and occasionally keyboards) while all handling vocals is truly extraordinary. And what makes Jimmy a “player’s player” is the fact that he can play everybody’s style. In the course of the night, you hear him morph from Pete Townshend to Eric Clapton to Justin Haywood to Neil Young just to name a few. And their song choices are just incredible in breadth. Over the two nights, there were several repeats. But who cared?!? We got to hear Traffic, The Who, Rick Derringer, Rod Stewart, Buffalo Springfield, The Band, Derek & The Dominos, Bob Dylan (or Leon Russell if you remember the Shelter People album), The Stones, some Zeppelin & Faces riffing and even the Moody Blues. And not every song was the logical greatest hit.

Now allow me to briefly digress as I postulate my thesis. I still hate cover bands. I do not wish to go to Bleeker Street and listen to Brown Eyed Girl or a set of Springsteen played by a guy in tight Levi’s with rips in the knees, a white undershirt and a red bandana on his head fronting a band with a Clarence lookalike. And yes, in only a matter of months, I will be back in my sleepy beach town wishing that there is any sort of live music instead of the same old tired beach “classics” being pumped out of all the bars that might as well be playing the formulaic satellite radio.

In fact, by mid-July I will crave live music so badly on weekends that a reggae band of mainly white dudes doing Bob Marley, Sublime & Third World with some Jimmy Buffet thrown in for no good reason will momentarily seem like a dream come true. But the truth is…playing somebody else’s songs needs to be something so much more than just going through the motions and generally trying for a perfect note for note rendition. YOU NEED TO OWN IT. So, if you’re not familiar with Warren Haynes’ versions of Madman Across The Water or One with Gov’t Mule, The Who’s take on Summertime Blues, the Black Crowes killing Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, Linda Ronstadt’s countrified Tumbling Dice or Susan Tedeschi getting soulful on Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right then perhaps we’re just coming from different places in how we obsess over music.

So let’s get back to the heart of the matter (and yes, that is a great song by Don Henley). The three members of the Prisoners Of 2nd Avenue are part of an extended family of bands that I have reviewed before. Jimmy & Rich are forty percent of The Fab Faux who play The Beatles live better than anyone. And Rich & John are two thirds of Early Elton who transport you back to the beginning of the ’70s and the magic of Sir Elton’s best period. But like the rest of the crowd that packed the intimate venue for two nights (many of whom were “repeat customers” like myself), we just want to hear real rock and roll. And although I suspect that many in the room are not looking for any new rock in general (and I apologize for making this supposition based on age demographics), who really cares? This band can play these songs at least as well as anybody else. And at this point in time, they can play them better than most of the people who wrote and played on them originally (if they are even still alive and performing).

So the vocals aren’t perfect. They’re pretty damn good for the most part. And let’s face it: Daltrey hasn’t been able to sing for almost two decades, Plant can only pull off acoustic folk and Levon will never be the same after his throat cancer battle. And Conte works that bass like John Entwistle; at times turning it into a lead instrument. Pagano behind the drum kit is grace under pressure. He can pound those skins, but also lay down some subtle brushwork giving each song the proper backbeat – all while singing which is always a feat for a drummer.

And one last thing to consider: not every song is for everyone. I can’t stand the Moody Blues. Never could. But my dislike didn’t stop Dave Herman from playing them. So if Jimmy has a personal story to relate about the song, then I say all the power to him. I’ll take one Moody Blues song every night if it let’s me hear the lesser played tracks from the Layla album or discover a new gem like Cheap Tequila from Derringer’s All American Boy record.

So now I must consider my own Friday night. It started off at Irving Plaza where Amos Lee was playing. I also knew Elvis Costello was going to make a brief appearance for one of his three “concerts” he would play for April Fools’ Day. So I saw Elvis take the stage before the opening band called The Secret Sisters. He played two relatively obscure songs and then he was gone. The Secret Sisters were just too country for my personal taste. And then came Mr. Lee who makes nice sounding records. I think he even has a few really good songs I thoroughly enjoy when they appear on my iPod (Would they have made it onto Pat St. John’s show? More likely Fornatele’s Mixed Bag for “the Folkies” on Sunday nights.)

I could have stayed to watch Mr. Lee’s whole set. But it was too subdued and almost boring. Elvis had been a nice treat. But his more complete mini-set at MSG really would have gotten Carol Miller or Danno’s juices flowing in 1981. Townshend had the right lyrics for Daltrey to sing. Luckily for us there was still another 15-20 years where we got some more solid to even stellar tunes to shuffle since we no longer have real disc jockeys in whom we trust to present us with the music. But for the most part in 2011, “rock is dead.” So I say to raise a glass to musicians who lived through the good times and know enough to put their own spin on things. And when they can do this at a highly skilled level of playing, I say, “Long live rock!”

And when all was said and done, the night was over and we were left to wait for the next time Jimmy can get a free weekend to return home and make us all smile and sing along. And there we were in the East Village and it wasn’t even that late. So why not do what hungry concertgoers and late night revelers have done for as long as at least I can remember? We hit Wo Hop in Chinatown for some greasy food. And it brought me right back to late nights in high school after a great Kinks show at Roseland Ballroom or The Band at The Lonestar or maybe it was Stevie Ray Vaughan at The Ritz.

One thing is for sure: The Nightbird would have played us all the way home.

The Prisoners of 2nd Avenue will be playing a benefit concert on Friday, May 13 at The Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, NY. The performance is a benefit for the Theatre. It is being held during Arts Weekend in Peekskill. The town is economically depressed and the theatre is becoming a nucleus for its rebirth, but they are losing money. The Fab Faux are putting on a performance the following night.

Related Content

2 Responses

  1. 2 nights, 2 distinct setlists, 2 awesome performances. I walked away wanting to hear more Traffic, The Band, Derek & The Dominos, Buffalo Springfield, Moody Blues et al. Po2A drives the point home that it’s time to put away the iPod and raid the vinyl vault (yet again). May 13 in Peekskill? Got my tix….

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter