Author: Erik J. Heels

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* MCats Gig #77 – Tiki Bar V

The MCats Band at The Tiki Bar.

The first Tiki Bar gig of the summer is always a blast, and this was no exception. Great weather, family and friends from many generations, great foot, and pretty decent music as well!

Pics

Setlist

Set 1

  1. Breakdown (Am)
  2. 500 Miles (E)
  3. Oye Como Va (A)
  4. No Matter What (A)
  5. Should I Stay Or Should I Go (D)
  6. Just What I Needed (E)
  7. Fire Down Below (C)
  8. Mustang Sally (C)
  9. Everybody Wants You (D)
  10. Psycho Killer (Am)
  11. Born To Be Wild (E)
  12. It’s All Been Done (D)
  13. Centerfield (G)
  14. Don’t Go Back To Rockville (E)

Set 2

  1. Margaritaville (D)
  2. Long Train Coming (G)
  3. Just Like Heaven (A)
  4. Midnight Hour (D)
  5. Refugee (F#)
  6. Bohemian Like You (B)
  7. Honky Tonk Women (G)
  8. Brown Sugar (C)
  9. Bad Case Of Lovin’ You (E)
  10. Old Time Rock ‘N Roll (E)
  11. What I Like About You (E)
  12. You Wreck Me (D)
  13. Rain King (D)
  14. Can’t Get Enough (C)
  15. Takin’ Care Of Business (C)
  16. Runnin’ Down A Dream (E)

Set 3

  1. Centerfold (G)
  2. Rock ‘N Roll Fantasy (E)
  3. Tush (G)
  4. I Will Follow (E)
  5. You Gotta Fight (Am)
  6. 867-5309 (Jenny) (F#M)
  7. Rock ‘N Roll All Night (G)
  8. Already Gone (G)
  9. Rebel Yell (B)

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* MCats Gig #75 – Jono’s 60th at Harvard General Store

For his 60th, Jono said he wanted to hang out with friends and family and jam with the band, so that’s what we did. At the Harvard General Store (in Harvard, the town not the school). Friends, see also Wendy’s great pics on Facebook.

Pics

Setlist

Set 1

  1. *I Won’t Back Down (Jon Plays Acoustic)
  2. *Don’t Go Back To Rockville (Jon Plays Acoustic)
  3. It’s All Been Done (Jon Plays Acoustic)
  4. *Rain King (Jon Plays Acoustic)
  5. 500 Miles (Jon Plays Acoustic)
  6. Just Like Heaven (Jon Plays Acoustic)
  7. Good Lovin’
  8. Pump It Up
  9. Oye Como Va
  10. Bad Case Of Lovin’ You
  11. Everybody Wants You
  12. Psycho Killer

Set 2

  1. Sunshine Of Your Love
  2. Can’t Get Enough
  3. Look Sharp
  4. Honky Tonk Woman
  5. Brown Sugar
  6. What I Like About You
  7. 867-5309 (Jenny)
  8. Rock And Roll All Night

* = new to us

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* MCats Gig #74 – St. Patrick’s at The Outlook II

The Outlook Restaurant at Nashoba Ski Valley Area, Westford MA.

Here’s how we promoted this gig:

Come celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with The MCats Band when we play the Outlook Restaurant at Nashoba Ski in Westford. We’ll be downing some green beer and rocking the night away starting at 8pm!

And we did all of those things! We are so reliable. It helps that we have an lead singer who is Irish.

Pics

Setlist

Set 1

  1. Breakdown (Am)
  2. Stray Cat Strut (Cm)
  3. 500 Miles (E)
  4. Oye Como Va (A)
  5. No Matter What (A)
  6. Should I Stay or Should I go (D)
  7. Just What I Needed (E)
  8. Born to be Wild (E)
  9. It’s All Been Done (D)
  10. Centerfield (G)
  11. Everybody Wants You (E)
  12. Psycho Killer (Am)

Set 2

  1. Spooky (E)
  2. Smoking Gun (E)
  3. Just Like Heaven (A)
  4. Midnight Hour (D)
  5. Bohemian Like You (B)
  6. Honky Tonk Women (G)
  7. Brown Sugar (C)
  8. Bad Case of Lovin’ You (E)
  9. Old Time Rock ‘n Roll (E)
  10. What I Like About You (E)
  11. Mustang Sally (C)
  12. You Wreck Me (D)
  13. Runnin’ Down A Dream (E)

Set 3

  1. Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy (E)
  2. Tush (G)
  3. I Will Follow (E)
  4. 867-5309 (Jenny) (F#m)
  5. Summertime Blues (D)
  6. Rock ‘n Roll (G)
  7. Rock ‘n Roll all night (G)
  8. Rebel Yell (B)

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* MCats Gig #73 – Marshalls

Dave and Elise Marshall had a pool party! The MCats Band played songs! People danced, people sang! It was epic! See also Wendy’s “My Village” photo album (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10210481397570423.1073741892.1209247615&type=3).

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* Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) #PanMass2017 Party Ferry

MCats Gig #72.

The MCats Band was honored play for Pan-Mass Challenge again this year (Sun 08/06/17) on the #PanMass2017 Party Ferry! For those who may not know, the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) was founded in 1980 Billy Starr as an across-Massachusetts, bike-riding, cancer-fighting, fundraising event that today draws 6,000 cyclists from 41 states and eight countries. Today, the PMC raises more money than any other athletic fundraising event in the country – including more than 50% of annual revenue for The Jimmy Fund – and is the single largest contributor to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. We previously blogged about how cancer has impacted those of us in The MCats Band, which itself was formed as a fundraising band in 2005.

The PMC Party Boat gig is great gig for a great cause. It is also an exhaustingly long day (12+ hours door-to-door), but not as long as those who spent two full days riding their bikes across Massachusetts from Sturbridge to Provincetown! Our day nominally starts at 8:00am as we head with our cars full of gear from Acton to Boston, where we load in on the Provincetown II ferry (the “slow ferry”) from Boston to Provincetown (via a short stop at Black Falcon Terminal). Our three-hour tour (repeat, three-hour tour) is packed with moving our gear up one or two flights of stairs (depending on the tides) to the top deck, where we cram into a small (about 100 square feet) space, unpack, setup, and do sound check. Since we were only going to be in Provincetown for an hour or less (something about the wind), Captain Mark arranged to have pizza prepared for the band, a treat we very much appreciated! We arrived in Provincetown around 2:30pm and departed around 3:30pm. There were 988 souls on board, putting the total (including band and crew) at over 1,000, a new record!

The seas were rougher this year and the wind windier, making playing even more challenging, but we were up for the challenge! (Plus no whale sightings.) We kicked off with our regular “Born To Be Wild” after clearing the jetty in Provincetown harbor and concluded with three Boston favorites (“Mustang Sally,” “Rebel Yell,” and “Dirty Water”) around 6:45pm at Black Falcon Terminal. Back at the World Trade Center, we finished unloading our gear and packing up the cars around 8:00pm and headed to at late dinner Rapscallion in Acton, where we’ll be playing later this year.

There were, however, two glaring omissions in the center of the stage. We forgot our big sign – and our big rhythm guitar player Jon! Missed you both!

Overall it was another epic day for a great cause. Ride on, riders, closer by the mile!

Pics

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Setlist

Set 1

1. (G) Born to be Wild (E)
2. (A) It’s All Been Done (D)
3. (G) Centerfield (G)
4. (K & D) Breakdown (Am)
5. (B & D) Stray Cat Strut (Cm)
6. (G) 500 Miles (E)
7. (K & B) Oye Como Va (A)
8. (G) Look Sharp (C)
9. (G) No Matter What (A)
10. (G) Should I Stay or Should I Go (D)
11. (G) Just What I Needed (E)
12. (G) You Gotta Fight (Am)
13. (G) Lonely Boy (E)
14. (B) Psycho Killer (Am)

Set 2

1. (D) Honky Tonk Women (G)
2. (G) Brown Sugar (C)
3. (A) Midnight Hour (D)
4. (K & D) Bohemian Like You (B)
5. (A) Bad Case of Lovin’ You (E)
6. (K) Old Time Rock ‘n Roll (E)
7. (G) What I Like About You (E)
8. (G & B) You Wreck Me (D)
9. (G & D) Cover Me (Bm)
10. (A) Learn to Fly (B)
11. (G) Runnin’ Down A Dream (E)

Set 3

1. (D) Love Shack (C)
2. (G) Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy (E)
3. (G) Tush (G)
4. (V) *Move it on Over (G)
5. (G) I Will Follow (E)
6. (D) I Fought The Law (D)
7. (G) 867-5309 (Jenny) (F#m)
8. (A) Peace, Love and Understanding (G)
9. (A) Summertime Blues (D)
10. (A) I Want To Be Sedated (E)
11. (D) Rock ‘n Roll (G)
12. (D) *Rock ‘n Roll all night (G)
13. (A) Mustang Sally (C)

Encore

1. (G & K) Rebel Yell (B)
2. (G) Dirty Water (E)

Legend

(A) All in
(G) Guitar
(D) Drums
(K) Keys
(B) Bass
(V) Vocals
* = new to us

Pics

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* Why We PMC – The MCats Band Story

17 Seconds #38

[Editor’s note: This edition of “17 Seconds” has been heavily cross-posted (on clocktowerlaw.com, erikjheels.com, giantpeople.com, mcatsband.org, Facebook, and LinkedIn) because cancer sucks!]

On Sunday 08/06/17, my band will again be playing on the Pan-Mass Challenge party boat from Provincetown to Boston at the conclusion of the #PanMass2017 cancer fundraiser.

Here is why we PMC. Cancer has touched the lives of many of us in the band.

Josh Stein, our band’s fearless drummer, lost his mother to cancer. Jon Oltsik, our band’s rhythm guitar player, and Paul Greenspan, our band’s lead guitar player and former PMC rider, both have friends and family members impacted by cancer.

Mark Wessel, the band’s original sound guy (and all-around good guy), rides for Team Lick Cancer. Mark’s PMC page (which is a great place to donate if you have not already done so) explains why he rides:

“The team’s 2010 pedal partner, Charlotte O’Shea, and our 2012 partner, Avalanna Routh, both died of atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (AT/RT), a rare pediatric brain tumor. They were each six years old when they died. We ride in their honor, and many of us are directing our funds to fight this particular disease.”

My kids’ Finnish grandmother contracted and beat ovarian cancer in the 1980s. Then in 1995 (a “cruel joke,” said her doctor), she contracted leukemia, succumbing to the disease in 2003. I have been supporting cancer-fighting causes ever since (including BeTheMatch.org and PMC.org). In the 1990s, Verio co-worker Tom Martin was one of my first friends to ride the PMC. In 2005, a bunch of Acton parents formed The MCats Band to raise money for our local elementary school, and we’ve been playing to raise money for various charities ever since. As soon as I lost track of how many folks I knew who were riding the PMC (including Vince Asbridge, Glen Glater, Mike Cavaretta, Mark Wessel, and James Markson, just to name a few), I started looking for other ways to support the cause. Then in 2011, Paul English introduced me to PMC’s Dave Hellman, and soon my law firm, Clocktower Law, started providing pro bono IP assistance to the PMC.

Eamon Tighe (the band’s bass player and lead singer) has also been touched by cancer. His sister died the day before the PMC last year. In Eamon’s words:

“For many years, I have supported a good friend riding the PMC, but it was not until this time last year that I was directly affected by cancer. It was the night before my band took the ferry from Boston to Provincetown to pick up and entertain the riders on the return journey. Sad as I was reflecting on my sister’s life, I felt a tremendous emotional lift as I looked out on a sea of riders and contemplated what they had just endured in the fight to find a cure for cancer. I believe in ‘closer by the mile,’ and with the resources generated by the PMC, one day we will find the cure.”

So ride on, riders! And DO rock the boat! Thanks for your support! One more song!

17 Seconds is a publication for clients and other VIPs of Clocktower Law. Email version powered by MailChimp and the beat of a different keyboard player.

17 Seconds

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* MCats Gig #70 – Seeds For Borneo At NARA

The MCats Band was honored to play at the Seeds For Borneo fundraiser at NARA Park, senior project of ABRHS senior Patrick Nero. All proceeds donated to the Seed and Sapling Collection of the Orangutan Foundation International in Indonesia (https://orangutan.org/campaigns/seed-sapling-collection/).

Featured acts:

Playing With Fire
Chris Ruediger
TOS (feat. Sophia Ward)
The MCats Band
Patrick Nero

Videos are here:

* 2017-05-06_18-14-13 Seeds for Borneo

* 2017-05-06_19-33-22 Seeds For Borneo – Patrick Nero

* 2017-05-06_19-55-10 Seeds For Borneo – Patrick Nero

* 2017-05-06_19-58-33 Seeds For Borneo – Chris Ruediger

* 2017-05-06_20-46-45 Seeds For Borneo – Sophia Ward and TOS Sophia Ward and TOS covering “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes

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