Vibes and No Fun – PapaSweenBean’s Friday Night

Vibes and No Fun – PapaSweenBean’s Friday Night – by Liam Sweeny.

I like chronicling my Friday nights for a number of reasons. I used to be a bit of a recluse. I was that guy who promised my friends I’d go to their show and stare down the long hallway to the front door on the night of the show and the door would offer me tips on what excuse I could use for not going. Now? I go to shows. And you get to hear about it.

But this Friday was a grab bag.It started with myself and our very own Rob Smittix in the office after hours, two different beats and bass lines on the multitracker, a set of lyrics on his phone and a borrowed PA so we could both hear what is soon to become the songs we’ve codenamed ‘Bakehead’ and ‘Krokodil.’ They’re sweet. Just saying that.

I had other people on the receiving end of my Friday night promises, and that was the folks at Street Soldiers. Renee and Mike Fahey have been putting together a pop-up event for years now, people come from out of nowhere and descend on Academy Park in Albany, set up folding tables and pile all kinds of stuff on them. Toiletries, canned goods, clothes, hot food – they had salads with blueberries and squares of cheese! Telling ya..

So people show up who are having a tough time and it’s a great vibe. All it needs is someone to come play acoustic, and I’m going to work on that for next month. And after that, I felt refreshed, and ready to go to my next spot: No Fun, in Troy.

No Fun is named ironically, of course; loads of fun. I caught a band called “Headless Relatives.” They jammed, they were great. Sound is important. In a small venue, it’s easy to turn a quarter ton of amplifying equipment into a sonic bulldozer, but not there. The music moved, and as it was as loud as it needed to be to just pound righteous. Headless Relatives have a strange feel. On the one hand, a violin. On the other hand, a real power rhythm force. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was ‘appointed.’

I caught up with our photographer, Tim Reidy, there. Apologies for talking while the music was playing, but my voice is subsonic, so I don’t think anyone noticed. Me and Tim never see each other in the wild, just over a Gmail account when his pictures come in.

I felt like making a night of it, and debated just driving out to the Adirondacks at midnight, or Oneonta. A very old version of me wouldn’t have hesitated to do that. But I compromised with myself. A little karaoke, and a lot of making music in the station in the middle of the night, mad scientist style.

And before I assembled body parts, I stopped in Donnie Magoo’s for a little karaoke with friend and fam, Matty D. Also saw Peggy of Troy, Niki Kaos, Seth Casale and all of the other cast of characters. Heard an amazing singer but I forgot his name. He’ll be back, so I guess you know what you’re doing next Friday.

And I ended the night – the morning – with a kickass song on the multitrack recorder.

Until next time…

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