{"id":115,"date":"2022-10-30T15:47:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-30T19:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredstories.com\/forthebirds\/?p=115"},"modified":"2022-10-30T16:00:43","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T20:00:43","slug":"bjs-halloween","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredstories.com\/forthebirds\/bjs-halloween\/","title":{"rendered":"This is Halloween… a little early"},"content":{"rendered":"

BJ\u2019s Fredonia celebrated Halloween a little early this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bar was packed with zombies and (blue) devils. It was almost impossible to walk around. Felt like the good old days.<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting the night off strong, we were welcomed by indie\/folk newcomers Hal and Pals. With a strong lead vocal and powerful instruments to support, the crowd was enchanted by their feel good tunes. I look forward to seeing what they come out with in the future, definitely a band to watch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next up was Isabella Mowers playing everyone\u2019s favorite spooky tunes. Although a solo artist, she had the whole bar, from front to back, singing along with her and her guitar. If you weren\u2019t already feeling the Halloween spirit by now, Mowers did the trick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These two acts were the perfect openers to set the vibe for the night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the night we were greeted by Fredonia legends, Johnny and the Man Kids. Playing the perfect mix of old and new songs, they had the crowd pushing and shoving as if we all didn\u2019t have class the following morning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you attended the show on Wednesday I hope you had dancing shoes on in addition to your costumes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the night, I had the pleasure of speaking with Halle Cook (Hal and Pals) and Andi Pszonak (Johnny and the Man Kids).\"\" \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

HC:<\/strong> Oh my favorite is Margo, the second song I played tonight. It\u2019s just so easy to play so it\u2019s a great piece.<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

HC:<\/strong> Todd Snyder for songwriting, Sheryl Crow for singing, Tom Petty for just charisma, I freaking love him, who doesn\u2019t love Tom Petty. So I would say those three. Oh and Big Thief.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

HC: <\/strong><\/span>I want the world to know that every person should just be themselves and that sounds so stupid but, the more I don\u2019t give a sh*t..\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

– \u201cWhat do you think? I think that went great!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

HC:<\/strong> I think it went great! You know why? Because I was myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

AP:<\/strong> So up until recently my answer was You\u2019re the Reason<\/em><\/a>, that one was my favorite. Now it\u2019s Big Blue Sky<\/em><\/a>, I\u2019ve warmed up to that song recently. I don’t know what it is. That one I really really like, it just sounds good live. When we first started playing it it was a little rougher, like we didn\u2019t really know what to do live. Now we have settled into it, we\u2019re a lot more comfortable. I just like playing that one.<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

AP: There are a lot of shows that stand out as special. But memories of being in the band.. We did a tour a couple years ago and it was so miserable physically but we had so much fun doing it. We stayed in a really really sketchy house and [we] were all scared we were going to get robbed. There were people partying downstairs and half the building was collapsing. That\u2019s been a lot of fun.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of BJ\u2019s shows that stand out as great. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Any time Tyler and I took our shirts off you knew it was probably a good show. We don\u2019t do that anymore, we grew up a little.<\/span><\/strong>\"\"<\/p>\n

AP: Currently we are recording our next album. We have some singles that are going to be dropped at a date John sees fit. We re-recorded I\u2019m just a man<\/em>. It\u2019s the five year anniversary of releasing that song. It was like the first song I ever recorded with Johnny and the Man Kids. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s crazy to think that that was five years ago. They were a band before I joined and then I just kind of weaseled my way into there. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

So those songs are coming out. We have a whole bunch we are going back into the studio to finish up so we are really excited about those. We have a lot of shows on the way and some new merch! We\u2019re getting new merch in, maybe not this Friday (Oct 28) but hopefully any show after that.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n