Another December, another opportunity to see From Good
Homes at the Newton Theatre. In what has become an annual tradition, my buddy
Adam and I were all set to see From Good Homes perform their Saturday night
concert in Northwest New Jersey. I was filled with a level of excitement and
anticipation that I had not felt for a concert in a long while. It was a
welcomed, refreshing feeling.
As good friends do, Adam and I met somewhat locally and
drove to the concert together. The plan was to have dinner at one of our
favorite restaurants beforehand and then head over to the show. Upon meeting Adam
in the parking lot of a grocery store he informed me he had to venture inside for
some Pepto. That should have been a warning sign that we travel in separate
vehicles to the restaurant. However, he seemed fine and I didn’t put much
thought into his desire for liquid antacid as nothing seemed out of the
ordinary. I figured he was dealing with a case of heartburn, or getting ready
for a case of heartburn after a good meal.
Shame on my naivety. Over dinner, Adam did not seem well.
The meal was fabulous as always, but Adam only picked at his and looked a
little pale. I asked him what troubled him but he wasn’t sure other than
stomach issues which is what he had taken the Pepto for. With about 30 minutes
left before show time he approached the subject of heading back to get his own
car.
“If that’s what you need to do, “I said somewhat
reluctantly. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
I could tell Adam wanted to be a team player, but I also
know the fear of being sick and having no escape vehicle. That’s when I told
him that I would rather miss some songs from the beginning of the show than
songs from the end of the show. Meaning, if he felt that he was going to need
to leave early, we should go get his car. Adam figured he was being
overcautious, but he finally decided we should return to his vehicle. And while
I was fine with doing so (again I understand the need for an escape), Inside I
was calculating the time and knew that we were screwed.
It was 7:30 as we were wrapping things up at the
restaurant. The show was listed for 8pm and From Good Homes was pretty prompt
for set one. The car was at least 20 minutes away, which meant 40 minutes roundtrip.
That put us in the parking lot at 8:10 and we still had to get to the venue,
get through the doors, and get to our seats. I resigned myself to the fact that
I was missing at least the opening song and probably the first two songs. I
could only hope they were songs I didn’t particularly care for, which is very
few in the FGH catalog. They do exist, but there aren’t many.
Adam apologized profusely, to which my response was not
to worry about it. If he needed to get his car, I understood that. And I did.
But internal sweat was still coating me because I did not want to miss any of
the concert. But as previously stated, it’s better to miss the beginning of a
show than the end of a show. We journeyed back to Adam’s car, talking about the
concert and what we hoped to hear. I mentioned that they had opened night one
with a cover song I did not know, so perhaps they would do that again. I could
live with missing an obscure opening cover song.
After getting to the lot where we left his car, Adam
hopped out and then we started back toward the venue in two cars. It was 7:48
when I dropped him off. My only hope was that the band wouldn’t take the stage
until 8:15. If that were the case, we had a chance to get to our seats just
before the show started. The entire return trip was an inner conflict between
hoping that we would make it before the show began and accepting that at least
one song was going to be missed. As each mile rolled away and we got closer to
the venue the struggle strengthened, leaving me torn.
We drove by the venue on our way to the parking lots
across the street and I noticed a crowd of people outside, still in line trying
to get inside. That dawned the possibility that all wasn’t lost. We parked the
cars at 8:07 and I felt almost confident that we could do this. Seeing the
people in line provided hope.
Adam and I hightailed it to the theater, well, hightailed
it as best we could given his condition. I didn’t want to move too fast for
fear of something escaping. But I was also at the point where I was so close I
could taste the opening song and I knew we had a shot to sit before it was
performed. We got to the doors, made our way through the ticket scanners, and
slipped inside. I didn’t hear any music, which meant the band had not gone on
yet. We did it! We made it! The concert Gods had smiled fortune on us that
night!
Walking into the venue, I had no idea how exceptional our
tickets were. I knew they were good seats when I bought them, but I didn’t
realize how good. As we approached the aisle and the usher standing nearby, I
handed her my ticket to see where we were heading. She looked at the ticket,
looked at me, and said, “We’re going to try.” I wasn’t quite sure what she
meant by that until she led us closer and closer to the stage. We walked down
until we were in the thick of a crowd and the usher had found our row. Row H,
center, eight rows from the stage. Wow! Awesome seats! As we placed our winter
coats down, From Good Homes came out and the night began!
While the first two songs were enjoyable, it was “Drivin’
and Cryin’” that had me up on my feet with a roar. I believe this was my first
time hearing this gem live and I was ecstatic! There are a lot of great songs
on Hick Pop and From Good Homes
always tries to work a few of them into their concerts to which I am always
grateful for.
Treats from set one included the opening number “Long
Walk Home #2,” “Banging Out a Melody,” and the band’s cover of Tom Petty’s
“King’s Highway.” “Banging Out a Melody,” is a song I never heard before and
just another gem that this band has kept tucked away. I still insist that they
could record an album of all this unreleased/unrecorded material and have a hit
record on their hands. I know I would want a copy on day one.
One thing I still can’t stand to this day is drunks at a
concert. Occasionally, they are slightly amusing, but most times they are loud,
obnoxious, and annoying. Such was the case with super drunk fan. It was bad
enough that his buddies were crowding our seats and trying to push us out into
the aisle during the entire first set. Then during the break, super drunk fan
came over to whoop it up with his buddies.
He gleefully told them that he had spoken to Todd during
the break. “I told him that we traveled two hours to get here and asked him if
he’d play 2nd Red Barn for us and he said he would! He’s doing it
for me, man! We’re getting that song!”
“Who’s Todd?” one of the buddies asked. I groaned
internally wondering how they were watching this band if they didn’t know who
Todd Sheaffer was.
“The lead singer man! I told him we drove 2 hours! He’s
gonna play it for us! You’ll see!”
I shook my head. “2nd Red Barn on The Right”
was only one of the most popular From Good Homes songs there is, so I was
doubtful that the band was playing it just because this drunk had asked for it.
I had a feeling it was going to be in the set anyway.
I probably would have forgotten that whole exchange if
drunk guy didn’t return after that. However, he did return. He had made his way
to the beer stand, got a couple of cold ones, and proceeded to come back,
bumping me out of the way (practically knocking me over) so he could tell his
stupid story once again. “They’re gonna play it for me, man! For me!”
It took every ounce of my restraint not to just kick this
guy. He who was rude. He was invading my personal space. He was loud. And he
was slopping beer all over. Basically, he was just a nuisance. Fortunately, as
soon as the lights dimmed for set two, he went back toward the stage, a few
rows in front of us.
Set two was another fantastic performance of exceptional
music. Rarities from this set included “Parachute,” “It’s Gettin’ Dirty,”
“Neighbors,” and a great cover of the Allman Brothers “Melissa.” From Good
Homes used these two nights to pay tribute to the fallen heroes that we have
lost in 2017. As the band gets older and wiser, they are willing to take these
risks and the end results are always beautiful. They’ve covered Prince’s
“Little Red Corvette” in the middle of “Butterfly and the Tree,” they’ve worked
David Bowie into their songs, and now they were covering Tom Petty and the
Allman Brothers on the same night.
“Neighbors” was another rare gem I had never heard,
dusted off just for that weekend. As Brady Rhymer stated, the band was looking
for “chestnuts” that they could perform for us all. “Neighbors” is a bar band
rocker that could only be written by a young band still trying to find some
level of success, which was when the band originally wrote the song. I was glad
to have heard it.
The encore ended with a rousing rendition of “Maybe We
Will” complete with audience sing along and although we had been there for 3
hours, it felt like only minutes had passed. Always a sign of a great show! And
as a bonus, Adam did make it to the end of the night, so we both got to enjoy
the entire concert.
All told, it was another wonderful evening with From Good
Homes. Every year they put together a terrific performance and as long as they
keep coming, I’ll keep attending. Although, in the future, I may just meet Adam
at the venue.
Set One
Long Walk Home #2
Charlie Hogan
Drivin’ & Cryin’
Let Go
Where Songs Begin
Banging Out a Melody
Butterfly & The Tree
Ride All Night
King’s Highway (Tom Petty cover)
Comin’ On Home
Set Two
Parachute
Celebrate
Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think) (Guy Lombardo
cover)
It’s Gettin’ Dirty
Melissa (Allman Brothers cover)
Broken Road
I Only Want
Boulevard of Dreams
2nd Red Barn on The Right
Neighbors
Raindance
Encore
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison cover)
Maybe We Will
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