Coney Hatch: Live in Thunder Bay(Nov 23rd 2019)-eVents Nightclub

 

Pretty psyched to finally have been able to see Coney Hatch after being a fan of these Iconic Rockers since the self-titled debut hit the street’s back in 1982!

Never up until this point have I ever had the opportunity to see Coney live until this show was announced a little over a month ago.

If your a reader of this Blog (I Thank Ya!) then you know have I reviewed the 4 studio Coney albums that the band has put out over the years. Those being the self-titled as previously mentioned debut  (1982) Outta Hand(1983), Friction (1985) and Four (2013).  All of these Hatch albums are fine additions to any Hard Rock Fans Music Collection!

As per rock protocol, my good pal Tbone was along for the ride as he’s been hearing me talk about these guys for well over 3 decades!

So when Carl Dixon (Lead Vocals/Guitar) Andy Curran(Lead Vocals/Bass) Sean Kelly(Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Thunder Bays very own Dave ‘Thumper’ Ketchum (Drums) hit the stage shortly after midnight all bets were off as the Coney fella’s kicked out the jams with opener “We Got The Night” that has Ketchum laying down the backbeat on the drums like he’s the boss!

The real added plus of Coney Hatch was that they have two lead vocalists in both Carl and Andy who takes the lead vocal as they launch into Stand Up which has a real cool slow swagger to it which featured Sean Kelly nailing down a fantastic solo ( as Mr. Kelly did all night).

The AC/DC-driven  “No Sleep Tonight”was next followed by “Don’t Say Make Me” which is, in my opinion, one of my all-time fav’s! Love that driving Bass Line by Andy! 

What a fantastic 4 pack of songs to get the night rolling!

“Some Like It Hot” kept the show moving along and another track from Outta Hand that as Carl explained from the stage that “First Time For Everything” was a song that garnered some MTV and MuchMusic video play

“Hey Operator” one of the two big singles was played halfway through the show which shows you the number of songs these guys have built over the years which when you think of it they could have saved it to the end of the set but didn’t. Keeps us in the audience on our toes!

The band played tracks from all of there records as “Blown Away” and “Marseille” were featured from the Four album released already 6 years ago!

“This Ain’t Love/Girl From Last Nights Dream/Wrong Side of Town” and “She’s Gone” were shown some love from the Friction album which in the Coney catalog of rock may be the album that flew under the radar for most but I will tell ya it’s certainly up there with the other three releases with some stellar written and performed songs!

“Devils Deck” and “Monkey Bars” from the self-titled debut album( that went Gold in Canada) ended Coney’s regular set.

Coney left and came right back out and walloped us over the head with a kick-ass cover of AC/DC’s Sin City!

Being a fan of these guys since 1982 I can honestly say it was one of my favorite shows in this town as I was 15 when I discovered Coney and finally had the opportunity 37 years later to finally see the band!

As great as the show was the Coney guys are even better people! Carl was in the audience(before the show) when he cruised by our table I asked if him if he wouldn’t mind signing my Coney albums!  Carl asked me if I was the guy who left a message on his Facebook page telling him to bring a sharpie to the show to sign my records! (Yup it was me!)

Carl even took my 3 Coney records and two Andy Curran solo CD’s backstage and had the fella’s all sign them and Carl brought them back to me along with Sean Kelly!

Thanks, Carl!

It was great meeting Sean as if you recall he was one the first guys to do a ’10 Questions With..’  interview for me and was very gracious. Meeting him though was awesome as we talked about Music, Families, more Music and well you get the drift! Solid dude if there ever was and a fantastic guitar player/singer and performer!

Just as we were about to leave and head home I bumped into Andy as well and we chatted for a few minutes as it was nice to talk to him and tell him that the last time Coney was in Thunder Bay in 1985 I was 17 and couldn’t get into the show as you had to be 19 to get in to Bar’s here in town. Cool to talk to Andy about his past project Soho 69 and the Rush book Wandering The Face of The Earth.

Oddly enough Dave Ketchum was the only guy I didn’t get a chance to speak to and he lives here in town! Maybe next time!

It was a great night period and if ever Coney Hatch comes around do go as you won’t be disappointed!

Check out Coney Hatch on your various streaming devices or buy the reissues on disc from Rock Candy or better yet track these albums down on Vinyl!

Photo of the Coney Hatch stage courtesy of Sean Kelly.

Live band shots were taken by Adriana Coslett (Thanks Buddy!)

Band Photos were taken by Tbone (Whiskey on the Rocks).