Category: Other Stuff

Many people don’t realize that The MCats Band is a keyboard/bass/drums-based band, unlike other rock bands, which are mostly guitar-based. As such, our lead and rhythm guitar players (Paul and Jon, respectively) often suffer in silent anonymity.

Well, suffer no more, I say! It’s time to give the long-suffering guitar players their due. As such, I have created two animated GIFs (from the awesome Happy Winter Friends gig from 2013, photo credits to Bruce Thatcher), highlighting the epic (but often hidden) guitar faces of Paul and Jon.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decide who does the guitar face better. Does Paul have the better guitar face? Or does Jon?

Vote by commenting here or on The MCats Band Facebook page. And then we’ll arbitrarily decide a winner. The winner gets to sing a song and/or do a guitar solo. Because, you know, the keyboarder, bassist, and drummer can’t have all of the fun!

The MCats are playing at least three more gigs in 2011. We are always looking for new material. Here are 12 songs from the last 20 years that would make a nice addition to our setlist, IMHO.

1. 1992 – It’s a Shame About Ray – The Lemonheads

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFYFj5q8_Qk&w=480

2. 1992 – Plush – Stone Temple Pilots

3. 1996 – That Thing You Do! – Various Artists

4. 1997 – Blue On Black – Kenny Wayne Shepherd

5. 2004 – How Come – Ray LaMontagne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itXgiKNhlGw&w=480

6. 2006 – Three More Days – Ray LaMontagne

7. 2007 – Your Party – Ween

8. 2008 – 27 Jennifers (2007) – Mike Doughty

9. 2008 – Jenny Don’t Be Hasty – Paolo Nutini

10. 2008 – New Shoes – Paolo Nutini

11. 2009 – Sugarfoot – Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

12. 2010 – For The Summer – Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs

Other ideas? Let us know in the comments!

Come frolic with friends!

The second annual ABRPTSO fundraiser supporting Project Wellness and Project Graduation.

Food, Dance, and Silent Auction

Saturday, January 29, 2011
7pm to midnight
The Clockworks Cafe
Clock Tower Place, Maynard

This distinctive evening will feature catered appetizers, desserts, and cash bar, live music from two bands featuring RJ Grey‘s own Craig Hardimon with Specific Gravity and The MCats Band.

Silent Auction
with find crafts and art from community artists

The ticket donation is $35 per person.
Tickets may be available at the door for $40 per person.

flyer: http://abrptso.ab.mec.edu/pdf/ABNO2011flyer.pdf
tickets: http://abrptso.ab.mec.edu/pdf/ABNO2011_ticket_order_form.pdf
questions: abignightout@gmail.com

And now a word from the ABPTSO:

Ticket sales for the Acton-Boxboro PTSO fundraiser, “ABig Night Out” are now officially open.

This parents-only event will raise money for RJ Grey‘s Project Wellness (a day of health education for 7th graders) and ABHS‘s Project Graduation (an overnight evening of fun for high school seniors on graduation night).

WHEN: Saturday, February 6th, 2010
TIME: from 7:00pm to 11:00pm
WHERE: Exchange Hall, School Street, Acton, MA 01720
PRICE: $25 per person
HOW: To order tickets, email your interest to abignightout@verizon.net. In turn, you will receive an order form and instructions on where to snail mail your payment. Once we receive payment, you will be issued online admission tickets for printing and bringing to the event.

Ticket price includes venue admission, finger food, and dancing to live music with The MCats Band, made up of parents from our school community. There will be a cash bar for beer, wine, and soft drinks.

We are limiting ticket sales to 150 people, so we recommend you buy your tickets now. Also, we are relying on word of mouth, so please tell your friends! Help support a great cause and at the same time have ABlast!

In January 2010, our fearless band manager Wendy designed t-shirts and ordered them (from BlueCotton.com). We think they are great! Thanks, Wendy!

The parent band of McCarthy-Towne School, the MCats (www.mcatsband.org), requests the honor of your presence for a Parents’ Night Out in Maynard.

When: Saturday February 3, 2007, 8:00 – midnight
Where: Maynard Rod & Gun Club (www.maynardrodandgunclub.com)
Tickets: $10 (what a bargain!) at www.mktix.com/pdbsc (includes refreshments, there’s a cash bar)

Escape the winter doldrums!
Get out and dance!
Rock on for the kids!

The last time we played, Erik’s foot ended up in a cast. So we can guarantee an energetic performance! Plus a bunch of new songs!

Mark the date on your calendar (it’s the day before the Super Bowl).

Like all of our events, this one is a fund-raiser and is sponsored by The Parker Damon Building Steering Committee, a joint committee of the Merriam and McCarthy-Towne Schools.

Those who are about to rock salute you!

The Acton Beacon ran the following piece about Schoolapalooza:

“ACTON – What began as a challenge in a local town newspaper, promises to become a full fledge musical festival. In Acton Massachusetts two schools are making music to fund their school music programs.

In August, The MCats, a parent band that was formed to raise funds for the McCarthy-Towne elementary school, said to a reporter that what they really wanted to do was have a battle of the bands with the C.T. Douglas School Band.

The Douglas All Star Band founder and principal of the school, Chris Whitbeck, responded to the MCats with a counter offer – let’s hold a musical festival, a celebration of music, families, and our two schools as a way to build bridges and raise some money. Schoolapalooza was born.

The two bands are comprised of school staff and parents. While not professional musicians, the groups came together to add a bit of fun to the school auctions. School auctions have become an important source of funding for small suburban school districts.

The two bands were so successful at raising money that both school PTO’s have requested that they be a regular part of these fund-raising events. Now reaching out to each other, the two school communities will celebrate the talents of each school and have fun at a local park this fall.

‘The idea is to have some fun, raise a little money, and show kids that you don’t have to be a professional musician to make music,’ said Peter Broggi, music teacher and band member at the Douglas School.

Acton Schoolapalooza will be held Sunday, Oct. 15, 12:30 to 4 p.m., Nara Park, Quarry Road, Acton.”

Last night’s MCT Auction <http://www.mctauction.com/> was a huge success. The final numbers are not in (or at least I don’t know them), but it appears that the auction raised about $60,000 for our school, which is great.

The auction booket listed the MCats as follows:

“MCats Gig

McCarthy-Towne’s own parent rock band, the MCats, will play for your special event! You can even customize the playlist from their ever-growing repertoire of music, which spans the decades and genres. The MCats have a proven track record of providing GREAT entertainment to their audiences, both young and old.

Donor: The Heels, Gitelman, Greenspan, Oltsik, Stein, and Tighe Families
Value: Priceless”

Unfortunately, the MCats were auctioned off first (out of 49 items), and things moved so quickly, that before you could say MMM-Cats, the auction was over. I guess we didn’t communicate that we were willing to play two gigs, so we also ended up being the last item auctioned off. But despite having the two worst auction spots, we raised $900 for the school ($550 for the first, $350 for the second). The two gigs are code-named ChipStock and HeelsStock, for their respective buyers. Yes, we bought the band. Hey, it’s all for a good cause, and we now have tentative plans for my 40th birthday party (6/6).

Plus our second annual “band meeting” was a blast, as usual.

Rock on. You know, for the kids!

In preparation for today’s MCT Auction (at which the MCats will again be auctioned off), I’ve put together our set and jam lists.

MCats Set List

Songs the MCats have played at gig, with “gig” defined as any event at which we used a sound board. The number in parentheses is the number of times we’ve performed that song.

(4) All Star / Smash Mouth / 3:21
(4) I’m a Believer / The Monkees / 2:46
(4) Werewolves Of London / Warren Zevon / 3:31
(4) What I Like About You / The Romantics / 2:58

(3) Back On The Chain Gang / Pretenders / 3:39
(3) Dirty Water / The Standells / 2:44
(3) Good Lovin’ / Grateful Dead / 1:52
(3) I Wanna Be Sedated / The Ramones / 2:23
(3) Money for Nothing / Dire Straits / 8:28
(3) Peace, Love and Understanding / Elvis Costello / 3:12
(3) Roam / The B-52’s / 4:55
(3) Tide Is High / Blondie / 3:50

(2) American Idiot / Green Day / 2:54
(2) Birthday / The Beatles / 2:42
(2) In the Midnight Hour / Wilson Pickett / 2:37
(2) Just What I Needed / The Cars / 3:44
(2) Middle of the Road / Pretenders / 4:17
(2) One More Time / Joe Jackson / 3:18
(2) Should I Stay or Should I Go / The Clash / 3:09
(2) Soul Man / Sam & Dave / 2:40
(2) Sugar Magnolia / Grateful Dead / 7:17
(2) Whip It / Devo / 2:43
(2) You Really Got Me / The Kinks / 3:31

(1) Heaven / Los Lonely Boys / 3:49
(1) I Want Candy / Bow Wow Wow / 2:46
(1) La Bamba / Ritchie Valens / 2:09
(1) Monster Mash / Bobby “Boris” Pickett / 3:13
(1) Spooky / Atlanta Rhythm Section / 5:04
(1) Vertigo / U2 / 3:18

MCats Jam List

Songs that the MCats have played at various practices and parties, including Jon & Wendy’s Cue & Cue party (11/05/05) and Betsy’s New Year’s Eve party (12/31/05).

A Girl Like You / The Smithereens / 4:23
Baby Can I Hold You / Tracy Chapman / 3:14
Bang A Gong (Get It On) / T. Rex / 4:21
Big Yellow Taxi / Joni Mitchell / 3:09
D’yer Mak’er / Led Zeppelin / 4:11
Feelin’ Alright / Joe Cocker / 3:22
Give Me One Reason / Tracy Chapman / 4:16
I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing / Aerosmith / 4:33
It’s Too Late / Carole King/ 3:53
Look What You’ve Done / Jet / 3:50
Love Her Madly / The Doors / 3:19
Love Shack / The B-52s / 5:16
No Matter What / Badfinger / 3:00
Psycho Killer / Talking Heads / 4:28
Rock And Roll / Led Zeppelin / 4:16
The Wind Cries Mary / Jimi Hendrix / 3:05
There She Goes / The La’s / 2:32
Up On Cripple Creek / The Band / 4:31
Walk This Way / Aerosmith / 4:12
Whipping Post / The Allman Brothers Band / 5:22