Commander Cody w/ Bill Kirchen 11/03/18

Commander Cody (alias George Frayne) at the re-located, re-opened My Father's Place in Rosyln NY last Saturday. Included on the bill was original LPA guitarist Bill Kirchen.

1st set   8:05 - 9:20

There's A Riot Goin' On (In Cell Block #9)

Rock That Boogie

Smoke Smoke Smoke

Too Much Fun

Seeds and Stems Blues

Truck Stop at the End Of The World

Don't Let Go

Lightning Bar (?)

Mama Hated Deisels

Here I Sit

Roll Your Own (Hoyt Axton tune)

Hot Rod Lincoln - extended Kirchen version (Bill on vocals)

2nd set   9:50 - 11:00

House Of Blue Lights (Kirchen on trombone, 2nd half of song)

Should've Been Me

Back To Tennessee

Hillbilly Truck Drivin' Man

Lookin' at the World Through A Windshield

Are We Having Any Fun (?) boogie-woogie tune

Wine, Wine, Wine Do Your Stuff

Annie Been Workin' On The Midnight Shift

Everybody's Doin' It  (Truckin' - #uckin')

Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar

Lost In The Ozone

Encore

Milk Cow Blues (?) Kirchen again on trombone, playing while walking through the crowd.

(?) = not sure of the title

The band:

Commander on baby grand piano and vocals

Bill Kirchen -  lead guitar and vocals

and Cody's regular band - Kevin Bell on guitar, and a bass and drum player who's names I didn't get.

This was probably my 15th time or so seeing the Commander, the setlist pretty much speaks for itself, just a few observations:

The Commander was in fine form, but a bit weatherbeaten, showing his age at 74. Bill Kirchen was on top of his game, leading the band for the most part. His guitar playing and vocals were right on the money. Him and Cody were trading jokes between songs, and constantly offering each other solos. Bill also had some great solos going back and forth between himself and Kevin Bell. It was kind of odd watching Bell (who has learned all Bill's licks) to be trading licks with Bill himself. But the two played very well together, and never got in each other's way. Cody's voice has lost some of it's strength, and he had a tough time belting out some of the faster numbers. But his heart was there, and when his boogie-woogie piano hit it's stride, the place was jumpin'.  JUMPIN!!

The show as sold out, and the crowd was really into it and nobody left disappointed. It was great to see George and Bill together again, and to see that they still enjoyed playing together. The LPA had something special back in the day, and we got a rare peek at just how special it was last Saturday, it was a lot of fun.   A LOT OF FUN!!  Not to say this band is the same as the old Lost Planet Airmen, just that it's as close as you're going to get in 2018.