Kettle of Fish to Release Live at Blue Rooster at this Weekend's Show
Posted
Dennis Maley
BRADENTON – Local favorites Kettle of Fish will release a special live CD this Saturday night when they return to the Blue Rooster in Sarasota. The album was recorded at the venue in May of this year and captures the essence of the band's famed live performances.
Known for both their excellent original material and creative re-arrangements of both obscure and mainstream classic rock and blues covers, fans of Kettle of Fish know that you can easily see half a dozen shows and rarely hear a cover repeated.
I once asked Kettle of Fish founder and front-man Dana Lawrence how many songs were in his arsenal, and while he couldn't cite a specific number, we agreed that 1,500-2,000 was a realistic estimate. Lawrence’s utterly mind-boggling ability to recall a near endless catalog of lyrics and his band members’ impressive skill at falling in on any tune allows him to read the crowd and deliver the kind of improvised set lists that make each and every performance feel like the best one yet, even when you’ve seen them dozens of times.
The new CD epitomizes this dynamic and provides fans with the means to pop one of their top-shelf live shows in the CD player while driving down the road. From the completely reworked Ann Peebles classic I Can’t Stand the Rain and the old JJ Cale song Traveling Light, to more easily-recognized tunes like The Band’s 1975 classic Ophelia, the Beatles’ I Want You (She’s So Heavy) and the Zombies’ 1965 hit She’s Not There, the rhythm keeps rolling, albeit often along the strangest of highways.
L-R: Kevin Miller (guitar), Greg Poulos (guitar), Rick Andre (drums), Chris Guertin (bass). In cab, Dana Lawrence (lead vocals, acoustic guitar). Photo by Carrisa Warfield.
Serious KOF fans will appreciate some of the band’s most beloved live gems, such as the Grateful Dead’s Franklin’s Tower into the Allman Brothers Band’s Jessica and back jam, along with the Allman Brothers classic Blue Sky and Lawrence’s supremely soulful rendition of the John Hiatt ballad Feels Like Rain.
There’s also an ode to the recently-departed with the Prince cover, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, which Lawrence says he first started playing back when he was a teenager. Guitarist Greg Poulos does an excellent job on vocals for the Jimmy Hendrix classic Hey Joe, aided by young guitar phenom Kevin Miller. The lone original track on the disc is the fan favorite Crooked Halo, one of those songs that’s so good you don’t understand how it hasn’t yet pushed the band through to mainstream success.
Saturday’s show is scheduled from 8-11:30 p.m. The cover is only $5. The Blue Rooster serves a full menu of food, in addition to craft beers and cocktails. Call (941) 388-7539 to reserve a table or jockey for a seat at the bar. Copies of the new CD will be available at the event.
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