Dan Takes Five In Thunder Bay!

Georgia Satellites/Dec 1989/Thunder Bay/Community Auditorium

 

Woo hoo, it’s December 1989, it’s snowing outside, and here comes the Georgia Satellites from the warm confines of Atlanta to kick our asses! And that they did. Come showtime me and TBone walked into our local community auditorium and out of about 1500 seats I would like to say  600 people were there or so…pretty good turnout considering the Satellites were basically playing bars throughout Canada as Dan Baird(singer/guitarist) acknowledged from the stage!

Basically, the Satellites stage set up was a drum set, few amps, and a huge Confederate Flag! At the time the Satellites were plugging there latest release In The Land Of Salvation And Sin and it’s a very good record and also there second kick at massive radio airplay with Hippy, Hippy Shake (Tom Cruise movie Cocktail soundtrack song)sung by Guitarist Rick Richards( who would be once again 4 yrs later be in Tbay with an Izzy less Ju Ju Hounds)…any-hoo the Boys from Atlanta came out blazing with the opening number called I Dunno and blazed right into Battleship Ship Chains, Don’t Pass My By, Myth Of Love, All Over But The Crying, and one song that is like an ACDC runaway locomotive slamming into the Satellites tour bus at the tracks entitled Dan Takes 5 which is a cooker, also played was Games People Play(sung by bassist Rick Price) Can’t Stand The Pain( with some cool slide and lead vocal from Rick Richards) Railroad Steel followed up with of course Hippy Hippy Shake and Keep Your Hands To Yourself.

All these years later, three things stand out to me….in no red neck order comes…..

1-Off the current album (Salvation & Sin) they played the song Another Chance which they all dropped their electrics and Mauro the drummer came from around his kit and they did an acoustic version complete with acoustic/mandolin guitars and the Mauro took over a bit on the mic… The other three guys just laughed at him like look folks he sings!!!….probably the first show I ever saw (1989) where the band just pulled off a move where they just shut it down for a bit during a show to, go,acoustic-like a good full year before Tesla rang up the cash registers with the Acoustical jams…..

2-LOUD LOUD LOUD….one of the loudest rock shows in Tbay I have attended! These guys just cranked their amps to 10 and just blew us away…

3- Red Light…when the Satellites came on for the encore they asked us if we had any requests and since we were sitting above the stage on the right side they could hear us and within a millisecond TBone hollered Red Light…Baird acknowledged and the band tore into it…after the show as we’re driving home, I asked TBone what made that tune(Red Light) pop into your noggin? Simple he said they have a line in the song that goes ” got Van Halen wailing on the stereo 8 track” ….uh huh….well played TBone ..well played…..