I'd known that Joey DeGraw was going to sing at The Bitter End last Thursday for while. It's just that the show was so late and I report to work rather early in the morning, I'd put it out of my head--it didn't seem practical. And yet, the thought sort of lingered there.
Thursday dawned a typical day. I had lots to do so I set an early alarm and got in several miles before work. Hair appointment after work and dinner date with some good friends and colleagues were all on the calendar. Midway through the morning I couldn't resist the voice in the back of my mind any longer. I really wanted to hear Joey perform live. I'd been looking forward to it for a while and didn't know when I'd have this chance again. And so I began trolling in Facebook for an intrepid late-night fellow music lover ...
And that is how we came, Phyllis and I, to drive into Manhattan for the 11:30 "open rehearsal" of Joey DeGraw and his band. The Bitter End is a pretty small venue in Greenwich Village--down on Bleeker Street. It's been around for a long time, having opened back in the early '60's. The list of people who have performed them reads like the who's who of American music: everyone from from every genre. Etta James, Bob Dylan, Frankie Valli, Jackson Brown, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand (who, incidentally was discovered by my father ... a family legend I'll save for another time). Joey DeGraw was a regular on the more recent list of who's performed there. My favorite singer, Gavin DeGraw, has performed there too. Gavin is Joey's brother and is also in New York tonight, opening for Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. It is not lost on either Phyllis or me that Gavin might show up for this performance. And as intoxicating to me as that idea is, I'm really seriously looking forward to Joey's set. I've enjoyed Say Something Strong and more recently, the new EP, The Business of Love, tremendously.
Joey DeGraw is a gifted song writer--lyrics with meaning and depth, guitar heavy, exciting rhythms. Don't expect me to compare him to his brother--I'm not about that. I like each for their individual perspectives and styles of expression.
I hate driving in Manhattan. And I'm one of those people who, thanks to the loss of down towns and the proliferation of malls, mega theaters with parking lots and big box stores surrounded by oceans of black top, has lost the ability to parallel park. The thought of parking on narrow Bleeker Street (if there was even a place to do so) was more than I could deal with, so we left the car in the Port Authority parking deck and took a cab down to The Village. Later on, I would be second guessing this decision.
We arrived in time to hear the end of the Ippazzi Band's set. (If there was a story to go with that name, we missed it.) Then we basically suffered through the Pistol Charmers (I apologize ... my mother did teach me "if you can't say anything nice ..." but they were a little hard to take.) The room kind of emptied out after that set and Phyllis and I were a little worried. Surely he's not going to play to an empty room.
We needn't have worried. Family arrived and folks who were undoubtedly friends. I found out later on Facebook, that other fans were there too. By the time they'd finished setting up, the room was filled again and there just the barest whisper of anticipation in the air. His social media persona to the contrary, Joey seems to me, to be a master of the low key approach. He'd billed this as an open rehearsal--getting together with his band and trying out new songs while rehashing older ones in preparation for joining his brother on tour in Europe next month. They'll be opening for Gavin in the UK and elsewhere on the continent.
So an "open rehearsal" it was. There wasn't a set list. They played the tunes in the order that struck them in the moment so there were some long pauses between songs while they figured out what was coming next. But, and I think I know the songs pretty well, they didn't sound like they were rehearsing. It was a good performance--really good. He played most of the songs from both of the last two records and hit all of my favorites. I wasn't taking notes Thursday night the way I sometimes do, so I don't remember which of the new songs he referenced when he introduced it and said he'd written it with Tom Petty. He's not a stranger to collaboration and is well-respected in the music community as one who believes in art and artists and puts both before the business end of this complicated industry.
It was somewhat distracting to have Gavin in the room, visiting with his friends and family, moving around the venue and chatting with them. But it was so clearly Joey's night to have the stage and Gavin did not steal the spotlight. They played for about an hour and a half or so. Before we left to find our cab back, I was able to tell him how much I'd enjoyed the set and how excited I was for his new EP (go listen to the lead song, Easier Said Than Done). There was a brief conversation with Gavin (as lovely as ever--as always). As we were leaving the bar, I chatted for a minute with Andy Clayburn, one of Joey's guitar players and a brilliant musician. Have I mentioned how talented and tight his band is? They are.
I was so glad we'd done this thing--even though, oh, it was crazy. Because oh, it was amazing. Joey said they'd be back again on the 13th, a day from now as I write. We'll be in Central Park for Gavin's concert. I'm not sure I can handle another late night and I'll be with some fans who aren't yet 21 so I'm not sure we'd even be admitted so I'm not planning on going. Unless I get uncharacteristically spontaneous again ....
As we caught our cab, I glanced at my watch: 2 AM. No traffic to speak of at that hour so we made good time getting back to Port Authority. Only to find it locked. Yes, locked. And chained. And my car was inside. And there were about three dozen cabs lined up with drivers hollering "Taxi to New Jersey? Taxi to New Jersey?" Apparently I'm not the first one to be locked out of the parking deck in the wee hours of the morning.
I panicked for a minute. We both had to be at work in less than six hours at this point. We were about an hour from my house and Phyllis had an hour and a half drive after that. What were we going to do? We did what every self-respecting girl-in-pickle does: we threw ourselves on the mercy of the Port Authority Police. And they were so nice ... an employee took us to an elevator beneath the Greyhound terminal and keyed us up to the 5th floor with a mysterious set of directions for finding the car. Which we ultimately did. Finding the exit proved to be it's own adventure but finally we were on the road home. At least I was. Home by 3:30 and feeling dreadful for Phyllis who had an hour and a half in the car yet to go.
But we agreed: we'd do it again in a heartbeat. Not the parking part--we need a new plan--or a driver who can parallel park. But the music--we'd do it again for the performers we support and the music we love. In a heartbeat.
Epilogue ~
No one was late to work on Friday.
~~~~~
Joey DeGraw - Pillow (find this on the new EP, The Businesss of Love)
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