NYC = JOES PUB = CELEBRATION

An amazing show at Joe's Pub in NYC this past Friday night. With a mix of old and new, electric and acoustic, originals and covers, Mike and Paul showed off just about every facet of the jewel that is Scrapomatic. They began the show with a full band featuring Dave Yoke, Ted Pecchio, and Tyler Greenwell. Blazing through a good portion of the new album with a newly found power that is stunning, the boys poured their energy into the room and the crowd was incredibly enthusiastic. The performance had a loose precision that only good bluemen achieve and this bunch show exactly how devoted they are to their craft. Allowing the crowd to sit back for a moment, the stage was reduced to Mike, Paul and Dave Yoke for a segment of deeply rich acoustic blues that showed the range of Mike's emotional vocal arsenal. As usual, Mike embellished some classic tunes with his own distinctive vocal tone that I call caramel emotion. It really should be a Ben & Jerry's flavor!

The band came back to the stage and Mike was looking to bring Kristina Beaty out for a tune but she wasn't to be found. The guys played a few tunes and tried again, but unfortunately she was stuck on a plane and wasn't going to make it. Her appearances are always a treat and the crowd was disappointed but the guys closed in a big way doing two encores and leaving to a rowsing ovation. All in all, a great celebration.

Next up will be a Release Party at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta on Thursday August 28th for our fans in the South.

Watch for updates and anecdotes from the road provided by Mike over on our myspace page, and we'll keep you up to date on the official info here.

allmusic.com has added Sidewalk Caesars to their site with a 4 Star rating and a nice review by Hal Horowitz.

That's it for now, time to get in that last Summer party...